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Gone #5
Fear
It's been one year since all the adults disappeared. Gone.
Despite the hunger and the lies, even despite the plague, the kids of Perdido Beach are determined to survive. Creeping into the tenuous new world they've built, though, is perhaps the worst incarnation yet of the enemy known as the Darkness: fear.
Within the FAYZ, life breaks down while the Darkness takes over, literally—turning the dome-world of the FAYZ entirely black. In darkness, the worst fears of all emerge, and the cruelest of intentions are carried out. But even in their darkest moments, the inhabitants of the FAYZ maintain a will to survive and a desire to take care of the others in their ravaged band that endures, no matter what the cost.
Fear, Michael Grant's fifth book in the bestselling dystopian Gone series, will thrill readers . . . even as it terrifies them.
Despite the hunger and the lies, even despite the plague, the kids of Perdido Beach are determined to survive. Creeping into the tenuous new world they've built, though, is perhaps the worst incarnation yet of the enemy known as the Darkness: fear.
Within the FAYZ, life breaks down while the Darkness takes over, literally—turning the dome-world of the FAYZ entirely black. In darkness, the worst fears of all emerge, and the cruelest of intentions are carried out. But even in their darkest moments, the inhabitants of the FAYZ maintain a will to survive and a desire to take care of the others in their ravaged band that endures, no matter what the cost.
Fear, Michael Grant's fifth book in the bestselling dystopian Gone series, will thrill readers . . . even as it terrifies them.
509 pages, Hardcover
First published April 3, 2012
About the author
Michael Grant
77 books11.2k followersCo-author with Katherine Applegate of Ocean City, Making Out, Summer, Animorphs, Everworld, Remnants, Eve and Adam.
Pseudonymous coauthor with KA of Christy (the TV spin-off books), Sweet Valley Twins, Girl Talk and various Disney spin-offs.
Pseudonymous author of Barf-O-Rama.
Author of Gone, BZRK, The Magnificent 12, Messenger of Fear, Front Lines, Monster and A Sudden Death in Cyprus.
AKA Michael Robinson (restaurant reviews and newspaper features).
AKA Michael Reynolds (legal name) political media producer. (Team Blue).
Pseudonymous coauthor with KA of Christy (the TV spin-off books), Sweet Valley Twins, Girl Talk and various Disney spin-offs.
Pseudonymous author of Barf-O-Rama.
Author of Gone, BZRK, The Magnificent 12, Messenger of Fear, Front Lines, Monster and A Sudden Death in Cyprus.
AKA Michael Robinson (restaurant reviews and newspaper features).
AKA Michael Reynolds (legal name) political media producer. (Team Blue).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,234 reviews
December 25, 2022
Gone, book 5: In the mysteriously (to most) cut-off and domed part of San Francisco known as the FAYZ, after surviving all the adults being Gone, Hunger, a cacophony of Lies, and then an actual Plague the original Perdido Beach community has finally splintered! One has gone AWOL, one rules his own kingdom, one wants to be a FAYZ millionaire, and there's the first FAYZ baby on the way! Meanwhile our main hero is bored with the good life on the freshwater lake, but not for long, as tendrils of darkness (lower case d) start appearing on the barrier - he gets a bit worried, because other than fear itself, the only thing he truly fears, is the dark!
Five books in and this series is still kicking ass! How had I not heard much about it on Bookstagram? All those Young Adult and Fantasy accounts! Seriously this is the apex of young adult long-form story telling, a huge diverse, enigmatic and fully realised cast of kids with hardly a trope in sight! My queen, is the 13 year old pig-tailed red-headed girl Breanna, 'The Breeze', what a great character, surely she would steal the show if this was a Netflix TV series. Even the 'baddies' are thoroughly multi-dimensional. Give me more of this! As ever the most important point about this series, is that Michael Grant never lets me, or the cast themselves ever forget that they are children; oh, and he should give lessons on how to build climatic endings! 8 out of 12, Four Star read.
2021 read
Five books in and this series is still kicking ass! How had I not heard much about it on Bookstagram? All those Young Adult and Fantasy accounts! Seriously this is the apex of young adult long-form story telling, a huge diverse, enigmatic and fully realised cast of kids with hardly a trope in sight! My queen, is the 13 year old pig-tailed red-headed girl Breanna, 'The Breeze', what a great character, surely she would steal the show if this was a Netflix TV series. Even the 'baddies' are thoroughly multi-dimensional. Give me more of this! As ever the most important point about this series, is that Michael Grant never lets me, or the cast themselves ever forget that they are children; oh, and he should give lessons on how to build climatic endings! 8 out of 12, Four Star read.
2021 read
April 6, 2012
ok so originally I had a freak out review bc I had just finished Plaque & was pissed that I had to wait for 2 more books to see who lived or died. it was in all caps & was just an over excited fangirl just losing her mind. & also on how much I loved the cover.
Now its April 2, this book comes out tomorrow & I barely remember what happens in Lies & Plaque so I am reading the series again I finished Gone yesterday, & now starting Hunger. Not that any of you care.
Now its April 2, this book comes out tomorrow & I barely remember what happens in Lies & Plaque so I am reading the series again I finished Gone yesterday, & now starting Hunger. Not that any of you care.
March 2, 2016
**This review may contain spoilers for the previous four books in the series (and possibly for Fear itself) so tread carefully! If you have not read them please don’t read this review – but read the first book Gone instead.**
Original review can be seen here: http://bookprobereviews.com/?p=1585#m... (NOT ANYMORE!)
Michael Grant has not once disappointed me – and Fear is no exception. Fear was the best of the series so far and that is what you want – when you are so engrossed, so engaged, so absorbed into a series, you just want it to keep getting better and better. Michael delves further into the psyche of the surviving principle cast of characters and how each of them obtained those powers in which they have. And along with the fearfulness and enclosing darkness occurring within The Fayz, we learn about what’s happening on the outside through Connie Temple – Sam’s (and Caine’s) mother. Fear is an outstanding piece of work that deals with human fears and the human psyche: We aren’t just someone. There’s more to each of us than just being someone or just doing something. It’s up to ourselves to transcend our deepest and darkest fears. And that’s what I believe Michael is trying to teach us. It’s sad that now there is only one more book to go until this series comes to his long-awaited conclusion. I can already predict that Light is going to be phenomenal even with a year to go.
I cannot write this review without providing quotes because it was just that good! Here are a few quotes about the concept of “fear” that Michael Grant explores to get you started:
In Fear, Michael Grant introduces an “outside” perspective to the situation through Connie Temple among others. It is within the very first chapter of the book that you can read about the goings on outside the FAYZ and this provides us with a taste of fresh air since we have been inside the FAYZ ever since the beginning of the series. Outside they are trying to piece together what this occurrence is and how to end it – this leads to the military being called in to detonate it but through more research by Connie, this will just do more damage then the damage it would do. These chapters were interesting because it really did transfer to the adult characters that have been extremely minor from the beginning since we’ve been just reading about these children that are fifteen, or now sixteen-years-old and younger.
It’s really hard to be able to talk about the characters since there are so many of them. But Michael Grant has this ability to give every one of his characters, no matter how many there are of them, no matter whether they are major or minor, a unique path to walk. And they were extremely different. The characters that I did however have the greatest interest in and sympathy for in Fear were Astrid, Sam, Caine, and Diana. I can just see you raising your eyebrow wondering how I could ever have compassion for Caine, or even Diana. I’m not sure why I was either, but I did and that’s why I now call Michael Grant God. He’s a master at triggering your emotions even for the mostly dark or misunderstood characters. And that’s why BZRK is what it is, because there is ultimately no good or bad person – besides that monster Drake and the gaiaphage, The Darkness. Stepping away from that, I was also moved by Dekka and what she deals with regarding Brianna. So sweet. But that doesn’t mean all the other characters didn’t have the same impact as those I indicated because they did.
Oh my Astrid! Astrid has been one of the characters that I’ve invested myself into from the beginning. She just has this fight within her, this integrity, and maturity beyond her years after having to care for her autistic brother Pete. In Fear I was so surprised at how much deeper Michael Grant was able to dig and unearth in her character – and it wasn’t just Astrid but with every character that this was the case. After Plague, Astrid continues to live with the guilt as she killed Pete and so escapes to be solitary and think about her worth and to reflect on everything. After this conflict within herself caused by Pete’s death, she has changed severely as a character, much more different to when we first met her in Gone. When she returns and is asked by Edilio whether she made peace while reflecting/penancing she says that she has changed and no longer believes in God, and as a result her response affects Edilio which becomes pretty obvious later on to what it refers to. Here is how the conversation unravels after she says ‘I’ve changed’:
Then less than fifty pages later, Astrid finally comes to terms with her predicament – these two pages are some of my favourite pages ever (page 154 and 155 if you’re wondering but this may change in the final copies). She looked back to the old Astrid and how she judged herself all the time and needed motives to justify herself. Then she goes on about sacrificing Pete for the common good like every other tyrant in history. But she still debates with herself whether it was immoral or wrong. And comes to the conclusion that what she has done will be with her like a scar as it can’t be unhappened, and even though it was terrible, it was ‘as it should be’. If anything, Astrid was the first character to overcome her fear and that was the fear of and within herself from what she had done.
And then there is Sam who has to deal with the literal darkness by providing light within the FAYZ and the securities, and with this he realises what his fear was along. For Caine, his fear surfaced after Penny had humiliated him, scared him and stripped him of everything he worked hard to get: power. And well Diana, she had that baby. But I want you to read this series, this book and to discover what happens. I’m one to not quit talking about something that I love so much and that’s what I’m afraid of: spoiling it for all of you. I’m afraid I may have already spoiled it a tad but it’s hard not to when it is the fifth book and there is not much you can talk about besides the obvious things like the writing or whether you loved or hated it or if it gripped you, made you mad, made you emotional, made you stand in a pool of tears and blood. But I like to excavate deeper into the book, its characters, its meaning, its purpose, its teachings. Because Fear has changed me greatly. And I have Michael Grant to thank for that for making me realise my own fears and that I have to deal with them now and overcome them, and it is only yourself that can do that.
Fear was an amazingly written instalment for the Gone series. I now understand the concept and the reason for the FAYZ, for the powers, for this entire idea from Michael Grant’s unbelievable mind that I want to steal. Even though most of this book deals with the human psyche and character development, there is a plot that just sweeps you off your feet and by the time you reach the climax you would be winded from the very amazingness of it. And oh that very touching scene involving the unexpected death of one of the beloved characters. I am sick in the stomach to know that there is only one more book left to go in the series. I feel sick now because I don’t know what I should expect from it besides greatness. Light is my most-anticipated book for 2013 and it will remain on that top spot until the time comes to find out the conclusion to this phenomenal series.
Original review can be seen here: http://bookprobereviews.com/?p=1585#m... (NOT ANYMORE!)
…death is better because death is the end of fear, isn’t it? [p.431]
Michael Grant has not once disappointed me – and Fear is no exception. Fear was the best of the series so far and that is what you want – when you are so engrossed, so engaged, so absorbed into a series, you just want it to keep getting better and better. Michael delves further into the psyche of the surviving principle cast of characters and how each of them obtained those powers in which they have. And along with the fearfulness and enclosing darkness occurring within The Fayz, we learn about what’s happening on the outside through Connie Temple – Sam’s (and Caine’s) mother. Fear is an outstanding piece of work that deals with human fears and the human psyche: We aren’t just someone. There’s more to each of us than just being someone or just doing something. It’s up to ourselves to transcend our deepest and darkest fears. And that’s what I believe Michael is trying to teach us. It’s sad that now there is only one more book to go until this series comes to his long-awaited conclusion. I can already predict that Light is going to be phenomenal even with a year to go.
