Under Water

The Living #1

by Matt de la Peña

Überleben ist erst der Anfang


Sonne, Meer und Mädchen in Bikinis – so schlimm wird der Ferienjob auf dem Luxuskreuzfahrtschiff schon nicht werden, denkt sich Shy. Aber dann erschüttert ein ungeheures Erdbeben Kalifornien und löst einen Tsunami aus ...

Und das ist erst der Anfang …

Genres: Young Adult, Adventure, Survival, Fiction, Science Fiction, Mystery, Teen

352 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 2013

About the author

Matt de la Peña is the New York Times best-selling, Newbery-medal-winning author of six young adult novels and four picture books. Matt received his MFA in creative writing from San Diego State University and his BA from the University of the Pacific, where he attended school on a full athletic scholarship for basketball. de la Peña currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. He teaches creative writing and visits high schools and colleges throughout the country.

Visit Matt at: mattdelapena.com

Reviews

[Josu Diamond · Rating 2 out of 5]

Una novela ágil, con personajes sin apenas profundidad y predecible, pero que al menos consigue mantenerte en vilo durante gran parte de sus páginas.

Hay varias cosas que quiero comentar de Los vivientes. Comenzó como una historia diferente y original, pues tan solo con la localización de gran parte de la historia se tenía ganado ese punto de innovación. Se me viene a la mente un solo ejemplo de novela juvenil en un barco, Aguas oscuras, y eso es un punto a favor. Sin embargo, aproximadamente hacia la mitad de la novela, la historia pega un giro que tira todo por la borda. La mejor parte de la novela, sin duda, es aquella que ocurre en el barco, y aunque los personajes no sean nada del otro mundo, al menos tienen tramas entretenidas y hay anécdotas o historias secundarias que contar.

Cruzaba los dedos durante mi lectura para que Matt de la Peña no se fuera a lo sencillo, a lo fácil. Pero el autor sucumbe al placer de lo sencillo, y eso deja la trama cojeando. Se veía venir casi desde el principio, en serio. ¡Y la manera de revelar todo me pareció vaga! Vaga y simple. He de admitir que yo en este tipo de historias siempre exijo un poco más... y más en este caso, cuando se podría haber hecho una novela juvenil verdaderamente diferente.

En cuanto a los personajes no es que tenga tampoco muy buenas palabras. Son entretenidos (menos en ciertas ocasiones, sobre todo cuando Shy está hablando o con Carmen o Addie a solas) y dan contenido con el que llenar las páginas, pues las interacciones mediante diálogos son importantes. Pero ni están desarrollados ni consiguen conectar con quien lo lea, y es toda una pena porque son personajes que podrían haber jugado papeles mucho más importantes en una historia de estas características.

Tampoco me ha gustado cómo se han tratado la mayoría de los temas, en especial el hecho del fin del mundo y la enfermedad, que son las bases de la historia. Era todo tan plano... Me faltó algo. Aunque si hay algo que tengo que destacar es el hecho de que el autor consiga que todo fluya en la dirección correcta, que nada parezca forzado y que las páginas se lean solas. Con capítulos cortos y división por días, la historia se cuenta de una manera directa y sencilla, ahondando en las acciones y en la trama subyacente.

Así que es una novela que recomiendo para las personas que no se esperen nunca los finales de las películas. Para las que no, como yo, os encontraréis una historia predecible y básica. ¡Pero al menos es entretenida de leer!

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Check out Scott Reads It!
The Living is a strange novel because each part is extremely different in tone and atmosphere. The first part of this novel had a very contemporary feel and it had a nice mix of romance and interesting introspective writing. Part two of The Living was strictly apocalyptic and it abandoned all of the thought-provoking messages that I loved in part one. Part three is a whole different story and I felt like the point of this part was to help kick-start a unwarranted series. The Living just feels all over the place and very uneven in plot structure.

I loved how Matt De La Pena decided to include Mexican-American protagonists because I really feel like YA lit needs to include more POCs (people of color). Pena addresses the racism that Mexican-Americans face often in a thought-provoking way. I can definitely tell that Pena has a flair for writing about controversial topics in a straightforward manner. Another thing that I enjoyed was the romance which I felt was well-integrated into the plot; the only qualm I have with the romance was how the author mitigated how severe and terrible infidelity is. Cheating on someone is something extremely serious and morally wrong, I really felt like the author neglected to treat this topic properly.

It was really refreshing to read something that was mainly targeted towards teenage guys. Shy isn't the best male protagonist that I've read about, but Pena does capture what guys actually act like. So many YA authors write inaccurate and unrealistic depictions of male guys that I was so happy to read a book where the author actually understands what being a male teen is all about. Another aspect of Shy's characterization that I enjoyed is how he's an average guy; he isn't extremely handsome, muscular, and eye-catching like so many YA characters. Not every guy is going to be a well-built, stunning guy in the real world, so why does literature idealize males?

As I mentioned before, the plot of The Living was extremely problematic for me. I really think that Pena has considerable writing abilities in creating contemporary and apocalyptic environments. The Living is definitely well-paced with enough dialogue and action to keep things interesting. Though The Living works as a apocalyptic novel, I really feel like Pena is better suited to writing about realistic, emotional topics than intense, action scenes. Don't get me wrong, Pena knows how to write heart-pounding, action scenes, but they just couldn't compare to the scenes about racism.

I haven't read anything by Matt De La Pena in the past, but after reading The Living, I really don't think apocalyptic books are his forte. The Living is well-written, intense, but I feel like making The Living a beginning of a series is moot. It definitely would have been more effective as a stand-alone, why does every YA book need to be apart of a series? *Sighs* I really miss reading stand-alones because I'm in the middle of 100's of series, I kid you not.

