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** spoiler alert ** I'm not sure whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. It's definitely a page turner. I found myself increasingly anxious for Miranda and her family, but unfortunately, I didn't get much resolution. In the end, there is still volcanic ash in the sky meaning there will be no future food production whenever the cans of food that magically appear at city hall are extinguished. It just extended their inevitable deaths. Just a mention that the sky was clearing would have been enough for me to hope. I also didn't mind that she never figured out what happened to Dan and her dad, but she could have at least asked about a letter from her dad at city hall. Then if nothing was there, I would have assumed that something happened to her father and leave it at that, but she goes downtown to ask and then nothing.

It made me sad that everyone knew Jonny was the one to survive if it came down to one. I wanted a reason for Jonny instead of Matt or Miranda, something more than he was the youngest and a boy. That Miranda knew that and when she confronted her mother she didn't say anything to deny it or comfort her bugged me about her. I didn't always like her mother, but I didn't always like Miranda either, which just made them realistic portrayals of mother and daughter. I enjoyed the unfolding of the characters as much as I enjoyed the plot unfolding.

The story was frightening and made me want to go out and double-stock my food storage. A lot of the daily trials that I hadn't considered popped up in the story. Miranda's mom was smart, getting right on the ball buying up all the supplies they needed, but even then, I kept thinking that their food supply should have run out long before—and they were the ones who bothered stocking up. How was everyone else surviving? I know how the preacher was surviving, but I wish there had been some follow up with him too, some discovery that he had died in the flu epidemic. I wanted her to find out how many people in her town survived. Now that city hall was open and they had food, they could have asked. It's good that the book made me question so many things, I just wish a few of my questions had been answered.

On a sidenote, Pfeffer's statement that people who turn to God in times of grief brainwashed and stupid rubbed me the wrong way. There's also her obvious portrayal of Bush as an idiot hiding out on his ranch in Texas telling everyone that everything was okay. That didn't bother me as much as I just didn't think this was the place for such strong political (or religious) statements. It added character to the story for sure. I just didn't like it. Religion and politics, the two taboo topics and all that.

The book had a lot of promise, but I wanted more. More from Miranda, more explanation of what was going on, and more of a conclusion. Not more as in I loved the story and want to continue it. More as in if Pfeffer had answered a few things for me than maybe I would be curious, but she left too much open for me to go on.