I cannot write this review without providing quotes because it was just that good! Here are a few quotes about the concept of “fear” that Michael Grant explores to get you started:
It’s not the monsters who are so completely different that are scary, Sanjit reflected. It’s the ones who are too human. They carry with them the warning that what happened to them might happen to you, too. [p.150]
‘Most of human history people huddled, scared in the dark. Living in little huts with their animals. Believing the woods around them were haunted by spirits. Wolves and werewolves. Terrors. People would hold onto each other. So that way they wouldn’t be so afraid.’ [p.170]
…they assumed all fear must come from a thing or a place. An event. Cause and effect. Like fear was part of an algebra equation.
No, no, no, so not getting the point of fear. Because fear wasn’t about what made sense. Because fear wasn’t about what made sense. Fear was about possibilities. Not things that happened. Things that might.
Things that might … Threats that might be there. Murderers. Madmen. Monsters. Standing just a few inches from him, able to see him, but his eyes useless. The threats, they could laugh silently at him. They could hold their knives, guns, claws right in his face and he wouldn’t be able to see.
The threat could be. Right. There. [p415-416]
In Fear, Michael Grant introduces an “outside” perspective to the situation through Connie Temple among others. It is within the very first chapter of the book that you can read about the goings on outside the FAYZ and this provides us with a taste of fresh air since we have been inside the FAYZ ever since the beginning of the series. Outside they are trying to piece together what this occurrence is and how to end it – this leads to the military being called in to detonate it but through more research by Connie, this will just do more damage then the damage it would do. These chapters were interesting because it really did transfer to the adult characters that have been extremely minor from the beginning since we’ve been just reading about these children that are fifteen, or now sixteen-years-old and younger.
It’s really hard to be able to talk about the characters since there are so many of them. But Michael Grant has this ability to give every one of his characters, no matter how many there are of them, no matter whether they are major or minor, a unique path to walk. And they were extremely different. The characters that I did however have the greatest interest in and sympathy for in Fear were Astrid, Sam, Caine, and Diana. I can just see you raising your eyebrow wondering how I could ever have compassion for Caine, or even Diana. I’m not sure why I was either, but I did and that’s why I now call Michael Grant God. He’s a master at triggering your emotions even for the mostly dark or misunderstood characters. And that’s why BZRK is what it is, because there is ultimately no good or bad person – besides that monster Drake and the gaiaphage, The Darkness. Stepping away from that, I was also moved by Dekka and what she deals with regarding Brianna. So sweet. But that doesn’t mean all the other characters didn’t have the same impact as those I indicated because they did.
Oh my Astrid! Astrid has been one of the characters that I’ve invested myself into from the beginning. She just has this fight within her, this integrity, and maturity beyond her years after having to care for her autistic brother Pete. In Fear I was so surprised at how much deeper Michael Grant was able to dig and unearth in her character – and it wasn’t just Astrid but with every character that this was the case. After Plague, Astrid continues to live with the guilt as she killed Pete and so escapes to be solitary and think about her worth and to reflect on everything. After this conflict within herself caused by Pete’s death, she has changed severely as a character, much more different to when we first met her in Gone. When she returns and is asked by Edilio whether she made peace while reflecting/penancing she says that she has changed and no longer believes in God, and as a result her response affects Edilio which becomes pretty obvious later on to what it refers to. Here is how the conversation unravels after she says ‘I’ve changed’:
‘Ah. Like that?’ Her silence was confirmation. ‘Lots of people, they go through bad times, they lose their faith. But they come back to it.’
‘I didn’t lose my faith, Edilio. I killed it. I held it up to the light and I stared right at it and for the first time I didn’t hide behind something I’d read somewhere, or something I’d heard. I didn’t worry about what anyone would think. I didn’t worry about what anyone would think. I didn’t worry about looking like a fool. I was all alone and I had no one to be right to. Except me. So I just looked. And when I looked …’ She made a gesture with her fingers, like things blowing away, scattering in the wind. ‘… There was nothing there.’
Edilio looked very sad.
‘Edilio,’ she said, ‘you have to believe what’s right for you, what you feel. But so do I. It’s hard for someone who has had to carry the nickname “Astrid the Genius” to admit she was wrong.’ She made a wry smile. ‘But I found out that I was … not happier, maybe; that’s not the right word … It’s not about happy. But … honest. Honest with myself.’
’So you think I’m lying to myself?’ Edilio asked softly.
Astrid shook her head. ’Never. But I was.’ [p.110]
Then less than fifty pages later, Astrid finally comes to terms with her predicament – these two pages are some of my favourite pages ever (page 154 and 155 if you’re wondering but this may change in the final copies). She looked back to the old Astrid and how she judged herself all the time and needed motives to justify herself. Then she goes on about sacrificing Pete for the common good like every other tyrant in history. But she still debates with herself whether it was immoral or wrong. And comes to the conclusion that what she has done will be with her like a scar as it can’t be unhappened, and even though it was terrible, it was ‘as it should be’. If anything, Astrid was the first character to overcome her fear and that was the fear of and within herself from what she had done.
And then there is Sam who has to deal with the literal darkness by providing light within the FAYZ and the securities, and with this he realises what his fear was along. For Caine, his fear surfaced after Penny had humiliated him, scared him and stripped him of everything he worked hard to get: power. And well Diana, she had that baby. But I want you to read this series, this book and to discover what happens. I’m one to not quit talking about something that I love so much and that’s what I’m afraid of: spoiling it for all of you. I’m afraid I may have already spoiled it a tad but it’s hard not to when it is the fifth book and there is not much you can talk about besides the obvious things like the writing or whether you loved or hated it or if it gripped you, made you mad, made you emotional, made you stand in a pool of tears and blood. But I like to excavate deeper into the book, its characters, its meaning, its purpose, its teachings. Because Fear has changed me greatly. And I have Michael Grant to thank for that for making me realise my own fears and that I have to deal with them now and overcome them, and it is only yourself that can do that.
Fear was an amazingly written instalment for the Gone series. I now understand the concept and the reason for the FAYZ, for the powers, for this entire idea from Michael Grant’s unbelievable mind that I want to steal. Even though most of this book deals with the human psyche and character development, there is a plot that just sweeps you off your feet and by the time you reach the climax you would be winded from the very amazingness of it. And oh that very touching scene involving the unexpected death of one of the beloved characters. I am sick in the stomach to know that there is only one more book left to go in the series. I feel sick now because I don’t know what I should expect from it besides greatness. Light is my most-anticipated book for 2013 and it will remain on that top spot until the time comes to find out the conclusion to this phenomenal series.
April 10, 2012
Total and brutal mindfuck. Thank you.
I thought things couldn't get any better after PLAGUE. That book seriously wrecked me. It's one of the best books I have EVER read. No kidding.
But Señor Grant delivered another masterpiece with FEAR.
This book blew my mind so much, I can't even properly review this. All coming out of me are incoherent sounds and, oh look! Those are my grabby-grabby hands because I can't wait a whole fucking year for LIGHT!!!!!!
Let me try to review this, see how far I can go before this review turns into ak;sdkghey!!!!!!
(Some vague spoilers ahead)
PLAGUE for me was all about Sam, Dekka and Sanji. I think a big part of FEAR for me was, surprisingly, Astrid.
I never was her biggest fan. I even felt indifferent toward her at some point, but my god, she was fierce in this book. Her character's development left me breathless. Honestly, so much respect and aweness. I'm sad she lost her faith, but I had also been sad when the only thing stopping her from being with Sam was her faith, too.
Sam/Astrid had the best lines and scenes. I could honestly quote half of the things they said to and/or about each other. Such raw, honest romance... I wish some books labeled as romance would learn from this, tbqh.
Now Sam.... omg my lady boner for Sam, I can't. The more flaws he has, the more I like him. That last scene... I was literally panting. He's been fearing that moment since the first book, and when it finally happened, he owned it!! I love when we get foreshadowing in a series and we actually deal with it afterward.
Dekka. I'm actually surprised to say she's my favorite character. After PLAGUE, I found myself shipping her with Brianna like FedEx. And I'm not usually into F/F pairings. But oh god, I just can't resist a GOOD love story, no matter the genre.
Anyway, I'm disappointed Brianna turned out to be such a disappointed for Dekka, tbh. I understand Dekka's logic anyway, who hasn't fallen for someone without really knowing them? She actually had the maturity to realize it and let it go. I have to bow to this HBIC. I love her, okay? I want to be her first girlfriend and treat her right. #noregrets
Brianna. I'm actually really surprised the story didn't go there with her and Dekka. And I'm still holding onto a bit of hope. When Jack said she had made out with him, my gaydar went off all "she's convincing herself she's into guys!" but then, after Dekka and her had the talk... I actually think Brianna is still too childish to really think something like that. But still, I got the feeling Dekka had gotten herself free of the angst while Brianna had gotten herself stuck in some still unknown to her feelings. I don't think this is the last Dekka/Brianna we're getting. Or maybe this is just my naive wishful thinking...
Edilio and Roger. OMG OMG OMG SQUEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! This is perfect, Grant paired off two of my fave characters! I honestly wasn't expecting any other gay pairings, this surprised me so much!! THANK YOU GRANT *BOWS*
I'm so glad he gave Roger a bigger role, because his scenes with Justin in prev books were precious. In a world where everyone is at least doing bad stuff to survive, he was one of the few genuinely good people left. He made me happy when the series was taking me into despair town. Roger deserves a great guy, and who better than Edilio?!
I always loved the Edilio and Sam friendship, their scene when they talked about Edilio being gay was one of the best in the book.
I just love the fact that Sam's two best friends are gay. LOVE. IT. <3
Orc! omg, when did I even start liking you anyway?! And oh god, Howard's unexpected dead left me in shock. Like, seriously in denial. I can't deal with it. Orc's reaction, too. My creys.
Jack. DON'T BE DEAD, PLEASE. DON'T BE DEAD. ;______;
Caine. *grabby hands* The more rock bottom he reaches, the more I like him. It's amazing how two characters, Caine and Sam, can evolve so differently under same circumstances. I have always liked the light-dark theme going on with these two brothers. I think Grant developed the idea into such complex plot, it's basically interlinked with everything else. The cement thing, it was just divine payback. And he needed it. His relationship with Diana is still one of the most complex and fucked up relationships I have ever read. Just that line where Caine reacts to seeing Diana after 4 months apart broke me completely.
Diana. :( Such tragic girl. I always felt fondness toward her. She was a bad person trying to be good. Through the books, you see her developing and fighting against her nature, but in the end, she's just what she is, I guess. I'm glad the Panda incident affected her this much because shit, that's how it should be!
Quinn. Talking about epic character's development, here's the king of that shit. He is still basically himself, but so much more at the same time. We read him finding his place and being content with it and I just love how he's just not an ambitious person and that's just fine. His fierce loyalty also makes my heart hurt.
Lana. She was my favorite during the first books, but she's gotten herself into such a dark and bitter place, I can't really follow her there. I still love her, but I need to get some space or she literally sucks the will of living out of me.
Quinn/Lana/Sanjit. They are breaking all my ships. JHC, I'm ruined. I don't know who I want with who. I love Sanjit, he was my fave part besides Sam/Dekka in PLAGUE, and I love Quinn... Why can't Lana have both? I can't deal with any of them getting their heart broken, tbfqh!
The Baby Plot. That birthing scene will forever haunt me. FOR FUCKING EVER. And funnily, the only complain I have is about the evil-baby plot. Not my cup of tea. But still, this book left me too awestruck for proper words. No, seriously. I can't complain. Even when I wouldn't have picked this plot myself, the way it was done was flawless. Diana's fall into madness, and her relationship with Evil-Baby will forever give me nightmares!
Drake. RAGE. RAAAAAAAAAAAAGE. Can he PLEASE just die already?! I swear I will do a happy dance when Whip Man dies. And still, he's so well written and so complex... why are you doing this to me Grant, WHY?! Aren't these books for teens or whatever? Why do your books have more deep and better done characters and plots than most adult books? You're RUINING me. Stop it. STOP IT! ... Well, no. Don't stop. Gimme. GIMME!
