Review : Plague
Plague by Michael Grant
Pages : 352
Genre : YA, Speculative Fiction
Sêries : Gone, Book 4
My Rating : 
From the back of the book :
They’ve survived hunger. They’ve survived lies. But the stakes keep rising, and the dystopian horror keeps building. Yet despite the simmering unrest left behind by so many battles, power struggles, and angry divides, there is a momentary calm in Perdido Beach.
But enemies in the FAYZ don’t just fade away, and in the quiet, deadly things are stirring, mutating, and finding their way free. The Darkness has found its way into the mind of its Nemesis at last and is controlling it through a haze of delirium and confusion. A highly contagious, fatal illness spreads at an alarming rate. Sinister, predatory insects terrorize Perdido Beach. And Sam, Astrid, Diana, and Caine are plagued by a growing doubt that they’ll escape – or even survive – life in the FAYZ. With so much turmoil surrounding them, what desperate choices will they make when it comes to saving themselves and those they love?
My Thoughts :
This review should have been published long ago! I read Plague (and wrote the review’s outline) almost a year ago and, like the previous books in the series, quickly went through the story. It was a stream of action, terror and twists like only Grant can do it. With monsters and plague and food crisis, there is almost nothing these kids haven’t faced. Stephen King’s blurb on the cover doesn’t surprise me, as Michael Grant has a similar style of writing and world building, with a great cast of complex characters.
However, Plague wasn’t my favorite of the series. To this day, I still have stronger memories of Lies, the third novel, than of Plague. While it was action-packed and full of fantastically gory scenes, I realized that I was getting a little tired of the characters. Sam is always whining one way or the other it seems, and it is time for Astrid to take a good look at herself. I want to root for them, and I love that they are complex, non-perfect characters, but I need to see a little more of their good sides. Even if they are in a very, very dark place with almost no hope left. This being said, they still aren’t the worst of what’s left in the FAYZ, and though human conflict exposes the worst of their humanity, their crisis also forces them in an extreme survival mode that we can only admire.
There was a lot happening and a lot of developments in this book, both for the characters and the story. I felt like a lot of these aspects were bridges between Lies and Fear – which is now sitting of my shelf, waiting to be read. It wasn’t a lack of focus, exactly, but these “bridges” were definitely tracing the way for the coming two books.
The ending was really strong though, and turning the last page, I wanted to read the next book right away. Grant really has a way to keep you on your toes, wondering what’s coming next. I plan on finding out really soon – and I’ll try to post the review a little faster this time!
Series Reading Order :
I know that my kids love these books, and I hadn’t any idea that there were more than 3 of them out there, so your review was enlightening on many fronts for me. I clearly need to read these books, as your tastes are a lot like mine, and I have the first three here already. Great review today. I enjoyed your great dissection of this book!
I would be so curious to hear your thoughts on this series! It’s definitely a little more “horror” than most of what I read but I love the dynamics between the characters. I’m not surprised your kids love it, I would have loved it even more than I do today when I was younger!