The Shade of the Moon
Publication Date: August 13, 2013
Pages: 304
Finally, the long awaited fourth book in the
Life As We Knew It series. At the end of the last book Miranda and her family were headed to Sexton, supposedly this town full of promise and "normalcy". Remember, the moon got too close to the Earth and screwed everything up.
The Shade of the Moon picks up two years after they left for Sexton with a page from Jon's journal and the whole book is told from Jon's point of view.
Life in Sexton is not the Utopia they thought it would be. Because he had a ticket Jon is living in Sexton with his Step-Mother, Lisa and his little brother, Gabe. Miranda, along with her husband, Alex and their mother, Laura are living in the next town over called White Birch. While Sexton is Utopia, White Birch is it's own kind of hell. White Birch is for the "grubs" or basically the servants and grunt workers that serve those in Sexton. The people in Sexton have the best homes, the best food, the best schools, the best jobs, and the best air. To say that there is an economic divide between the two communities is a great understatement. Jon was young enough when they moved to Sexton that he has fallen into the trap that he believes Sexton and it's people ARE better than White Birch, not only that, but he knows what happened between Miranda and Julie and he just can't seemed to get past it. The tensions are high between the two communities and it comes to a head during a soccer game, where Jon is a star player. The events of that day change everything for Jon, his family, and his community. Will Jon come out of the event unscathed or will it change everything forever?
Last spring I went on a
Life As We Knew It binge and read the first three books in just a few days, ever since I have been anxiously awaiting the fourth book. It was unique to see that the book was from Jon's perspective, but I was completely disheartened to see that he had been sucked into the snobbery that is prevalent in Sexton. There were many, many times that I was almost disgusted with not only Sexton, but Jon as well. There was an event (don't want to give away too much) that finally shook Jon out of his comfort zone and he started to realize that the way things were wasn't right. I will say that it was nice to "see" familiar characters and see how they were doing in their "new normal". It also challenged me to think about what I would do in that kind of scenario. Oh, and the author definitely left it open for another book and I sure hope that she follows through, I love these books!
Bottom line, loyal fans of the
Life As We Knew It will not be disappointed with the fourth book in the series. You may get a bit discouraged at first with what is happening in Sexton & White Birch, but you must stick with it until the end. I promise, you will not be disappointed!
Post a Comment