The Shade of the Moon (Life As We Knew It Series) by Susan Beth Pfeffer (2013-08-13)

Loved seeing what happened to the characters. The author successfully creates a world that seems believable in another place and time. We are reminded of how good we have it with technological advancements, modern appliances, time for sports & entertainment, not to mention clean air and fresh water!

I purchased this book for my 12 year old daughter. She is in love with this series. She shares the passion with one of her friends Mom as well. She was greatly anticipating this book 4 and truly hopes the author will continue with a book 5!

I really enjoyed this book. It is different from any book I have ever read. But I do think it goes a little to far with grubs vs. clavers. At the end of the book I didn't expect it to end how it did, I thought there would be a few more pages to sum everything up. I hope there is a next book

I have read so many books of characters going through apocalypse, it would be nice to read about the Evans family making a new life without tyranny. I think it would be educational to young readers to understand the concept of working together for the greater good of their future generations.

Rating: 3/5

Genre: YA Dystopian

Recommended Age: 16+ (sexual content, gore, violence, death, trigger warnings for suicide and infant death)

Pages: 288

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Disclaimer: None! This is my copy of this book!

Synopsis: 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?

This is it! It’s the final book in the Life As We Knew It Series and I have feelings! Not a lot of them, but enough! Going into this book you’ll notice the voice is of Jon, Miranda’s younger brother, and it’s written in the same diary format but from third person like how Alex’s book was. The world was excellently well developed. The story plot and pacing are pretty well done and the writing is really well done in terms of making the book sound like it’s from Jon’s point of view.

However, there are some problems with this book. The characters are just thrown into this world without rhyme or reason, some characters were disposed of for little or no reason whatsoever. There were unnecessary plot twists that didn’t need to be in there. The previous main characters disappeared at the end of the book and nothing was really solved in the book. In essence, this wasn’t a satisfying ending for me and I’m slightly disappointed in this book.

Verdict: Read the ending, but don’t expect anything spectacular.

PJV Quickie: Susan Beth Pfeffer's much anticipated fourth installment in her "The Last Survivors" series, was highly anticipated by this reader, but unfortunately wasn't all that I had expected. We ended the third book with hope and the fourth book just crushed that right out of me. I think this fourth book was probably a mistake for the series, I was excited to hear the Pfeffer was writing another Survivors novel, but upon reading it, I was disappointed. The first three books were so good and this one just blew that all to smithereens.

REVIEW: THE SHADE OF THE MOON is from Jon's point of view, Jon is Miranda's younger brother and was always shown as a bit selfish in the other three books. While mom and sister are starving to death, Jon is complaining about his food portions. His mom continually sacrificed for him, including right up to the end, but the child never seemed to realize what those sacrifices meant and showed very little gratitude. I'm explaining this to you, because it is what my frame-of-mind was, when I went into this book. Now you have Jon a few years later, in high school and living it up in what is call The Clavers area of his new town.

The Clavers are basically the privileged few, they have their town sectioned off with purification in all the apartments and houses and each Claver has domestics that serve them. Jon and Lisa were allowed entry into the Enclave, with the baby Gabe, because of the passes that Alex had picked up in New York city in the second novel. Miranda, Laura and Alex all sacrifice so new mom Lisa, young tween Jon and baby Gabe can live a better life. They now live as Clavers, classified as "slips" because they slipped through with their passes, instead of going through the initial triage of the town's foundation, when all non-essentials were booted out and only people that could better the community were allowed in.

Outside of the Enclave exists the Grub towns, where the people that do the hard-labor and domestic work live. Miranda, Alex and Laura are all relegated to living in Grub town, Miranda is a domestic, Alex a bus driver and Laura a teacher. They have just the basics to live off of, while Jon is allowed to go to high school, play soccer and be a regular kid. At the start of this novel he is no better then he was in any of the other novels. He has an inflated sense of self, hanging around ridiculous other boys who are nasty characters. In the beginning they burn down the Grub school just to "show those Grubs."

Jon shows very little back-bone throughout the novel, even his little act of rebellion, a romance with the daughter of Grub Town doctor, Sarah is hidden. They meet in secret because if his friends find out they are dating, it might destroy his tenuous hold on their society. His friends believe Sarah's father pushed out a prominent Enclave doctor for the position and that they are grub sympathizers. Even the relationship between the two characters is an insta-love. They just begin secretly dating and sneaking around. They fight about their hidden status before Pfeffer even established a "love" with the reader. It was very poorly constructed and conveyed no titillation on my end.

