The Living

Cover image and summary from Goodreads:

Shy took the summer job to make some money. In a few months on a luxury cruise liner, he'll rake in the tips and be able to help his mom and sister out with the bills. And how bad can it be? Bikinis, free food, maybe even a girl or two—every cruise has different passengers, after all.

But everything changes when the Big One hits. Shy's only weeks out at sea when an earthquake more massive than ever before recorded hits California, and his life is forever changed.

The earthquake is only the first disaster. Suddenly it's a fight to survive for those left living.

I’ve heard such great things about Matt de la Pena’s books but hadn’t read any before I read The Living. I definitely want to read more of his work now!

Part of what I really enjoyed about this book was the way the story took its time getting to the disaster that propels the story, because by the time things got really dire, I felt like I already knew and cared about Shy, the main character.

I totally love reading survival stories, and there’s a good portion of this book that is total disaster-and-survival. It was thrilling! My heart was pounding as I read it! It was suspenseful and I didn’t know what was going to happen next. I loved it.

My enthusiasm for the story fell off towards the end. The story answered some questions I’d had since the beginning of the book, but it also took the story in a very different direction that I’d expected.

I’m really looking forward to reading the sequel! I loved the writing and the characters, and I’m curious to see where the story is going to go in the next book. And I think it’s totally appropriate that James Dashner blurbed this book, because I think it will definitely appeal to people like me who enjoyed The Maze Runner. It’s got that same sense of adventure, excitement, and mystery. Recommended!