All reviews for Shade of the Moon, The: Life as We Knew It Series, Book 4 (2013)
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The Shade of the Moon is the fourth book in The Last Survivors series by Susan Beth Pfeffer. This book takes off 4 years after the events in the first book. I was really looking forward to this book. I loved the first 2 books in the series but, the last 2 were a big disappointment for me, much like many book series I've read. After reading some reviews on Goodreads I've noticed some people have had the same problem I had.The story itself is very dull, unlike the first book it lacked the emotion and character development. I felt as if I was just going through the motions with this book. The plot of the story felt like it was just thrown together with no thought or emotion put into it.The characters were also a disappointment too. I hated Jon's character he was dull, arrogant, and selfish. He was just a spoiled little boy in the other books and is still spoiled. When it was revealed that he had almost raped Julie I hated him even more. Sarah, Jon's love interest is just pathetic. She has no personality and is not at all interesting. Even after multiple arguments with Jon she still "loves" him. Even after she learns about him almost raping Julie. The other characters in the book are just poorly put together with no development at all.Overall this book was a disappointment, I give it a sad 2 out of 5 stars.
The fourth installment of the Life As We Knew It quartet, The Shade of the Moon is a dark finale. The story centers on Jon, Miranda's sister and his "double" life, trying to live as a "claver" in civilization while his sister and mother live as "grubs". Jon is a complicated character and several times throughout the book makes shockingly horrible decisions about how he interacts with the "new world", often at huge cost to those around him. There is a significant amount of brutality in the book (rape, murder, kidnapping) and several horrific deaths that were difficult to read. The narrative in the book is not as strong as in the first books in the quartet and would have benefited from the close eye of an editor. Although fans of the series will undoubtedly search this book out, it is unlikely to have widespread appeal and is strictly an optional purchase for libraries where there is a fan base for the books.
The Last Survivor is a true story of survival