I thoroughly enjoyed Pfeffer's Life As We Knew It, about a family's response to a global cataclysm. When I found out that Pfeffer had written a companion book dealing with the same time period but in New York City instead of a small rural town, I wanted to read it.

I enjoyed this book, but didn't find it as riveting as the first one. In part that may be because Life As We Know It was in the first person, while this one tells the story from Alex's viewpoint but is in the third person - changes the level of immediacy a bit. (It may also be due to the fact that this book follows a very similar story arc to the first one - not surprising, as it deals with the same sequences of disastrous events unfolding over the same time period. But between that similarity and the fact that this is the second book, there's less of a surprise factor.)

In some ways Alex and his family has things a bit easier than Miranda and her people; it seems that the infrastructure of the big city - power, water, the basics - doesn't take quite as much of a hit as it does in more rural areas, or at least has more effort applied to keeping things going. [In other ways Alex has it a lot harder from the get-go; for one thing, there's a huge death toll from flooding in the lower-lying parts of the city, and Alex encounters more bodies more often than Miranda has to. And then there's - but that's spoiler territory, so I won't mention any more.]

Eventually, the crises mount up, and Alex and his family wind up struggling to survive just as Miranda and her family had to - though the personal tragedies for Alex are much more grim. Several of the scenes here could be serious nightmare fodder, with one in particular that really jolted me (and that's hard to do). And while the characters in both books wind up having to step out of their moral comfort level to survive, Alex goes farther; not that it's anything I'd blame him for, but it's a bit shocking. Since Alex's family is Catholic and he attends a Catholic school (where the priest compares the survivors to martyrs - something that doesn't sit well with all of them), his ethical dilemmas loom large.

These books are attention-holding reads in themselves, and could generate some serious discussion about survival planning - though it isn't clear that the examples in the books are the best ones to follow.

[There's a TV Tropes page on the "Moon Crash" series, with some interesting tidbits.]

I'm sending this book to BCer hyphen8 in Hawaii, in appreciation of her releases for the 2010 Chills & Spills release challenge. Hope you enjoy the book!

Thanks so much for sending me a wishlist RABCK! I like the cover art.

Also: I love that you take the time to write such thorough & thoughtful reviews. Every once in a while I'll get one in, but mostly I don't get around to it and I want to keep the books moving. I keep telling myself I need to do better, but then the books pile up waiting to be journaled, and that's no good either. :s

Saved this to read for Chills & Spills January, and remembered to do so. :D

An asteroid hits the moon and shifts it into a closer orbit, and life on Earth will never be the same - flooding and very extreme tides are only the beginning. Alex Morales lives in New York City and is confronted with trying to survive the abrupt changes in an urban setting.

I really felt for Alex since he was the oldest child at home and suddenly finds himself acting as the "man of the house". That's a lot of responsibility for a teenager in any situation, and when the entire world is in crisis, making life-or-death decisions for your younger sisters has to be a large burden to bear. At least as a Catholic he had a mechanism for confessing his doubts and fears when he found himself looking back at his choices.

Since this was sent to me as a wishlist RABCK, it seems appropriate to send it out the same way...it will be traveling soon.

Here's another copy on my shelf.

Surprise wishlist RABCK going out for GoryDetails's 2012 Chills and Spills Read and Release Challenge and NancyNova's One Challenge.

This is what can happen if your RABCK address is recently updated. ;)

Book arrived today, totally unexpected so a surprise when I opened the mailbox. Thank you so much hyphen8.

Although I did enjoy this book, like GoryDetails it didn't quite strike me the way Life as We Knew It did. Still though it held my attention, kept me reading and makes you think.

In waternixie's wrap-it-up bookbox.

Removed from "Wrap It Up Bookbox".
Will look for "Life As We Know It" so I can read it first, until then I will lay this book aside as I'm afraid I won't "get it" without reading the first book.