With over a 60 percent chance of the recently discovered asteroid, Ardor, colliding with the Earth and killing everything and everyone with it, four high schoolers (who each could not be more different from the others) find themselves forced into each other’s lives. Whether it’s coincidence or fate, it soon becomes obvious that they need each other for any chance at maintaining sanity, and to survive at least until Ardor’s deadly arrival.

“We All Looked Up” by Tommy Wallach will play with your emotions like no other book will. Each new chapter will induce fits of laughter, shaking hands, or a river of tears, and the best part is, it’s a lottery each time. All jokes aside, Wallach produced a truly touching story that will alter your perspective of life as you know it. Watching these young adults grasp the reality of the crisis that has emerged and deal with the idea of their life ending before it has really even begun will change how you perceive life and death entirely. Anyone who struggles with a fear of death or simply feels as though they will never be able to fulfill the short amount of time that they have in life should really consider investing some time to read this book. Reading first hand about how a bunch of kids with their whole lives ahead of them handle making the most of the short time they might have left can settle your nerves of having to do the same.

While Tommy Wallach did an amazing job of keeping the reader hooked through all the twists and turns of the plot, there is a lot of confusion between the bouncing between the past and present and the different perspectives of each of the characters. Consequently, if you take a break from reading, you may need to back track a few pages to remember where you left off, but as long as there’s not too much time between reading sessions, it’s not necessarily an issue.

Tommy Wallach’s “We All Looked Up” is the closest any book has come to accurately portraying what high school is really like, aside from the giant, blood-thirsty rock hurtling through space towards them, of course. From the types of individuals or clicks you find in school, to the life of a high schooler off campus, you’d think Wallach was sitting in a high school cafeteria as he wrote this book. On that account, teenage readers will be able to not only understand and enjoy this book, but possibly connect and empathize with it as well. 

This book will take you and your heart on such an emotional rollercoaster, you won’t be able to put it down. While teens may benefit from and relate to the book most, it is a must read for all age groups, although make sure you grab a few tissue boxes for the happy and sad tears, or you may cause a flood!