[May R · Rating 5 out of 5]

UNA NOVELA FASCINANTE. CON UN RITMO INCREÍBLE.

Los vivientes es la primera parte de una serie, no sé si de dos, tres o más libros. Sea como sea es una novela de ciencia ficción que se ambienta en alta mar y que cuenta una historia escalofriante y que atrapa desde la primera página. De la Peña es un autor con una pluma muy propia y que marca un ritmo en la novela frenético.
Soy una adicta a la ciencia ficción, me encanta. Y por eso mismo he leído tantos libros que ya me cuesta encontrar uno que me enganche y me sorprenda de verdad. Los vivientes ha sido ese libro que me ha sorprendido, enganchado y dejado con muchísimas ganas de más. Es una de las mejores lecturas que llevo hechas este año y una novela muy recomendable para lxs lectorxs de las novelas post apocalípticas. Además tiene tintes de distopía que parece que se desarrollarán aún más en la segunda novela, ago que también me encanta.
Me ha gustado mucho la ambientación de Los vivientes porque no es común encontrar una novela desarrollada en un crucero. Y las pocas que he leído ninguna me terminó de convencer ni de gustar. El hecho de estar ambientada en un barco y en alta mar le daba un punto extra para mí. Y lo cierto es que el autor juega muy bien con la ambientación y tiene unas descripciones bastante buenas que te sitúan a la perfección en ese barco. Me recordaba muchísimo a una serie que hubo una vez en Antena 3 que se llamaba El Barco. Aunque es una casualidad fortuita porque esa serie nunca llegó a Estados Unidos por lo que probablemente el autor nunca la ha visto.
Quizás lo que más me ha fallado ha sido la evolución y el planteamiento del personaje de Carmen. Si bien el resto de personajes están profundizados y bien caracterizados, Carmen ha sido un personaje bastante plano y al que se le daba demasiada importancia en la trama para lo que hacía -nada-. Es un personaje que además no me ha gustado ni caído bien, así que la tuve enfilada toda la lectura.
La trama me ha gustado muchísimo. Me gusta mucho el factor sorpresa de la novela porque no te esperas casi nada de lo que ocurre y nunca sabes qué más va a pasar o si los personajes van a sobrevivir. Me ha gustado el planteamiento de la trama y cómo está dividida en diferentes partes muy claramente. Me ha gustado muchísimo la idea de la novela, el desarrollo y el giro final. Los giros son además muy buenos y potentes en este libro y es otro factor que juega a su favor.
Ya por el último decir que el ritmo me ha gustado mucho. Es muy ágil, rápido y hace que te engaches a la lectura. Me atrapó tanto la novela que la leí en dos noches -y una estaba con fiebre pero me hizo aguantar hasta que mi cuerpo no podía más-.
Los vivientes es de esas novelas que te quitan el aliento, que te dejan con ganas de más todo el tiempo y que no quieres soltar. Es una novela muy recomendable y de la que me escucharéis hablar de aquí hasta la saciedad.

[Tara Byers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Looking through the other reviews, I'm surprised this book rated as many stars as it did. Maybe I'm just the oddball out on this one, but this book was "Meh..." for me. I was expecting an exciting tale of survivalist fiction - and there is some of that, don't get me wrong, but there's also a medical mystery dotted with murder. Which is fine. Great. Dandy. But here's where I fell off The Living train.

The narrator.

I just... maybe as a woman in my early thirties I just can't relate to teenage boys anymore, but I really had a hard time being sympathetic to the main character. Shy is a nice kid and everything but when it came to his relationship with Carmen just... UGH. Just UGH. His scene in the hallway with her was so cringe worthy I almost didn't make it through. Not to mention the characterization of Addie in the beginning - are teenage girls really like this now? Because honestly, I didn't like a SINGLE young character in this book. Give me Shoeshine and Christian all the live long day, and out with these punk whipper snappers.

The book is slow going at the beginning and there are so many threads woven into the story in strange and disconnected ways, I was surprised when I got to the ending and... WHAT? It's a series? My bad for not realizing there would be more books but, honestly, this book did not leave me wanting more. Things just sort of trail off after the climax and, while I understand there will be more books, I felt I needed SOME closure on at least a few of the questions raised within the narrative.

All in all, I found this book disappointing and I have no plans to continue reading the next one. To me, I needed a character I could relate to and though I glimpsed a couple around the edges, all in all, Shy just didn't do it for me.

[Vir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los vivientes es una novela que me ha impactado bastante por la crudeza y dureza de muchas de sus escenas. Una historia de supervivencia completamente adictiva que me tuvo con el corazón en un puño en muchas ocasiones tanto por su intensidad como por la forma tan directa que tiene el autor de narrar. Pega un pequeño bajón -en cuanto a previsibilidad de la trama- en la parte final pero igualmente deja con muchas ganas de saber cómo continúa todo.

http://lavidasecretadeloslibros.blogs...

[Lauren Morrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was pitched to me as a YA LOST... Big shoes to fill, right? Well, The Living lives up to it and more (and only a little bit because I expect that The Living is going to have an actual ENDING ... Lost, I'll never forgive you for that). Anyway, this was tense, heartbreaking, exciting, and just generally in-put-downable. The only thing that sucks is how long I'll have to wait for the next one ... Arg.

[Colleen Houck]

This book was a roller coaster ride from beginning to end. I can totally picture it as a movie. The tsunami scenes were terrifying! And don't get me started on the sharks. *shiver* Loved it!

[Clary Morgenstern · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 - 4 Sterne :)

[Mogsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 of 5 stars at The Bibliosanctum: http://bibliosanctum.blogspot.com/201...

This book first caught my attention because I noticed a blurb likening it to a Young Adult version of LOST - which was actually a show I really enjoyed before it turned all WTFery bizarre. The result however, was not quite what I expected. I wouldn't say I'm disappointed, though; The Living wasn't a bad book, just different.