I wish EVERYONE read this series. I wish they'd make movies and tv shows and I don't know, fucking theater plays, and sonnet songs and ak;sdkghey!!!!!!
I thought things couldn't get any better after PLAGUE. That book seriously wrecked me. It's one of the best books I have EVER read. No kidding.
But Señor Grant delivered another masterpiece with FEAR.
This book blew my mind so much, I can't even properly review this. All coming out of me are incoherent sounds and, oh look! Those are my grabby-grabby hands because I can't wait a whole fucking year for LIGHT!!!!!!
Let me try to review this, see how far I can go before this review turns into ak;sdkghey!!!!!!
(Some vague spoilers ahead)
PLAGUE for me was all about Sam, Dekka and Sanji. I think a big part of FEAR for me was, surprisingly, Astrid.
I never was her biggest fan. I even felt indifferent toward her at some point, but my god, she was fierce in this book. Her character's development left me breathless. Honestly, so much respect and aweness. I'm sad she lost her faith, but I had also been sad when the only thing stopping her from being with Sam was her faith, too.
Sam/Astrid had the best lines and scenes. I could honestly quote half of the things they said to and/or about each other. Such raw, honest romance... I wish some books labeled as romance would learn from this, tbqh.
Now Sam.... omg my lady boner for Sam, I can't. The more flaws he has, the more I like him. That last scene... I was literally panting. He's been fearing that moment since the first book, and when it finally happened, he owned it!! I love when we get foreshadowing in a series and we actually deal with it afterward.
Dekka. I'm actually surprised to say she's my favorite character. After PLAGUE, I found myself shipping her with Brianna like FedEx. And I'm not usually into F/F pairings. But oh god, I just can't resist a GOOD love story, no matter the genre.
Anyway, I'm disappointed Brianna turned out to be such a disappointed for Dekka, tbh. I understand Dekka's logic anyway, who hasn't fallen for someone without really knowing them? She actually had the maturity to realize it and let it go. I have to bow to this HBIC. I love her, okay? I want to be her first girlfriend and treat her right. #noregrets
Brianna. I'm actually really surprised the story didn't go there with her and Dekka. And I'm still holding onto a bit of hope. When Jack said she had made out with him, my gaydar went off all "she's convincing herself she's into guys!" but then, after Dekka and her had the talk... I actually think Brianna is still too childish to really think something like that. But still, I got the feeling Dekka had gotten herself free of the angst while Brianna had gotten herself stuck in some still unknown to her feelings. I don't think this is the last Dekka/Brianna we're getting. Or maybe this is just my naive wishful thinking...
Edilio and Roger. OMG OMG OMG SQUEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! This is perfect, Grant paired off two of my fave characters! I honestly wasn't expecting any other gay pairings, this surprised me so much!! THANK YOU GRANT *BOWS*
I'm so glad he gave Roger a bigger role, because his scenes with Justin in prev books were precious. In a world where everyone is at least doing bad stuff to survive, he was one of the few genuinely good people left. He made me happy when the series was taking me into despair town. Roger deserves a great guy, and who better than Edilio?!
I always loved the Edilio and Sam friendship, their scene when they talked about Edilio being gay was one of the best in the book.
I just love the fact that Sam's two best friends are gay. LOVE. IT. <3
Orc! omg, when did I even start liking you anyway?! And oh god, Howard's unexpected dead left me in shock. Like, seriously in denial. I can't deal with it. Orc's reaction, too. My creys.
Jack. DON'T BE DEAD, PLEASE. DON'T BE DEAD. ;______;
Caine. *grabby hands* The more rock bottom he reaches, the more I like him. It's amazing how two characters, Caine and Sam, can evolve so differently under same circumstances. I have always liked the light-dark theme going on with these two brothers. I think Grant developed the idea into such complex plot, it's basically interlinked with everything else. The cement thing, it was just divine payback. And he needed it. His relationship with Diana is still one of the most complex and fucked up relationships I have ever read. Just that line where Caine reacts to seeing Diana after 4 months apart broke me completely.
Diana. :( Such tragic girl. I always felt fondness toward her. She was a bad person trying to be good. Through the books, you see her developing and fighting against her nature, but in the end, she's just what she is, I guess. I'm glad the Panda incident affected her this much because shit, that's how it should be!
Quinn. Talking about epic character's development, here's the king of that shit. He is still basically himself, but so much more at the same time. We read him finding his place and being content with it and I just love how he's just not an ambitious person and that's just fine. His fierce loyalty also makes my heart hurt.
Lana. She was my favorite during the first books, but she's gotten herself into such a dark and bitter place, I can't really follow her there. I still love her, but I need to get some space or she literally sucks the will of living out of me.
Quinn/Lana/Sanjit. They are breaking all my ships. JHC, I'm ruined. I don't know who I want with who. I love Sanjit, he was my fave part besides Sam/Dekka in PLAGUE, and I love Quinn... Why can't Lana have both? I can't deal with any of them getting their heart broken, tbfqh!
The Baby Plot. That birthing scene will forever haunt me. FOR FUCKING EVER. And funnily, the only complain I have is about the evil-baby plot. Not my cup of tea. But still, this book left me too awestruck for proper words. No, seriously. I can't complain. Even when I wouldn't have picked this plot myself, the way it was done was flawless. Diana's fall into madness, and her relationship with Evil-Baby will forever give me nightmares!
Drake. RAGE. RAAAAAAAAAAAAGE. Can he PLEASE just die already?! I swear I will do a happy dance when Whip Man dies. And still, he's so well written and so complex... why are you doing this to me Grant, WHY?! Aren't these books for teens or whatever? Why do your books have more deep and better done characters and plots than most adult books? You're RUINING me. Stop it. STOP IT! ... Well, no. Don't stop. Gimme. GIMME!
I wish EVERYONE read this series. I wish they'd make movies and tv shows and I don't know, fucking theater plays, and sonnet songs and ak;sdkghey!!!!!!
September 13, 2011
Sam and Caine have split the survivors of the FAYZ into two separate camps- those at the lake and those staying in Perdido beach. Sam is feeling lost and useless without an enemy to fight as Edilio runs the day to day lake operations. Little does he know that the return of Astrid id just around the corner.
Caine is dealing with his own leadership difficulties and is trying to maintain control and tolerance between those with abilities and those without. Changes in this delicate balance will test the strength of all those who stayed in town.
As if their daily lives were not complicated enough, the Gaiaphage, Drake and Brittney, and the adults outside the FAYZ are ready to impose their own wills on the almost destroyed survivors.
As a conclusion to the series, it does not give the finality that many readers will expect. Questions are answered, secrets are revealed, but some mysteries of the FAYZ are left unresolved. It is both a refreshing take on the neat, tidy ending and really annoying.
The series definitely has some adult concepts (violent deaths, questions of morality) but would appeal to a wide audience of both genders.
Caine is dealing with his own leadership difficulties and is trying to maintain control and tolerance between those with abilities and those without. Changes in this delicate balance will test the strength of all those who stayed in town.
As if their daily lives were not complicated enough, the Gaiaphage, Drake and Brittney, and the adults outside the FAYZ are ready to impose their own wills on the almost destroyed survivors.
As a conclusion to the series, it does not give the finality that many readers will expect. Questions are answered, secrets are revealed, but some mysteries of the FAYZ are left unresolved. It is both a refreshing take on the neat, tidy ending and really annoying.
The series definitely has some adult concepts (violent deaths, questions of morality) but would appeal to a wide audience of both genders.
February 16, 2011
WHOOOWHOOOO!!!! MORE BOOKS I LOVE THE STORIES I CANT WAIT TO GET PLAGUE!!!!! :3
i love the books i wish there was more than six of them.
i remember when i first started reading them.
i fist started with hunger and half way through i find out that
theres a book called gone so i stop reading hunger and started gone.
last year i got into so much cr*p from my teachers for reading the books and not doing my work.
All i would say was "one more chapter please Ms just one or half im almost done."
i freaked out when she had taken it off me i acturly got up when she wasnt
looking and stool it back from off her desk.
and my mum say's that reading is good hahaha.
its helped me to lern how to stel things back. :D
i love the books i wish there was more than six of them.
i remember when i first started reading them.
i fist started with hunger and half way through i find out that
theres a book called gone so i stop reading hunger and started gone.
last year i got into so much cr*p from my teachers for reading the books and not doing my work.
All i would say was "one more chapter please Ms just one or half im almost done."
i freaked out when she had taken it off me i acturly got up when she wasnt
looking and stool it back from off her desk.
and my mum say's that reading is good hahaha.
its helped me to lern how to stel things back. :D
April 30, 2018
"…death is better because death is the end of fear, isn’t it?"
OH. MY. GOD. I CAN'T....
'LIGHT' is my most-anticipated book for 2013. Hands. Down.
OH. MY. GOD. I CAN'T....
'LIGHT' is my most-anticipated book for 2013. Hands. Down.
May 14, 2012
There are certain books that, if turned into movies, I would never watch. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (which is a movie, actually) is one of them. Rape and torture? Not something I would like to see on the big screen. Fear by Michael Grant is another one of those books. People having their minds ripped apart and their bodies broken and bent and twisted in various ways? Yeah, throwing up is not that high on my list of priorities.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Gone series by Michael Grant. Like I've stated in almost all of my reviews of the previous books, they are not superbly well-written. They are not books that make me think about the meaning of life or make me want to grab a friend and discuss philosophy at my local Barnes and Noble. But they are fierce, addictive, and possess an overarching quality that commands a five-star rating.
In this addition particularly, the title aptly describes what is going on in the book. The theme of fear is ubiquitous in the FAYZ - whether its the fear of Drake's whip hand, the fear caused by Penny's creepy power, or the fear of the dome turning completely dark. Some characters are fleshed out more than others, but they are all easy to sympathize with. Besides Drake and Penny, of course, the former being a bigoted sexist and the latter being a gruesome little girl with a truly terrifying ability.
I am curious to see how Grant wraps up this gargantuan story with all of its plot lines and characters and supernatural occurrences. He hasn't made a serious misstep yet, so hopefully he will pull through and write a fantastic finale!
*review cross-posted on my blog, the quiet voice.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Gone series by Michael Grant. Like I've stated in almost all of my reviews of the previous books, they are not superbly well-written. They are not books that make me think about the meaning of life or make me want to grab a friend and discuss philosophy at my local Barnes and Noble. But they are fierce, addictive, and possess an overarching quality that commands a five-star rating.
In this addition particularly, the title aptly describes what is going on in the book. The theme of fear is ubiquitous in the FAYZ - whether its the fear of Drake's whip hand, the fear caused by Penny's creepy power, or the fear of the dome turning completely dark. Some characters are fleshed out more than others, but they are all easy to sympathize with. Besides Drake and Penny, of course, the former being a bigoted sexist and the latter being a gruesome little girl with a truly terrifying ability.
I am curious to see how Grant wraps up this gargantuan story with all of its plot lines and characters and supernatural occurrences. He hasn't made a serious misstep yet, so hopefully he will pull through and write a fantastic finale!
*review cross-posted on my blog, the quiet voice.
April 9, 2024
Was a bit of a drag to get through but the ending made it worth it. I feel like so much happens in every book and there's so many characters that it can be hard to keep track of it at times. But it was still a very enjoyable book. I'm so excited to be moving onto the last book. I hope that all things get wrapped up.
