FEAR, Michael Grant

I have decided to break my sacred rule of reviewing books in a series in chronological order, because I'm just so freaking excited about this one! The GONE series has always been close to my heart, and is very high on my list of favourite books. It's definitely not for the faint hearted though, expect constant violence and gruesomeness. For freakozoids like me, though, it's fantastic!

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we have the synopsis (fasten your seatbelts):


It's been one year since all the adults disappeared. Gone.

Despite the hunger and the lies, even despite the plague, the kids of Perdido Beach are determined to survive. Creeping into the tenuous new world they've built, though, is perhaps the worst incarnation yet of the enemy known as the Darkness: fear.

Within the FAYZ, life breaks down while the Darkness takes over, literally—turning the dome-world of the FAYZ entirely black. In darkness, the worst fears of all emerge, and the cruelest of intentions are carried out. But even in their darkest moments, the inhabitants of the FAYZ maintain a will to survive and a desire to take care of the others in their ravaged band that endures, no matter what the cost.
Dum dum DUUUUUUM! (my attempt at dramatic music, my onomatopoeia is amazing, I'm aware).

Right then, FEAR is the fifth book in the GONE series (preceded by GONE, HUNGER, LIES and PLAGUE). It reminds me of Stephen King's Lord of the Flies, but make no mistake, it's a lot more disturbing. Everyone over the age of 15 disappears, and some kids start to develop superpowers. No adults adults and superpowers? Sweet deal, right? Wrong. We have power struggles between kids and, to make it worse, an evil entity called the darkness that wants to take over.

Michael Grant brings a whole new twist to the dystopian genre, making his books, in my opinion, better than other dystopian YA, such as James Dashner's The Maze Runner, which is very good in it's own right. Well, I'm just a sucker for all Michael Grant books, they're all amazing! (If you disagree I will have to hunt you down).

Right, we've established that it's a great books, but all great books have their cons (except for Harry Potter, of course, that would be blasphemy). The thing that irritated me the most was Sam's relationship with Astrid. We have Sam Temple, hero of Perdido Beach, Mr. Laserbeams, who instead of getting on with using his awesomeness to beat up the bad guys, spends his days thinking about how much he wants to sleep with Astrid. Right, I'm sure all teenage boys agree that this is, of course, a huge priority, but still,  come on, Drake's on the loose, man! Kill him! Oh wait, I forgot, he can't be killed. Well then... Forcibly restrain him! But no, he's just fantasizing about Astrid. I mean, jeez man, get a grip!

The rest of the characters are awesome, each of them having a specific function in the story and making it that much more interesting. My personal favourite is Penny. She is one badass, crazy girl. She scares the crap out of everyone, which I love, for some reason. (My friends say I should be tested. Heh, just kidding, I have no friends).

The pace and writing is fantastic, Grant keeps you intrigued at all times, and me likey. Me likey a lot. Get your hands on this quick, you will not regret it, I promise. I have now gone into a craze waiting for LIGHT, the final installment of the series. (I would say I'm fanboying, but that just sounds wrong).

Anyway, go read it. Now. I command you.

Happy reading,

JRD