I'm also not surprised to see that opinions are all over the place for this one. It is a book made up of several different sections that feel completely dissimilar from each other in terms atmosphere, setting, pacing. It is part disaster story and survivor narrative, but also with some hints of apocalyptic fiction and mystery. Try and imagine the movie 2012 meets Castaway, then maybe throw in a bit of 28 Days Later.

We start the story on a luxury cruise ship, which I thought was a rather unique and exciting setting. The international crew and passengers make for a very diverse cast, with characters hailing from all over the world. The protagonist himself, Shy, is a Mexican-American teenager whose home town is near the border, an area ravaged by a new illness coined Romero disease. Ever since the disease claimed his grandmother, Shy has been working for the cruise line in order to earn money to support his family.

Shy employed on board a ship and near Hawaii when "The Big One" hits, a megathrust earthquake that completely destroys the west coast of North America. The resulting tsunami sinks the ship, and while most perish, Shy manages to survive.

One more movie reference and I swear I'll be done, but I just wanted to point out that The Living ruined cruising for me by traumatizing me the same way Final Destination did with air travel. The scenes leading up to, during, and after the sinking were gripping and terrifying. Which was probably why it felt so incongruous when this section was followed up with a part featuring days of drifting aimlessly on the open water as Shy is marooned on a lifeboat. This section had its moments too, but it had nowhere near the heart-pounding force or intensity.

I was also slightly disappointed when I got to the final few pages and found a wide-open ending, and what was a very obvious lead-in to a series. I'd hoped that this would be a stand alone, though I'd had my doubts even before I started when I saw the slimness of the volume. As I got closer and closer to the last page I already suspected the author wasn't going to be able to wrap everything up.

In fact, as a first book to a planned series, The Living actually had the feel of very long introduction. But for all that, I still can't deny it has me hooked -- Matt de la Peña did a splendid job setting up an intriguing story and a lot of interesting relationships between the characters. I'll most likely pick up the sequel when it releases.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a reading conference this week, a student told me the last book he read didn't have enough action. Well, with The Living, he will not be disappointed. I read it in two sittings, eagerly absorbed in Shy's story. Working on a cruise ship, making friends, having new experiences, Shy is a good kid who loves his family and dreams of loving Carmen. A big storm, a spying stranger, a mysterious and horrifying disease, intrigue and murder. This books is like an action-adventure movie all in one.

[Wren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Welcome to Book City
Date: November 26, 2014

Spoilers Ahead

Headline
The Living
Matt de La Peña

Shy took the summer job to make some money. In a few months on a luxury cruise liner, he'll rake in the tips and be able to help his mom and sister out with the bills. And how bad can it be? Bikinis, free food, maybe even a girl or two—every cruise has different passengers, after all.

But everything changes when the Big One hits. Shy's only weeks out at sea when an earthquake more massive than ever before recorded hits California, and his life is forever changed.

The earthquake is only the first disaster. Suddenly it's a fight to survive for those left living.

City Calendar:
This is what happened during the week.
A rich guy who co-owns a company jumps off the ship. Rodney celebrates his birthday. Kevin tells Shy about a guy asking around about Shy. Shy talks to Carmen about everything. They kiss, but Carmen pushes Shy off. The next day comes, and a storm comes. Shy goes to pack the deck. He sees Addison and Cassandra. They go inside, and Shy sees the guy who was asking about him named Bill. The storm officially hits the ship. Emergency procedures start. Some of the lifeboats sink. A tsunami comes. Many are killed. Shy gets on a life raft with some others, but the raft hits a wave. People are knocked off. Shy gets on a lifeboat that is sinking. He sees Addison and Mr. Henry the oilman. The oilman is hurt by the sharks surrounded their raft. They both get on board. Addie and Shy row the boat. The oilman jumps off, but he leaves Shy his ring. They find a boat. Shy goes inside and sees dead scientists. They are saved by Shoeshine. They go to an island. Addison faints. Shy finds Carmen. They find out that the survivors intend to leave the island. Shy finds out that the penthouse has people dying or dead from Romero Disease. Bill explains that Romero Disease was created by LasoTech Addie's dad's company. Shoeshine kills Bill who was going to kill Shy. The people go to leave, but they are killed by the 'researchers'. Marcus, Shy, Carmen, and Shoeshine escape the island.
And that's what happened this week.

Personal Ads:
Shy.
Teen boy. Has crush on Carmen. Looking to make money for his family. Has nephew with Romero Disease. Had grandmother who died of Romero Disease. Seventeen. Flirty. Brave. Puts grudges aside and will save people. Cares for friends. Good looking.

Addie.
Daughter to co-owner of LasoTech. Snobby. Stuck-up. Ends up having a heart. Has panic attacks after ship is sunk. Loses her best friend.

Carmen.
Has fiancé. Sexy and seductive. Flirts. Had father killed by Romero Disease. Shy likes her. Eighteen. Singer. Good looking. Understand Shy. Can be deep and understanding.

Opinions:
I have mixed feelings about this book.
I love the action. It's quick and fast paced. It's quite amazing. I like the survival. They need water. They need food. The struggle for survival is in this book. They need to survive, and they have to find reasons to survive. I dislike that the survival isn't throughout the book. And we also don't get descriptions of the survival. No aching stomach. It's like the characters aren't exactly starving. Even if you know they are.
The love triangle and the romance are annoying. Shy. Choose one or the other. Love triangles aren't cool. At all. I think Shy and Addie are better. They have chemistry. They might not understand each other like Carmen understands Shy, but they have chemistry. That last line in the lifeboat? Perfect. It makes me root for Shy and Addie. But the romance isn't needed in this book. It would be okay if they were just friends. Truly.
I also dislike Shy. He's an annoying character. The characters are all mildly annoying. I dislike Shy the most. Even Addie grows on you. Shy is the guy who want to like...but can't. He whines a little to much. We get it. You have grieved. You are grieving. But please stop. You don't have to act like a total dunce around Carmen. Sex is a terrible way to get over grief. She has a fiancé. Stop. Get over her. Can't you just be friends? Can't you just not like anyone as anything more than friends?

