Gone (Gone, #1) in It's not just a FAYZ

Apr 21, 2012 Arrictine Reads rated it it was amazing

Holy sweet hell. I can't breathe. I just finished. Wow. Just. Wow. Yep. Gone. I'm done. Amazing. Thank you Jesus. ...more

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Mar 25, 2009 Lianna rated it it was amazing

This book is better than Twilight. By far, I'm sure. It's bar far in my top five books I've ever read. I read a lot, you see. This book is filled with action and mystery. He adds some romance also. Overall, i can't wait for book 2 to be in stores. I'll buy it the first day, I'm sure. ...more

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Sep 14, 2011 Crazyjamie rated it liked it · review of another edition

This series had been on my radar for quite some time, but in all honesty I didn't really know what to expect. The story is, initially at least, quite simply. The book begins with every adult and teenager aged 15 and over disappearing from a small town in California called Perdido Beach. The book focuses on three teenagers under the age of 15 called Sam (the main character), Quinn (his best friend) and Astrid (the pretty and smart girl). As is expected from such a situation, the opening part of t This series had been on my radar for quite some time, but in all honesty I didn't really know what to expect. The story is, initially at least, quite simply. The book begins with every adult and teenager aged 15 and over disappearing from a small town in California called Perdido Beach. The book focuses on three teenagers under the age of 15 called Sam (the main character), Quinn (his best friend) and Astrid (the pretty and smart girl). As is expected from such a situation, the opening part of the book presents a pseudo Lord of the Flies situation, where former school bullies attempt to mark their territory, and the kids generally attempt to adapt to a scenario that they simply cannot handle.

From this opening, which is handled with just the right amount of grit and realism, the book develops sci-fi elements which pop up at regular intervals, including an unexplained barrier that traps the kids within the confines of the town, and some kids developing types of super powers. Thus the focus on surviving and establishing order is now joined by the focus on finding out exactly what is going on.

As a first book in a series, Gone ticks all the boxes that it should. There are a decent number of characters, some of which are better defined than others. There are villains. There are some decent set pieces. There is a more than decent amount of mystery surrounding some of the more unusual sci-fi elements. On the whole it is enjoyable and interesting, if slightly unremarkable on its own merits.

However, what is clear by the end of the book is that there is an awful lot more to come from this story. Grant has clearly thought through a well defined story with plenty of twists and turns to come. These are only hinted it in the first book, with a lack of detail that gives nothing away but does perk the interest of the reader for the rest of the series. The conclusion? It's a decent read that is by no means the best book I've ever read, but it makes me want to find out what other tricks Grant has up his sleeve for the rest of the series. ...more

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Jun 26, 2011 Lyrical rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

If you need to go on a crash diet then my advice is to read this book. When I first downloaded Gone onto my Kindle I thought it was going to take me ages to get through it as it’s pretty hefty – digitally speaking – but within only a few days I was distraught to find I’d hit the last page. Apart from work I suspended all other activities and a bowl of cereal became a suitable substitute for dinner. I literally trembled my way through Gone and could not abide putting it down in case something hid If you need to go on a crash diet then my advice is to read this book. When I first downloaded Gone onto my Kindle I thought it was going to take me ages to get through it as it’s pretty hefty – digitally speaking – but within only a few days I was distraught to find I’d hit the last page. Apart from work I suspended all other activities and a bowl of cereal became a suitable substitute for dinner. I literally trembled my way through Gone and could not abide putting it down in case something hideous should happen to the characters in my imagination. Every time I had to switch off, the heroes were on the point of defeat and I couldn’t bear to leave them hanging there, so switch offs were fairly infrequent (that’s what I particularly love about my Kindle, needing no hands to read is a real aid to multi-tasking!).

The writing is spot on for this kind of story, the pace is perfect to keep your heart pounding and the story complex and long enough to leave you satisfied. So many questions are raised right from the start and the lack of answers is agonising but the real key to Michael Grant’s writing is that no answer is predictable. I was literally left scratching my head, teetering on the point of confusion when I turned the final page and I don’t know how I have managed not to dive straight into the next book – some form of mental masochism I suppose.

