Unnatural Disasters

by Jeff Hirsch

Will the Class of 2038 be the last class ever?

Lucy and her boyfriend have been planning an epic post-graduation trip for months, despite the unstable world they live in. But when everyone's phones start to ring during prom, Lucy knows something terrible has happened—something new. Decades of climate change have taken their toll, religious extremism is spreading, refugees have nowhere left to turn, and terrorism is common. But this is worse. Far worse.

Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Climate Change, Teen

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 22, 2019

About the author

Here are some things about me.

I live in an extremely Brazilian section of an extremely Greek neighborhood—Astoria, Queens, which is just to the right of Manhattan. (That's as you face Manhattan. If you were, say, lying on your back in the middle of Central Park with your head in a northerly position, we would be to your left) I live there with my wife who has a blog and our two cats who do not. One day I hope to have a very large dog that I can name Jerry Lee Lewis.

I used to write plays (I actually have an MFA in it, which is currently number 8 on US News and World Report's annual list of the top twenty most useless masters degrees) and now I write books for teens. I've written two. One was about a girl who wanted to be a rock star and could graciously be called a learning experience.

The second, is The Eleventh Plague and it comes out Sept. 1, a fact I still find pretty amazing.

Reviews

[Ashley (gotbookcitement) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an odd experience for me. I think I was expecting apocalypse, danger, and survival, but that's not what I really got. It's just odd.
The majority of this book is not a true apocalypse story until the very end. It mainly focuses on the life of Lucy Weaver in a small New York town. She goes to school. She has a boyfriend. She does stuff with her dad and Aunts. It has a very strong contemporary vibe to it, but in the background, things aren't going well in the world. There are major terrorist attacks, countries on the brink of war, the threat of nuclear weapons being unleashed. It's the end is near vibes. All this is mixed with Lucy going to parties, having a crush on someone, skipping school. It was just an odd mixture, an odd mixture that I don't know if I enjoyed.
The writing was very fast and easy to read through. I was definitely interested in the story.
At first, I thought this was going to be one of those preachy climate change books, and while climate change was mentioned, I didn't feel attacked by it. I did get the sense that the author didn't really like the military. They were kind of illustrated as fight and bomb happy, which I didn't really agree with.
As I got near the end of the story, there were these odd time jumps. When the time did jump, suddenly it really was the apocalypse. It was just strange, but even then, the author skipped all the details and journeying that makes an end-of-the-world book feel really like an end-of-the-world book.
Unnatural Disasters was just a strange experience. I picked it up because I loved the cover, but it didn't exactly give me what I was expecting. I don't know how I feel about it.
(So, I'm writing this part way after writing my review for this book. Thinking about the current pandemic we've been going through lately kind of made me remember this story. Maybe it wasn't so farfetched as I first thought.)

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.4/5
Very odd experience

[Lizz Axnick · Rating 4 out of 5]

All I can say about this book is WOW... It smacks a little of the TV show Designated Survivor but the author's imagination of the world falling apart is something to rival any supernatural horror Stephen King can come up with.

This is a story of Lucy Weaver, who is part of the senior class of the year 2049. The world is in shambles with fascism, re-emergence of Nazism and terrorists abound. The threat of nuclear war hovers over the world. People are killing each other over drinking water. Lucy watches all this on the news from her home in Bethany, New York, which seems cocooned from all this nonsense at the time. However, as the book progresses, nothing is safe from the horrors of the planet.

I found this book hard to put down and yet terrifying at the same time. It is scary because of what has been transpiring as of late, all over the planet. Perhaps not to the extremes in this book but given the circumstances it wouldn't be as much of a leap to get to this point anymore. I hope for all our sakes that this is not a premonition of possible events to come. What a scary book.

[P.M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was prepared to like this because there is nothing like a good apocalyptic book. However, the apocalypse seemed more like a faint, fuzzy backdrop to teen angst and romance. Lucy, the main character, was so focused on her absent boyfriend, drinking, drugging, and vandalism that she was less than sympathetic and showed little growth as a person. I wanted much more background on how the world got into such a mess. The ending seemed rushed and somewhat disconnected. I will have to think twice or even three times before I choose another book by this author.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5, but a compelling read bumps it up to 4 stars here instead of rounding down.