Finally, the world that is constructed, just seems like Pfeffer was reaching for a dystopian setting, when her novel should clearly still be in its apocalypse infancy. There has only been a few years since the asteroid hit and here we have this highly developed dystopian landscape of oppression, slave-labor and privileged few. I found it quite unbelievable that a society could bloom like this so quickly, that people that were in a normal American, democratic society could suddenly treat a group of people so poorly and have the mass majority okay with it. We are not talking a band of mercenaries or group of tyrants that have banded together, this is a whole city of women, children and men, families that as a whole have suddenly come to view people living outside of their society as beneath them in a few short years, no empathy or concern. Characters like Sarah, who are trying to help these "grubs" are treated poorly just because of their socially conscious view-point.

This works in an apocalypse novel when it's a band of religious zealots that have banded together, or escaped convicts, but this is set in a "repaired" society setting, which just didn't work.

I hate to bash on this novel so much, especially having been such a BIG fan of the other books. I believe LIFE AS WE KNEW IT is one of the best apocalypse novels out there and everyone should read it. But, this one, just put a damper in the series for me. You pair this bad dystopian setting with a very unlikeable character and it just left me feeling uncaring of where this novel was heading, the only thing that kept me reading was the small glimpses I got of Miranda and Alex, which were too few and far between. Especially with Jon's point of view to mess up things.

I know the point of this book was to redeem this boy in the end and be all huggy-kissy "oh finally he's seen the light." But, his persona throughout all four books was so devolved that any progression seemed forced. I think Pfeffer was torn in trying to deliver a stand-alone novel with a recurring character from the series. Maybe if I hadn't read the first three I might have liked Jon more, but as a fan of the series I feel cheated. His progression throughout this novel was not worth it.

Overall it saddens me to say that THE SHADE OF THE MOON was a disappointment and three years of anticipation of this novel feels like a joke. The only redeeming quality of this novel was the continuation of the story and Pfeffer's lovely writing style. If I didn't have such an investment with the series this would probably be a DNF.

Recommendations: Fans of apocalypse young adult novels and fans of the series. There is talk of sexual interaction, rape - so I would recommend a mature teen reader.

Do you like to read books that describe what life on earth might be like after a horrible disaster has taken place? In this series, the moon has been pulled off its orbit and everything that was before is no more.

Oh my! This 4th book in the "Life as We Knew it" series is one that probably should have been left unwritten. To say it is depressing and shocking is putting it mildly. I finished it late last evening and I had nightmares all night long with visions of this horrible post disaster world. The events that transpire and the subject matter are more appropriate for the older teen and young adult.

Jon is the youngest in a family that included his sister Miranda and brother Matt. His mother, Laura, had sacrificed everything when they were stranded on the outskirts of a town in Pennsylvania so that her children and she could survive after the moon's orbit was pulled closer to earth resulting in climate change, tsunamis, famine and epidemics. Now, 4 years later, the survivors have relocated. Several other relationships and the deaths of family members have left the family broken and separated with the remaining few living in different places in the newly established cities and towns. The "clavers" are the rich and important people who live in Sexton while the "grubs" who serve them live in White Birch. They are a very class conscious segregated society where the clavers have power and often mistreat the grubs who live under quite primitive and filthy conditions. Society has devolved into a hierarchy that encourages superiority, prejudice and violence.

I did not like Jon's character at all. I didn't care for many of the supporting cast of characters whose actions and relationships didn't ring true given the times and situations. Despite some grandstanding at the end, which didn't feel believable, I don't feel Jon redeemed himself. The book was depressing and relentlessly miserable. I almost stopped reading it several times but forced myself to push on to the end, hoping that this indeed will be the last one in this saga that went on 2 books too long. The first in the series was excellent, the second less so, and it went downhill from there in my opinion. I suppose fans of the previous books will feel compelled to read this volume as well, but I am definitely done.

Unrealistic in so many ways and not deeply developed enough to provide the details that are needed to make the new world and society structure credible, the story lacks the critical elements that other doomsday scenario authors have done much better. The struggle is, of course, between good and evil, but mostly it is a clash between the "haves" and the "have nots". The violence is extreme and the ability of the clavers to step into their behaviors is scary. I hope there's nothing in this that is remotely plausible should an event like this ever really occur. I guess I just have more faith in humanity than that it would end up as described in this novel. I prefer to hope so.

I was thrilled to see a fourth installment in this series. In each volume of Life as We Knew It, Miranda and Alex's world has fallen deeper into catastrpohe. These books were great because they show our familiar world descend into disaster. Miranda's snowy suburb, where a bar of soap is a hidden treasure; New York as a morbid Gotham, where boys rob frozen corpses every morning before school.