It’s the main character, Sam, that holds all the threads of the story together and keeps his friends alive with his quick thinking and natural courage. Sam offers a glimmer of hope that in the event of adult eradication a leader would step up who was good-natured and had incredible common sense but at the same time, his inevitable demise hangs over the reader as a countdown to his fifteenth birthday is issued at the start of every chapter. Sam and his friends are so easy to empathise with, they all have their own problems and their own way of dealing with those problems and none of them lack characterisation.

Perhaps the most terrifying aspect of this story is that it is so reasonable to imagine that out of the book universe, if all the adults really did vanish, every single event the characters go through could actually happen. Why wouldn’t the bullies become tyrants? Why wouldn’t it take so long to organise search parties for the youngest survivors that they end up finding only corpses? Why wouldn’t a kid take over the McDonald's to try to boost morale? More importantly, the kids have real problems like bulimia, cowardice, autism and psychopathy, which makes for an interesting cast that set up engaging plot assets and storylines – they’re not just your average book heroes with endearing little flaws, they have the hardcore issues you would find in any bunch of actual kids.

You do start to freak a little at the realism, like when you were forced to read Lord Of The Flies for GCSE, and that’s exactly what this book is – Lord Of The Flies with microwaves and mutations. There are moments when I felt genuinely uncomfortable and slightly disturbed, there are vivid images that will stay with you, popping into your head at unexpected times and reminding you that you haven’t read any of the sequels yet. But if you can swallow all that, you’ll find in Gone an astonishing exploration of courage – what it means to different people, how different people achieve it and how people deal with not having it.

Gone is so worth reading and when you have, I challenge you to say you were not deeply affected by it.

Lyrical Reviews ...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Shyla rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, children-teen-favs, dystopia-utopia, ya

One day everything changes in a small Cali town called Perdido Beach. In the blink of an eye every single person 15 years or older disappears leaving only babies, toddlers, kids and teens to fend for themselves. Not only that but a strange wall appears surrounding them and locking them in, no phones, internet or tv. Mutations begin to occur immediately, snakes that can fly, coyotes that can talk and kids who develop special superhero like powers. Bullies reign supreme and it is left up to Sam an ...more

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Sep 23, 2011 Chris rated it liked it

"Gone" is one of those books that I think I would enjoy as a TV series or movie, but I had a hard time getting connected with the characters. These kids just seemed so with it and I work with kids ages 11-14 and they are not so with it, so quickly after ALL the adults disappear. The way they moved to take control of situations was just a little too fast for me. Perhaps I was a bit more immature at that time in my own life, but I would be truly freaked if this happened to me and it would take a V ...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Dorinde rated it it was amazing

This book left me in awe throughout the entire thing. I have never been more entranced by such an amazing plot. This is one of my my favourite books I have ever read in my whole life. I am even rereading it at the moment! Praise for the Gone Series!

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Nov 10, 2009 Asia Davis rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 9th-grade-advisory

this is the book that began the series. it all started with a "poof". one second, fourteen year old Sam Temple is sitting in his classroom daydreaming about surfing, as his teacher drones on. the next, "poof". the teacher is gone. it doesn't take everyone long to figure out that the adults in school are all gone.
is it a joke? every adult in town is missing. the kids have to adjust to life without grown ups, life without help. things are already chaotic when special powers begin to rise. ...more

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Jan 18, 2010 Abbie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

kind of confusing, lots of fantasy and best of all no parents! all together loved it.

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May 10, 2010 Kissie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

i love this series. right from the first chapter i was hooked. this idea with all the parents disappearing was interesting. the people are aged around the same as me so its more fun to read about.
I love Caine and Dianas relationship ^.^ so cute
and then theres the parts about the gaiaphage thing which
i dont like
at all
:(
still one of my favorite series
but it is annoying waiting a whole year for the next book to come out

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Nov 09, 2011 christinE rated it it was amazing

I love all books by this author!! Usually when I read books in series (that aren't manga) I just like to read the first one and be done with it. But with Gone, I hung on to every word. The descriptions and suspense technique was really good and I LOVE the Gone series (even if it is a little messed-up) ...more

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