Weather:
Cloudy with a 80% chance of rain
2/5

[Steffi · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

Ich war sehr gespannt auf das Buch, da ich mich der Klappentext unheimlich angesprochen hat und ich mir eine spannende und actionreiche Geschichte erwartet habe.

Es hat fast bis zur Hälfte des Buch gedauert bis überhaupt passiert ist was im Klappentext beschrieben wurde. Ich verstehen ja, dass es erst ein wenig Einleitung geben und man auch erst die Charaktere kennenlernen muss, aber fast die Hälfte des Buches fand ich dann doch etwas viel.
Auch als die Action los ging, kam bei mir nie wirklich Spannung auf. Als Shy und Addie dann in dem Rettungsboot unterwegs waren, kam sogar fast Langeweile auf.

Die Hintergründe, die sich stellenweise andeuten, wirken momentan nicht wirklich besonders und hat man gefühlt schon öfter gelesen.
Insgesamt konnte mich das Buch zwar einigermaßen unterhalten, aber konnte meine Erwartungen in keiner Weise erreichen.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I was interested enough to finish this, but I didn't love it. The characters needed more depth, and the dialogue felt off. There was a nice amount of suspense, and it was hard to put down in parts, but I think I can go without reading the sequel.

[Jake Lukens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fairly enjoyed this and it took me back to when I was reading the maze runner, trying to figure out what exactly was happening. I was interested, I was able to connect to the main character and I enjoyed the whole story! Now, I just have to see if I can find the second book!

[Patricia Bejarano Martín · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 en realidad :) Si solo pudiera elegir una palabra para definir a este libro sería ADICTIVO. Me ha encantado. Espero con muchas ganas la siguiente parte.

[Patrizia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ganz anders als erwartet und im Klappentext beschrieben, aber überraschend gut. Gute 3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Nacho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elegí este libro sabiendo que me encontraría con una aventura emocionante y con grandes revelaciones. No me pregunten por qué, pero tenía ese presentimiento de antemano. Y no me equivoqué. Lo que más me intrigaba la historia era su punto de quiebre. Lo que llevaba a todos sus personajes al límite y la supervivencia. Es definitivamente un libro que como punto a favor, hace una crítica a la alta sociedad y eso es algo que disfruto leer. En la mayoría de las películas o libros en donde suceden catástrofes o mismo Apocalipsis, aquellos que sobreviven son los más adinerados o los que poseen contactos. Y el estatus social se encuentra muy marcado en ésta obra. El sufrimiento de quienes no perteneces a dicha clase. Eso causa impotencia en el lector mientras las páginas continúan y las desgracias suceden. ¿Por qué aceptar que los que tienen menos no tienen más remedio que aceptar su condición? Éste tema me hizo engancharme desde casi el principio hasta el final.

Su trama corrupta y repleta de inquietudes. Llena de traiciones, misterio, secretos reveladores y una catástrofe que perjudica a mas de uno. Narrado desde el punto de vista de Shy, en tercera persona, con quien iremos descubriendo cada uno de los misterios y las mentiras que abordan la novela. Está dividido en ocho días y nada es claro y evidente hasta que se avance cada vez más en la historia.

Me sorprendió el inicio del libro, el pasajero que se suicida ante los ojos de Shy (nuestro protagonista) y que vive con la culpa de que pudo haber hecho más para evitarlo. Antes de caer algo le dice que mucho sentido no se le encuentra al inicio (aunque era evidente que tendría más significado al final). Y a medida que sigue la historia más acontecimientos emocionantes e intrigantes suceden: un hombre lo persigue y viola su intimidad, un gigante tsunami que arremete contra el barco y dejará a su tripulación y pasajeros vagando en un mar infinito. Juro que a partir de acá sentía constantemente una piel de gallina que se producía a causa de esa sensación de estar varado en alta mar. No tener a donde acudir. La desesperación de estar ahí es inquietante. Y además en una valsa con dos personas más rodeado de tiburones. Y luego aparece la mayor de las bombas: ¿existen las coincidencias? ¿O el hombre a veces tiene más que ver de lo que parece?

Tiene sus puntos débiles, como creo que todo libro tiene, y en este caso se trata de la profundización de ciertos hechos: como el intento de amor que se quiere lograr. Lo sentí algo apagado y repentino. No me terminó de convencer al 100%. Creo que, en mi opinión, no hacía falta formar un romance forzado. Hubiese sido mejor evitarlo e incluso hubiese sido mejor. Opinión personal. Quitando eso del medio, la narración logró ser real. Algo muy importante al momento de leer una historia como ésta. La verosimilitud y los hechos bien narrados sirvieron como motor para que todo cuadre perfectamente.

Una buena historia de suspenso y supervivencia no se le puede negar a nadie. Te hace recapacitar de muchas cosas. No todo lo que poseemos estará a nuestro lado por siempre. El misterio se mantiene a cada momento y que evolucionará a cada momento por todo lo que sucede. Se logra la sorpresa y se mantiene la intriga. Es algo tedioso al inicio con tanta introducción de por medio, pero eso no hace que su calidad disminuya. Aunque si logre que se avance lentamente, con puntos de giro inesperados y que suben la adrenalina por momentos, pero luego todo vuelve a ser más estable. A pesar de eso, la adrenalina está presente a todo momento, por el simple hecho de que la desesperación es parte de los personajes, los misterios irán surgiendo a medida que avance la historia, y algunas máscaras caerán revelando las verdaderas identidades de cada uno: incluso lo que es capaz el ser humano para sobrevivir a una catástrofe como esta.