Book 4, sadly, fails. It's three years later, in an unfamiliar world of wealthy enclave and a nearby working town (I still can't picture them, they weren't described with much detail.) The enclave is run by a privileged few -- it's not clear who, nor what kind of weaponry or technology has made them omnipotent. Miranda's younger brother Jon, an unpleasant point-of-view character, lives an almost-normal teen life in the enclave, with a nonsensically fascist soccer coach, some evil jock friends, and a cute-but-unpopular daughter of a humanitarian doctor. Miranda, Alex and the rest are consigned to servitude in the town. For them, food and heat are scarce, and disease is rampant. When a riot breaks out, Jon's disdain for his family turns into fear. Everyone runs around trying to figure out where everyone else is and calling each other on pay phones. Along the way there are some grotesque murders, a poor treatment of a rape attempt, a brutal kidnapping, and the unlikely mixup of twins.

But the story's biggest flaw is its failed social commentary. The snobbish enclave residents have nothing but contempt for the laborers, who they call "grubs." The "Clavers" have all-access passes, everywhere, and all the food they want; it's not clear how, or why the world is giving this to them. The grubs, meanwhile, are denied virtually all sustenance and humanity. Even Lisa, who adopted Alex and Julie in a refugee camp and walked across the country to keep them safe, is now a snob who can't sweep her own floor without being rude to two maids. Meanwhile Miranda's family and all the laborers -- who should represent the toughest of American's last survivors -- accept the violence and oppression. Is this a fair trade for some scant food and safety? I'll believe the moon's knocked out of orbit before I'll believe that these characters would accept such a life.

I read the whole book waiting for a revolution -- or even a revelation -- that never came. Yes, the end of the world would bring out the worst in some people, but this book just doesn't get it right. I knew that Miranda, Alex and everyone they loved would never have it easy. I just never imagined they'd suffer through something like this.

I should have known better! While I enjoyed the first two installments in Pfeffer's Life As We Knew It series, I was very disappointed in volume number three. This feeling carried through to The Shade of the Moon, the fourth and probably not last installment. This series is no longer a gritty tale of survival, but has evolved into a dystopian tale peopled with characters that often spout trite, clichéd dialogue and involve themselves in situations that strain the limits of credulity. The author's limited world building failed to inspire a story of much substance beyond moral and societal lessons that are thrown about with such a heavy hand that they take away from the narrative.

This book features a cast of characters that are two dimensional and very unlikable. They exhibit very little personal growth, with the changes the author wants to portray coming across as cursory and false. These characters and this book left a bad taste in my mouth and I was glad to get to the cheesy end, even as I discovered that there is most likely going to be another one. I have learned my lesson and won't be pursuing this series any further and will be recommending that young readers stop after the first two installments.

This is the fourth (and last?) book in Pfeffer’s teens-making-poor-life-decisions-in-the-apocalypse series, and it is definitely the wildest one yet. The earlier books were tightly focused on individual families struggling to survive in a time of cataclysm; this one verges on Hunger Games territory as the survivors hook up with what’s become of civilization. It was still good, though! I may have spent the first half of this book groaning at how awful certain characters are, but their growth is worth it in the end. I’d recommend people start at the beginning of the series with Life As We Knew It, though. This one is a very different sort of story, but it wouldn’t be nearly as strong if you didn’t know the characters and what they had gone through just to reach where this book starts.

Like many other readers, I loved the first book, enjoyed the 2nd and 3rd, and was completely overjoyed to find out a 4th had been written. And then I read it. At first I was fascinated by the concept of Pfeffer exploring what society might be like some time after the disaster had occurred - the apocalyptic disaster fiction usually only focuses on the disaster and the immediate aftermath. But as I got further into the book, I enjoyed it less and less. Not because Jon was an unlikable and unsympathetic character (which he was), or that all the other characters were two dimensional and simplistic (which they were). My main problem with this book was the implausibility of the society that had sprung up a mere 4 years after the cataclysms that were spawned by an asteroid hitting the moon. It wasn't unbelievable that society had devolved into a class system of haves and have-nots, fueled by discrimination and hatred. The unbelievable part was that society had evolved and progressed AS MUCH as it did.

