Review: Gone by Michael Grant

Gone by Michael Grant
Release Date: July 1st 2008
Publisher: Egmont Books
Edition: Paperback, 576 pages
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My Rating 4/5

From Goodreads:  "In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE. Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.
It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else..."

I loved this book! It reminded me of I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (Pseudonym for James Frey and Jobie Hughes), but then when I thought about it, only because of the light shooting from Sam's hands, and the bullies...

I first heard about this book from Priscila at The Readables youtube channel, you should check her out, she is one of my favourite booktubers!

In the first part of this book there were many varying points of view, each with their own chapter. I find too many points of view to be confusing and hard to keep up with, which I did find a little bit with this book, but only at the start. Some of the characters didn't interact with the main characters, making me wonder why we were seeing their point of view. But i figured that I would find out in due time. As I expected when the story progressed you see where all of the characters fit in, and why we were allowed glimpses into their view.

I liked Sam's character, the hero who doesn't think he is a hero type. When he was younger he saved a school bus of kids when the bus driver collapsed, by driving them to safety on the side of the road. So you can imagine what he would be like in a situation such as this: all people over 15 years old have disappeared, with no explanation, in their place is a big spherical wall that surrounds them from all ends. Not only that there are weird things happening, Sam and some of the other kids are able to do strange things and the animals have started to form mutations. Talking coyotes? No thank you! I found I liked Sam more, knowing that he didn't want to be the one that every body looked to. The one that was relied upon. The only silver lining for Sam goes by the name Astrid.

Astrid is the genius know it all type. Only she is like a fish out of water with all of the current goings on. For someone who knows so much about everything, she has no explanation for what has happened. I loved Astrid's character. The way she looks after her younger brother Petey who has ........................... Petey is her first priority, even when she starts falling for Sam.

Caine, where do I start with Caine? Without giving away any spoilers? I don't know. But I will say that he knows something that Sam doesn't which becomes evident a little ways in to the book, and this kept me hooked, I just had to know. I was reading and reading hoping that it wouldn't be one of those series that doesn't fill you in until the sequel. Thankfully it's not!

Overall, this was a really good dystopian novel, I had to keep reading so I could find out ASAP what was going to happen next! With the bullies and the allies changing more than once, it really kept me on the edge of my seat! I can't wait to read the second one in the series Hunger! I am going to hopefully get this one from the library sometime soon, so I can continue the adventure of Sam and Astrid!

Happy reading!
- Amy