Review: Pandemic by Yvonne Ventresca

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Hardcover, 352 pages

Published May 6th 2014 by Sky Pony Press

Source: Purchased

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

From Goodreads

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 Only a few people know what caused her sudden change from model student to the withdrawn pessimist she has become, but her situation isn’t about to get any better.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.

This would be me, totally freaking out. Obviously.

So, Lil’s parents have gone away. Her mom is in Hong Kong, and her dad gets called away to Delaware when the very first people get sick in Maryland. Lil’s stuck alone in New Jersey with only a few friends and neighbors around. I think her reactions to being alone are pretty spot-on: she’s scared out of her mind, completely paranoid, and starts hoarding ALL the supplies.

Lil’s character is definitely likeable. There is “the incident” that she experienced which has distanced her from quite a few friends and an ex-boyfriend, and has basically just been eating at her for months. So not only is she scared about her friends and family, her own health, and the dire situation she’s in, she is also still struggling with a lot of ramifications from months before. In truth, I liked that she was still spending some time focusing on her issues, relationships, and problems from before the Blue Flu. Obviously, the flu is her biggest concern most of the time, but I think it is important to show that her life is still going on, because I feel like that is what would actually happen.

Lil also struggled with a lot of moral decisions throughout the book too, like whether to help others or worry about her own survival, among other things that I won’t talk about because, you know, spoilers. I liked that she struggled with these things, because as humans, we are kind of wired to put our own needs first, and if she hadn’t even considered the selfish alternatives, I wouldn’t have believed it.

There is some romance, but the romance is definitely not the main focus, and definitely not insta-love. There is a very strange sort of triangle/square/quadrangle (depending on who we are considering as being “involved”) but it isn’t super angsty or anything so it didn’t bother me.

So, what is making me dock a star and a half, you ask? The feels. Or rather, the lack of feels. Usually in a book, when characters start dropping like flies, I am pretty upset. But I just felt kind of apathetic. Even when Lil would get upset about something, I didn’t quite feel it. Yes, I read it, I knew what was happening, but I didn’t get the emotion behind it. As a reader, I think that feeling and emotion in a book, especially a book about a global illness, is kind of necessary.

I did enjoy the story and the characters immensely though. The book had a good flow and a good story, and I read it quite quickly because I was eager to know what happened next. Definitely one to pick up if you enjoy survival and suspense in a realistic setting!