Si están buscando una historia de supervivencia y sorpresa, no duden en leer Los Vivientes, en donde todo lo que parece perfecto, termina derrumbándose en un abrir y cerrar de ojos.

[Prince William Public Libraries · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shy Espinoza is just your regular teen from Otay Mesa spending his summer working on a cruise ship to make extra money. Between handing out water bottles and towels, catching some sun, hanging out with his friends, and being surrounded by beautiful girls, what more could a guy want? But underneath Shy’s tough-guy exterior lies a boy with a very big heart who’s trying to earn enough money to send back home to his nephew who has been stricken with the deadly Romero disease that killed Shy’s grandmother. Shy’s first voyage goes off without a hitch and the second seems to be going well too, until the night he encounters a passenger hanging off the edge of the ship’s deck. Though Shy tries to talk him down, the mysterious passenger utters a few cryptic messages before flinging himself into the ocean. From there, Shy’s life throttles out of control. From being questioned by everyone to what the dead passenger’s final words meant, to messing up his chance at “something more” with his shipmate, Carmen, to a sudden earthquake and impending tsunami, De La Peña’s thriller grabs you by the throat and never lets you go. The action packed plot hurls you along through disaster after surprise plot twist as you’re rooting for Shy and his friends, Carmen, Rodney, and Kevin to make it to the end despite overwhelming odds.

Fans of Susan Beth Pfeffer’s “Last Survivors” series will devour “The Living” in one sitting. The characters are so well developed and complicated that you continually second guess where everyone’s loyalties lie. Who is LasoTech and what do they have to do with Romero disease, which is much more rampant than everyone thought? Why is Shy being followed by a mysterious passenger in black? Will Shy and his friends survive the earthquake/tsunami disaster at sea and make it back home to their families? As soon as you finish the “Living” you’ll immediately want to pick up its companion, “The Hunted” for answers to these questions and a whole lot more adventure, some romance, and the power of the human spirit to survive at all costs.

-Rosanne NJ

Click here to find the book at the Prince William County Public Library System.

[Emily Daughtry · Rating 5 out of 5]

~*Review Might Contain Spoilers*~
In a world where YA novels are dominated by plain saltine female leads, Shy is a fresh breath of air.
Amazingly this novel is set over a time period of about 8 days. Starting out, I thought this book would just be a nice survival story, sort of like The Raft. BOY, was I wrong. It starts off with Shy reliving a traumatic event that occurred on the last voyage off the cruise ship he worked on. Other than the prologue, it had a nice light start, average big softie friend, hot unattainable friend, just average teenage boy stuff right? You know, other than the man in the suit following him everywhere....After that things take a dark turn, the mysterious Romero disease, why everybody cares so much about what exactly David Williamson said before he jumped, and the creepy guy in the suit that's following Shy at every turn. But, that stuff leaves his mind as he gets closer the aforementioned hot unattainable friend Carmen, who btw has a fiance back home. After sharing a drunken kiss, Shy takes a surprisingly mature stance of friendship. There! Everything's fine now right? WRONG. They find out about the earthquake, and the tsunamis and Shy and two others are stranded in a life raft in the middle of the ocean and the story hasn't even really started yet.
All in all, The Living was a book that surpassed every expectation I had set for the book , and continued to do so. I for one, am eagerly awaiting The Hunted! (Which comes out a little after my birthday, so that's cool)

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Matt de la Pena. I loved reading Mexican White Boy and We Were Here. So . . . I was excited to get his new book on Tuesday, and I started reading it yesterday. It is a departure from his other books even though he still writes about people and cultures he knows. That's good. But as I started to read I kept thinking, really a love interest so early? A mystery illness? A natural disaster? Wait. What is going on? Way too much. AND IT IS THE FIRST IN A SERIES! Noooooo! With all of that said, after the exposition where we learn who Shy is, what it is like to work on a cruise ship, his attraction to Carmen, something happens and I COULD NOT PUT THE BOOK DOWN. I finished this 300 page book in less than a day. Is it a disaster book? Is it an adventure book? Is it a mystery? Is it a spy thriller? Well, maybe not spies. I'm not sure, but it grabbed me and wouldn't let me go.

[Elle (ellexamines on TT & Substack) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a wild ride. I ended it completely won over by the well-paced action scenes and terrifying cliffhangers. It's incredibly exhilarating. That alone deserves four stars.

The issue is that this isn't a good mystery / dystopia novel. Matt De La Pena's style shines when he writes action scenes, but slow, creepy, atmospheric scenes come off flat in his style. This book seriously suffers in terms of atmosphere.

There's another issue here, and it's glaring: the characters. Shy is one of the biggest fuckboys I've had to deal with in literature. It's only easy to ignore because of the action. His sidekick, Addy, is portrayed in a pornographic way, and doesn't get developed nearly enough. There's also a fairly pointless love triangle.

While I enjoyed this book a ton two years ago, I can't really recommend it due to these complaints and due to the terrible sequel.

[Lid · Rating 3 out of 5]

NOTA: 3.5/5

http://librosdelcielo.blogspot.com/20...

