(54)This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

This World We Live In
by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Publication Date: April 18, 2011
Pages: 252


The third (but not final) installment of the Life As We Knew It series.   In the third book we find our way back to Miranda and her journals.  The food situation is getting desperate so Matt & Jon set off to the river to catch some fish (FINALLY they live off the wilderness).   But not only do they come back with fish, but Matt brings back a new wife, Syl.

The family is just getting used to having Syl around when the kids' Dad returns from out west where they were trying to find Lisa's family.  Only they aren't alone.  They have picked up three "strays" along the way, including Alex and Julie Morales.  While Miranda's mother is freaking out about the extra mouths to feed, Miranda finds herself increasingly attracted to the "last boy on Earth" to whom she is not related.    Everyone is just getting used to the new living arrangements when Mother Nature rears her ugly head yet again.  Will they be able to survive this latest disaster or is She finally going to finish them all off?

I really liked how in this book we got to see both parts of Book 1 and Book 2 come together.  Alex is still a stubborn (at times) jerk.  He is so set on doing what he thinks his parents would want that he doesn't really look at what would be the BEST choice. I really liked how Miranda could balance him out some, though.  But he was also good for her.   This book seems like the balance of both the first books.  Book one was "anti-religion" , book two was all about how religion played into their survival, and book three was a combination of them both.

I thought that This World We Live In was the last book in the series, but I read on the author's website that she has decided that the story is not over. Without giving too much away, I will just say that I am really interested in where the story goes from here.  There were some events that took place that certainly were shocking and not where I thought then story would go, but certainly left it open for another installment.

Bottom line, I really enjoyed the way the author merged the two stories and the two main characters into the third story. Just like the second book, there is a body count with this book and I encourage you to read it before allowing your "Under 13" to read this book.  The ending did leave it open for another book, even though we thought it wasn't going to happen.  Now we just have to hurry up and wait. 


Sara Lucinda Bell said...
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Sara Lucinda Bell said...

I get to go to my used bookstore for work today and I will DEFINITELY be looking for all three in this series! I love the idea of the two books seeming to have nothing to do with each other and then completely merging!

Lisa Mandina said...

I also liked how this book brought the 2 others together. I didn't realize there would be more, but I'm glad! I want to know what happens next.

Siar said...

I've seen many "I really like/enjoy...in the book". If there is a book that is so great to enjoy, I’d like to have a read.

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