The Lives We Lost by Megan Crewe

Published: February 12th, 2013

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Pages: 288

Copy: Publisher through Netgalley

Summary: Goodreads

First, the virus took Kaelyn’s friends. Then, her family. Now it’s taken away her home.

But she can't look back—the life she once had is gone forever.

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.

First off, I have to say that I love the fact that this series is set in Canada.  Travelling through the Canadian countryside with Kaelyn, Gav and the others was really exciting - and Cold!  Perhaps because I have experienced Canadian winters, it was easy to believe the conditions that the group were travelling in and made it seem very real.

Another thing Ms Crewe does well is illustrate how quickly society breaks down in the face of disaster.  How everything suddenly goes to extremes - good or evil - there is very little in the middle.  People find it very hard to trust any more and this adds an additional element of danger to everything that they do.

Gav continues to be one of my favourite characters.  He is such a genuine caring young man that it is impossible not to like him.  Kaelyn too, continues to be amazingly single-minded in her quest to deliver her father's research.  You just have to admire her tenacity.  The Lives We Lost is a compelling apocalyptic novel with intriguing characters and an intense, exciting story.

The first title in the series - The Way We Fall  - has been chosen as one of this years White Pine nominees in the Forest of Reading challenge - and I'm having a really hard time chosing a favourite this year.  Dark Inside (Jeyn Roberts), The Taming (Walters and Toten) and Witchlanders (Lena Coakley) are just three of the other nominees.  Getting over Garrett Delaney is another. The full list is at the bottom of this post.  All of them are worth adding to your TBR list of you having read them yet.