Through the first three books, we witnessed tidal waves destroying all coastal cities and their power plants and industry, the central U.S. ravaged by volcanoes and earthquakes, transportation and infrastructure disrupted or destroyed, and an ash cloud blocking out the sun, leading to horrific winter weather the death of most plant and animal life. The tidal waves and volcanoes killed billions of people, and many more died from influenza and malnutrition. By the end of book 3, there isn't enough sunlight to grow food, there are no wild animals, there is no fuel other than dwindling supplies of wood, and the only food and supplies available are those that were from before the asteroid strike. Fast forward 2 years, and suddenly there are "enclaves" where the privileged have all the comforts of modern life - air conditioning, cleaning products, electricity, fuel to transport buses and cars (and presumably, parts for those vehicles and materials to keep roads in good repair). Food is so plentiful the privileged "clavers" get as much as they want for free - even with the ash cloud still blanketing the sun, they manage to grow food in greenhouses using chemicals (where do these chemicals come from?) and raise chickens, hogs, and bees. Life is so comfortable that even low level bureaucrats have servants, including personal nannies for their children. And able bodied teenage boys like Jon, the main character, are expected to do nothing more than play soccer, get drunk, and have sex with unwitting lower class "grubs".

I assume that Pfeffer's purpose was to make a statement about inequality, corruption, etc. It's not hard to picture the disintegration of ethical society - books like Lord of the Flies have described this happening in a much shorter time frame. My problem is the ease of life in this post-apocalyptic world. Four years after the disaster, you'd be expecting survivors to still be scrounging for food like in The Road, or to be victimized by oppressive governments or criminal gangs, like in The Hunger Games or the Mad Max movies. But these survivors somehow have food, medicine, electricity, functioning hospitals, a transit system, and even soccer equipment. And labor is so plentiful that even the lower class grub underlings can be spared from useful physical labor to be nannies and personal chefs. I'm hoping for a Book 5 that returns us to the world of the first 3 books, where people are more concerned about where to get fuel and survive the winter than whether their nanny has an Ivy League degree.

It has been 4 years since the asteroid struck the moon and 2 years since Jon Evans and his family moved from Pennsylvania. Society has been divided into an upper class (Clavers) and lower working class (Grubs). Clavers are the high society and this is where Jon is living with his step mother. As long as he follows the rules and maintains his grades and scores, he can remain in the Clavers.

Grubs are the rest of the people, those that have to do anything just to survive. Jon's sister Miranda, brother Matt, and mother are Grubs. Jon doesn't think anything about his status and how boys from the Clavers spend their spare time in the grubs drinking and such. That is until Sarah, tries to get other Clavers to realize what is going on with the Grubs. Since Jon is infatuated with Sarah, he has to decide if he wants to keep his Clavers status or step up for the Grubs.

I am torn on this book. I really liked the first two books in the series. The third book was ok, but I feel disappointed in this one. I can see society crumbling and something similar to the events in The Shade of the Moon happening, but I wasn't convinced by the book.

I'm also torn about Jon. I feel that for what he went through, he should know better. Having said that, I can see what was happening. The poor do anything to survive while the rich are spoiled and don't have a care. It could be a good learning lesson for present day society flaws.

Anyway, I think that this is getting towards the end of the series. I loved the first two books but it feels like the energy is starting to run out. All I can recommend is if you like the series, give this one a try.

Shawn Kovacich
Author and Creator of numerous books and DVD's.

Like many other readers, I loved the first book, enjoyed the 2nd and 3rd, and was completely overjoyed to find out a 4th had been written. And then I read it. At first I was fascinated by the concept of Pfeffer exploring what society might be like some time after the disaster had occurred - the apocalyptic disaster fiction usually only focuses on the disaster and the immediate aftermath. But as I got further into the book, I enjoyed it less and less. Not because Jon was an unlikable and unsympathetic character (which he was), or that all the other characters were two dimensional and simplistic (which they were). My main problem with this book was the implausibility of the society that had sprung up a mere 4 years after the cataclysms that were spawned by an asteroid hitting the moon. It wasn't unbelievable that society had devolved into a class system of haves and have-nots, fueled by discrimination and hatred. The unbelievable part was that society had evolved and progressed AS MUCH as it did.

Through the first three books, we witnessed tidal waves destroying all coastal cities and their power plants and industry, the central U.S. ravaged by volcanoes and earthquakes, transportation and infrastructure disrupted or destroyed, and an ash cloud blocking out the sun, leading to horrific winter weather the death of most plant and animal life. The tidal waves and volcanoes killed billions of people, and many more died from influenza and malnutrition. By the end of book 3, there isn't enough sunlight to grow food, there are no wild animals, there is no fuel other than dwindling supplies of wood, and the only food and supplies available are those that were from before the asteroid strike. Fast forward 2 years, and suddenly there are "enclaves" where the privileged have all the comforts of modern life - air conditioning, cleaning products, electricity, fuel to transport buses and cars (and presumably, parts for those vehicles and materials to keep roads in good repair). Food is so plentiful the privileged "clavers" get as much as they want for free - even with the ash cloud still blanketing the sun, they manage to grow food in greenhouses using chemicals (where do these chemicals come from?) and raise chickens, hogs, and bees. Life is so comfortable that even low level bureaucrats have servants, including personal nannies for their children. And able bodied teenage boys like Jon, the main character, are expected to do nothing more than play soccer, get drunk, and have sex with unwitting lower class "grubs".

