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This World We Live In
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This World We Live In
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This World We Live In
Audiobook6 hours

This World We Live In

Written by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Narrated by Emily Bauer

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

The heart-wrenching companion to the bestselling novels Life As We Knew It and The Dead & The Gone.

It's been a year since a meteor collided with the moon, catastrophically altering the earth's climate. Miranda and her two brothers spend their days scavenging for food and household items, while their mother stays at home and desperately tries to hold on to the ordinary activities of their previous life. But they all know that nothing is truly normal in this surreal new world they live in.

The struggle to survive intensifies when Miranda's father and stepmother arrive with a baby and three strangers in tow. One of the newcomers is Alex Morales, and as Miranda's complicated feelings for him turn to love, his plans for his future thwart their relationship. Then a devastating tornado hits the town of Howell, and Miranda makes a decision that will change their lives forever.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 13, 2010
ISBN9780307582263
Author

Susan Beth Pfeffer

Susan Beth Pfeffer is the author of many books for teens, including the New York Times best-selling novel Life As We Knew It, which was nominated for several state awards, and its companion books, The Dead and the Gone, This World We Live In, and The Shade of the Moon. She lives in Middletown, New York.

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Reviews for This World We Live In

Rating: 3.6425993819494584 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

554 ratings66 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I spent the first few chapters excited to see Alex show back up.And then he did.And then I spent most of the book hoping he would die. Dear god is he an irredeemably obnoxious and useless character. I'm just glad Miranda's family recognized this even if she couldn't.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Third book in the 'Life as we Know it" series. Much like the previous books it could be so much more.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    After a year sense the astriod hit the moon there are only a few survivers like maranda and her family. Maranda's family are doing well and her dad and step mom came to see them and her stepmom had her baby. Also she met Alex sense he came from New York. Maranda thinks Alex is cute. Later on a tornado comes and traps her stepmom and the baby in a house. Maranda goes and saves them. Maranda and family lived happy in the neew life and waiting for the bad things to pass and the good things to come.I like this book because it show team work. As you can see Maranda has become responsible and independent. She also fell in love with Alex. There was a big twist with the tornado in who her stepmom and the baby got traped from the tornado. THe book didn't even have any boring parts in the book. I think this was the best book out of all the series. That what I think of this book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not as good as the other two books. I appreciated the ending so I am glad I stuck with it, but it was hard to not give it up.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The relationship between Miranda and Alex felt really forced. I also was uncomfortable with how in one chapter Miranda was a really bratty little girl (at least the way she wrote) and then overnight she was a woman who needed to 'become one' with a man or something. I suppose it's a way to show how quickly these kids have to grow up, but it seemed awkward and unreal. Other than that, I enjoyed the continuation of Miranda's family's story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Really good, satisfying third installment in the Life As We Knew It series. Just as engrossing as the first.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I was so glad to finish this. The second book was irrelevant, I didn't slog my way through it. Boring, incredibly boring and long winded.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    how this girl backpedaled between book 1 and book 3 from becoming a young adult to a whiny little brat is beyond me. The love story angle was so cliche and rushed and weird, it made me uncomfortable reading it. Definitely not my favorite book.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Third book in the series fell far off from other two. Main character has to make some tough decisions that make the book enjoyable, but the love story and dialogue do a fair amount to detract from that enjoyment. The diary format is distracting and takes away from how the book could be written. Still a series I'd recommend, but this book not as strongly as the first 2.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Book three is the Last Survivors series takes us back to Howell, Pennsylvania. It’s been a year since an asteroid knocked the moon out of its orbit and closer to the earth. Miranda Evans, her mother and two brothers have managed to survive, but most of the townspeople have left and food is increasingly scarce. A tentative Spring brings new hope, at least until Miranda’s father and stepmother arrive with a new baby, and three strangers in tow.

