The Living by Matt de la Pena

The Living is a wonderful dystopian novel about being stranded at sea and trying to survive. It is the first of two books. Shy just wanted to get some money to help out his family with the bills. He didn't ask to be one of the few survivors of a deadly earthquake and tsunami. He is working on a cruise ship, and only after a couple weeks, the biggest, strongest earthquake ever recorded hits California, even spreading in to the border of Mexico, his home town.

Following is a huge tsunami, leaving almost everyone on the ship dead. To make matters worse, Romero disease is spreading rapidly, and threatens his entire family back in Mexico, as well as all his friends and coworkers that managed to stay alive. Shy and the other survivors are in a life and death situation.

The cover is way scarier than it actually is. The hand sticking out of the ocean is an exaggeration, which I found very misleading. I kind of wished that the book would be more scary. For a dystopian book, I kind of wanted a little more action.

Regardless, The Living is a great book, and I am happy I read it. It is also a mystery, which I very much enjoyed. There is also a conspiracy that is kind of surprising. I am not going to give anything away, but I was shocked that people would actually do something as thoughtless as what these people did. 

There is a sequel called The Hunted, which I cannot wait to read! I totally recommend you read this book. 

Title: The Living
Author: Matt de la Pena
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 320 pages
Series: Yes, Book 1 of 2
Rating: 4 Stars
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