Bueno bueno bueno... Me he zampado más de 1/3 de libro hoy.
Al iniciar esta historia bajé mis expectativas pues me encontré con algo bastante normalito casi de 5/10 sin embargo al llegar a poco antes de la mitad la historia empieza a engancharme cada vez más, creciendo mi interés de forma continua acabando en una historia que puedo decir que me ha sorprendido gratamente.
No se lleva más nota porque el principio no me hizo sentir nada, pero ayudo a bajar expectativas y que me sorprendiera la forma en la que el autor lleva la historia, algo predecible pero que aún asi engancha.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh my god! What the hell did Matt de la Pena ever do to you, Brilliance Audio? The reader on this audiobook not only can't remotely pull off de la Pena's contemporary language (we knew we were in trouble when he made "score some new kicks" sound like a distasteful drug reference), but the accent he shifts into for the Australian underwear model Kevin is so ludicrous that my sons have adopted it for all of their doomed characters when they play Forbidden Desert. I want Kevin to die soon, and not for the right reasons.

I can't even tell if the story's any good. Matt, call your agent.

[Pingüina Fría · Rating 1 out of 5]

1,5

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Living is a far cry from Matt de la Peña's 2016 Newbery Medal-winning picture book, Last Stop on Market Street. Bringing a fresh, cinematic perspective on the awesome scope of disaster stories to teen literature, Matt de la Peña crafts an extraordinarily immediate adventure novel from page one, portraying the romance of an ocean cruise with palpably atmospheric delight. He gets all the little details right to build the ambience of the scene: the carefree demeanor of super-rich passengers on a luxury liner, the slick, professional card dealers standing by twenty-four hours a day to engage customers in gambling action, the cavernous dimensions of the ship, which provide plenty of space for clandestine behavior and conversations onboard. Matt de la Peña has cracked the code for creating scenes that feel raw and out of control, thrusting the reader into the position of the lead characters so the story feels as uncontrived as if we were the one pushing the action, and that's a rare accomplishment for any writer. We feel the inevitability of approaching calamity even as the ship glides smoothly through tame waters, a gargantuan hulk that seems impossible for nature to sink, and we know the disaster is going to be that much worse when it slams us with the full fury of the natural world scorned. At the height of the ship's regal prime, we stare dozens of stories down from its balconies into the mysterious black ocean and feel a little fear for the power of waves that can rise hundreds of feet from the depths to obliterate the stoutest vehicle made by man. We uneasily imagine freakish creatures lurking below the opaque surface: razor-toothed, electrified, and separated from their human prey only by the marine steel of the floating hotel that carries them. The rich won't maintain their elevated station forever, we sense from the opening of this novel. Nature will pull an equalizer sooner or later, and when it does, its wrath will spare no one.

When a teacher hooks Shy Espinoza up with summer employment on a cruise ship to bank some cash for future college expenses, he's all for it, though he feels guilty leaving his family in their time of grief. Shy's grandmother just succumbed to a fast-acting virus known as Romero Disease, a vicious plague that bloodies victims and robs them of their rational mind before killing them a day or two after symptoms appear. Shy figures that for the duration of the cruise he won't have to dwell on what Romero Disease cost his family, until he meets Carmen, a fellow teen employee who recently lost her father to the same cruel malady. Their shared ordeal brings them together as close friends, and Shy, at least, feels more for Carmen than friendship, though his bad luck is far from over. On Shy's first voyage, a VIP passenger leaps from the highest deck to the ocean dozens of stories below. Shy restrains him for a moment when he sees the man attempting suicide, but his girth is too much for Shy to support until reinforcements arrive, and he tumbles to his death in the choppy waters. Investigators easily conclude that Shy bears no culpability in the suicide, but he isn't finished answering questions about the incident.

After Shy's friend Kyle, a tenured staff member on the cruise liner, pulls Shy aside to alert him there's a man in a black suit on the ship asking questions about him, Shy grows uneasy. The authorities got all the information out of him that he considered pertinent, but the jumper told him more than he's shared. The man rambled on about being the face of corruption and implied he'd personally wronged Shy, but Shy had never met him. Now he's wondering if the VIP was involved in something illegal that has other powerful individuals concerned he may have told Shy too much before ending his own life, and Shy has enough troubles without getting caught in a web of corporate crime. His relationship with Carmen has been tenuous since the night Shy gave in a little too much to his attraction to her and she initially responded in kind before shrinking away from the heat of passion, stricken at the thought of betraying her fiancé back home. Now Carmen hesitates to hang around Shy, and he has to rebuild the bridge. He'd be miserable if Carmen gave him the cold shoulder under ordinary circumstances, but with the man in the black suit stalking him, he needs her support more than ever. When Shy's fun-loving roommate, Rodney, calls him to their cabin to see that someone broke in and ransacked the place while they were both on duty, Shy's dread weighs even more heavily. Something serious is up with the black-suited man, and it could be dangerous for Shy and his friends. He seeks refuge with Carmen, trying to persuade her to give their friendship another go, but she's still wary that spending time with Shy could compromise her engagement.

Even veteran crew members appear unnerved when reports of a whopping storm hit the wire. The ship's emcee informs its patrons of precautionary measures to minimize the storm's impact, including temporarily closing all outdoor decks and evacuating large interior dining areas. Passengers will be safest tucked away in their cabins when the monster squall descends on the big boat. Shy and the other employees aren't afforded that luxury; they're responsible for shutting down the decks and securing anything that could get blown off the ship, and Shy can see on the horizon as he battens down the figurative hatches that the maelstrom is a huge one. But the cruise liner's prognosis isn't called into question until radio bulletins from the West Coast report an earthquake the size of which the United States has never seen. The Big One has arrived, and its rage is absolute. The coast is in ruins, major cities such as Los Angeles and Seattle practically razed to the ground. Wildfires are torching California, Washington, and Oregon, and Romero Disease has reared its gory head to infect thousands of new patients. The death toll is estimated at more than a million. Shy's family lives right outside San Diego, and Carmen's isn't far away. Most of the crew and passengers are from the West Coast, and none of them know if their loved ones are alive.

