Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Life as We Knew It

Life as We Knew It
reviewed on + 168 more book reviews


This book had an interesting twist in terms of post civilization collapse novels. The moon has been hit by an asteroid, bringing it much closer to earth. This changes the earth's climate, almost overnight. Civilization collapses. The book is in journal format, and the narrator is a 16 year old girl.

I had a few problems with this novel. First, I hated how, after civilization collapses, the family immediately went back to stereotypical male/female roles. There are better ways to deal with post civilization collapse than keeping the women inside, and having the men "protect" them. So, I hated that.

My second problem was that the mom clearly had a favorite. So, she'd ask her daughter to ration her food more and more so that, if they all died, her youngest son (age 13) would have a chance of survival. Though, I'm not sure why a 13 year old with no gun, no survival skills, etc., would have any chance of survival. So, this was just, to my mind, the mom playing favorites. And had I been the sister, I'd have hoarded my own cache of food!

Also, the book gets a little tiresome in the middle. The family is stuck in the house, all day, everyday. So, each day is about rationing food, being hungry, etc. Nothing really happens in the whole middle of the novel.

Finally, I thought the ending was SO unrealistic as to be almost laughable.

I have it 2.5 stars. I read it through to the end, which is always a bonus. I did like the narrator a lot. But, otherwise, I thought the book stuck to old stereotypes and just failed to deliver.