In a world that is falling apart because of climate change and terrorism, an act changes the world that Lucy knows even more. It triggers a domino effect and plunges Lucy and everyone around into a post-apocalyptic world.

The story is a slice of life. We follow Lucy as she attempts to deal with everything, but mostly how she doesn't. She's a super angsty teenager and mostly we get her floating along, not doing much of anything to help herself or even others around her. Even at the end when they are in a new community, Lucy herself says she doesn't much help The adults in Lucy's life aren't around much. At the beginning, they seem like very caring people, but quickly drop off.

Lucy is a pretty annoying perspective to read from, and she doesn't have much character growth.

I did really enjoy the side characters, especially Jay. I'm also a big fan of dystopian/post-apocalyptic stories so that helped my enjoyment.

[Amanda Sanders · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had one of the best set ups I ever read. I was so excited to get to the climax, but unfortunately, the excitement never happened. In the future, the world is experiencing changes in climate and war in a more extreme scenario from our current state. Refugees are seeking shelter all over. Lucy and her boyfriend are doing the mandatory prom thing when a bomb drops on DC. Life changes all around Lucy, but she continues going to parties and hanging out trying to act as if the changes will not affect her. There are characters following religious zealots and wanting to make a difference but not this book's main character. Which has me wondering why the heck the author followed this character's story instead of someone else. In the real world when disaster happens people change--they react. This one does not. After Pearl Harbor, children planted gardens and collected metals to help the war effort, teenagers lied about their age to enlist, women went to work and changed the work place forever. All of those are people to read about. This teen was not worthy of reading about.

[Brinsley · Rating 2 out of 5]

The blurb on the back cover hinted at some catastrophe but didn’t say what it was, and that’s what intrigued me enough to pick it up and read past the first chapter or two even though I really didn’t want to, and that was a bad decision. My main issue is that I thought this would be either a post apocalyptic survival story or an examination of current world issues, but it turned out to be a trivial teen drama that just happened to be set in the future. It only occasionally mentioned the terrible problem, which wasn’t very original or clever like I thought it was going to be. Also, the characters were boring, and so was the plot! The story had no resolution and epilogue didn’t fit the rest of the book.

[Jackie Cimino · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the scariest book I’ve ever read in my whole life.

[Teenreadsdotcom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy Weaver is just your normal teenage girl --- except she loves horror movies and she is not going to college after graduation. Lucy Weaver is going to explore the world with her boyfriend Luke until someone bombs Washington, D.C. Then the everyday world implodes. With strange weather phenomena and stranger international politics, Lucy has to navigate her life after the sixteenth.

UNNATURAL DISASTERS is a book about everyday life. It is about everyday life after the unthinkable happens, but it is a book about Lucy going about her life. She still goes to school, even though she does not do much at school. Her classmates hold a Halloween party. Lucy is not your usual dystopian heroine who slashes her way across the continent. She barely leaves Bethany, New York until she is forced out, even then she does not want to leave. The fact that this book is about the mundane makes it more impactful.

Lucy’s life is upended, but it is not upended to the point of no return. No, Lucy has to figure out what life after the bombing means. She has to figure out how she fits into this new world. Is she still the theater worker? Still Luke's girlfriend? Still the angry teenager? Or is she something more than that? Something less? This book attempts to answers these questions. And I would say it does figure out a good answer.

I can see this future happening. Nuclear war and weather flip-flopping from hot to cold seem possible. This also makes the book impactful. Lucy's future does not seem too far off from our own. This book made me think about my own reality and the reality I live in. It made me wonder about what it means to be human and what it means to be a family. I loved how the author emphasized the family aspect. There are two families: Lucy's and Jay's. They are different but alike. They are both close even though they differ in size. And in the end, the concept of family is upended with the three orphans and the new family Lucy and Jay share.

