thepaperreels's review against another edition
4.0
Guysss..
I was on the verge of giving up on Post Apocalyptic/Dystopia books. But yes! Yes! Pandemic saved me. I had hope! My high expectation was reached! And just to let you know guys, I've read this while I was sick (I still am as I'm writing my review) So, as I progress on my reading, I don't want anything but to get better! The book felt insanely real that yes, I got paranoid. DO I HAVE THE FLU??
Well I hope not. I really hope not.
Lilianna. Lil suffered from a traumatic tragedy before the Pandemic happened and as a result of that, she got a little (Okay a lot) paranoid. Who could blame her though? It was really traumatizing and even though she went through therapies and stuff, she still felt like she has to be ready and aware of everything. Imagine her horror when flu start spreading out through her hometown. A deadly flu to be exact.
Pandemic is a page turner. I was easily engrossed from the first chapter and Lilianna is a very easy and likeable protagonist. You'll feel for her, she will really make you feel like you're part of the story. The character development was fantastic! You see, Lil is paranoid. Traumatized. HOW CAN THIS GIRL FUNCTION WHEN SHE'S SCARED AND EVERYONE AROUND HER STARTS HAVING THIS FLU THAN CAN COST THEIR LIFE. HOW? And that's how Yvonne shows her brilliance as a writer. How Lil matured through out the story was believable and realistic. And can I say how great it is that there's no characters wasted. That all was properly and appropriately used. I was connected and with each and everyone of them.
What I loved the most about Pandemic was the pacing. You see, as a reader, I admit that I get impatient a lot. I want answers! What is going on???! WHAT IS HAPPENING!! But Pandemic is a perfect paced story that teased me but/and left me satisfied. I don't know how Yvonne managed to do that but she just did. The Romantic aspect is just a bonus but if I'm going to comment about it, its this: worth sighing and waiting for. Not to rushed but not boring either.
Pandemic is a smart, sharp and emotionally satisfying read. Impossible to put down and harder to forget. Praise for Yvonne Ventresca!
I was on the verge of giving up on Post Apocalyptic/Dystopia books. But yes! Yes! Pandemic saved me. I had hope! My high expectation was reached! And just to let you know guys, I've read this while I was sick (I still am as I'm writing my review) So, as I progress on my reading, I don't want anything but to get better! The book felt insanely real that yes, I got paranoid. DO I HAVE THE FLU??
Well I hope not. I really hope not.
Lilianna. Lil suffered from a traumatic tragedy before the Pandemic happened and as a result of that, she got a little (Okay a lot) paranoid. Who could blame her though? It was really traumatizing and even though she went through therapies and stuff, she still felt like she has to be ready and aware of everything. Imagine her horror when flu start spreading out through her hometown. A deadly flu to be exact.
Pandemic is a page turner. I was easily engrossed from the first chapter and Lilianna is a very easy and likeable protagonist. You'll feel for her, she will really make you feel like you're part of the story. The character development was fantastic! You see, Lil is paranoid. Traumatized. HOW CAN THIS GIRL FUNCTION WHEN SHE'S SCARED AND EVERYONE AROUND HER STARTS HAVING THIS FLU THAN CAN COST THEIR LIFE. HOW? And that's how Yvonne shows her brilliance as a writer. How Lil matured through out the story was believable and realistic. And can I say how great it is that there's no characters wasted. That all was properly and appropriately used. I was connected and with each and everyone of them.
What I loved the most about Pandemic was the pacing. You see, as a reader, I admit that I get impatient a lot. I want answers! What is going on???! WHAT IS HAPPENING!! But Pandemic is a perfect paced story that teased me but/and left me satisfied. I don't know how Yvonne managed to do that but she just did. The Romantic aspect is just a bonus but if I'm going to comment about it, its this: worth sighing and waiting for. Not to rushed but not boring either.
Pandemic is a smart, sharp and emotionally satisfying read. Impossible to put down and harder to forget. Praise for Yvonne Ventresca!
wren_in_black's review against another edition
3.0
This entire review contains brief spoilers for the beginning of the book.
I found this on Kindle Unlimited in March, at the start of our current Covid-19 pandemic. I intended to read it then, but my better mental health angels prevailed and I waited. This book was published in 2014, and so, is not about our current pandemic, but about a fictional H5N1 virus that has an incubation period of only a few short hours with rapid onset of symptoms. Like the Spanish Flu, the disease is worst in those in their late teens to 50s.
This books follows the character of Lilianna, or "Lil" as she's called by those who know her. She is the typical YA female protagonist, and not in the best of ways. She's Good with a CAPITAL G. She organizes community food drives and wins awards for her Goodness. She's just that Good.
But now she's a bit neurotic, thanks to a sexual assault from a now former teacher at her school. Now Lil wears black and smokes and has a strange obsession for being prepared for everything form terrorist attacks to storms to infectious diseases. She's still Good, of course. She just fills the spare closet with cans of beans. At least she pays for them herself, with her own job of stocking shelves as the local grocery store, which is mentioned exactly once and then promptly forgotten about when Shit Hits The Fan.
