Fear by Michael Grant

Genre: Science Fiction/Thriller/Horror YA
Publication Date: April 3, 2012
Pages: 509
Source: Received a review copy from the publisher

Amazon Summary:

This is a blood-pumping, white-knuckle sci-fi thriller of epic proportions. Night is falling in the FAYZ. Even though it’s been nearly a year since everyone over the age of fifteen disappeared, the sun has continued to shine on the kids of Perdido Beach. Now, though, the gaiaphage has blotted out the sun and plunged the FAYZ into perpetual gloom. Divided and dispirited, the survivors face their greatest enemy yet – the darkness of their own minds…

My Opinion:

I love the Gone series by Michael Grant, so I was so excited to be able to receive a review copy of Fear! The Gone series is a mix of science fiction, thriller, and horror, and it’s one of the most original series’ in the YA genre. If you haven’t read it yet, add it to your to-read list. I have no idea how Michael Grant comes up with the things he creates — the amazingness of the Gone series always completely blows me away!

Fear takes place about two months after the end of Plague, and it’s clear from the beginning that the characters have changed during this time — particularly Astrid and Diana. I really enjoyed reading Astrid’s sections in this book. She’s really grown as a character, and while everything she’s been through is hard on her, I was happy to see her relationship with Sam improve. Diana was another one who changes — to me she’s always been that female character you’re supposed to hate but like reading about anyway, but I found her to be more relatable in Fear. Maybe because as a reader, we get to go inside her head a bit more. We also got to see more of Penny, and wow, trust me when I say that she is deranged! What a crazy girl she is.

In Fear, the main issue going on is that the FAYZ — more specifically, the weird shell around the FAYZ that separates it from the outside world — is starting to turn dark. Finally the kids have a system to grow food and stay alive, but if everything goes dark, they’re going to go back to where they were in Hunger — starving, and maybe even resorting to eating each other. I loved how we got to see more of what was going on in the outside world as well. We got a few glimpses of it before, but now there were a handful of scenes that took place in the outside. I liked having this perspective of what the adults were going through. We also got to see the fate of Mary — and trust me when I say that was not pretty.

Speaking of gore, one thing you should be aware of if you haven’t read the Gone series yet and are considering delving into it is that there is lots of gore and some pretty disturbing, graphic scenes. (Kids being tortured, dismembered, etc.) Michael Grant really knows how to torture his characters, and he is a master at writing the scenes in a way that the reader able to visualize every disturbing thing that happens. It’s what makes this series so different, and I feel it’s necessary for the plot. But there is horror in there, so you should be aware of that before you begin reading. I was particularly sad about the terrifying fate of a character I enjoyed in the previous book, although I don’t want to name names so you’ll be surprised when you read Fear.

Fear was another amazing book in this incredible series. And wow, the ending — things got so intense at the end of the book that even though I knew I should go to bed, I had to stay up to find out what happened. I can’t wait to read Light, and see how it all ends!