    This was really a major disappointment. Miranda has become less mature than when we left her at the end of book 1. She whines and complains, throws tantrums, and runs off in a huff. Then there is her over-the-top watched-too-many-soap-operas-and-read-too-many-bodice-rippers “But I love you!” dialogue with Alex. Puh-leeze! Alex has also retreated into a silent, obstinate teen with none of the leadership and resourcefulness he displayed in book 2.

    Well, at least it reminds me why I generally dislike post-apocalyptic / dystopian fiction. It was a fast read, but seriously, don’t waste your time.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    More post-apocolyptic goodness. Start stocking up your pantry! These books will trigger the prepper hiding inside of you.

    In book 3 of the series, we return to life with Miranda and her family. The world has not recovered from the disasters triggered from the asteroid colliding with the moon, knocking it towards Earth. Miranda has matured in this book. We continue to see her life through her journal entries, and it gives a unique perspective on the happenings and allows us to guess at people's true motives as she does.

    It's interesting to think how we would survive if disaster strikes. The Evans family fares better than most because they were resourceful and their mother was prepared and had the foresight to anticipate how long it could take for society to recover. Others didn't adapt, and died. It is an interesting take on survival of the fittest.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was looking forward to reading this book, because the first one was great and the second wasn't bad. This one, however, was only slightly more interesting than doing a crossword puzzle or sudoku: just something to pass the time without any excitement at all.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This third installment of a world gone crazy because of an asteroid hitting the moon combines characters from Pfeffer's first two books. Miranda meets Alex and his sister Julie when her father returns from the journey he'd taken to find his wife's missing parents. With their household now double its size, the food problem intensifies. However, despite the fear of death constantly hanging over their heads, Miranda and Alex find love. Their desire to overcome, despite the odds, along with small joys brought on by having hope, will keep readers turning the pages to its surprising conclusion.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a good book where the first and second book combine. In the biggining the main character Miranda is at her house trying to survive with her mom and her brothers. Then he rbrother go fishing to get more food. Surprisingly one of her brothers comes home with a girlfriend and marrys her. In the middle Alex comes with Julie and live with Miranda and her family. Miranda's father and his new wife with a baby live with her too. At the end a twister comes and destroys their house and gives Julie a spinal injury. I liked this book because it combines all of the previous stories into one. I thought that combining the stories was a cool idea. I also like that the two different characters love each other. For example Miranda with Alex and Jon with Julie. What I didn't like is that Julie died. Also I didn't like that Matt, Miranda's older brother, abused Syl his wife. I can't wait to read the next book.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I think I may be in the minority on this, but I felt let down by This World We Live In, the third book in the Last Survivors trilogy. I had been anticipating seeing Miranda and Alex cross paths, as they both bring very different backgrounds and backstories into the same post-apocalyptic world, a dying world in which an altered lunar path has already killed off most of humanity and much other life as well.

    What I realized, though, as I finished this book, is that these characters already had complete, satisfying arcs in each of their individual stories. I started getting concerned during the first few chapters, in which Miranda reminds us again and again of how hard life is and how food is scarce. Yes, we already know this.

    Things do happen: some people who were thought lost, return. New friends arrive. People annoy each other and fall in love, as is bound to happen in close quarters, in a lonely world.

    Things happen, but nothing really happens. We've already seen both Miranda and Alex react to, and adapt to, this harsh new world. We've seen them come to terms with family relationships and emerge stronger and ready to move on with life. And here we are with them again, but all we do is watch them react as things happen to them. Their paths do, of course, cross, but their interactions with each other somehow don't feel organic. They're two interesting characters stuck together in a literary exercise.

