Book review by Corey
Gone
Gone starts with everyone over the age of fifteen suddenly disappearing from a small California town, leaving the kids behind with no adults, no real rules, and no idea what happened. Then things get even stranger when some of them start developing powers and a mysterious barrier cuts the entire area off from the outside world.
I loved how the story just dropped me into the middle of everything and kept adding new problems before the characters had time to deal with the old ones. Sam is easy to root for, and the mix of survival, power struggles, friendships, and supernatural abilities keeps the book moving. It gets dark pretty quickly for YA, but that’s part of what made it feel more intense than I expected.
The Goods
- Great opening setup
- Fast pacing
- Strong survival tension
- Interesting supernatural powers
- Sam is a solid main character
The Bads
- A lot of characters to keep track of
- Some side characters feel thin
- The powers can feel convenient at times
- The violence gets pretty heavy for YA
- Some parts are more chaotic than clear
My Recommendation
This is a good fit if you like YA dystopian stories with survival, supernatural powers, and a group of kids suddenly forced to build their own version of society. I got pulled into this faster than I expected, mostly because the story keeps raising the stakes and making the situation worse in ways that actually matter. If you enjoy books with large casts, strange powers, moral choices, and a world that keeps getting darker the longer the adults are gone, Gone is a strong start to the series.