February 3, 2021
2.5 stars
At this point I’m only reading for Diana because she is hands down the best character but OH GOD I am so SICK of ASTRID AND SAM PERFECT LITTLE ANGELS WHO CAN DO NO WRONG 😑🖐
Ok, just——
Sam is literally described as the “hero” who everyone loves and there’s literally nothing else about him that’s remotely interesting, he’s just the token Good Guy and Hero. Blegh.🤢😑
Astrid. SMART. And BEAUTIFUL. You can’t really get any more perfect than that, can you? Little miss perfect little goody-two-shoes who’s also BRAVE and KIND and did I mention SMART?? and BEAUTIFUL?? She’s not even remotely interesting, she’s just the perfect little girlfriend for the Hero. No thank you. 😐🖐
Diana and Cain, on the other hand—-
Cain is hot ASF and you cannot convince me otherwise, that’s just HOW IT IS. He’s also INTERESTING. Take notes, Sam and Astrid. Cain and Diana will forever be a better ship than you.
Diana is just amazing, she’s such a complicated, mysterious, character and god I just love her sm.
Maybe I just really like villains, idk, but I feel like it may be a bit of a bad sign if the villains in the book are 1000% more likeable than the MCs.
🖤🖤We stan Diana and Cain in this house.🖤🖤
At this point I’m only reading for Diana because she is hands down the best character but OH GOD I am so SICK of ASTRID AND SAM PERFECT LITTLE ANGELS WHO CAN DO NO WRONG 😑🖐
Ok, just——
Sam is literally described as the “hero” who everyone loves and there’s literally nothing else about him that’s remotely interesting, he’s just the token Good Guy and Hero. Blegh.🤢😑
Astrid. SMART. And BEAUTIFUL. You can’t really get any more perfect than that, can you? Little miss perfect little goody-two-shoes who’s also BRAVE and KIND and did I mention SMART?? and BEAUTIFUL?? She’s not even remotely interesting, she’s just the perfect little girlfriend for the Hero. No thank you. 😐🖐
Diana and Cain, on the other hand—-
Cain is hot ASF and you cannot convince me otherwise, that’s just HOW IT IS. He’s also INTERESTING. Take notes, Sam and Astrid. Cain and Diana will forever be a better ship than you.
Diana is just amazing, she’s such a complicated, mysterious, character and god I just love her sm.
Maybe I just really like villains, idk, but I feel like it may be a bit of a bad sign if the villains in the book are 1000% more likeable than the MCs.
🖤🖤We stan Diana and Cain in this house.🖤🖤
May 19, 2012
posted at http://www.falloutalleyyouthzone.com
I got an ARC so I want to post a review :D
Fans of the Gone series should check out a GONE Fan forum called Enter The Fayz at enterthefayz.com
In a lot of ways, Fear Raises the bar in the series and it makes me excited to see what MG has in store for us in the the final book. In other ways, the book does seem to regress a bit which leads to disappointing moments as well as a few elements that were introduced that sort of changed the story...
FEAR is the 5th installment in the Gone series but this book is hard to compare to its predecessors because it feels like a COMPLETELY different book. This is Good and Bad. Plot-wise it is more on par with Lies(and a lessor extent Gone) due to the character driven plot.
This book finds the Fayz children facing a seemingly unbeatable enemy...Darkness & their inner demons. Normally in Gone-Plague you had a clearly defined enemies(Sam vs Caine, Moofs vs Human grew, Everyone vs drake) and while you still have that it was great to see that the enemy this time around was psychological. This book is aptly named FEAR and this was one aspect I loved.
You see character's interacting with each other that before FEAR never had any scenes together and I loved that. It wasn't just the usual suspects grouped together with their usual people. And half the book, people you normally expect to be together all the time are actually separated.
The Big improvements of all are A) Backstory and B) Character Development. We get A LOT of backstory. We learn so much about the character's lives prior to the Fayz and it answers so many questions and it explains why certain character's are the way they are. But even better, along with the backstory came CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. So much Character development and in most cases it worked though some it faltered.
Without giving anything away, characters like Sam, Astrid, Brianna, Quinn, Orch and more get a lot of development. Sam is FINALLY a protagonist for me to root for. He was not the same "wait and see" type of guy he usually is. Astrid herself is finally appealing and though she makes some dumb choices, her overall outlook on life has changed and I have begun to like her. Quinn has really grown into a man. He has essentially been a nobody since hunger and now in FEAR, he has a purpose and he has depth. I LOVE IT....Orch's development from Plague to FEAR may appeal to some but to me, it just felt....forced. I didn't buy it.
There are other characters who get a lot of development but I can't say who or what without giving away too much of the plot.
If I stopped here, FEAR will be rated a 9.5 and is the best in the Series yet.
But let's talk about the cons....
1) Michael Grant, I love your work, but every book you throw at us these minor characters with the crazy nicknames and what not and we have to be able to remember who they are, what they can do and their storyline.
There are WAY to many characters in FEAR to keep up with and that annoyed me. Even more so, he brought characters who were just as useless and pointless from the older books back into FEAR and they still just essentially were taking up precious space that could have gone to a more important character.
2) There is a new Element that is introduced in FEAR that changes the game and thus makes the story go in a completely different direction. In Some ways I liked it but in the end, it mostly fail flat to me because it also once again added more charater's who i didn't care about.
3) The Lack of risk...Michael's writing has matured with FEAR since GONE and I love the growth but there is still a lack of risk. Things happen in these books to main character's some Good and some really bad but you just don't get the sense of risk when you read about them.
Usually the worse of the events go to the Minor character's and I feel that is a slight cop out. However in the end there was ONE character who you do not know whether they will make it or not so I guess he did slightly take a risk but i want a sense of more urgency.
4) The entire book is rushed. It takes place over almost 3 days. 2.5 days to be exact.
This is what sort of handicapped FEAR to me and knocked it from the best in the series to the 3rd because SO MUCH HAPPENS In the story that it is hard to accept it happened in 2.5 days.
There are somethings that are rushed through(A character's coming out the closet) so fast you barely notice it. And when you find out who it is, you are disappointed because there was literally NO development to even introduce this.
When there should have been a conflict between 2 people, there was none. There are 2 people in this story who needed to have serious conversation about events from Plague but it never comes. It is just glossed over once again like it didn't happen.
I've heard the ending is rushed to some people and in some ways they are right. It was quite rushed. This ending was more rushed than the one in GONE. And you will be pissed because this isn't a neatly wrapped Gone ending. It's not a cliff-hanger but it does leave you with a sense of knowing what is going to happen now.
In conclusion, FEAR is hard to compare to it's predecessors because it feels like an entirely different Michael Grant and an entirely different book. It has set the bar quite high for MG to do a satisfying finale because this book was intense. It was dark, it was gross but in a good way and it gets into your mind. If i had to compare to a gone novel, it be Lies. This is what LIES should have been and I compare it to Lies quite a bit.
But it drops the ball because the thing LIES had going for it was the urgency you felt in the story. Lies was not rushed at all, it was in fact quite slow. You got a lot of info in Lies there was just no action....In FEAR, it's so quick that so many things are rushed through and you wind up coming out slightly disappointed
Is FEAR the best in the series? No, no it's not. That still is held by Plague in my honest opinion.
But FEAR is a great setup for what I hope will be an intense and disgustingly fun ride in LIGHT when it is released in 2013.
I rate FEAR an 8.8
(Gone 7.9, Hunger 9, Lies 6.9 and Plague a 9.8)
If there any questions you have, feel free to post here or messages me and I'll answer any questions!
Micah
I got an ARC so I want to post a review :D
Fans of the Gone series should check out a GONE Fan forum called Enter The Fayz at enterthefayz.com
In a lot of ways, Fear Raises the bar in the series and it makes me excited to see what MG has in store for us in the the final book. In other ways, the book does seem to regress a bit which leads to disappointing moments as well as a few elements that were introduced that sort of changed the story...
FEAR is the 5th installment in the Gone series but this book is hard to compare to its predecessors because it feels like a COMPLETELY different book. This is Good and Bad. Plot-wise it is more on par with Lies(and a lessor extent Gone) due to the character driven plot.
This book finds the Fayz children facing a seemingly unbeatable enemy...Darkness & their inner demons. Normally in Gone-Plague you had a clearly defined enemies(Sam vs Caine, Moofs vs Human grew, Everyone vs drake) and while you still have that it was great to see that the enemy this time around was psychological. This book is aptly named FEAR and this was one aspect I loved.
You see character's interacting with each other that before FEAR never had any scenes together and I loved that. It wasn't just the usual suspects grouped together with their usual people. And half the book, people you normally expect to be together all the time are actually separated.
The Big improvements of all are A) Backstory and B) Character Development. We get A LOT of backstory. We learn so much about the character's lives prior to the Fayz and it answers so many questions and it explains why certain character's are the way they are. But even better, along with the backstory came CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. So much Character development and in most cases it worked though some it faltered.
Without giving anything away, characters like Sam, Astrid, Brianna, Quinn, Orch and more get a lot of development. Sam is FINALLY a protagonist for me to root for. He was not the same "wait and see" type of guy he usually is. Astrid herself is finally appealing and though she makes some dumb choices, her overall outlook on life has changed and I have begun to like her. Quinn has really grown into a man. He has essentially been a nobody since hunger and now in FEAR, he has a purpose and he has depth. I LOVE IT....Orch's development from Plague to FEAR may appeal to some but to me, it just felt....forced. I didn't buy it.
There are other characters who get a lot of development but I can't say who or what without giving away too much of the plot.
If I stopped here, FEAR will be rated a 9.5 and is the best in the Series yet.
But let's talk about the cons....
1) Michael Grant, I love your work, but every book you throw at us these minor characters with the crazy nicknames and what not and we have to be able to remember who they are, what they can do and their storyline.
There are WAY to many characters in FEAR to keep up with and that annoyed me. Even more so, he brought characters who were just as useless and pointless from the older books back into FEAR and they still just essentially were taking up precious space that could have gone to a more important character.
2) There is a new Element that is introduced in FEAR that changes the game and thus makes the story go in a completely different direction. In Some ways I liked it but in the end, it mostly fail flat to me because it also once again added more charater's who i didn't care about.
3) The Lack of risk...Michael's writing has matured with FEAR since GONE and I love the growth but there is still a lack of risk. Things happen in these books to main character's some Good and some really bad but you just don't get the sense of risk when you read about them.
Usually the worse of the events go to the Minor character's and I feel that is a slight cop out. However in the end there was ONE character who you do not know whether they will make it or not so I guess he did slightly take a risk but i want a sense of more urgency.
4) The entire book is rushed. It takes place over almost 3 days. 2.5 days to be exact.
This is what sort of handicapped FEAR to me and knocked it from the best in the series to the 3rd because SO MUCH HAPPENS In the story that it is hard to accept it happened in 2.5 days.
There are somethings that are rushed through(A character's coming out the closet) so fast you barely notice it. And when you find out who it is, you are disappointed because there was literally NO development to even introduce this.
When there should have been a conflict between 2 people, there was none. There are 2 people in this story who needed to have serious conversation about events from Plague but it never comes. It is just glossed over once again like it didn't happen.
I've heard the ending is rushed to some people and in some ways they are right. It was quite rushed. This ending was more rushed than the one in GONE. And you will be pissed because this isn't a neatly wrapped Gone ending. It's not a cliff-hanger but it does leave you with a sense of knowing what is going to happen now.
In conclusion, FEAR is hard to compare to it's predecessors because it feels like an entirely different Michael Grant and an entirely different book. It has set the bar quite high for MG to do a satisfying finale because this book was intense. It was dark, it was gross but in a good way and it gets into your mind. If i had to compare to a gone novel, it be Lies. This is what LIES should have been and I compare it to Lies quite a bit.
But it drops the ball because the thing LIES had going for it was the urgency you felt in the story. Lies was not rushed at all, it was in fact quite slow. You got a lot of info in Lies there was just no action....In FEAR, it's so quick that so many things are rushed through and you wind up coming out slightly disappointed
Is FEAR the best in the series? No, no it's not. That still is held by Plague in my honest opinion.
