My Thoughts: Gone By Michael Grant

"In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. Gone. Everyone except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not a single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Gone, too, are the phones, internet, and television. There is no way to get help. Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day. It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen and war is imminent.

The first in a breathtaking saga about teens battling each other and their darkest selves, gone is a page-turning thriller that will make you look at the world in a whole new way."-Amazon

My Thoughts 

Gone. A very simple word that describes the whole book. Reading the excerpt, you might've rolled your eyes saying "here we go again, another one of those Cliché "parents gone missing" books", However you'd be surprised to find that gone- was anything but cliché. If I had to describe Gone in a real life sense, I`d say its  basically a Dystopian X-Men novel with a pinch of  "darkness". Really, that's what I'd say. Kids are gaining mutant powers, Animals are evolving, parents are nowhere to be found, and the whole town is trapped inside an  invisible dome. If really you analyzed the book hard enough, you'd find it was sort of  a real end of the world scenario.

Even with the allure of a good suspense novel, the one thing that I am overwhelmingly  Thankful for is the characters. They weren't idiots! They weren't immature, or unbearably silly, and they didn't make rash and ill-though decisions. They actually used their common sense! A major breakthrough it Teens literature!  
Another thing I liked about the characters was their portrayal. Michael Grant absolutely nailed the characters is novel, Their depiction, their  voices and their actions were so spot on- that I could easily swear they were kids from my class.... He really did summon his "inner child" while finishing this book.  Now although many of you might think the character portrayal in Gone wasn't very flattering, it was realistic- and that made room for realistic character development. The Character development, wasn't one of those heartthrob fantasies where you have a clearly defined characters who stayed within their stereotype. The characters actually developed-changed- and strayed from their original debut. The Quinn, Harley, or  Astrid you saw in the beginning, were not the same characters you saw in the end. They had evolved. (pardon the pun)

So although you may not like the character portrayal, and might have not liked the X-men, I still suggest you read this book. It might actually surprise you....

Rating: A

What to expect?

• Mutated Animals
• Strange Powers
• Evil private schoolers
• Suspense!