• The Shade of the Moon

  • Life as We Knew It Series, Book 4
  • By: Susan Beth Pfeffer
  • Narrated by: Matthew Josdal
  • Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (286 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Shade of the Moon  By  cover art

The Shade of the Moon

By: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Narrated by: Matthew Josdal
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.95

Buy for $19.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The eagerly awaited addition to the series begun with the New York Times bestseller Life as We Knew It, in which a meteor knocks the moon off its orbit and the world changes forever.

It's been more than two years since Jon Evans and his family left Pennsylvania, hoping to find a safe place to live, yet Jon remains haunted by the deaths of those he loved. His prowess on a soccer field has guaranteed him a home in a well-protected enclave. But Jon is painfully aware that a missed goal, a careless word, even falling in love, can put his life and the lives of his mother, his sister Miranda, and her husband, Alex, in jeopardy. Can Jon risk doing what is right in a world gone so terribly wrong?

©2013 Susan Beth Pfeffer (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about The Shade of the Moon

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    121
  • 4 Stars
    74
  • 3 Stars
    46
  • 2 Stars
    18
  • 1 Stars
    27
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    115
  • 4 Stars
    66
  • 3 Stars
    38
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
    24
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    108
  • 4 Stars
    62
  • 3 Stars
    39
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    29

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

A huge letdown for one who loves the series.

As a fan of the other three books in Susan Beth Pfeffer's The Last Survivors post-apocalyptic/dystopian young adult series, I'm sorry to say that this novel provided a most unsatisfying end.

This review could easily run away with me, so I'll limit myself to what I see as the two biggest problems of the novel.

First, the premise. I honestly don't know why this wasn't a standalone novel. It makes no sense in the context of the earlier three books. It's set only four years -- four years -- after the natural disaster that defines the series. (A meteor knocked the moon off its orbit and caused catastrophic climactic changes and a series of natural disasters.) Somehow people in that short a period of time have divided so completely into the privileged few in the enclaves and the oppressed drudges, or "grubs," that the elites view the majority as genuinely less than human. (This happens even though membership in an enclave is based on rather random criteria, so that even Ivy League Ph.D.s are living as grub domestics, and nuclear families may be split between the enclaves and "grub" towns.) This genuinely defies belief, as do the living conditions described in the enclaves. I would think that, with the massive climactic changes and challenges, clean drinking water and viable foodstuffs and disease would still be foremost concerns, not playing soccer and choosing nannies. Considering Pfeffer's emphasis in earlier books about how communities fracture and individuals turn against each other in times of crisis, it requires more than a mere suspension of disbelief to go along with the idea that large numbers of people, many of privileged backgrounds themselves, all agreed in concert to accept the rule of the few and subside into slavery so quickly.

Second, the main character. Jon was the baby of his family, the coddled one for whom others sacrificed. That said, in the previous novels he was portrayed as a good-natured and normal boy. Now at seventeen he's one of the most dislikeable protagonists I've come across. I don't simply mean that he's annoying, erratic, weak-willed, and difficult to empathize with, though he is all of these things. He also does despicable acts, from helping to burn down the school where his mother teaches to trying to justify attempted rape and sexual intimidation, all the while winning the affections of a visionary, courageous young woman. (Her lasting attraction to this easily bullied coward is never explained. It's a baffling mystery.) When his semi-redemption comes, it's unconvincing. It's troubling, too, because he seems to be content in excusing away some of his most disturbing behavior.

Matthew Josdal's narration made an already grating character even more whiny and difficult to endure.

There are hints of interesting commentary here, from an implied critique of gated communities to a more overt critique of the celebration of brute violence and groupthink in sports. The corruption that's rife in the administration of Jon's enclave suggests chilling insights into how bureaucracies behave. Unfortunately, these critiques read more like a series of brief rants strung together between one atrocity and the next (and there are serious atrocities committed in this novel, let me assure you) rather than a nuanced, integrated narrative. For example, I would point to Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower for a more complex and sophisticated dystopian study of the gated community, among other subjects. Ironically, although Butler's heroine is both the daughter of a minister and the founder of a new faith, Parable comes across as far less preachy than does Shade of the Moon.

As a standalone novel I would have found this problematic, but as the final conclusion to a compelling and well-loved series, it's an even greater letdown.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Worse than if an asteroid really did hit the moon.

I remember reading "Life as We Knew It" when it was released a few years ago. I was in high school, a few years older than Miranda, and I remember not being able to put the book down. After finishing, I begged my mom to read it as well and just like me, she was sucked in.