There was a phase in the young adult publishing timeline where dystopian books were popular. Think THE FIFTH WAVE or THE HUNGER GAMES. They all had similar plots and similar characters. They featured brave, angry girls who defied the system and overcame insurmountable odds. If you expect UNNATURAL DISASTERS to be like that, you will surely be surprised as I was --- in the best way possible.

UNNATURAL DISASTERS is a melancholic book; I cannot really say it is a happy book. There is a hopeful ending, but there are still many loose ends. What happens to Lucy's mom? To Luke? I have so many questions, but I believe that part of the book is that you do not always know the ending to life. There are questions you leave unanswered, and that is a fact of life. All you can do it hope and believe in the best.

Something that stood out in my mind was the romance. I truly did want to see something happen with Lucy and Luke, but it was not what I expected. This book truly does defy all expectations. You can guess the ending once you have started reading, but I still disliked how Lucy's romantic life ended. I would like to leave you with this quote I adored. It truly sums up the book. "In my head was everything and everyone that had disappeared. A whole world. Gone. And it wasn't even over. Every time you think you're safe, every time you think you have nothing left to lose, you find out you're wrong. There's always more." (302-303)

To me, UNNATURAL DISASTERS is about the impermanence of life. It is about the sadness that we feel every day. It is about living life beyond tragedy. It is a deeply moving and depressing book. This book is perfect for the melancholic, mildly-nihilistic reader in all of us.

[Nghi · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

In Unnatural Disasters, Jeff Hirsch attempts to look at what our world may be like in the year 2049, through the perspective of a teenager, named Lucy Weaver, graduating high school in that same year. Although Hirsch provides reasonable entertainment, he fails at giving a deep, meaningful, look into the near-dystopia of the world he's created, this is mainly the result of the perspective he chose to write with. Instead of exploring the lives of characters who suffered first-hand from famine, terrorism-instigated war, nuclear bombings, or religious extremism, we got to live through Lucy Weaver, your average quirky teenager, dealing with typical teenage drama, living a sheltered life. Through her POV, conflicts caused by the world felt very delayed and second-hand, making nothing feel very high-stakes; of course, this may have been the intent of the author, wanting to show how world conflicts affect everyone, but it takes away from the enjoyment of the reader regardless. Hirch's writing is easy and quick to read; never once was I bored reading this book, but again, the voice of our main character made the prose very juvenile and irritating. All other characters were as generic as the MC. There is a mystery surrounding Lucy's mother, of which the execution was lack-luster. In conclusion, Unnatural Disasters is a poor balance between an apocalyptic and a rom-com that could have never reached its full potential due to the author's bad choice of characters. It is entertaining, but there are so many better choices.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.5 stars
Lucy and Luke are dancing at a prom they never thought they’d attend. Then everyone’s phones start beeping and ringing. Something horrible has happened and life is about to change.

I think the ratings on this book will be affected by one very important thing: timing. If I didn’t feel like I was currently living smack-dab in the middle of Jeff Hirsch’s world, in this land we call “COVID Hell” and “2020,” and thus, read his words while I got more and more terrified that this is my future? Well, if I wasn’t reading it now, if I was reading it at a time where it could be far-future or doesn’t seem so possible? Yeah…reading it at another point may have bumped the star-rating higher. Now? Terror at the possibility of the book’s world becoming real makes me so hesitant, consumed my mind, and made me lose some serious sleep. No electricity? No cell phones? Phones period? No gas? No supplies? Wacko & extreme weather? Politicians stirring pots that should be set to simmer? Yup…all too close to home.

But all those things that made me hesitate? Those are also the reasons why the book is incredible. Jeff Hirsch brought up all the emotions with the power of suggestion. Readers never really get full descriptions of the “sixteenth” disaster. {Side note: Eerily, I finished this book on Sept. 11th, the 19th anniversary of those attacks.} But another disaster later in the story will trigger some memories and buttons for many readers. It is a heavy tale. And one that is all to close to being real.

[Louisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not read post-apocalyptic books. I watched Desert Storm on TV when I was in elementary school, the Twin Towers fall when I was in high school, and the resulting war that carried over into college. I avoided books that were about futures that seemed that much closer because of the present-state of the world. This book was different, though. Yes, it describes a not-so-distant future in a world devastated by climate change, famine, war, and natural disasters, but Hirsch did a great job of not focusing on extreme situations that cause the reader anxiety. The events were happening but it wasn't in a fast-paced, "we're all going to die because of radioactive zombies" sort of way. The book focuses more on the relationships that fall apart or are built because of these changes; some relationships are rekindled only to finally get closure.. The book focused on life and man's thoughts and feelings as the lives that we know change. It was a subtle slide into a post-apocalyptic world.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I got this book, but I was mistaken. I did expect an apocalypse, and I got it, but it was a long, drawn-out one focusing on the main character Lucy as she's heading toward Senior year graduation and the traveling she and her boyfriend Luke have planned for once graduation is over. Instead, the world starts to end as we know it on May 16, 2049.

Aspects of this were painful to read because so much of is simply the crap you go through as a teenager trying to figure out what you're doing with your life but with the added complication of how the world is slowly changing around you. People you know are leaving your life and new ones are coming into it, but it's all change to be dealt with and sometimes poor choices are made.

This reminded me a lot of Station Eleven towards the end, which isn't a bad thing since I loved that book. Not that they are very similar, but there are elements in common that resonate with me.

[Denise Weintraut · Rating 5 out of 5]

On its surface, this is just another apocalyptic novel, but it's quite a bit deeper. It's a character-driven novel that asks the reader to explore the nature of relationships, family, and existentialism. What do people do when faced with overwhelming challenges? With ordinary trials? With the trauma of those family members and friends who turn out to be different than you believed?

Lucy Weaver is a senior in high school who, facing some emotional family baggage, must deal with typical high school issues while coming to grips with a changing world environment and a seriously traumatic world event. What results is an opportunity for an emotional and reflective ride.

I found that I couldn't put it down, and I read it in a single sitting, much to the dismay of the chores that awaited me. I trust that you will find it equally engaging. Enjoy, my friends!

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personally, I feel I did not get the closure I wanted at the end of the book. I also feel like there are some spaces in between the chapters which left me confused sometimes throughout the book. I do recommend this book because it gives a glimpse to the future if climate change keeps increasing and nothing is done about it, which is important! I also feel that there was a lot of filler characters with not much meaning to them. With the characters that were talked about there, background and their lives were very interesting to read about. Again the only major takeaway from the book is the ending since there were so many questions left unanswered about the characters and the future. Overall give this book a read!

[ARMY · Rating 1 out of 5]

I decided to read this book because I thought it would be interesting but I couldn't be more wrong. The beginning was actually quite good but as the story progressed I felt like it was just describing the everyday life of a teenager with "disasters" in the background. I found it so boring. I didn't need to know how the daily life of a teenager in America was like. The story was just so flat. There was no form of excitement to it at all. When I finally pushed through and finished the book, I kept telling my parents, it was a terrible book, a terrible book. In conclusion, I think reading this book is just a waste of my time.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's 2049. Lucy is all wrapped up in her boyfriend Luke and has their life together all planned out. But things go horribly wrong during prom when everyone's phones go off at the same time. Luke can't deal with things and takes off, leaving Lucy bereft and trying to figure everything out on her own. Global climate change has left the world extremely vulnerable with certain groups going to extremes. Lucy doesn't know which way to turn.

Meh. Not Hirsch's best. I didn't like the plot or the characters. Nothing really drew me in - could have been compelling; there are elements...

[Marisa Farmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the title, I expected a little more disaster, I suppose. It's well written, but it was more a picture of how people change when diaster happens rather than about the diaster and adventure and action that comes along with it. If my expectations had been different, I may have enjoyed it more.

If you like the relationship and people side of post-apocalyptic stories, you'll enjoy this one. It shows how people all handle a disaster in different ways.

If you are looking for the action and chaos of an end of the world story, this one probably isn't for you.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A post-apocalyptic story, kind of. Lucy and her boyfriend, Luke, have plans to travel the world after graduation. When a terrorist attack strikes Washington DC, their world changes.