But FEAR is a great setup for what I hope will be an intense and disgustingly fun ride in LIGHT when it is released in 2013.
I rate FEAR an 8.8
(Gone 7.9, Hunger 9, Lies 6.9 and Plague a 9.8)
If there any questions you have, feel free to post here or messages me and I'll answer any questions!
Micah
November 8, 2024
4.5 stars ...
Just a small step back from the intensity of the previous books.
Just a small step back from the intensity of the previous books.
April 24, 2012
Hey guys! I know I'm great, thankyou.;) So here's an excerpt from fear and below are the facts that have been written by MG himself. And below that is my review after I finished this book.
65 hours 11 minutes She wore denem jeans and a plaid flannel shirt over a black T-shirt several sizes too big. A leather belt made two turns around her waist. It was a man’s belt, and a big man at that. But it was sturdy and bore the weight of the .38 revolver, the machete, and her water bottle. Her backpack was dirty and the seams were all frayed, but it sat comfortably on her thin shoulders. In the pack she had three precious vacuum packs of dehydrated macaroni liberated from distant campsites. Just add water. She also had most of a cooked pigeon in a Tupperware container, a dozen wild green onions, a bottle of vitamins – she allowed herself one every three days – as well as pencil and paper, three books, a small bag of pot and a little pipe, needle and thread, two Bic lighters, and a spare water bottle. There was also a medicine pouch: a few Band-Aids, a mostly used tube of Neosporin and a dozen precious Tylenol, and infinitely more precious tampons. Astrid Ellison had changed.
1) Remember that it was originally titled DARKNESS.
2) At one point Sam will rub Diana's tummy.
3) Astrid-haters will love her by the end.
4) There's a surprising "coming out."
5)... A heart will be broken.
6) You will learn why Sam and not Caine.
7) There is a huge betrayal.
8) Someone will lose their virginity.
9) Someone we know well will die.
10) A scene so dark and anguished my editors wanted me to tone it down. (Of course I didn't. How long have you known me?
After Fear
Okay. Calm down. OMy FrAkIng GoSh!!! THis BoOk Is FrEaKing AMazInG. OmG
I'can't BelIEVe What HaPPenS!! The BeSt BooK EvAAh!!
Sorry 'bout that. Yes, this is the best book so far, in the series and among the books I've read. You won't believe it if I said that I was afraid to read the last 20 pages or something. There was a good amount of violence, not the Plague style war kind of violence, but this in itself was soo... Heart-wrenching! Yeah, that's the right word, Heart-wrenching. It was like everything that had happened till this point, every death in the FAYZ had come down to this. Even as I type this now, It's taking all I have to to go down into full freakout mode. Grant has created an epic here. It would be wrong to say that this book gave you the feeling of being right there. No, this book gave you the feel of watching someone you love so much that you could die ten times over for them, lie right in front of your eyes, screaming out their life, slowing dying just out of your reach and all you can do is go 'no no nononononononooooooooo!!' and yet even as you say that, even the straws that you have been grasping at are torn out of you're hands. IT is much more descriptive than all the other books. It goes against all the expectations, hopes, guesses of the reader.
The character development is quite considerable, specially of those who we had not got to know so well till now. The book is full of 360 degree turns that turn up when least expected. I won't spoil it for those about to read it. The things that happen towards the end of the book are, well, something you would not expect. The whole time you're like...'WTF?? This can't be happening!' I'm not sure how much I enjoyed the Outside view but it did answer a few questions, though I might have just as soon stayed without answers for them. Diana is soo messed up (if you know what I mean) and I did not like the 'surprising coming out' part. Believe me, It's not pretty. I was quite surprised at what astrid did. On the whole, a must read book. Grant has soared above himself with this.
65 hours 11 minutes She wore denem jeans and a plaid flannel shirt over a black T-shirt several sizes too big. A leather belt made two turns around her waist. It was a man’s belt, and a big man at that. But it was sturdy and bore the weight of the .38 revolver, the machete, and her water bottle. Her backpack was dirty and the seams were all frayed, but it sat comfortably on her thin shoulders. In the pack she had three precious vacuum packs of dehydrated macaroni liberated from distant campsites. Just add water. She also had most of a cooked pigeon in a Tupperware container, a dozen wild green onions, a bottle of vitamins – she allowed herself one every three days – as well as pencil and paper, three books, a small bag of pot and a little pipe, needle and thread, two Bic lighters, and a spare water bottle. There was also a medicine pouch: a few Band-Aids, a mostly used tube of Neosporin and a dozen precious Tylenol, and infinitely more precious tampons. Astrid Ellison had changed.
1) Remember that it was originally titled DARKNESS.
2) At one point Sam will rub Diana's tummy.
3) Astrid-haters will love her by the end.
4) There's a surprising "coming out."
5)... A heart will be broken.
6) You will learn why Sam and not Caine.
7) There is a huge betrayal.
8) Someone will lose their virginity.
9) Someone we know well will die.
10) A scene so dark and anguished my editors wanted me to tone it down. (Of course I didn't. How long have you known me?
After Fear
Okay. Calm down. OMy FrAkIng GoSh!!! THis BoOk Is FrEaKing AMazInG. OmG
I'can't BelIEVe What HaPPenS!! The BeSt BooK EvAAh!!
Sorry 'bout that. Yes, this is the best book so far, in the series and among the books I've read. You won't believe it if I said that I was afraid to read the last 20 pages or something. There was a good amount of violence, not the Plague style war kind of violence, but this in itself was soo... Heart-wrenching! Yeah, that's the right word, Heart-wrenching. It was like everything that had happened till this point, every death in the FAYZ had come down to this. Even as I type this now, It's taking all I have to to go down into full freakout mode. Grant has created an epic here. It would be wrong to say that this book gave you the feeling of being right there. No, this book gave you the feel of watching someone you love so much that you could die ten times over for them, lie right in front of your eyes, screaming out their life, slowing dying just out of your reach and all you can do is go 'no no nononononononooooooooo!!' and yet even as you say that, even the straws that you have been grasping at are torn out of you're hands. IT is much more descriptive than all the other books. It goes against all the expectations, hopes, guesses of the reader.
The character development is quite considerable, specially of those who we had not got to know so well till now. The book is full of 360 degree turns that turn up when least expected. I won't spoil it for those about to read it. The things that happen towards the end of the book are, well, something you would not expect. The whole time you're like...'WTF?? This can't be happening!' I'm not sure how much I enjoyed the Outside view but it did answer a few questions, though I might have just as soon stayed without answers for them. Diana is soo messed up (if you know what I mean) and I did not like the 'surprising coming out' part. Believe me, It's not pretty. I was quite surprised at what astrid did. On the whole, a must read book. Grant has soared above himself with this.
August 8, 2020
Another fantastic book in this series. This is not much more I can add to this review as I have already said so much but, in this book the pace really picks up and more weird and wonderful things are happening to the kids.
The creatures are getting stranger and stronger and the kids are battling with each other and the creatures. Fabulous book.
The creatures are getting stranger and stronger and the kids are battling with each other and the creatures. Fabulous book.
November 30, 2019
.... wow... that's really all I can say about this book. That and maybe "holy crap". Can't even imagine what the final book's going to entail but I am counting down the days.
November 7, 2011
One comment, real quick, in regards to Diana's baby.
I've got a theory, and it's been rattling around my head ever since I put two and two together, if you'll pardon the pun, Diana's child is a two-bar as a day old embryo, for examples of two bars, look no further than Computer Jack, or Duck Zhang, for that matter. They both have pretty powerful gifts, so say Diana's baby's powers grow, what then? Little Pete has been indirectly marked as an eight bar, if he created the Fayz, who's to say Diana's kid won't destroy it? (The barrier, that is.)
I mean, if Im correct, and the baby's powers continue to grow, and I have a feeling in my gut that they will, who's to say that it won't be a universal manipulator, like Petey?
Anyways, that's just what happens when I start theorizing about things when I get bored in school, and I'm just spitballing here, so I could be completely wrong, yet I get the feeling that I'm not. But if I am correct, the child of Caine and Diana will bring about the end of the Fayz.
Also, this just crossed my mind, but the baby would have a lot of Sam's genes too, since he is Caines twin, it's simple math, as shown here in a formula of my own divising:
Sam (4 bar)
+
Caine (4 bar)
+
Diana. (2 bars)
=
X Factor Baby (10 bars)
So by my calculations, which are by now off in the realm of quantum-freaking-physics, The baby will be equivalent to, if not more powerful than, Little Pete Ellison.
There, people, is my wonderful theory.
(P.S: Michael Grant, If you are reading this, please drop a comment and tell me if I'm at least somewhere in the ballbark, or anyone who has read FEAR, please, I'm freaking out, I cannot wait until April!)
I've got a theory, and it's been rattling around my head ever since I put two and two together, if you'll pardon the pun, Diana's child is a two-bar as a day old embryo, for examples of two bars, look no further than Computer Jack, or Duck Zhang, for that matter. They both have pretty powerful gifts, so say Diana's baby's powers grow, what then? Little Pete has been indirectly marked as an eight bar, if he created the Fayz, who's to say Diana's kid won't destroy it? (The barrier, that is.)
I mean, if Im correct, and the baby's powers continue to grow, and I have a feeling in my gut that they will, who's to say that it won't be a universal manipulator, like Petey?
Anyways, that's just what happens when I start theorizing about things when I get bored in school, and I'm just spitballing here, so I could be completely wrong, yet I get the feeling that I'm not. But if I am correct, the child of Caine and Diana will bring about the end of the Fayz.
Also, this just crossed my mind, but the baby would have a lot of Sam's genes too, since he is Caines twin, it's simple math, as shown here in a formula of my own divising:
Sam (4 bar)
+
Caine (4 bar)
+
Diana. (2 bars)
=
X Factor Baby (10 bars)
So by my calculations, which are by now off in the realm of quantum-freaking-physics, The baby will be equivalent to, if not more powerful than, Little Pete Ellison.
There, people, is my wonderful theory.
(P.S: Michael Grant, If you are reading this, please drop a comment and tell me if I'm at least somewhere in the ballbark, or anyone who has read FEAR, please, I'm freaking out, I cannot wait until April!)
April 1, 2012
I was a massive fan of the first couple of books in the GONE series, but Grant seems to be running out of ideas. The tension from previous books was completely absent in this one, and it felt like a filler episode of a long-running soap rather than the next instalment in a blockbuster teen book series.
The only thing that made this books even vaguely interesting was that things have started to change in the barrier around the FAYZ. You even get to see some events on the other side of the barrier for the first time, with whole chapters told from the POV of Sam and Caine's mother.
And yet nothing really happens. Oh sure, things take place, events occur, but none of it feels anywhere near as significant as it should at the fifth book in a six-book series. I have vague recollections (possibly imagined) of reading that GONE was the first book in a trilogy, and I can't help but think things have been stretched out to fit six books after it became so successful.
If you've read the previous four you'll read this, I'm sure, but for me the spark has gone out of the series, and I found it a big disappointment.
The only thing that made this books even vaguely interesting was that things have started to change in the barrier around the FAYZ. You even get to see some events on the other side of the barrier for the first time, with whole chapters told from the POV of Sam and Caine's mother.
And yet nothing really happens. Oh sure, things take place, events occur, but none of it feels anywhere near as significant as it should at the fifth book in a six-book series. I have vague recollections (possibly imagined) of reading that GONE was the first book in a trilogy, and I can't help but think things have been stretched out to fit six books after it became so successful.
If you've read the previous four you'll read this, I'm sure, but for me the spark has gone out of the series, and I found it a big disappointment.
August 19, 2017
Adictivo desde la primera página. Con sus sorpresas por doquier y esa habilidad del autor de mantenerte en vilo hasta la última frase. Cada libro es mejor que el anterior; deseando leer el desenlace
April 15, 2012
I've had a sort of nagging issue with this series since the beginning, and as it winds down to its conclusion, I think I'm starting to finally figure out what it is.