    Yes, we care about Alex, Miranda and their families, but only because we already know them. This World We Live In feels like a soapy postscript to two much better books. It's like a good movie ended and someone forgot to turn off the camera.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The relationship between Miranda and Alex felt really forced. I also was uncomfortable with how in one chapter Miranda was a really bratty little girl (at least the way she wrote) and then overnight she was a woman who needed to 'become one' with a man or something. I suppose it's a way to show how quickly these kids have to grow up, but it seemed awkward and unreal. Other than that, I enjoyed the continuation of Miranda's family's story.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Well this series has just been wonderful in that fact that I can't stop reading once I start. Another great book.We are back in Howell Pennsylvania with Miranda, Matt, Jon, and Laura. A year has passed and things are just as bad. Matt and Jon go to the Delaware River to fish for shad. They are hoping that this will help with their food supply. Their mother is not sure but she does decide to let them go. When they return Matt has a surprise. He is married to Sylvia but she goes by Sly. So now they have 5 people living in the house.The story progresses with the arrival of some very long lost family and guests. Miranda's dad and step mom show up with their baby boy Gabriel. They have also brought Charlie, and Alex and Julia who we met in The Dead and The Gone. It is great seeing the interactions off all the new people. Hal, Lisa, and the whole gang plan to move on at some point. Instead of leaving they decide to stay and pretend to be Mrs. Nesbitt's son and family. It is heartwarming seeing them all living together and yet apart in different houses.Miranda falls in love with Alex and Jon falls for Julia. It is great seeing more young people in the story and their growth and interactions with each other. Alex has to become a man to take care of his sister Julia and he was just a teenager. He worries more then a boy should.Some events that happen is house hunting where they go into empty houses and look for supplies. They actually find food in a farmhouse and a van. Alex and Julia are the ones that find this wonderful stash. A tornado also hits Howell. This is when things turn deadly. Now the next book takes place after the tornado and Miranda has stopped writing in her diaries. I will be looking for the last book soon.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Continues the journey of the characters first intorduced in Life as we Knew it. The ending was a surprise to me. I'm not sure how I expected the group to handle the added pressure of someone with special health concerns but the solution and the person who made the decision surprised me even more, I can't decide if I think it was brave, purdent or cruel, maybe all of the above. I probably will read book 4 just to see where the author takes this family next. 
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I have heard good things about this series, but I definitely recommend that you don’t start this series by reading the last book of the trilogy which is what I did. I found that I missed quite a lot of development and backstory. However I quickly caught the gist of the plot, and characters once I got into the story. I quite liked Miranda, who is the narrator of the story. The book takes the form of her diary, depicting the everyday events of surviving a post apocalyptic world, where an asteroid hit the moon and its fragments hit the Earth, which pushed it closer to the planet’s orbit.

    Miranda is coping more easily with the environmental drastic changes and the everyday struggle for survival. But although she has accepted things, there are moments where she is understandably resentful because she fully realises that despite these small comforts, all the things she has took for granted have gone. Her life has changed forever and this adds an air of poignancy to the story. Along with her brothers and mother, despite the struggle to survive, new changes come along. Some for the good, like electricity (albeit very unreliable and short) makes a returns, semi regular but low food rations from the Government, and some for the bad which create tension. Her diary was a perfect medium to share her feelings and outlook about the dystopia/survival setting which I found realistic – especially the smaller entries which said just as much as a longer detailed entry would about the bleak and uncertain future her family is facing.

    I had some issues with certain characters and plot lines such as Alex, the protagonist of the second book in the trilogy. And although I didn’t read his book, I did not warm up to his character because I found him distant, and the decisions he made was frankly idiotic – especially in context with what happened at the end of the book. Unlike Miranda, who was a more sympathetic character, I found his logic and reasonings about his sister were off. And I also didn’t think the romance he had with Miranada was realistic. Also, it was a bit of a coincidence that Miranda’s family is reunited despite the events which happened to her father and his family in the previous book.

    I do think there might be more books to come as it leaves on an ambiguous end. I loved the feel of isolation and desolation but also finding strength with each other and as a family – which at the end of this book, is a realization that most of the characters face, including Alex. But I found some plot lines were too convenient, and characters were making decisions that just felt off. But I think it was done to bring forward a plot. This World We Live in may not be as hectic or action filled as some other post apocalyptic books, but I do think the tone of the story and the emotions was more realistic. I liked Miranda’s narration which was honest and realistic. Her outlook and insights about her new world was filled with pathos, and hope now that she is reunited with her family, even though tragedy can be part of her life.