Lil's backstory serves only as a plot device to get extra cans of beans into the house and to create some tension between Lil and her former friend, Kayla. Given Lil's dad's wacky job of writing for an infectious disease magazine, it would make sense for Dad to stock the pandemic supplies and for Lil to be a happy beneficiary. But, it's not an unforgivable plot point and it is handled decently - although it's never truly discussed that it's NOT HER FAULT. Lil ponders once why her teacher chose to assault her when there were prettier girls around, but it's never made clear that she was the perfect target. Lil has the typical YA novel absentee parents, she's an only child and not riding to school with others, and she's so Good that she's bound to internalize the incident as her fault and not tell anyone, right? For parents that pretend to be so concerned with Lil's increasing neurosis, they seem to schedule work trips at exactly the same time and don't plan for anyone to stay with their easily spazzed-out child.
But, I digress.
A couple of other brief issues:
- Senior citizens are older, not enfeebled or stupid or less altruistic or focused on only baking ten thousand cookies in the midst of a pandemic. I understand that our teenage protagonist need to take the stage, but GOOD GRAVY.
- There are some practical issues not considered, like water and sewage problems as a possibility in a prolonged electrical outage.
- That ending. FLUFFY.
The story itself is interesting enough. For the intended audience of teen girls, it's a good fit. The male characters, both Ethan and Jay are apparently swoon-worthy enough - until Ethan is a huge selfish jerk when Lil faces a devastating loss. None of the characters are described in too much detail physically, so it's easy for readers to layer the faces of their own crushes onto the characters. In fact, not too much of anything is described in detail. This is a book completely without flowery prose or poetry. It is entirely concrete with nothing abstract in its scope or sequence. This makes it a perfect high interest read for lower grade-level readers. Someone at a middle 4th grade reading level wouldn't have a problem with this book. Despite it's 392 page length, it's not intimidating in the least.
I'll be adding it to my classroom library shelf because it will fit the interest and needs of my readers.
I found this on Kindle Unlimited in March, at the start of our current Covid-19 pandemic. I intended to read it then, but my better mental health angels prevailed and I waited. This book was published in 2014, and so, is not about our current pandemic, but about a fictional H5N1 virus that has an incubation period of only a few short hours with rapid onset of symptoms. Like the Spanish Flu, the disease is worst in those in their late teens to 50s.
This books follows the character of Lilianna, or "Lil" as she's called by those who know her. She is the typical YA female protagonist, and not in the best of ways. She's Good with a CAPITAL G. She organizes community food drives and wins awards for her Goodness. She's just that Good.
But now she's a bit neurotic, thanks to a sexual assault from a now former teacher at her school. Now Lil wears black and smokes and has a strange obsession for being prepared for everything form terrorist attacks to storms to infectious diseases. She's still Good, of course. She just fills the spare closet with cans of beans. At least she pays for them herself, with her own job of stocking shelves as the local grocery store, which is mentioned exactly once and then promptly forgotten about when Shit Hits The Fan.
Lil's backstory serves only as a plot device to get extra cans of beans into the house and to create some tension between Lil and her former friend, Kayla. Given Lil's dad's wacky job of writing for an infectious disease magazine, it would make sense for Dad to stock the pandemic supplies and for Lil to be a happy beneficiary. But, it's not an unforgivable plot point and it is handled decently - although it's never truly discussed that it's NOT HER FAULT. Lil ponders once why her teacher chose to assault her when there were prettier girls around, but it's never made clear that she was the perfect target. Lil has the typical YA novel absentee parents, she's an only child and not riding to school with others, and she's so Good that she's bound to internalize the incident as her fault and not tell anyone, right? For parents that pretend to be so concerned with Lil's increasing neurosis, they seem to schedule work trips at exactly the same time and don't plan for anyone to stay with their easily spazzed-out child.
But, I digress.
A couple of other brief issues:
- Senior citizens are older, not enfeebled or stupid or less altruistic or focused on only baking ten thousand cookies in the midst of a pandemic. I understand that our teenage protagonist need to take the stage, but GOOD GRAVY.
- There are some practical issues not considered, like water and sewage problems as a possibility in a prolonged electrical outage.
- That ending. FLUFFY.
The story itself is interesting enough. For the intended audience of teen girls, it's a good fit. The male characters, both Ethan and Jay are apparently swoon-worthy enough - until Ethan is a huge selfish jerk when Lil faces a devastating loss. None of the characters are described in too much detail physically, so it's easy for readers to layer the faces of their own crushes onto the characters. In fact, not too much of anything is described in detail. This is a book completely without flowery prose or poetry. It is entirely concrete with nothing abstract in its scope or sequence. This makes it a perfect high interest read for lower grade-level readers. Someone at a middle 4th grade reading level wouldn't have a problem with this book. Despite it's 392 page length, it's not intimidating in the least.