Well, let me start with the positives, because my feelings on this book are overwhelmingly positive--true to form, Grant is still the master of pacing. Each chapter, still headered with that ticking clock, is subdivided into a series of vignettes told from different characters' viewpoints. And each one--yes, almost literally every single one--ends on a cliffhanger that makes you regret your time with this character is once again going on pause. He's a master of disseminating information at a pace that keeps you intrigued yet not frustrated, excited yet not overwhelmed. I read through these books like liquid butter, and I have such a narrow window for pacing tolerance that the mere fact of me finishing a book is enough to consider it exceptional, but I never have a problem getting through one of the GONE books.
Pacing, however, is not plot. The rate at which he doles out information is perfect, but the information itself is becoming more and more clearly made-up-as-he-goes. I guess I don't have a problem with this. His writing style has never been large on internally consistent logic--any fans of the Animorphs knows the rules can bend and wobble to fit any number of nightmarishly inescapable circumstances--but he's a creative and interesting enough writer that I don't mind the plot divots because I know I'll end up somewhere awesome. For instance, and spoiler alert from here on out--it's revealed in this book that Little Petey "used" the gaiaphage to create the barrier, so that the gaiaphage is a part of the barrier. However, it's unclear whether the association between Petey and the Gaiaphage is necessary for the manifestation of all his previous powers--were those monsters he conjured in Hunger an expression of the gaiaphage as well? What are the limits of Petey's powers, both in corporeal and noncorporeal form? These questions don't have answers, because I sense Grant doesn't want to limit himself with actual rules. So everything just sort of slides along, conflicts get resolved, but the overall mythology is frustratingly stalled, much like the show that provides Perdido Beach's name. Just like LOST, the answers in GONE aren't answers so much as distractions that seem to spiral closer and closer to some nugget of truth that will probably end up being totally arbitrary.
That said, I've forgiven LOST of providing me no real meaning, because I had so much fun on the journey that the destination didn't matter as much. I expect to resolve my issues with Gone's plot in the same way.
However, the plot is exciting enough to keep my interest, but the biggest problem I have with this series are the characters who carry it out. And they've always been on the cusp of relatable, identifiable humans, yet they always fall frustratingly short. Our main characters--Sam, Caine, Drake, and Astrid--have never much expanded beyond the archetypes they're meant to fill. Sam has always been stalwart and overwhelmed, Astrid, his girlfriend, has never breached far beyond her role as support and nurture of him (she did try once though, so I credit him that), Drake has always been an uncontrollable sociopath, Caine has always provided some kind of antagonistic foil. Their motivations don't much matter, because they're always *responding* to what's already happening, and each "happening" can pretty much be summed up by the title of each respective book. They're plot-driven books, and that's fine, but the times he edges up to actual character development/arcs always miss their target by such a narrow margin, and I think that's why these books frustrate me.
I have a few specific cases I want to discuss. First, Edilio. It's revealed in this book that Edilio is gay--something I've kind of suspected, so whatever those subtle clues were happened to be expertly planted (maybe it was just that we hadn't got a male gay character yet, and you know Grant wouldn't assign that role to a villain)--but the actual reveal was one of the silliest things that made the rest of the whirlwind story grind tortuously to a halt. Sam is trying to figure out some problem that is VERY URGENT with a VERY SHORT DEADLINE (I think it was right after they all found out Diana had been kidnapped), and Edilio calls his boyfriend "babe." First, I don't think a time of such heightened stress and awareness is the time for ANYONE to be throwing out platitudes, and second, that word itself is just so far outside of Edilio's character that I could almost see the hand of the author moving his puppet. The one word would have been forgivable, but then all the characters take a time out to address the social impact of this new revelation. It's okay, you're still a brother to me, I forgive you for being gay and not telling me. Realistically, Sam might have jerked, but I think that particular gaffe would have been temporarily postponed with some awkward silences and avoided gazes. The fact that everyone stops everything to address a *socially relevant teen issue* just felt so pandering and dishonest. I like that we're trying to address these things, but not at the expense of the believability of the story.
Besides a few minor little issues like that (another that comes to mind is Dekka and Orc's discussion of her sexual identity, though that felt a little more natural since they were both kind of avoiding what they'd been ordered to do), my biggest complaint is with the characters I DO like and DO respond to. Each book has one, and I know this is entirely personal, but there's always one character whose arc I find really compelling, really interesting, really moving. In Lies (I think?), it was Mary. In Plague, it was Dekka. In Fear, it was Diana.
I guess I just love my female tortured souls.
Since this is a review for Fear, though, let's talk about Diana.
Diana's whole arc in this story was absolutely horrifying, but I never really got the sense that Grant understood why. Horror, in general, can be fantastic, but I feel like it also has to be specifically relatable to intrinsic human fears. They have to reference things that real human people are actually afraid of. There is a lot of horror in these books that doesn't work because it's outside the realm of anything anyone ever experiences. The monsters Petey conjured in Hunger, for instance. No one's ever had to deal with that, so the whole scene felt like abstract time-filler. But there are bits of horror in these books that are excellent. Common situations slightly twisted, standard fears augmented and perverted, so that they become nightmare fodder. The wasps in Plague are a great example. Huge, growing tumors spreading painlessly through you, killing you from the inside out, and all you can do is know, you can't change it, you can't cure it. You can only wait for it to crack you open and leave your rotting corpse behind. That happens in real life, and it's just as horrifying there, too.
Diana's pregnancy is absolutely terrifying. Maybe just as a female reader who, even in my mid-twenties wouldn't know what to do with an unplanned pregnancy, but even without the additional paranormal elements--if this pregnancy had been played exclusively straight, it still would have been horrific. Maybe even moreso.
Is there any terror a teenage girl has more than becoming pregnant? Any taboo more crippling? Any mistake with bigger consequences? There aren't many. And that horrible, cultural, biological truth, alone, in the normal world, could be a great tale of horror, but combine that with the utter indifference of the FAYZ, the fact that there are no doctors, no experts, no parents or authority figures, no choice and a great number of people that would probably want to see her dead--a teenage girl having to go through a pregnancy all alone, without any of the technological comforts our society has granted pregnant women--is one of the more visceral, immediate horrors this series has caused in me.
That said, the delivery of this situation is sparse and impersonal. Grant permits himself a third-person omniscient view, but it's for the most part internal. We get to hear thoughts, fears, confessions of guilt and surrender. These internal monologues never feel particularly personal, though. Diana, when she gets the few opportunities to think about her situation, is never really worried about all those things she does not have. She never really feels much at all about it. Most of the descriptions of her, when we're in her viewpoint, are physical--the amount of times she has to pee, the shape of her belly, the color of her nipples. When we do get descriptions of her mental state, it's usually that she's worried that her baby is going to be a monster, or guilt over the cannibalism she committed three books ago. We never really get her thoughts on becoming mistakenly pregnant, on how she's going to raise a baby in as hellish a place as the FAYZ, self-pity about what's happened to her, or any kinds of normal feelings you'd expect for her to feel. In addition, no one ever treats her with the kind of cruelty that unwed mothers still get all the time, the kind that's becoming codified in a number of different state legislatures. This seems like such a ripe, relevant topic, and it's not even touched upon at all.
I can almost forgive it because the author, as a man, can and will not ever be pregnant. But the author's job is to imagine what these things feel like, based on what he already knows. The lack of an attempt is troubling, and a commonly recurring pattern. Characters are not people--they're archetypes with the vaguest suggestions of personality. And, more often than not, we're informed of these character traits rather than being able to witness them.
As an example--Drake. Drake was a great terrifying character in GONE, one that even got the attention of horror connoisseur Stephen King, and there's one scene that my mind always goes to when I think of him. That horrible, awful scene in the classroom where Drake coerced Astrid into calling her brother a retard was perfect. How sociopathic, cruel, and unforgiving do you have to be not only to force someone into using a word they find contemptible, but to force them to betray their very family? It was not a cerebral scene--if I remember, the words Drake used were very simple and direct--but it was incredibly effective.
Drake doesn't have many scenes like that anymore.
The best example of this is Drake's supposed hatred of women. It's appropriate for his character, sure, but the reader never really sees it. There's a sort of confounding scene where Dekka and Astrid (I think) are discussing it, and the tone is something like, "boy, Drake sure does hate women." "He sure does." These characters are informing us of this trait, rather than allowing us to see it. We get this again in Drake's narration, but it's still as unremoved and abstract. "Women sure are awful," or something. There's never a reason for it--not that there has to be--but it's like the trait is never really associated with his character. It's an additional thing we're not supposed to like. No more effective than if a character said, "I'd bet Drake would microwave a puppy if he had the chance." I would bet that too, but it doesn't mean anything if he doesn't actually do it.
There's ample opportunity for us to see this alleged raging misogyny, and that's when Drake is dragging Diana down to the gaiaphage. But he never really treats her with contempt, we never really get to see that it's *her* he hates, the very expression of her body--because, really, what is more feminine than pregnancy?--he just kind of treats her like he treats everyone else. And, not to be crude, but it seemed dishonest to me--Diana is still a pregnant teenager. That is a class of person in our society that does not earn much respect, and our society has offered up many potential choice slurs to wield against them.
Drake uses none of them.
I would not have relished him calling her a whore, or slut, or whatever--this series, for some reason, censors out what little profanity it references--but even just the suggestion of the act that conceived the baby, and how disgusted or superior Drake felt to it, would have illustrated it. Insulting and mocking Diana for expressing the foregone conclusion of an act perpetrated by a pair, while leaving the other in that equation totally unaccused, is exactly the kind of thing that encompasses contemporary "misogyny." Grant served it to himself on a silver platter, and he's a smart guy, so I'm really not sure why he didn't go that route.
There is one good expression of it I have to point out, though, and it's a great example of how simple these illustrations can be. After the baby is born, Drake realizes the baby has to be fed, and orders Diana to do it, calling her a cow. That is perfect. A single word that can dehumanize her, take away her personhood, compare her to an animal, belittle her into nothing more than livestock that produces some necessary byproduct. Cow is a lazy insult often hurled at overweight women, but this was so much better. Not particularly creative, not particularly incisive, but just so, so appropriate, I finally had a sense of exactly how Drake felt about Diana in particular, and women in general. Just like making Astrid use the word "retard," a single insult like that can do more than paragraphs of description in helping me understand Drake.
This is a long way of saying that Grant needs to show more and tell less with his characters. They feel like caricatures because we rarely get to witness the traits that supposedly define them. And, like I said, I realize that isn't exactly the point of this book, but caring about people who seem to be mere references would increase the stakes of the plot and further intensify the wild ride we've already been on. Not that I expect that to happen too much in the last book, but it's the main thing that's kept me from *loving* these books like I do Harry Potter or Hunger Games or, yes, Animorphs, and instead just liking them enough to finish them.
Not that it really matters, though. He'll still get my money for the last one.
Well, let me start with the positives, because my feelings on this book are overwhelmingly positive--true to form, Grant is still the master of pacing. Each chapter, still headered with that ticking clock, is subdivided into a series of vignettes told from different characters' viewpoints. And each one--yes, almost literally every single one--ends on a cliffhanger that makes you regret your time with this character is once again going on pause. He's a master of disseminating information at a pace that keeps you intrigued yet not frustrated, excited yet not overwhelmed. I read through these books like liquid butter, and I have such a narrow window for pacing tolerance that the mere fact of me finishing a book is enough to consider it exceptional, but I never have a problem getting through one of the GONE books.
