When seventeen-year-old Zara escaped her father’s backwoods survivalist compound five years ago, she traded crossbows and skinning hides for electricity and video games…and tried to forget the tragedy that drove her away.
Until a malware attack on the United States electrical grids cuts off the entire country’s power.
In the wake of the disaster and the chaos that ensues, Zara is forced to call upon skills she thought she’d never use again—and her best bet to survive is to go back to the home she left behind. Drawing upon a resilience she didn’t know she had, Zara leads a growing group of friends on an epic journey across a crumbling country back to her father’s compound, where their only hope for salvation lies.
But with every step she takes, Zara wonders if she truly has what it takes to face her father and the secrets of her past, or if she’d be better off hiding in the dark.
- Title: Gone Dark
- Author: Amanda Panitch
- Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
- Publication Date: April 12th 2022
- Genre: Dystopia, Young Adult
- Source: Print ARC received by Publisher/Author in exchange for an honest review
- Targeted Age Range: Young Adult
- Content Warnings: Anxiety, Assisted Suicide, Cult, Death, Death of a parent, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Manipulation, Mention of School Shooting, Religion, PTSD, Shootings, Suicide Ideation, Violence
- Rating: ★★★
While dystopia and sci-fi aren’t genres I normally gravitate towards, I was really intrigued by the concept of Gone Dark. Gone Dark follows seventeen-year-old Zara, who is simply doing her best given the circumstances. For the first twelve years of her life, Zara was raised on a survivalist compound in the middle of nowhere where she spent her days being trained by her father like she’s about to partake in The Hunger Games. It’s only after an incident happens that her mother uproots her from the compound, moving her across the country, and cuts off contact with her father. Still, switching crossbows out for modern day electricity and video games isn’t as easy as it looks. When seemingly random places along the United States start losing electricity — and after realizing that she’s being followed by a strange man with vine tattoos — Zara is forced to use the skills that she learned years ago in order to save the ones she cares most, before more people are put into danger.
To be quite honest, my mind is still reeling from this book. I’m not necessarily the smartest person when it comes to picking up on foreshadowing or plot twists, but I really didn’t expect the turn of events in this book. There were a few people that I thought were suspicious, but most of the time, my guesses or inklings were wrong. In hindsight, all the plot twists make sense, but I just didn’t put two and two together while I was reading.
As our main character, Zara is stronger and more resourceful than I will ever be. I found myself in awe of her resilience, and also heartbroken that she was put into this situation and forced to make such hard decisions. When we first meet Zara, she’s closed off, and unaware of her own strengths. But throughout the course of the novel, she really grows into herself, and becomes a leader. She learns how to love, both romantically and platonically, and how to let other people in. I loved how her friend group originally consisted of only Estella and Gabe, but expanded to include Ronan, Ina and Jasmine by the end. Despite constantly being told that friends and love was a weakness, Zara ends up realizing that love is something special, and actually a strength. Gone Dark is a story of survival, but it’s also a story of unlearning the things you were taught, and unpacking your trauma. Although I would normally find it jarring, I really enjoyed how much we learned of Zara’s past and her upbringing specifically through flashbacks. I felt like it worked in Gone Dark, as Zara was reliving those memories herself.
Gone Dark has a lot of dark moments, but I found the friend group, as well as the minor romantic subplot to alleviate some of that tension. I will say that I felt the pacing to be a little off; everything really is wrapped up in the last 30 or so pages, and I found myself wanting more. At no point did it feel like the book was dragging, or too slow, and I flew through Gone Dark in one sitting. While Gone Dark does wrap up nicely, I do think there’s potential for a sequel, and I’d definitely check it out!
Links for Gone Dark: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Amanda Panitch spent most of her childhood telling stories to her four younger siblings, trying both to make them laugh and scare them too much to sleep. Now she lives in New York City, where she writes dark, funny stories for teens, kids, and the pigeons that nest on her apartment balcony.
