“They all went ‘poof man! They disappeared. They’re gone.” What would you do if everyone over the age of fifteen just disappeared? Would you freak out? Or would you try to become the leader to calm everybody down? Would you yourself go ‘poof’? Or would you be lost like a baby without its parents? That’s pretty much what happens when everyone over the age of fifteen suddenly disappears in this novel, but there’s one small thing setting kids apart from others, kids and animals start to mutate. This book is all about action, decisions, fighting, conflict, and a little bit of romance. Gone, a novel by Michael Grant, is great, and I would recommend it to anyone who loves action.

Gone is about a small town were everyone over the age of 15 suddenly disappears. Also, a barrier suddenly comes around the town, and nobody can get out. Everyone is going crazy, and havoc is taking over. Everyone expects Sam, one of the main characters, to become their leader, but in the way was the search for another character’s little brother, Little Pete. They manage to find Little Pete at the local power plant where they discover a radiation leak. The radiation leads to mutations, and Sam learns he has new powers. Suddenly, a boy named Caine appears and claims to be their new ruler. What’s going to happen? Is Caine evil? Will he try to get rid of everyone who has power like him?

I thought Gone was a very great book, but I thought there were some boring parts that should be mentioned. One great part for example, was how action packed the book was. Between the big fight between Caine and Sam, to the Lana and the coyote pack, I couldn’t manage to put the book down without thinking about it. But, one not so great part was that at times it could be difficult to relate to the characters. Caine for example, is this ruthless, cruel mean 14-year-old boy, and I was hoping he would change through the book in some way, or have a story to tell why he was how he was. Maybe a surprising thing for Caine could have been maybe when he showed sympathy for at least someone or something in the book, as opposed to always being a cold-hearted killer. Possibly, the character story lines could be more in depth, and relatable.

Another great part of the book I wanted to mention was the way the author wrote the book. The author made you feel like you where in the characters shoes, without being in first person with the character. It was more like ‘Sam knew Caine was evil, but he never thought he would actually leave someone in that much pain”. That was very interesting, because I couldn’t quite get a grasp on what kind of book it was in that respect. That was a unique and fun way that the author added about the book.


One big thing that Gone seems to be about is decisions and their consequences. When everyone over the age of 15 disappears, everyone expects Sam to be their new leader. That was a very big decision for Sam, because he would have to take care of everybody. Another example of a big decision from Gone was if Quinn would decide to betray Sam or live. There where a lot of big decisions for almost every character, and those where just a few. This theme applies to everyone in real life, since everyone has to make decisions all the time, big or small. That’s why I think that the theme statement for Gone is: Everyone has to make decisions, and no matter if they are big or small, and they always have a result.

One key criticism I had about this book, is that I found this book a long read. This book is very action packed and great, but at times I found myself skipping pages. The reason is, well, this might sound crazy, but I found the book a bit too action packed. At least, I found the pages to be interesting, but really didn’t add anything to the story from what I already knew. There where a lot of fighting scenes, and at times they just seemed to take forever, page after page after page. Just fighting, no real storyline to it. Then again, this book really is about what it would probably be like if kids where forced to leave only amongst themselves.


All in all, I found this book great. Now if you’re wondering, yes, I really did enjoy this book. I hope my last paragraph didn’t spoil your hopes and dreams about this book. But, I really can’t help but say there was a bit too much on the fighting. Trust me, I’m into all the action, but as I stated before, there where many useless fighting scenes. If you where wondering if I would chose to read this book again, I would say yes. It was great, and there where few flaws that weren’t a big deal. I really enjoyed this book, and I would recommend you to read it, and you just might find yourself stopping every once in a while, with your heart racing, because this book certainly is thrilling!