I typically love survival, post-apocalypse stories. This one, however, didn't really satisfy. For one, the story of Lucy's mom was underdeveloped and wasn't believable. I also thought Luke's decisions didn't entirely fit his character, and Lucy's reactions to his decisions were disappointing. Ultimately, I wanted more of the last few chapters of the book, without all the build-up.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This sort of reminds me of The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness, which is basically an exploration of what happens to everyone else when the fantastical events are happening--except these aren't fantastical events, they're very much rooted in reality. I'm not sure that this makes for a great story. Lucy spends a LOT of time wandering around, just hanging out. And on the one hand, I get it, that's her experience, that's how a lot of people probably would feel and do while the world is collapsing. On the other hand, I'm not sure that it makes a compelling story.

[P.M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was prepared to like this because there is nothing like a good apocalyptic book. However, the apocalypse seemed more like a faint, fuzzy backdrop to teen angst and romance. Lucy, the main character, was so focused on her absent boyfriend, drinking, drugging, and vandalism that she was less than sympathetic and showed little growth as a person. I wanted much more background on how the world got into such a mess. The ending seemed rushed and somewhat disconnected. I will have to think twice or even three times before I choose another book by this author.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enough teen angst and adolescent confusion to attract the young reader, some interesting dystopic events--enough to keep me looking for resolution, but the story, very much like the characters, reel from moment to moment without really resolving any of their real conflicts. The protagonist, Lucy, seems to function poorly unless she can attach herself to a strong male figure. Despite the futuristic setting, this is a anachronistic girl needs boy adventure.

[Lianna Kendig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted a more dystopian storyline than what I got. The true dystopian aspect of the plot didn’t show up until the last ~60 pages of the book. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t what I wanted in this story. It was a basic YA/teen book. Also, it had some pacing issues as too much time was spent at the beginning for one of the characters (no spoilers) that didn’t really matter after 25% of the story.

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I picked up this book, I was expecting some sort of extreme survival aspect. What I really found was a normal girl in a normal town going to school like every other normal teen would. Sure, the world is pretty chaotic, but nothing insane ever really happens. As I got towards the end, it felt very rushed, especially with the time jump to like 2 years ahead or so. I wanted to see their journey. I wanted to see their hardships. What I received was a bit disappointing, to say the least.

[Joe Crowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is a sweet, emotion-driven story about teens figuring out stuff amid a world that adults have farted around and messed up. In other words, it's pretty much a documentary.

It's clever and hopeful, a story about people finding their way through multiple garbage fires, but coming out as survivors on the other side.

[claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

got my hands on an uncorrected copy but i highly doubt any substantial changes would've been made that could save this story. the protagonist is horribly boring yet deeply unlikable and, worst of all, she doesn't really DO anything. like, things just keep happening to her but she takes no substantial actions herself. just feels sad and has exposition flashbacks, uwu. give me a fucking break.

[Nazareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why do I keep saying I’m not an apocalyptic genre person?
YA
I found it really good! I liked the way the characters kind of find each other, and seem to openly trust each other. There are a LOT of unanswered questions at the end…but then, I suppose if people were surviving a war…they’s be a little willing to let things go. Especially if their survival depended on it.

[Lis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly the world building suffers a lot in this book.
The protagonist is not interested in following the news, so we as readers just get occasional info dumps about what is going on in the world.
It hardly makes for a believable background. And this then makes everything else fall apart easily.

[Sherry Guice · Rating 3 out of 5]

What would teenagers do if a nuclear bomb were dropped on Washington D. C.? Told from the point of view of a teenage girl, the reader shares her concerns about teenage issues and issues in the world...clean and appropriate enough for grades 7 and up.

[Lydia Hephzibah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Not what I expected - I thought this would be dystopia but it's more like a character study while there happens to be an apocalypse going on in the background. It has a strange, distant vibe, but it was intriguing

[Amber Wesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives you A LOT to think about. It’s both a very sad, but uplifting book. With the way the world is currently headed, or at least what it feels like sometimes, this book is a reminder that no matter what happens in the future, we are a resilient species who never give up hope.