Booklist (starred review)
Praise for GONE: “”This intense, marvelously plotted, paced, and characterized story will immediately garner comparisons to Lord of the Flies or even the long-playing world shifts of Stephen King, with just a dash of X-Men for good measure.
Booklist
Praise for PLAGUE: “Grant’s science fantasy thrillers continue to be the very definition of a page-turner.
School Library Journal
08/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—The next entry of the popular science fiction/fantasy series focuses on Shade Darby, the daughter of scientists. She lost her mother and appears disconnected from her father. Acting with friends, she intends to alter the course of events beginning with intercepting an alien rock. Other characters from the previous books, including Dekka, are also present. Readers are left with little to decipher regarding character development. Grant plainly describes a character's thoughts and personality; much is said before it is shown. While attempts are made to portray diversity in terms of race and sexual orientation, the characters remain flat. Violence is followed by more violence without the benefit of it being artfully described. Fans of this very popular series will no doubt clamor for this most recent addition, and libraries will want to satisfy their desire to see the series' continuation. VERDICT Purchase where the series is popular.—Maureen Sullivan, Calumet City Public Library, IL
Kirkus Reviews
2017-08-02
The Gone series continues.It has been four years since the invisible dome created by an alien virus stunned the world and left hundreds of children to fend for themselves inside. Now, meteors are striking the Earth with even deadlier effects: mutating human beings into monsters. Some of these new mutants use their powers for selfish reasons, while others team up to use them for good. Meanwhile, shady government agencies are doing their best to contain the fallout. New characters and old favorites abound in this follow-up, which feels heavily influenced by comic books and the author's pseudonymous work on the Animorphs series. Grant's action sequences have improved, crisply composed here with exciting powers and a grounded sense of destruction. There are casualties, and the author doesn't skip over the collateral damage these characters create. The psychological toll helps shade the author's broad characterizations. The most complex and interesting characters are the ones brought over from the earlier books, but the new faces engage easily enough. The cast is fairly diverse, covering a wide variety of skin colors, sexual orientations, and gender identities. The setup for the sequel is blessedly minimal, growing naturally out of the story. Longtime fans will surely be excited by the novel's final moments. A bombastic, engaging start to a sequel series full of potential. (Science fiction. 14-17)
