Series: Fallen World #2
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publish Date: February 12th, 2013
Source: ARC
Goodreads

Rating: 3/5 Deadly Viruses

Synopsis: A deadly virus has destroyed Kaelyn’s small island community and spread beyond the quarantine. No one is safe. But when Kaelyn finds samples of a vaccine in her father’s abandoned lab, she knows there must be someone, somewhere, who can replicate it. As Kaelyn and her friends head to the mainland, they encounter a world beyond recognition. It’s not only the “friendly flu” that’s a killer—there are people who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the vaccine. How much will Kaelyn risk for an unproven cure, when the search could either destroy those she loves or save the human race?

Megan Crewe’s second volume in the Fallen World trilogy is an action-packed journey that explores the resilience of friendship, the ache of lost love, and Kaelyn’s enduring hope in the face of the sacrifices she must make to stay alive. -Goodreads

Review: I picked up this book by chance at last years World Fantasy Convention, before even reading the first book in this series, but I’m so glad I did. Not only is it set here in Canada, but this one is all kinds of apocalyptic goodness. As much as I love to see societies put themselves back together, there is just something so riveting about watching the pieces fall and seeing how characters react. The Lives We Lost does all that, so well! I didn’t quite enjoy it as much as I did the first book in the series, since the plot was a bit slower, but it still made for an interesting read.

There’s not much I can say about the plot without spoiling the plot of the first book, but by book two the mystery virus has done some real damage on a big scale! Kaelyn and crew have are forced to stop waiting, and actually action a plan to get the vaccine into the hand of the right people. Unfortunately, a lot of the waiting is replaced by wandering as the group finds a lot less people waiting for them on the main land than they’d hoped.

I did find the plot to be a little slow at times, although you can say the same thing about book one in this series. There were definitely some tense moments, but overall it’s more of a makes-you-think book than an edge-of-your-seat book. Desperate times etc. etc. so other survivors are prepared to do what they have to to survive, and a vaccine can be pretty tempting to those who might not be thinking about the greater good. Dun, dun, dun!

Anyways, it looks like theres going to be a third book in this series, and I will definitely be checking it out. You just have to go into these books expecting a slightly more realistic type of drama than some of the other end of the world stuff we’ve read–which can be terrifying all on its own.

Buy The Lives We Lost
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Second Opinions
@Read My Breath Away
@The Book Smugglers
@I’d So Rather Be Waiting