hard to read

Hello everyone, I am a MORE student and reading this novel was very difficult. It was hard to read because it was so graphic and it did make me think of how helpless one can become in Lauren's world. I was pleased to see the amount of multiracial people, but this book did scare me into thinking about what I would do or how I could possibly survive in Lauren's world. It was very interesting to see how many people in her neighborhood were in denial of how things could become worse. She was the only one who wanted to become prepared and get ready for attacks, but instead of people following her lead they were angry with her. I think this type of avoidant coping can be found in many places now, and the philosophy or religion she created, that God is change, was very enlightening and perhaps made it easier for her to try and prepare for change, whether that change be good (like her new family at the end of the novel) or bad (when her neighborhood was destroyed). What I couldn't get over and was hard for me to accept was the mystery of the disappearance of her dad, and hope badly she (and I) needed closure.