Review | Gone Dark – Amanda Panitch

Recently I’ve been reading some more and not just rereads. So I also have another review for you all. I finished Gone Dark by Amanda Panitch earlier this month, I listened to the audiobook. And today I want to share my thoughts with you, so let’s jump in!

Review | Gone Dark – Amanda Panitch

Dry meets Hatchet in this thrilling tale of survival following a teen girl who must lead her friends across country to the safety of her estranged father’s survivalist compound after a mass power failure leaves the country in chaos.
When seventeen-year-old Zara escaped her father’s backwoods survivalist compound five years ago, she traded crossbows and skinning hides for electricity and video games…and tried to forget the tragedy that drove her away.
Until a malware attack on the United States electrical grids cuts off the entire country’s power.
In the wake of the disaster and the chaos that ensues, Zara is forced to call upon skills she thought she’d never use again—and her best bet to survive is to go back to the home she left behind. Drawing upon a resilience she didn’t know she had, Zara leads a growing group of friends on an epic journey across a crumbling country back to her father’s compound, where their only hope for salvation lies.
But with every step she takes, Zara wonders if she truly has what it takes to face her father and the secrets of her past, or if she’d be better off hiding in the dark.


Gone Dark by Amanda Panitch
Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books on 12/04/2022
Pages: 448
Goodreads

I was interested in Gone Dark because of the premise. All the lights go out one night and the power doesn’t come back. I loved the tv show Revolution and wished for something like it ever since it was cancelled. So you can imagine my excitement for Gone Dark. This was exactly what I was looking for in a book (or tv show).

The book starts off pretty good, we get a small glimpse into Zara’s life before the power outage. Right away there are some hints about Zara’s life when she was a little girl, and I really enjoyed those parts. It was very interesting to me. But of course I was mostly looking forward to the part where the lights go out.

What I like most about these kind of stories is seeing what happens in the panic, how people react and how they live without power. Zara has some unique skills that really help in the situation she is in. It was interesting and fun reading all about her travel the other side of the country but it all went by pretty quick at times as well. Big chunks of time were skipped over and that was a bit of a shame.

Zara decides to travel to her father’s survivalist compound and gets company from her friend who’s looking for his family. She is also followed by someone who pops up every now and then. Unfortunately the overall plot was very thin and very predictable in my opinion. I predicted the outcome pretty much from the start and no part of the story surprised me in any way.

It seems like the author wanted to write about a power outage and came up with a plot around that. While that part was interesting, it wasn’t enough to make this a compelling story. Neither did the characters, they were okay but nothing special and I didn’t really root for them.

For me this was a pretty average story. I liked the premise and the writing style. There were a couple interesting parts but the plot was disappointing and the characters weren’t memorable.

If you want a quick read with this premise, this is an okay story to read. Don’t expect too much and you might enjoy it. I will be on the lookout for more stories like this, so if you have any recommendations I would love to hear them!

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