Pacing, however, is not plot. The rate at which he doles out information is perfect, but the information itself is becoming more and more clearly made-up-as-he-goes. I guess I don't have a problem with this. His writing style has never been large on internally consistent logic--any fans of the Animorphs knows the rules can bend and wobble to fit any number of nightmarishly inescapable circumstances--but he's a creative and interesting enough writer that I don't mind the plot divots because I know I'll end up somewhere awesome. For instance, and spoiler alert from here on out--it's revealed in this book that Little Petey "used" the gaiaphage to create the barrier, so that the gaiaphage is a part of the barrier. However, it's unclear whether the association between Petey and the Gaiaphage is necessary for the manifestation of all his previous powers--were those monsters he conjured in Hunger an expression of the gaiaphage as well? What are the limits of Petey's powers, both in corporeal and noncorporeal form? These questions don't have answers, because I sense Grant doesn't want to limit himself with actual rules. So everything just sort of slides along, conflicts get resolved, but the overall mythology is frustratingly stalled, much like the show that provides Perdido Beach's name. Just like LOST, the answers in GONE aren't answers so much as distractions that seem to spiral closer and closer to some nugget of truth that will probably end up being totally arbitrary.
That said, I've forgiven LOST of providing me no real meaning, because I had so much fun on the journey that the destination didn't matter as much. I expect to resolve my issues with Gone's plot in the same way.
However, the plot is exciting enough to keep my interest, but the biggest problem I have with this series are the characters who carry it out. And they've always been on the cusp of relatable, identifiable humans, yet they always fall frustratingly short. Our main characters--Sam, Caine, Drake, and Astrid--have never much expanded beyond the archetypes they're meant to fill. Sam has always been stalwart and overwhelmed, Astrid, his girlfriend, has never breached far beyond her role as support and nurture of him (she did try once though, so I credit him that), Drake has always been an uncontrollable sociopath, Caine has always provided some kind of antagonistic foil. Their motivations don't much matter, because they're always *responding* to what's already happening, and each "happening" can pretty much be summed up by the title of each respective book. They're plot-driven books, and that's fine, but the times he edges up to actual character development/arcs always miss their target by such a narrow margin, and I think that's why these books frustrate me.
I have a few specific cases I want to discuss. First, Edilio. It's revealed in this book that Edilio is gay--something I've kind of suspected, so whatever those subtle clues were happened to be expertly planted (maybe it was just that we hadn't got a male gay character yet, and you know Grant wouldn't assign that role to a villain)--but the actual reveal was one of the silliest things that made the rest of the whirlwind story grind tortuously to a halt. Sam is trying to figure out some problem that is VERY URGENT with a VERY SHORT DEADLINE (I think it was right after they all found out Diana had been kidnapped), and Edilio calls his boyfriend "babe." First, I don't think a time of such heightened stress and awareness is the time for ANYONE to be throwing out platitudes, and second, that word itself is just so far outside of Edilio's character that I could almost see the hand of the author moving his puppet. The one word would have been forgivable, but then all the characters take a time out to address the social impact of this new revelation. It's okay, you're still a brother to me, I forgive you for being gay and not telling me. Realistically, Sam might have jerked, but I think that particular gaffe would have been temporarily postponed with some awkward silences and avoided gazes. The fact that everyone stops everything to address a *socially relevant teen issue* just felt so pandering and dishonest. I like that we're trying to address these things, but not at the expense of the believability of the story.
Besides a few minor little issues like that (another that comes to mind is Dekka and Orc's discussion of her sexual identity, though that felt a little more natural since they were both kind of avoiding what they'd been ordered to do), my biggest complaint is with the characters I DO like and DO respond to. Each book has one, and I know this is entirely personal, but there's always one character whose arc I find really compelling, really interesting, really moving. In Lies (I think?), it was Mary. In Plague, it was Dekka. In Fear, it was Diana.
I guess I just love my female tortured souls.
Since this is a review for Fear, though, let's talk about Diana.
Diana's whole arc in this story was absolutely horrifying, but I never really got the sense that Grant understood why. Horror, in general, can be fantastic, but I feel like it also has to be specifically relatable to intrinsic human fears. They have to reference things that real human people are actually afraid of. There is a lot of horror in these books that doesn't work because it's outside the realm of anything anyone ever experiences. The monsters Petey conjured in Hunger, for instance. No one's ever had to deal with that, so the whole scene felt like abstract time-filler. But there are bits of horror in these books that are excellent. Common situations slightly twisted, standard fears augmented and perverted, so that they become nightmare fodder. The wasps in Plague are a great example. Huge, growing tumors spreading painlessly through you, killing you from the inside out, and all you can do is know, you can't change it, you can't cure it. You can only wait for it to crack you open and leave your rotting corpse behind. That happens in real life, and it's just as horrifying there, too.
Diana's pregnancy is absolutely terrifying. Maybe just as a female reader who, even in my mid-twenties wouldn't know what to do with an unplanned pregnancy, but even without the additional paranormal elements--if this pregnancy had been played exclusively straight, it still would have been horrific. Maybe even moreso.
Is there any terror a teenage girl has more than becoming pregnant? Any taboo more crippling? Any mistake with bigger consequences? There aren't many. And that horrible, cultural, biological truth, alone, in the normal world, could be a great tale of horror, but combine that with the utter indifference of the FAYZ, the fact that there are no doctors, no experts, no parents or authority figures, no choice and a great number of people that would probably want to see her dead--a teenage girl having to go through a pregnancy all alone, without any of the technological comforts our society has granted pregnant women--is one of the more visceral, immediate horrors this series has caused in me.
That said, the delivery of this situation is sparse and impersonal. Grant permits himself a third-person omniscient view, but it's for the most part internal. We get to hear thoughts, fears, confessions of guilt and surrender. These internal monologues never feel particularly personal, though. Diana, when she gets the few opportunities to think about her situation, is never really worried about all those things she does not have. She never really feels much at all about it. Most of the descriptions of her, when we're in her viewpoint, are physical--the amount of times she has to pee, the shape of her belly, the color of her nipples. When we do get descriptions of her mental state, it's usually that she's worried that her baby is going to be a monster, or guilt over the cannibalism she committed three books ago. We never really get her thoughts on becoming mistakenly pregnant, on how she's going to raise a baby in as hellish a place as the FAYZ, self-pity about what's happened to her, or any kinds of normal feelings you'd expect for her to feel. In addition, no one ever treats her with the kind of cruelty that unwed mothers still get all the time, the kind that's becoming codified in a number of different state legislatures. This seems like such a ripe, relevant topic, and it's not even touched upon at all.
I can almost forgive it because the author, as a man, can and will not ever be pregnant. But the author's job is to imagine what these things feel like, based on what he already knows. The lack of an attempt is troubling, and a commonly recurring pattern. Characters are not people--they're archetypes with the vaguest suggestions of personality. And, more often than not, we're informed of these character traits rather than being able to witness them.
As an example--Drake. Drake was a great terrifying character in GONE, one that even got the attention of horror connoisseur Stephen King, and there's one scene that my mind always goes to when I think of him. That horrible, awful scene in the classroom where Drake coerced Astrid into calling her brother a retard was perfect. How sociopathic, cruel, and unforgiving do you have to be not only to force someone into using a word they find contemptible, but to force them to betray their very family? It was not a cerebral scene--if I remember, the words Drake used were very simple and direct--but it was incredibly effective.
Drake doesn't have many scenes like that anymore.
The best example of this is Drake's supposed hatred of women. It's appropriate for his character, sure, but the reader never really sees it. There's a sort of confounding scene where Dekka and Astrid (I think) are discussing it, and the tone is something like, "boy, Drake sure does hate women." "He sure does." These characters are informing us of this trait, rather than allowing us to see it. We get this again in Drake's narration, but it's still as unremoved and abstract. "Women sure are awful," or something. There's never a reason for it--not that there has to be--but it's like the trait is never really associated with his character. It's an additional thing we're not supposed to like. No more effective than if a character said, "I'd bet Drake would microwave a puppy if he had the chance." I would bet that too, but it doesn't mean anything if he doesn't actually do it.
There's ample opportunity for us to see this alleged raging misogyny, and that's when Drake is dragging Diana down to the gaiaphage. But he never really treats her with contempt, we never really get to see that it's *her* he hates, the very expression of her body--because, really, what is more feminine than pregnancy?--he just kind of treats her like he treats everyone else. And, not to be crude, but it seemed dishonest to me--Diana is still a pregnant teenager. That is a class of person in our society that does not earn much respect, and our society has offered up many potential choice slurs to wield against them.
Drake uses none of them.
I would not have relished him calling her a whore, or slut, or whatever--this series, for some reason, censors out what little profanity it references--but even just the suggestion of the act that conceived the baby, and how disgusted or superior Drake felt to it, would have illustrated it. Insulting and mocking Diana for expressing the foregone conclusion of an act perpetrated by a pair, while leaving the other in that equation totally unaccused, is exactly the kind of thing that encompasses contemporary "misogyny." Grant served it to himself on a silver platter, and he's a smart guy, so I'm really not sure why he didn't go that route.
There is one good expression of it I have to point out, though, and it's a great example of how simple these illustrations can be. After the baby is born, Drake realizes the baby has to be fed, and orders Diana to do it, calling her a cow. That is perfect. A single word that can dehumanize her, take away her personhood, compare her to an animal, belittle her into nothing more than livestock that produces some necessary byproduct. Cow is a lazy insult often hurled at overweight women, but this was so much better. Not particularly creative, not particularly incisive, but just so, so appropriate, I finally had a sense of exactly how Drake felt about Diana in particular, and women in general. Just like making Astrid use the word "retard," a single insult like that can do more than paragraphs of description in helping me understand Drake.
This is a long way of saying that Grant needs to show more and tell less with his characters. They feel like caricatures because we rarely get to witness the traits that supposedly define them. And, like I said, I realize that isn't exactly the point of this book, but caring about people who seem to be mere references would increase the stakes of the plot and further intensify the wild ride we've already been on. Not that I expect that to happen too much in the last book, but it's the main thing that's kept me from *loving* these books like I do Harry Potter or Hunger Games or, yes, Animorphs, and instead just liking them enough to finish them.
Not that it really matters, though. He'll still get my money for the last one.
March 14, 2015
Kitabı dershanede bitirdim veee çıldıracakt��m arkadaş bi kitap da gerilimsiz olsun şu seride.
Ben: (Kitap bitince kitabı masaya sertçe çarpar ve yanındaki arkadaşına -ceyda- dönüp haykırmaya başlar) NE DEMEK YA NE DEMEK HAYIR KABUL ETMIYORUM BU NE AQ BANA SON KITABI VERIN
Ceyda: Son kitapta kalp krizi geçirme bari.
Yani arkadaşlar, ölümüm Michael Grant'in ellerinden olacak.
NOT: Kitabı okuduğum süre boyunca hiç kimse yaralanmamış, hiçbir eşya hasar almamıştır.
Ben: (Kitap bitince kitabı masaya sertçe çarpar ve yanındaki arkadaşına -ceyda- dönüp haykırmaya başlar) NE DEMEK YA NE DEMEK HAYIR KABUL ETMIYORUM BU NE AQ BANA SON KITABI VERIN
Ceyda: Son kitapta kalp krizi geçirme bari.
Yani arkadaşlar, ölümüm Michael Grant'in ellerinden olacak.
NOT: Kitabı okuduğum süre boyunca hiç kimse yaralanmamış, hiçbir eşya hasar almamıştır.
March 30, 2012
I can't review this. How can I review something so amazing and complex? My words will never do it justice.
April 4, 2018
"No, no, no, so not getting the point of fear. Because fear wasn't about what made sense. Fear was about possibilities. Not things that happened. Things that might.”
Fear is the fifth book in the Gone series by Michael Grant. And, of course, I really would rather avoid spoiling anyone for what happens in the first four books. We’ll see how well I do with that, now won’t we?
The premise of these books basically follows the idea of how Lord Of The Flies would have gone, had Stephen King written them.
