Michael Grant

Acclaimed author Michael Grant delivers a stunning follow-up to the globally bestselling Gone series—perfect for fans of Stephen King’s suspenseful writing. It’s been four years since a meteor hit Perdido Beach and everyone disappeared. Everyone, except the kids trapped in the FAYZ—an invisible dome that was created by an alien virus. Inside the FAYZ, animals began to mutate and teens developed dangerous powers. The terrifying new world was plagued with hunger, lies, and fear of the unknown. Now the dome is gone and meteors are hitting earth with an even deadlier virus. Humans will mutate into monsters and the whole world will be exposed. As some teens begin to morph into heroes, they will find that others have become dangerously out of control…and that the world is on the brink of a monstrous battle between good and evil. Praise for the Gone Series: “Exciting, high-tension stories. I love these books.” —Stephen King “Intense, marvelously plotted, paced, and characterized...” —ALA Booklist (starred review)

Monster

Geoffrey Froggatt

I haven’t read the Gone series since I was a teenager, when I thought the series ended with Light, the sixth book in the series. When I heard there was a seventh book and a whole spin-off trilogy, I was excited but apprehensive. I don’t remember much of the original series, but I do remember that I had liked the ending. As much as I loved the themes, the brutality and gore, the diverse cast of characters and the world itself, I wasn’t sure how to feel about a new set of books in the series. I had a few questions. Would I need to reread the books in the original series? Would I ruin my fond memory of the original books if I reread them and they don’t hold up? Would I enjoy the new trilogy? Would I still feel the same way about the writing, the world and the characters? Without rereading the original six books, I continued onto the seventh book and the first book in the spin-off trilogy. Immediately after the first chapter, I realized how juvenile the writing was in this book and the original books. This book series has the tone of a comic book and is clearly meant for a younger audience that can suspend their disbelief in order to enjoy the wacky storylines. The original books felt like X-Men meets Lord of the Flies, while this book feels like a plain monster movie. I recommend reading the first six books before reading the spin-off trilogy to get the full effect. This book has major spoilers for the original series and is meant to be read afterwards. 

What I loved most about the original series was the diverse cast of characters. The characters in this book are just as diverse, but I can now notice how some of their depictions feel off. In this book, a new trans character’s depiction doesn’t feel as strong as the original characters that I remember. The trans character’s gender expression was kind of all over the place, but I can justify that by saying that she’s young and probably still figuring herself out. I would be curious to hear how trans people feel about the character’s depiction though. Two of the newer characters in this book felt like pale imitations of two of the characters from the original books. The returning character from the original books felt like the strongest, most interesting and most fleshed out character, most likely because her storyline continued and fleshed out what it was like to survive the events of the original books. I just wish there had been more of her in this book. I loved hearing the aftereffects of the original series on this fictional world, and the little mentions of all the original characters who survived and how they were coping. I loved how the setting of this book was much bigger than that of the original setting. I enjoyed bouncing back and forth between POVs and locations, even if I preferred a certain POV over all the others. 

I didn’t like that this book was about people morphing into monsters instead of developing supernatural powers like in the original books. This book felt like mindless monster action scenes compared to the supernatural survival mystery horror of the original books. I loved the survival horror and nightmare fuel in the original books, but that was severely missing here. The Dark Watchers were also never explained clearly in this book. I feel like this was on purpose to further add mystery to the story but the way they were constantly casually mentioned made it sound like there was an introduction and explanation that I had missed. Even though I had problems with this book and the direction it went, I still had fun revisiting this world after the events of the original series. The mentions of the original characters, both living and dead, kept me going. However, I’m not dying to read the next book in the trilogy in the same way I was when I was reading the original books.

Charlot van Dijk

Oke, ik was helemaal enthousiast toen ik erachter kwam dat dit boek uit zou komen. Ik had geen idee hoe het verhaal verder zou gaan, want ik vond de serie al aardig goed afgerond, maar het was een poging waard. Het boek zelf begon ik enthousiast in, ik was blij om weer even helemaal in de schrijfstijl van Michael te kunnen glijden en de wereld weer meemaken zoals ik die toen heb meegemaakt. Maar wat een teleurstelling zeg. Was de Gone serie echt GEWELDIG, is dit boek een slap vervolg op de serie. Ik vind het te ongeloofwaardig op het moment. Ik vind Dekka nog steeds een leuk karakter (maar waarom moet haar kat dood? Wat geeft dat voor extra element?), maar ik mis Sam en Astrid. Ik mis de wereld en de belevenissen zoals die in Gone zo goed zijn omschreven. Het is duidelijk dat er nog een boek komt, die zal ik ook lezen, misschien dat het volgende boek mij weer wat meer meesleurt, iedereen verdient een tweede kans, toch?

Jeremy Cote

It's difficult to get a new series up and going, particularly when it is set in a world that has so much backstory already. As such, I feel like I'm being harsh on this new series from the get-go, but it really was a good book. The characters are interesting, and Grant takes time to motivate the various characters. You get a sense of each person, even if they are the villain.

Like usual, there's a ton of action, and the book is easy to read. I found it a fun read, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes next.

Kaia silva

Charlotte Horne

MICHAEL GRANT'S ACTION-PACKED AND MUCH ANTICIPATED NEW BOOK, SET IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE BESTSELLING GONE SERIES. When the dome came down, they thought it was the end of the troubles. Truth is, it was just the beginning. Shade Darby witnessed events that day, with devastating consequences, and vowed never to feel that powerless again. Now, four years later, she gets her hands on a part of the meteor that began it all - and that's when she changes. Trouble is, Shade's not the only one mutating, and the authorities cannot allow these superpowers to go unchecked . . . First of an explosive three-book young adult series. Once again Michael Grant creates a compelling young cast of new characters for readers to love, hate and debate, as well as a host of unimaginable creatures. This happily stands alone from the GONE series, while also featuring some fan-pleasing appearances from previous FAYZ inhabitants. Michael Grant lives in San Francisco with his wife, Katherine Applegate, and has written over 150 books - with Katherine, as himself, under pseudonyms and as a ghostwriter. He is best know for the international multi-million-selling young adult six-book GONE series: GONE, HUNGER, LIES, PLAGUE, FEAR and LIGHT.

Monster

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