The worst effect of the unprecedented earthquake is the unreal tsunamis it's triggered, walls of salt water rising hundreds of feet as they gain momentum over the ocean...headed directly for the cruise liner. Watching the monstrous sea climb from its bed and overtake the ship is a terror Shy won't forget the rest of his life, however long that lasts. The hardiest ship made by man is no match for the ocean gone mad, homicidal waves destroying every vestige of the ship's protection and instantly slaying the unprepared. Life has reverted to man versus nature, challenging the resourceful to figure a way to continue breathing through the next minute. The ocean has many ways to murder a man, allowing no opportunity for the petty prejudices and grudges people form under ordinary circumstances. To make it through this disaster, enemies have to pull together as the roiling seas buffet them and lightning slices the water all around, a cosmic death lottery ready to send a billion volts into the loser. Not dying is the survivors' only goal, but secrets are still at work behind the canvas, waiting to seize control again should anyone withstand the tsunami and its aftermath. Not every survivor deserves to live, and not everyone who endures the storm will outlast the stunning duplicity of evil humans, motivated by greed and the desire to elude punishment for their lawlessness. Whose lungs will still draw breath by page three hundred eight of this book, alive to contend again with forces natural and contrived in the concluding volume?

What makes The Living special is the intelligent intricacy of its connections. The smallest snatch of overheard conversation between two ostensibly unimportant parties can turn out to be significant later, as storylines crisscross and the complexity of the big picture clarifies. Matt de la Peña concocts story surprises with impressive creativity, and pulls it all together with some of the most effective atmospheric writing I've read in a YA novel this side of Patrick Ness, Neal Shusterman, John Green, and Alexander Gordon Smith. The feeling can't be adequately conveyed in a review; you have to pick up the book and experience it yourself, but you'll soon see what I'm talking about as the narrative pulls you in and picks up speed like a runaway railcar moving too quickly for you to jump off. Matt de la Peña's talent is obvious, and he gets the most out of it in The Living. Besides the torrid pace of the action and unforeseen twists the plot takes, the writing demonstrates the emotional depth and wisdom of a Newbery Medal author, digging deeper into the cataclysmic situation to mine useful thoughts for when one is faced with crisis in real life. Shy is as panicked as anyone when the tsunami bowls over the ship like a professional football linebacker crushing a five-year-old, but the cruise service is paying him a good wage to look after its passengers even under dire circumstances, and Shy is ready to come through for them. He discovers as he shifts focus from his own impending mortality to assuaging the fears of customers that thinking first of others calms him, too. It's a way of retaining a small measure of control amidst bedlam. After reuniting a tearful kid with his distraught mother, "Shy decided something: This was what he had to do. Help people. Because when he helped people, he didn't try to guess what was happening and he didn't worry. He just acted." I've rarely heard better advice. When we brood over our own concerns in life, they can eat us alive, stress munching our insides like a killer shark. It eases the mind to focus instead on soothing the ills and anxieties of others, pouring our energy into helping them feel better. By genuinely thinking first of them we build stronger relationships than normal, and attain higher perspective on the travails that torment us. However dramatic or mundane your affliction, there's no elixir for what ails you like caring for others.

Disaster beyond the scale of what we think possible is an absolute equalizer among human beings. We construct fences and bow to invisible class distinctions that divide us from one another in society, but a ravenous tsunami can wipe them out and send us back to start on life's game board. Shy considers this when he winds up sharing an emergency boat with an oil tycoon whose puffed-up demeanor has shrunk now that the most precious things in his life are gone and he's as vulnerable to death as Shy. "Maybe that's what a nasty shark bite did, Shy thought. It stripped away all the arrogant thoughts people had about themselves." When the shark is large and savage enough to do you real damage, the lofty towers you've built no longer seem as stable as you deluded yourself into believing. We're all frail humans prone to error, wrongdoing, pain, and death, and no amount of prestige is a get-out-of-jail-free card to the human condition. A gory shark bite, literal or metaphorical, changes our perspective in a flash.

"It all came down to this. The darkness. The loneliness. The mystery. The fact that everyone's days were numbered, and it didn't matter if you were in premier class or worked in housekeeping. Those were only costumes people wore. And once you stripped them away you saw the truth. This giant ocean and this dark pressing sky. We only have a few minutes, but the unexplainable world is constant and forever marching forward."

—The Living, P. 196

Shy has a hard time maintaining appropriate distance from Carmen; he wants to respect the boundaries of her betrothal, but what he feels for her makes that difficult. How do you restrain yourself from being close to the one you love, the one you wish you were promised to wed? This is one of several scenarios in which Shy struggles to do right by others, but being worthy of your beloved can mean acting gallantly when you'd rather be a no-good pirate. A dying ship passenger who lost his own beloved reminds Shy in his final hours that glamor and riches only go so far in impressing a girl; if you haven't won her heart, you've earned nothing of lasting value. "'Be the right person,' he said. 'Gifts are more meaningful when they come from the right person.'" Relationships are no less complicated in the wake of brutal natural catastrophe, Shy discovers. But disaster can clear up our feelings and show us what we must do to be the right person for those we love.

The Living isn't much like the legendary 1997 motion picture Titanic, but the stories share an unfailing respect for the enigmas of the ocean, a magical sense of the sea's power to effortlessly alter the course of human lives. I could almost hear James Horner's haunting musical score in the background as I read, the writing so evokes the vast majesty of the impregnable sea. At no time is this more evident than when Shy is stranded in the middle of the agitated ocean extending to the horizon in every direction, seemingly infinite. "And as his mind continued drifting away from his body, he had one final realization. The world itself was alive, too. It swirled around you and sped past your eyes and ears, so fast you could never see it, but slow at the same time, like a tree growing taller in a park. And all the sounds you heard—the wind whipping past your ears and the ocean's whispering and the trickle of whitecaps against your boat—that was the earth's blood pumping through imperceptible veins, and some of those veins were nothing more than people". Matt de la Peña's facility with words is enchanting, a huge part of how he was able to spin this promising story concept into literary gold. Not many could have done it so well.