    I give The World we Live in 3.5 out 5
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I had high hopes for this book, but I was disappointed. Though some new characters are introduced, there is very little growth or change in Miranda, who is far whinier than anyone living through the end of the world has any right to be. Many of the situations are either too far-fetched, too convenient, or just nonsensical to my eyes. Alex is, if possible, even more annoying than he was in the second book. I waver between two and three stars on this one.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The characters from Life As We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone come together in another gripping story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I know I usually crack down hard on series and sequels, particularly when the first book is a perfectly good stand-alone, but this trilogy really had reason to be a trilogy. It has reason to keep going, even. My ONLY complaint is that Alex isn't as well developed a character as he was in the previous book--granted, this isn't his story, exactly, but there's less sense of his desperation here--he just seems stubborn, instead.

    I hope it all works out for Miranda et al.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I think this book is a really good description of what it might be like after a natural disaster.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer is the final volume in her “Last Survivors” trilogy, and this book brings characters from both books together and gives the readers some sense of closure. I have seen where many people felt quite disappointed in the ending of this series, but I personally felt she wrapped things up as much as she could while still staying true to the situation that the characters were in.Overall I have found this a very believable story and although written for a YA audience, the author neither sugar-coated the events nor talked down to her audience. Miranda was realistic and compelling, and the family relationships flowed in a natural way. I was less convinced by the Alex/Julie brother and sister storyline, and felt that they were included simply to tie up loose ends.The ending, while slightly ambiguous certainly keeps the door open for a future for both the characters and the world in general, which, really is all one can hope for in a book of this nature. I enjoyed all three volumes and felt the author’s concept was nicely played out in these three books.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The ending was the main saving grace for this. I absolutely LOVED the first one but this one fell very flat and fell into a lot of tropes/stereotypes. At least it felt like it. The ending was great though, it bumped it a whole star in my rating.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one of those books that I wouldn't have read had I not been taking part in a challenge when I read the first book. The premise of the trilogy is that a meteor hits the moon, causes it to get off it's axis. By doing this, it causes a lot of problems with the weather, which impacts the earth, obviously. In the first book, you met Miranda and her family, the second book introduced Alex and his sister. The third book brought the two books together. The meshing of the books was absolutely perfect. The book was heartbreaking in a lot of ways and I'm sad that it's the end. I'd love to see more.The book was so well written that it wasn't hard to imagine yourself in the story. You could close your eyes and see yourself living in Howell, in their home with them. It wasn't one of the far reaching dystopian worlds, this hits closer to home, in a lot of ways. It's more of a realistic possibility.I think the one thing that hit me, in some ways, is the use of real towns, real places. One of the places mentioned is close to me, even the college that Matt attends hit close to home for me. It made it even more real.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Disappointing end to the series. The romance sprang up out of nowhere - I didn't feel it or understand it at all. Everything else just moved too slowly.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really enjoyed this book. It left me wanting to know more of what happens to everyone. Great book for adults and teens alike. I wonder if this series will ever be made into a movie?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Of course if you already read, life as we knew it and the dead and the gone, you kind of want to know what happens next, and finally this book shows what happens next.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "This Word We Live In" by Susan Beth Pfeffer is a book about Alex and Miranda. Miranda and her family are doing okay after the event. Miranda's family which is made up of Laura her mother, Matt her oldest brother, Jon her youngest brother, and Horton there cat. Matt and Jon got to the river to fish for shad. And on the way Matt meets Syl, the fall in love after one day and get married. After a while Miranda's dad come knocking on Miranda's door. With her dad he brought the new baby, her step mom and a group of evac. survivors. Slowly the new comers become family to Miranda. I really enjoyed this book. I mean when you read a book in a day I think it means you really really like it. I could not put this book down no matter what I did. The ending was written very well. I gave this book five stars because it was really well put together. It was a nice way to end the series. I highly recommend this book to mature readers. Meaning people above 12 years old.