Disclaimer: I got this book from the library. Support your local libraries! All opinions are my own. 

 

Book: A Death-Struck Year 

 

Author: Makiia Lucier 

 

Book Series: Standalone 

 

Rating: 5/5 

 

Diversity: Italian characters 

 

Recommended For...: young adult readers, historical fiction, pandemic, Spanish Flu, Great Influenza Epidemic, survival 

 

Publication Date: January 1, 2014 

 

Genre: YA Historical Fiction 

 

Age Relevance: 13+ (death, sickness, pandemic, gore, miscarriage, racism) 

 

Explanation of Above: There is death, especially child death mentioned. There is sickness shown and a pandemic (Spanish Flu/Great Influenza Epidemic) is the focal point of the book. There is some blood and vomit gore shown in the book and a miscarriage is vaguely mentioned. There is also some racism shown. 

 

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers 

 

Pages: 288 

 

Synopsis: For Cleo Berry, the people dying of the Spanish Influenza in cities like New York and Philadelphia may as well be in another country--that's how far away they feel from the safety of Portland, Oregon. And then cases start being reported in the Pacific Northwest. Schools, churches, and theaters shut down. The entire city is thrust into survival mode--and into a panic. Headstrong and foolish, seventeen-year-old Cleo is determined to ride out the pandemic in the comfort of her own home, rather than in her quarantined boarding school dorms. But when the Red Cross pleads for volunteers, she can't ignore the call. As Cleo struggles to navigate the world around her, she is surprised by how much she finds herself caring about near-strangers. Strangers like Edmund, a handsome medical student and war vet. Strangers who could be gone tomorrow. And as the bodies begin to pile up, Cleo can't help but wonder: when will her own luck run out? 

 

Review: Reading this book as we are still in the middle of a pandemic is crazy, but hey I’m Paige and I do weird things so here we go! I absolutely loved this book. The voice was strong, the worldbuilding was amazing, I feel like the book was very well researched from what I know of the 1920s Flu Epidemic, and I loved all of the book. I devoured this book in almost one sitting and I would read more if the author wrote more. The book did so well to convey the horrors of the pandemic in this book that I thought the book was surely wrote in 2020 or 2021, but nope it was wrote in 2014! What a fortune-telling read it was for me honestly. 

 

The only issue I had with the book is that the ending was a little too neat, but this is more suitable for younger YA readers, so I give it a pass on that. 

 

Verdict: I have a weird interest in historic pandemics now. Highly recommend.