Ubiquitous use of foul language renders The Living questionable reading material for younger kids, but it's such a strong novel that if you can ignore adult language, you should give it a read. Matt de la Peña won his Newbery Medal for a picture book, but The Living proves he knows what he's doing as a novelist. It's arguably even better than Last Stop on Market Street, which I loved. The cover blurb is from James Dashner, and I can see why he was selected: their writing styles are similar in certain respects, but different enough that they can admire each other's work without the praise suggesting narcissistic satisfaction with their own writing. There's one more book to come with this cast of characters—The Hunted hit shelves in 2015—and I eagerly anticipate reentering their heart-pounding adventure. I'd probably give The Living three and a half stars, and if I wasn't sold on Matt de la Peña before, the mortgage on me as a loyal reader is now paid off in full. I can hardly wait to find out where this storytelling superstar will take me next.

[Abigail Hedgepeth]

This book is one of the best books I have ever read. It kept me on edge the entire book and had a very interesting story line and the twists in the book were very captivating.
The book starts off with Shy, a teenager from San Diego , California. He comes from a pretty poor family and picks up a job as a worker on a cruise ship. It seemed like the perfect job since he would make so much in tip money which would help out with his mothers bills shy had done a couple of other voyages and on the last voyage he was on, he witnessed a suicide which hit him really hard so he took time off from going on the voyages. Shy decided to go on another voyage because his family need the money. Unfortunately,two days before the voyage his grandmother passed away from a disease that has recently spread through the border and the western part of the US called Romero Disease. Shy had a huge love interest, her name is Carmen. Shes from the same areas as him and they had a lot in common such as her Father also passing away from Romero Disease. The first few days of the cruise seemed normal, dealing with snooty, rich people and some rather humble and nice people. Everything seemed normal until there was a mystery man following shy on the boat but shy tried to just ignore it. It was the 6th day and all of a sudden the boats Captain alerted them on rough seas ahead. Little did they know, a massive earthquake had hit the southern part of California and had caused a tsunami that was headed right for the Cruise ship. When the first Wave hit, it caused so much damage that it had killed almost half of the people on the ship. Shy survived and got onto one of the life boats and the all of a sudden a second wave started to form in the distance. Shy completely blacked out and woke up by himself in the life boat in the middle of the Ocean, no food or water. The next days were pure torture, he had sharks swimming around him and no food except for a small fish he had fished out of the water. Shy was near death when a boat had found him and a shoe shiner from the boat saved him and took him to an island that they had taken all of the other survivors. Being on the Island he discovered Carmen, which was his primary worry and that the Disease that had spread was actually created by the Company the Man that had been following Shy worked for and the island was actually where the science lab is where the made the disease. The man that committed suicide actually worked for that company so they were following him trying to make sure he did not tell Shy anything.
The disease spread rapidly because of the tsunami. The scientist that were on the island told the Survivors that they were going home and to start loading the Boats but Shy had an eerie feeling. Shy and Carmen stalled getting on the boat home and they watched from the top of the hill as the workers lined up all the survivors and pulled out Machine guns and killed them all. They then sent bombs on the island trying to get rid of all evidence. Shy and Carmen ran to the back side of the island and as they were peering over the cliff the Shoe shiner came out the bush and told them to jump so they did. Shoeshine actually had stole a boat and they escaped.
That is where the book ended, there is a Second book that I am very excited to read. I recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers and strange twists and cliffhangers.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every now and then I venture out of my comfort zone into something new and foreign--this time it was teenage action, gore and suspense. Shy (the main character's nickname) gets a job on an exclusive cruise ship thinking it's a great summer job. On his first cruise, a distraught man jumps overboard. On his second cruise, the ship is obliterated by a number of tsunamis created by an earthquake that has devastated the entire Western coastline of North America. (Yes, it was a big one.) He finds himself floating in a wrecked life boat with the snobby rich girl whose father may have caused even more death and destruction with his shady "pharmaceuticals" company. Lots of floating dead bodies, sickening stench, blood red eyes and vomit, with a little bit of romance. Well written and a page turner, just not my favorite genre.

[Ex_Libris_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️,5 Sterne

Die Geschichte hat mir recht gut gefallen, obwohl es eine Weile dauerte, bis das eintraf, was im Klappentext beschrieben wurde. Ich mochte den Protagonisten Shy auf Anhieb sehr gerne und auch die Crew an Bord fand ich sympathisch. Die Darstellung der Tsunami-Katastrophe war beeindruckend, ich konnte mir die Situation und die damit verbundene Angst lebhaft vorstellen. Der Tsunami war jedoch nur eines der vielen Probleme im Buch, was ich sehr spannend fand. Aufgrund der Spoilergefahr werde ich nicht näher darauf eingehen 🙊.

Aus irgendeinem Grund habe ich für das Buch ungewöhnlich lange gebraucht, da ich nicht immer die große Lust hatte, danach zu greifen. Das Ende wurde etwas offen gelassen, was ich ein wenig bedauerlich fand. Später habe ich entdeckt, dass es einen zweiten Teil gibt, der leider nicht ins Deutsche übersetzt wurde 🫠. Ich glaube nicht, dass ich ihn in naher Zukunft kaufen und lesen werde, aber wer weiß ☺️.

[Samantha Matherne]

Over 50 pages in and I am just not interested in the story. The characters seem alright, but nothing much has happened and the same events are being discussed repeatedly. I need more. I flipped ahead, and the real disaster action looks to not even begin until over a third into the book.

[Nicholas Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a great book. I didn’t want to put it down. I found it to be very interesting and I’m glad I read it.