Pandemic by Yvonne Ventresca. Sky Pony Press, 2014.


Months after a scarring incident at school, Lilianna's life takes an abrupt, downward spiral. Suddenly, the worst happens: the country is hit with a quickly-spreading flu. As the flu kills off thousands of people, Lilianna is stuck at home alone since her parents were called away on business trips. Dodging the sickness while protecting the house, Lilianna is forced to follow out with tough decisions and take serious risks. But everything takes an unexpected turn one day as the source of her initial suffering appears at her front door.

In all, Pandemic is a fast and gripping story. The cover and jacket blurb immediately caught my attention and I could not stand to put this book down. The plot never failed to impress me; there was always a surprise around the corner. I loved how I could just jump right into the story due to the fact that it felt so real! In addition, the excerpts from each “Blue Flu Interview” at the beginning of each chapter added a great sense of impending doom to the overall plot. Without those, the book would have no real feeling.

Over time, I've realized that each of the characters were excellent as well. Without changing perspectives in which the story is told from, the author gave each character a little time in the spotlight to tell their backstory so that the entire book wasn't all about Lilianna. As for Lilianna, I feel like she matured a lot throughout the book. How the author attempted that was amazing; she did it so believably and realistically. And I appreciate how much of a relatable character Lilianna is. She's a little paranoid and imperfect, and not your typical, happy-go-lucky main character.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I would not hesitate to recommend it to those who have read Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer or other apocalyptic stories. I would also give it a rating of 5/5 stars!