Life as We Knew It: A Novel

I almost gave up on this story that I bought for a family car ride. The beginning was terrible, but in the end, it was a pretty good book. Especially for my spoiled rotten preteen who lives for food and has never missed a meal.

The jabs at incompetent leaders and corrupt church officials are brief and I didn't feel like she was pushing politics.

This is a good book, well written with characters that are very believable that you can sympathize with. Not Ann Frank, but not grossly far off. Others have written that politics and religion should have been left out of the book, but I think that these references certainly belong. One of the characters is expressing her opinion...isn't that normal? Don't people do that all of the time? As for the religious references...isn't that believable too? One of the characters uses the shade of religion to fleece the sheep of his congregation. What is the difference between that and television evangelist and others who continue to live the high life on the contributions of their congregations, contributions that they continue to elicit even now as the economy crumbles?

I have to agree that the beginning of this recording is hard to sit through. The narrator is whiny and annoying. I think she is trying to make the character sound like your average "not a real care in the world before the disaster" teenager, but it grated on my nerves. Once the story gets going, the narration is much better. I liked that the author took her time showing us what a typical family might endure if something like this were ever to happen.

I didn't mind the references to the president. I myself have mumbled gripes during certain presidential addresses. However, I do wish the mother had expressed herself a bit more than just saying "jerk" or "idiot". Without more explanation, the anger seemed displaced.

I didn't mind the religious references at all. I don't think the author was making a judgement call on ALL Christians...just those her character came in contact with.

Overall, I was pretty invested in the story. I found myself caring for the characters...all of whom are a little flawed...which I loved.

Never an easy read, Post-Apocalyptic dramas are something you should mentally prepare for. Yet, I could have never prepared myself for Pfeffer's LIFE AS WE KNEW IT. Pfeffer's first Survivor's Novel was a heart-wrenching look into one families decent into their own private Hell. The POV is from Miranda, a sixteen year old girl as if she is writing in her diary, at no point throughout the story did I doubt I was reading Miranda's words. Pfeffer's unique storytelling ability and her gift of portraying real family drama makes LAWKI a tale that resonates in me. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time, in fact I think I might have to listen again. Pfeffer captured the essence of what life would be like in these circumstances and rubbed my nose it, no matter the consequences. I experienced the traumatic experiences with Miranda and hoped that if I was ever faced with trials such as these, that I would respond with as much courage as Miranda and her family did. The novel was touching, full of hope and yet heart-breaking. It hit so close to home as if it could be reality that I truly believed it could be happening. I learned some great life-lessons from this one, definitely put things in perspective. And, I also have to mention, that I listen to these audio books at work and I was literally sobbing at my desk. Made for some awkward at-work moments. After reading LAWKI I immediately downloaded The Dead and the Gone because I couldn't leave this world behind.

This is a gripping story of a family struggling to stay together as everything around them - the entire world - is being torn apart around them.

I got this book to listen along with my 13 year old niece who is reading the book. And end of the world style book does not need the authors political views boldly shown to tell the story . The jabs at Fox News, George Bush and Christians felt like a petulant child had written them during a temper tantrum .

I finished the book and I enjoyed it. It was sort of pleasant to only have tow or three jarring moments in what could have been tragic. On the other hand, it was a bit idealistic.Wish they had someone else reading it, her voice was a bit much.

I am going to buy the other two books in the series.

eh.

Voice a little too 16ish for me.

It has two and I will buy them.

Partly the narration. Emily Bauer did a great job of putting just the right amount of emotion into the story.

Miranda

no, I haven't

It would give too much away, so I can't say. I don't like spoiler alerts.

Listen to this book. It was very refreshing.

If you want a post-apocalyptic YA novel, this may be one to try. The science is wrong (an asteroid pushes the moon into a close orbit) and the social science is wrong (the fact that an asteroid was going to hit the moon was greeted with a rather muted response, no doomsayers or predictions of disaster), but much of the narrative is a fairly realistic depiction of adjusting to a world that is not the same.

Sure.

I got hooked on the story within 20 minutes. Excellent performance. I could feel the fear and bleakness in this new world that Ms. Pfeffer wrote and Ms. Bauer performed.

The voice of Ms. Bauer.

I could feel her helplessness.

Yes

I recommend it for a book club looking for youth selection. It was not as violent as One Second After.