Title: Gone (Gone #1)
Author: Michael Grant
Release date: July 1, 2008
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 558
Source: Bookstore
In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.
Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what’s happened.
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, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else…
Wow! Just wow! I did not know what to expect when I started Gone but I definitely got more than I bargained for. This book was like a roller coaster with it’s ups and downs (more downs) and I am dying to find out what happens in the next book.
It’s hard to categorize this book. It isn’t dystopian although the world is very different from ours. It isn’t post-apocalyptic although something huge did happen to change the lives of the kids. I can safely say this book is all on it’s own. It was fantastic!
The characters really make this book. Sam is just your average kid with superhero powers. Astrid is the girl genius who knows more about what really happened to make everyone over 15 disappear than she’s telling. Little Pete is an autistic 4-year-old that hides a spectacular ability beneath his quiet facade. Quinn is just a scared kid trying to find out who he really is. Then there are the bad kids. Caine is a power hungry maniac. Drake is the psychopath who does his bidding. Diana is a lackey who holds quite a bit of power over Caine. The bad kids in this book are seriously messed up but the good kids make it all worth it.
The plot in Gone took off from the very first page. From the moment the adults went missing, things went crazy. Kids developed superhero powers, animals mutated to become better predators, and bullies took over control. Every page of the book was full of surprises and pulse-pounding suspense. Gone is an addicting book.
Overall, Gone is the start to an amazing series. If you haven’t picked it up yet, now is the perfect time!
Rating: A++
I think my friend is reading the 4th book in this series and she STILL has no idea what’s going on!! That’s crazy to me haha!
Anna @ Literary Exploration
I absolutely loved this one! =)
I haven’t seen this book before, but now I really want to try it out! I loved the part where you said it has it’s own genre! Love those kind of books! Great Review!
Tess @ My Pathway to Books
Kit LOVES this series. Did you get BZRK at ALA?
Awesome series right? You’ll love all the others just as much as Gone! SO GOOD. Definitely a bit hard to categorize but I would say a mix of Dystopian and Science Fiction. 🙂
I’m so glad you liked this! I love this series so much. I read this one when it first came out. I was in 9th or 10th and one of my good guy friends kept stealing it throughout the school day so he could read it himself. It was annoying, but I was glad he liked it 😛
I’ve been wanting to read this for awhile, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’m glad to hear that you liked it! I will definitely be reading this soon..
-Rachel
Lots of kids LOVE this series.
Side note: How did you get that little Goodread’s button for adding it????? Want that!
The concept of a world without adults is so cool and perfect for lots of conflict and character growth. It’s awesome all the characters were unique but still totally teen.
There seems to be a lot of underlying science behind teens changing – hope it gets explained well and is awesomely cool!
Lovely review 🙂