I'll be adding it to my classroom library shelf because it will fit the interest and needs of my readers.
tweetyandy's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this! Quick, fast and engaging read :)
kimily's review against another edition
3.0
Pandemic
Even under the most normal circumstances, high school can be a painful and confusing time. Unfortunately, Lilianna’s circumstances are anything but normal. Only a few people know what caused her sudden change from model student to the withdrawn pessimist she has become, but her situation isn’t about to get any better. When people begin coming down with a quick-spreading illness that doctors are unable to treat, Lil’s worst fears are realized. With her parents called away on business before the contagious outbreak—her father in Delaware covering the early stages of the disease and her mother in Hong Kong and unable to get a flight back to New Jersey—Lil’s town is hit by what soon becomes a widespread illness and fatal disaster. Now, she’s more alone than she’s been since the “incident” at her school months ago.
With friends and neighbors dying all around her, Lil does everything she can just to survive. But as the disease rages on, so does an unexpected tension as Lil is torn between an old ex and a new romantic interest. Just when it all seems too much, the cause of her original trauma shows up at her door. In this thrilling debut from author Yvonne Ventresca, Lil must find a way to survive not only the outbreak and its real-life consequences, but also her own personal demons.
In my experience, many YA authors seem to be under the impression that, should disaster strike, teenagers will suddenly begin to act like adults. Yvonne Ventresca is not one of those authors, and I'm glad, because it makes her book so much more gripping. While her characters did step up to do what needed to be done, they didn't stop acting like teenagers. This one thing made her story so much more believable to me.
With that being said, while I appreciated the truth of the teen characters and the psychological pressures of the story, many of the big exciting moments were resolved very quickly, with little muss. It was kind of a letdown. Overall, the book was a quick, fun read. I just wish the more minor dilemmas were a little less minor.
I would recommend this book for teen readers who enjoy stories revolving around disasters and the struggle to survive.
Even under the most normal circumstances, high school can be a painful and confusing time. Unfortunately, Lilianna’s circumstances are anything but normal. Only a few people know what caused her sudden change from model student to the withdrawn pessimist she has become, but her situation isn’t about to get any better. When people begin coming down with a quick-spreading illness that doctors are unable to treat, Lil’s worst fears are realized. With her parents called away on business before the contagious outbreak—her father in Delaware covering the early stages of the disease and her mother in Hong Kong and unable to get a flight back to New Jersey—Lil’s town is hit by what soon becomes a widespread illness and fatal disaster. Now, she’s more alone than she’s been since the “incident” at her school months ago.
With friends and neighbors dying all around her, Lil does everything she can just to survive. But as the disease rages on, so does an unexpected tension as Lil is torn between an old ex and a new romantic interest. Just when it all seems too much, the cause of her original trauma shows up at her door. In this thrilling debut from author Yvonne Ventresca, Lil must find a way to survive not only the outbreak and its real-life consequences, but also her own personal demons.
In my experience, many YA authors seem to be under the impression that, should disaster strike, teenagers will suddenly begin to act like adults. Yvonne Ventresca is not one of those authors, and I'm glad, because it makes her book so much more gripping. While her characters did step up to do what needed to be done, they didn't stop acting like teenagers. This one thing made her story so much more believable to me.
With that being said, while I appreciated the truth of the teen characters and the psychological pressures of the story, many of the big exciting moments were resolved very quickly, with little muss. It was kind of a letdown. Overall, the book was a quick, fun read. I just wish the more minor dilemmas were a little less minor.
I would recommend this book for teen readers who enjoy stories revolving around disasters and the struggle to survive.
doodleb58's review against another edition
4.0
At first I had a hard time getting into the character but the writing was well done so I continued. I'm so glad I did because the story line was great. I don't often read this type of book I'm more of a zombie sci-fi person but sometimes the living (looters & gross men) can be just as terrifying. I look forward to more from this author. It's worth a read if you like stories about outbreaks and survivors.
hsquared's review against another edition
3.0
This was an intense read about a teenage girl caught in the middle of a bird flu epidemic. Give to fans of Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer.
at806's review against another edition
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
aishablue's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Terminal illness
cjmichel's review against another edition
5.0
This is so up my alley! I didn't get halfway through before I went online to order another book from this author. It's that good.
Lilianna's parents are both away on business conferences when the Pandemic goes global so they are unable to get home. The world has completely changed for Lil, again. Looters, friends and neighbors dying, and threats from the past reaching out towards Lil while she tries to think ahead and survive. Fast paced and hard to put down. I immediately wanted more from this author. Excellent story.
Lilianna's parents are both away on business conferences when the Pandemic goes global so they are unable to get home. The world has completely changed for Lil, again. Looters, friends and neighbors dying, and threats from the past reaching out towards Lil while she tries to think ahead and survive. Fast paced and hard to put down. I immediately wanted more from this author. Excellent story.