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Cdnbookworm
Dec 27, 2013Cdnbookworm rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
This is the fourth book in the series that began with Life As We Knew It. So far I've liked the first two the best. This one has the speaking character move to Miranda's younger brother Jon, and it picks up a few months after Jon, his stepmother Lisa and stepbrother Gabe have entered the enclave Sexton using the slips provided by Alex. Miranda, Laura and Alex are all living in the town outside the enclave White Birch which provides labour to the enclave. The social structure is disturbing, with the clavers, as they are called engaged in widespread abuse of the labourers, known as grubs. As "slips", Jon and Lisa live in the enclave on shaky ground and constantly have to pass tests for loyalty. When Lisa gets the opportunity, she tries to arrange to have Miranda assigned as a domestic labourer to her own household. But unrest between the communities leads to an outburst that has significant impact on the family. Jon matures significantly in this book, becoming aware of his own spoiled nature and the unfair way he has treated others. But I really didn't feel connected to the characters in this book as I did to the first two books.