I assume that Pfeffer's purpose was to make a statement about inequality, corruption, etc. It's not hard to picture the disintegration of ethical society - books like Lord of the Flies have described this happening in a much shorter time frame. My problem is the ease of life in this post-apocalyptic world. Four years after the disaster, you'd be expecting survivors to still be scrounging for food like in The Road, or to be victimized by oppressive governments or criminal gangs, like in The Hunger Games or the Mad Max movies. But these survivors somehow have food, medicine, electricity, functioning hospitals, a transit system, and even soccer equipment. And labor is so plentiful that even the lower class grub underlings can be spared from useful physical labor to be nannies and personal chefs. I'm hoping for a Book 5 that returns us to the world of the first 3 books, where people are more concerned about where to get fuel and survive the winter than whether their nanny has an Ivy League degree.

It has been 4 years since the asteroid struck the moon and 2 years since Jon Evans and his family moved from Pennsylvania. Society has been divided into an upper class (Clavers) and lower working class (Grubs). Clavers are the high society and this is where Jon is living with his step mother. As long as he follows the rules and maintains his grades and scores, he can remain in the Clavers.

Grubs are the rest of the people, those that have to do anything just to survive. Jon's sister Miranda, brother Matt, and mother are Grubs. Jon doesn't think anything about his status and how boys from the Clavers spend their spare time in the grubs drinking and such. That is until Sarah, tries to get other Clavers to realize what is going on with the Grubs. Since Jon is infatuated with Sarah, he has to decide if he wants to keep his Clavers status or step up for the Grubs.

I am torn on this book. I really liked the first two books in the series. The third book was ok, but I feel disappointed in this one. I can see society crumbling and something similar to the events in The Shade of the Moon happening, but I wasn't convinced by the book.

I'm also torn about Jon. I feel that for what he went through, he should know better. Having said that, I can see what was happening. The poor do anything to survive while the rich are spoiled and don't have a care. It could be a good learning lesson for present day society flaws.

Anyway, I think that this is getting towards the end of the series. I loved the first two books but it feels like the energy is starting to run out. All I can recommend is if you like the series, give this one a try.

Shawn Kovacich
Author and Creator of numerous books and DVD's.

This was a disappointing end to a series I otherwise mostly enjoyed. By the end of the first chapter I profoundly disliked a character I had liked well enough in the other books. I pretty much just hate-read this just to get it over with. The entire book made me angry. I don't know what the author was trying to accomplish with this book that hasn't already been thoroughly covered in Western literature. The rich will always dick over the poor, men are trash, take care of each other... we get it.

I thought this series of four books was really, really well done. I was even thinking of the story and the characters long after I had read the last one. Written in a straightforward way, from different viewpoints, yet leaves room for some twists and turns that are not obvious at all. Some real thought went into this story, and I was very sorry to reach the end. Each book is not "more of the same." Each has it's own focus to further the story line, and it all hangs together. Again, sorry I'm done.

After thoroughly enjoying the first three books of the series, I was quite disappointed with this installment. It completely lacked the heart, the in-depth character development, the disturbingly real setting, and-- really-- the overall quality if the earlier novels.

Here, the characters we've come to know have changed completely and unrealistically. In fact, they're unrecognizable. Furthermore, the main character, Jon, is painfully, grossly unlikeable. We're stuck hearing about the lives of bratty, thoughtless Jon, Lisa, and Gabe-- and we learn so little about the actual series main characters. Super unsatisfying. I understand that the author is using the unflattering characterization of the "clavers" as a literary device to make social commentary, but… It's just not done skillfully enough to be effective or affecting.

I kept reading, hoping to gain some closure or insight about the characters and conflicts I've been wondering about throughout the series… But I missed the overall *feeling* of the earlier books. They made me think and feel and wonder-- while this book just caved to the pressure to become yet another shallow, unbelievable, simple dystopian-future-with-a-totalitarian-government YA novel. This one fell flat, while the others had something special-- some heart and soul, I suppose.

However, I absolutely recommend the earlier books. Definitely worth reading.