These books have had me hooked since the first chapter of the first book. They’re written simply, yet beautifully. Michael Grant is a master at his craft, in my own opinion. His writing is beautiful and alluring, yet creepy and utterly terrifying in all aspects. His characters are complex. His world building has been incredible. And, all of the careful plotting that must have gone into writing each book in this series? Just, wow. It blows my mind. These books show this descent into madness, and how society breaks down more and more.
As creepy, somber and sobering as this series is, Michael Grant still manage to bring an odd amount of humour to his characters.
Also, can we just applaud his beautifully disgusting descriptions of things like flesh-eating worms? Or, how about his description of the utterly debilitating hallucinations caused by one of the children? Everything just seems so real when you read them, it makes your stomach turn. I know that it made me nauseous, and I happen to have a really strong stomach. For the most part.
I totally recommend this whole book series!
It’s for sure good for people who like Stephen King novels (he’s even blurbed all of the books himself!).
So, if you like novels that are both horror and science fiction - then this book is a perfect fit for you!
Fear is the fifth book in the Gone series by Michael Grant. And, of course, I really would rather avoid spoiling anyone for what happens in the first four books. We’ll see how well I do with that, now won’t we?
The premise of these books basically follows the idea of how Lord Of The Flies would have gone, had Stephen King written them.
These books have had me hooked since the first chapter of the first book. They’re written simply, yet beautifully. Michael Grant is a master at his craft, in my own opinion. His writing is beautiful and alluring, yet creepy and utterly terrifying in all aspects. His characters are complex. His world building has been incredible. And, all of the careful plotting that must have gone into writing each book in this series? Just, wow. It blows my mind. These books show this descent into madness, and how society breaks down more and more.
As creepy, somber and sobering as this series is, Michael Grant still manage to bring an odd amount of humour to his characters.
Also, can we just applaud his beautifully disgusting descriptions of things like flesh-eating worms? Or, how about his description of the utterly debilitating hallucinations caused by one of the children? Everything just seems so real when you read them, it makes your stomach turn. I know that it made me nauseous, and I happen to have a really strong stomach. For the most part.
I totally recommend this whole book series!
It’s for sure good for people who like Stephen King novels (he’s even blurbed all of the books himself!).
So, if you like novels that are both horror and science fiction - then this book is a perfect fit for you!
May 30, 2012
t's only been a year since I read the last Gone series book. No big deal, right? WRONG. I first got into the Gone series shortly before Hunger came out. I've been a huge fan ever since, and a year between books is a long time to wait.
Thankfully, I was nowhere near disappointed with this latest installment. What really keeps me going with this series is the characters. I genuinely feel like I know them, and I want them to come out on top. Well, except for the ones I don't like. Like, say, Drake. But now the author's got me even a bit sympathetic to Caine. What's up with that? That's the beauty (and the scariness) of it--the characters are all so real.
The intensity of this series of marvelous. I love all the action and suspense. And with that ending, now I can't help but wonder, and count down the days until the next book.
This is a horribly short review for such an awesome book. I suppose if I think of something more to rant on, I'll add it. Or maybe someday I'll return to this and post a full review.
If you haven't yet gotten on board with the Gone series, you need to. As soon as possible. This series just keeps getting better. It leaves you on the edge of your seat, it makes you thankful for just about everything, it creeps you out and scares you, and stuns you with its awesomeness, it leaves a trail of epicness everywhere you take it, etc.
Thankfully, I was nowhere near disappointed with this latest installment. What really keeps me going with this series is the characters. I genuinely feel like I know them, and I want them to come out on top. Well, except for the ones I don't like. Like, say, Drake. But now the author's got me even a bit sympathetic to Caine. What's up with that? That's the beauty (and the scariness) of it--the characters are all so real.
The intensity of this series of marvelous. I love all the action and suspense. And with that ending, now I can't help but wonder, and count down the days until the next book.
This is a horribly short review for such an awesome book. I suppose if I think of something more to rant on, I'll add it. Or maybe someday I'll return to this and post a full review.
If you haven't yet gotten on board with the Gone series, you need to. As soon as possible. This series just keeps getting better. It leaves you on the edge of your seat, it makes you thankful for just about everything, it creeps you out and scares you, and stuns you with its awesomeness, it leaves a trail of epicness everywhere you take it, etc.
May 29, 2012
Am I surprised by the events that happen in Fear? Eh, not really. It's the FAYZ.
Initial thoughts:
1. I've been desensitized by all of the weird and over-the-top scenarios. That's how much weird is in this series, and it's awesome.
2. Albert is a big suck.
3. All the characters are finally starting to come into their own. We're starting to see them develop, and show their true colours.
4. PETEY, DON'T TOUCH THAT!
5. The plot is a bridge to the last book. Lot's of setup to the final show.
6. Yay some answers! Aspects of the plot and some of the questions we have are addressed.
Can't wait for the last book! :)
Check out my video review here!
Initial thoughts:
1. I've been desensitized by all of the weird and over-the-top scenarios. That's how much weird is in this series, and it's awesome.
2. Albert is a big suck.
3. All the characters are finally starting to come into their own. We're starting to see them develop, and show their true colours.
4. PETEY, DON'T TOUCH THAT!
5. The plot is a bridge to the last book. Lot's of setup to the final show.
6. Yay some answers! Aspects of the plot and some of the questions we have are addressed.
Can't wait for the last book! :)
Check out my video review here!
December 21, 2015
WAT EEN EINDE!!! Of eigenlijk juist ook weer niet, want het is weer een opening voor boek 6. Menn... houdt het dan nooit op?! Ge-wel-dig hoe in dit 5e deel binnen en buiten wordt omschreven. Een kijkje in beide werelden. En Pete, een kijkje in zijn "geest". Dit boek is niet voor tere zieltjes, het is overleven in zijn rauwste vorm... En nu... nu wil ik door in deel 6!!!
February 17, 2017
Wow ok then...
A massive 4.5 stars
I've always enjoyed Michael Grant's books, but this was something else. His writing in this was intoxicating. The fear felt by his characters seemed so real. I could literally feel
Least to say, i can not wait to start Light.
A massive 4.5 stars
I've always enjoyed Michael Grant's books, but this was something else. His writing in this was intoxicating. The fear felt by his characters seemed so real. I could literally feel
Least to say, i can not wait to start Light.
July 8, 2021
With the remaining survivors inside the FAYZ split into two groups things seem to be going smoothly.
Kids are showing up to work, there's enough food from farming and fishing, and even Drake and the gaiaphage seem to be lying low.
But as usual, the easy times never last long. New mutations emerge, something strange is happening to the barrier and the gaiaphage has a plan.
Life in the FAYZ is definitely getting interesting!
As the second last book in the Gone series, Fear sure delivered on the action. As with the other books in the series I flew through the 500 pages quicker than usual.
Micheal Grant always manages to come up with interesting and sometimes violent new challenges for the kids trapped in the FAYZ that keep me on the edge of my seat.
This has been one of my favorites so far and I can't wait to see how it all turns out.
Kids are showing up to work, there's enough food from farming and fishing, and even Drake and the gaiaphage seem to be lying low.
But as usual, the easy times never last long. New mutations emerge, something strange is happening to the barrier and the gaiaphage has a plan.
Life in the FAYZ is definitely getting interesting!
As the second last book in the Gone series, Fear sure delivered on the action. As with the other books in the series I flew through the 500 pages quicker than usual.
Micheal Grant always manages to come up with interesting and sometimes violent new challenges for the kids trapped in the FAYZ that keep me on the edge of my seat.
This has been one of my favorites so far and I can't wait to see how it all turns out.
March 7, 2018
4.25/5
Okay, FINALLY everything is getting better and so much more interesting and I love the plot twists in this book.
Can't wait to read the final one!
Okay, FINALLY everything is getting better and so much more interesting and I love the plot twists in this book.
Can't wait to read the final one!
December 18, 2011
12 months after everyone over the age of fifteen disappeared, 9 months since the hunger, 5 months after the lies and 4 months after the devastating plague. The children of the FAYZ are separating to the lake with Sam or remaining in Perdido Beach with Caine as the King. Sam and the lake council are well organizing in the town, but Sam is feeling bored about the fact that nothing dramatic has occured at the lake for four long months. Little does he knew, something far worse than Drake or Caine is just around the corner. Back in Perdido Beach, Caine is managing the whole town but after momentary peace, chaos is bound to strike the fear in the survivors.
Like every other book in this series, it had none-stop action and it was an exciting page-turner. Fear had so many unexpected plot-twists and moments that would make you gasp, shudder, laugh and maybe even cry. Like in Lies, this book had a lot of perspectives from various characters that were forgotten in previous books. Contrary to in Lies, these characters ended up having an important significance throughout the book. There are also new, but very important POVs in Fear.
Many of the characters change in this book, some of the changes are expected and others are completely shocking. Some characters back down, others step up, some turn lovable and others become completely insane. Fear plays a lot in character development. It is very interesting to see how some of the kids’ characters evolved. It made for an exciting read to follow how they use to be and what they did to make their characters how they are today.
To conclude, Fear is definitely my favorite book of the series. It has action, love, suspense ... It’s got everything! I am really looking forward to the final book of the Gone series.
Like every other book in this series, it had none-stop action and it was an exciting page-turner. Fear had so many unexpected plot-twists and moments that would make you gasp, shudder, laugh and maybe even cry. Like in Lies, this book had a lot of perspectives from various characters that were forgotten in previous books. Contrary to in Lies, these characters ended up having an important significance throughout the book. There are also new, but very important POVs in Fear.
Many of the characters change in this book, some of the changes are expected and others are completely shocking. Some characters back down, others step up, some turn lovable and others become completely insane. Fear plays a lot in character development. It is very interesting to see how some of the kids’ characters evolved. It made for an exciting read to follow how they use to be and what they did to make their characters how they are today.
To conclude, Fear is definitely my favorite book of the series. It has action, love, suspense ... It’s got everything! I am really looking forward to the final book of the Gone series.
July 11, 2014
I haven't read the earlier novels in this series (I was quite surprised to see there are quite a few) but when I read the blurb I got pretty worried I was getting into a YA 'Lord of the Flies' novel where teenages would whine, form love triangles, whine some more, then have all their problems solved by realising growing up isn't so bad.
Got this one pretty wrong.
The world Grant creates 'under the dome' (aside from being better than Stephen King) is grim, gruesome, and hard hitting. Fear is definitely a 'boys' book, complete with disgusting mutations, baby-stealing coyotes and super-powered psycho-paths.
The world isn't devoid of love, but unlike a lot of YA fiction, don't expect relationships to be in the forefront of the plot.
Fear is a bit of a dark horse, and comes with my stamp of recommendation - looking forward to diving back through the series.
2014
So after finally back-reading the series, I found myself oddly disappointed to re-read Fear. I actually enjoyed the novel much more as an intro to the series than as book 5. I guess since the second time around all the gruesome had been introduced, I didn't feel the characters developed too much, and once again like Plague the story just felt like a meander until the series changing plot-lines happen (still it is a pretty bad-ass book)
Got this one pretty wrong.
The world Grant creates 'under the dome' (aside from being better than Stephen King) is grim, gruesome, and hard hitting. Fear is definitely a 'boys' book, complete with disgusting mutations, baby-stealing coyotes and super-powered psycho-paths.
The world isn't devoid of love, but unlike a lot of YA fiction, don't expect relationships to be in the forefront of the plot.
Fear is a bit of a dark horse, and comes with my stamp of recommendation - looking forward to diving back through the series.
2014
So after finally back-reading the series, I found myself oddly disappointed to re-read Fear. I actually enjoyed the novel much more as an intro to the series than as book 5. I guess since the second time around all the gruesome had been introduced, I didn't feel the characters developed too much, and once again like Plague the story just felt like a meander until the series changing plot-lines happen (still it is a pretty bad-ass book)
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