Just this week, I decided I was going to listen to it again, That's when I realized... THERE IS A SERIES!!! I used all of my audible credits to buy books 1-3 and listened to them one after the other, Each book progressively getting worse. By the time I got to book 4 I already had a bad taste in my mouth. The characters had lost any depth they had, the story line was a little dry and John is a little shit. I wanted to like this book so bad. I really did. I just found myself bored. I wanted more of Miranda and Alex. Matt and Sil. Instead, I got Jon? A rapist who says "I love you"? No thanks.

The narrator, bless him, was the worst choice for this book. Hearing him say "sorry" in the most Canadian accent felt like nails on a chalk board.

I don't write reviews often but this book genuinely almost ruined the whole series for me.

Read the first three books. Stop there. Do not pass go. Do not collect $300. Do not waste your time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Stop at book 2

Book 1 was ok if you can get past the horrendous audio narrator.

Book 2 was good if you can deal with another bad audio narrator—a man this time. If you have any sense (which apparently I didn’t), stop at book 2.

Book 3 was pretty bad. Miranda goes from hating Alex to being madly and passionately in love with him and he with her. There is no reason for her to even like him based on the text in this book. At least in book 2 (Alex’s story), he’s generally likeable and when he’s not, you understand why. As well, as others have stated, people act completely out of character.

Book 4 has another horrible audio narrator, and he’s the BEST thing about the book. Even if people could go from normal life to this absurd mindset in four years, the fact than Jon (Miranda’s younger brother) loses 15 year’s of decency, common sense, logic, morality is equally ridiculous. Now there are the elites “clavers” (short for “enclavers”) and “grubs”—the laborers, normal people who now the clavers think are “animals” and treat them as such.

Just about every character in this book has once again morphed into something different than they were (good or bad) with absolutely no explanation. But Jon has turned into such a an awful person, I kept wishing someone would murder him rather than having other characters suffer and/or get killed off. Jon’s “redemption” was not enough to save this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

I would have liked to hear more detail at the end. However, it's still an on ending and leaves room for short stories that can be added in later. 😉

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Complete Disappointment

Would you try another book from Susan Beth Pfeffer and/or Matthew Josdal?

Matthew Josdal's performance was cringeworthy at best. The book was difficult enough to get through, but his choppy performance and his inability to use voice inflection in the appropriate places added to my frustration with this book.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed the first 3 books in the series but the 4th book really ruined my enjoyment of the series. The story almost seemed like it was written by a completely different author who knew very little of the first 3 books. John's character was completely unrecognizable from the earlier books and the whole plot surrounding the caste system was implausible, especially given the short time span from when the cataclysmic event happened to the time the 4th book commences. I ended up despising John and didn't really care much for Lisa's character either in this book. I honestly wish the 4th book would not have even been written.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Did you like Book 2?

If you didn't like Book 2, you probably won't like this one. Book 1 & 3 were great, 2 & 4, not so great.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Pleasantly surprised after the negative reviews

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, I wanted to hear what had become of the Evans family and it was time to hear John's take on things.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I don't think these post-disaster, dystopian type novels are meant to be enjoyable, they are a commentary on politics and human nature. The last two novels have little love stories within them and I would have liked these to be fleshed out a bit more - not just have characters instantly in-love.

Did Matthew Josdal do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Sure. I didn't find the narration childish at all - maybe a bit clipped but also in keeping with how most teenager boys talk.

Could you see The Shade of the Moon being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

There are so many of these types of movies and TV series out now - this one isn't quite gritty or detailed enough to make it on screen.

Any additional comments?

Sometimes these types of novels move too quickly and sweep over things - I appreciated the slow pace within each of the novels and the gut wrenching decisions that the main characters had to make. I read that some people didn't like the main character in this novel, I found him realistic for a seventeen year old boy living in those conditions. I liked how his conscience slowly gets the better of him. I actually found his step-mother Lisa hard to understand and/or like. Miranda (the narrator in the first and third novels) is my favorite character and I would have preferred to keep listening to her story and I liked getting the updates on what she was going through.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Boring

Boring boring boring. Characters lack deep emotion. They get over horrible stuff too easily. “Your mom died and her bodies just chilling over there.” “Damn that sucks… anyways”. Like it’s weird. And the main character lacks any good qualities.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

closure

it really ties the whole series together and makes for a heartbreaking and heart warming book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

You could call it a happy ending

I appreciate the story being wrapped up in a good place. A lot of shows and books don’t feel finished but this series does. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love a spin off set in the future or something or a collection of short stories about the characters that we didn’t see the point of view of throughout the series. What I’m trying to say is this series and final book in particular is worth the read and we’ll leave you feeling fulfilled.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!