Fuck this book. No, seriously, fuck this book. If I could give this book a 0, I would. One star, according to Goodreads, means "did not like it." That is a fucking understatement of how much I regret reading it. This book never should have been written; at least then my memory of this series, which started off so wonderfully, would have been left at a permanent state of "mildly disappointed" at the end of book 3, instead of "full on rage and helpless fury" after finishing this one. 
 My sister is a lot younger than me; consequently, I've had the pleasure of watching her and her friends grow up. It has been a wonderful experience to see most of them grow physically and mature mentally into intelligent, quirky, and loveable almost-adults. I use the word "mostly" because, as we all know...they don't all turn out great. 
 I watched a perfectly pleasant, well-behaved little boy who got good grades and loved his family grow into a little shithead. By age 18, he had crashed several cars, maxed/stolen his mother's credit cards, let his sister take the blame for any number of things, and impregnated a girl. I still like that kid more than I like this book's narrator, Jon. At least he never tries to justify attempted rape. 
 Watching him grow up is a lot like my experience with reading this book. I feel like I watched Jonny grow up through reading this series. I have followed this series since it debuted. I loved reading about Miranda and her family, and I always adored Jonny and Matt. Jonny was 13 when the book started, and he is now Jon, living in an enclave of survivors. He is also a giant fucking douchebag. 
 The world of Life As We Know It: I hated it. I absolutely hated it. I did not find it believable in the least. Here is why: traumatic, disastrous events tend to bring out the best in people, not in all, but the majority of people will exercise common sense, and people tend to bond over the hardship, bond over the painful experience. The people in this book do not, they act like assholes. Instead of bonding together to rebuild a new world, they are split up into a rigid class system that makes little sense in how it is completely accepted by the overwhelming majority of those involved. This imagined world is completely lacking in credulity. For example: the Enclave. 
 The Enclave values the sciences, mostly because scientists contribute to the agricultural growth of the community, people with scientific skills are allowed in and given a privileged life beyond all others, and are called "Clavers." They are botanists, chemists, physicists, biologists, doctors. They live in nicer houses, they have domestic servants, they get the best food, the best of everything. The "grubs" are laborers, miners, domestic servants. They're mistreated, poorly fed, scorned, debased by the Clavers. And they just...accept it? SERIOUSLY? THEY JUST ACCEPT THEIR STATUS? These grubs are exactly not poorly educated immigrants, no. 
 You expect me to believe such a rigid class system would establish itself within the span of a few years? 
 You expect me to believe educated members of the current community are now largely considered "useless" within the new world? 
 You expect me to believe that every single grub is willingly accepting of their demeaning status without a fight? And when they appear to outnumber the Clavers themselves? 
 You expect me to believe that a former college professor of philosophy is passively accepting of her new status as a housemaid to be abused by a fucking 17-year old brat? A Ph.D in political science now considered useless? 
 You expect me to believe that the scientists of the community, with the exalted status of "Clavers" are so willing to debase others? That the equality that we have today in the US is all but gone within the span of four years? 
 This book twists the nature of people to its own means, and I find the premise utterly ridiculous. 
 Jonny: Where do I even fucking start? 
 "I know I spoiled you, you were the baby in the family. It gave you a sense of entitlement, and living the way you do has only exacerbated that. So a lot of it is my fault. Not all of it, though. You're old enough, Jon, to see the world as it really is, not the way you want it to be."Jonny. 17 years old. Entitled to a Tee. As his mother stated above, he has always been cared for, given the best of everything due to his age and status of the family's "baby." Despite all the hardship they went through, they have always put his interest first, they have always tried to give him the best of care...and it's come back to bite them in their fucking face. Now 17 and living as a privileged "Slip" within the Enclave, he is the most unlikeable character in a book that I have ever encountered in YA literature. 
 Jonny is better than everyone because he is not a grub, he is a "slip," one who has slipped in, but he is treated as a privileged member of the community. Why? Jon is one of the best soccer player on the school team and therefore rule the fucking world. Yes, soccer is eminently important as a display of power to show the stupid Grubs that the Enclavers (Clavers) are so much better than them in every way. In a world where millions have died, where food is scarce, where air quality is contaminated, it's good to know that sports players are still highly valued above all else. It's good to know some things stay the fucking same, despite making no sense at all. 
 Jonny is not just entitled to a good life, with a nice house, with domestic "Grubber" servants, with plentiful food in a world where so many still lack the very basics of subsistence...he's also apparently entitled to get sex whenever he feels like it. All he has to do is proclaim his love for a girl and she'll be ready to spread her legs in welcome, right? 
 "I love you..." he said, convinced that would make her quiescent. You told a girl you loved her, she'd agree to anything. You said the magic words, and the girl was yours. 
 But [she] didn't seem to understand the rules...instead, she kept trying to get away. The harder she tried, the angrier he got, the more he felt the need to make her his.Consent is optional, it seems. 
 "She wanted it as much as I did," Jon said. "I could tell. But she wouldn't admit it. She said it was a sin. She didn't care what I felt, how excited I was. What I wanted didn't matter. I didn't plan on hurting her. It was her fault for fighting me."Of course it's her fault. Of course it's always the girl's fault for saying no, for not wanting it as much as he fucking did. It's never Jon's fault. He would have apologized...and well, it was someone else's fault that he didn't get the opportunity to apologize in the end. I cannot believe the author tries to justify the deplorable acts of sexual abuse, and I absolutely hated Jon more than I can remember hating any main character more in any book I've ever read. 
 Sarah: the innocent, idealistic love interest? Not exactly. She is a fucking moron in her own way. I'm trying my best not to do victim-blaming here, but I still can't help but judge. Insta-love is but a minor, minor complaint in the grand scale of the mess that is Sarah and Jon's "love story," if it can even be deemed such. When the motherfucker with whom you fall in love confesses to arson, attempted rape of someone else, a possible role in a death, expresses disdain at your lowered social standing, is prejudiced as hell against everything you stand for, attempts to rape you, then lies about any number of things...it's PROBABLY NOT THE BEST FUCKING IDEA TO REMAIN IN LOVE WITH HIM. She sees through his tragic past to his true nature, which is pure fucking bullshit. 
 A difficult past does not mean you have a fucking free-for-all pass to be a fucking asshole and sexual predator for life. Everyone who survived until now in the book has had a fucking rough life, deal with it, Jonny. He is not fucking special, Sarah should be able to see it as such and not be so fucking complacent and understanding. Fuck understanding, I do not want to understand the waste of space that is Jon and I cannot see why Sarah does nor even wants to. I really wanted to like Sarah. I really wanted to sympathize with her as the victim: I couldn't do it. 
 The plot was half-assed, and was largely overshadowed by Jon's deplorable character and Sarah's spineless self. My enjoyment of it was nonexistent due to the overwhelming bitterness and pure hatred within the narrative voice of our main character. Other characters from previous books are also present, and I can say that they do not feel real at all to me, and I didn't enjoy reading about them as much as I did in the previous books. They were robotic. 
 I did not enjoy a single moment of reading this book. I was so tremendously angry with it throughout my reading process, and I cannot recommend this book to anyone. 
 I received a copy of this book for review through Edelweiss. The quotes used were taken from a galley edition and is subject to change in the final draft.