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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
Eh. It was written a little too young for my personal tastes.
Once you get used to the bizarre love plot between Edmond and Daisy, it is a good book. A different POV to most post-apocalyptic books,
V
V
So, so, so good. Entirely unlike anything else -- sort of like if the kids in an E. Nesbit book were transplanted to the 21st century and faced with the third world war. Loved Daisy's sarcastic narration and authentic teen voice. Very unusual and quite captivating, not at all what I expected. Hard to say what genre this even is -- not sci-fi, but not quite contemporary, and not really fantasy either. I guess more of a survival story than anything else.
Well. This was WEIRD. Split into two parts, with part two being only a small handful of chapters, it’s told from the point of view of Daisy. In part one she is a 15 year old anorexic who is sent to live with her (never met) family in England, on the being off war. What father even DOES that… the entire concept of that just baffled me as it wasn’t done to keep her safe, it was done because she was anorexic and the “evil step mother” was pregnant. It then descends into a very twisted period of her having sex with her (also underage) cousin… but the hardest part wasn’t even that not was the fact it was written by an adult who was trying to channel a teenager and how they speak - and clearly by an adult who has NEVER SPOKEN to a teenager in their lives. Long run on sentences, randomly capitalised words and odd phrasing. It was a hard book to read for that. The part two was a little bit of relief as Daisy was grown at this point so the unusual writing was done. Had the full book been written ‘normally’ it would have been much more of a pleasure to read. All in all - the movie was trashy but way better than the book
Thoroughly enjoyed it, but I felt the ending was a bit rushed.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really liked this because the narrator/main character is so honest and humorous. It’s a short read so as far as pacing it’s ok, but i think a bit more fleshing out would have made the book better.
This book offers you a good (if overused) plot, without much show or storytelling finesse. If the author had invested a greater amount of time in description and character development it would have been worlds better. Although Daisy frequently testifies to her newly discovered nature as someone who fights, it's not truly demonstrated in the novel, as she seems merely pushed along by the events of the novel with little resistance or momentum from her.
The passage of time too, suffered as it was buffeted along to reach a more convenient conclusion. I'm not sure why a cousin/cousin romance was needed--as it seemed to be used more for shock value than because it was necessary to the plot. It would have been very simple to have made Aunt Pen a friend of the protagonists mother, rather than an actual aunt, and so the relationship between Daisy and Edmund just felt contrived. As with the cousin on cousin romance, the discussion of anorexia and the incorporation of the condition into the primary character--who is "cured" as she witnesses those who suffer from hunger and starvation during the war-- treats anorexia as something caused by selfishness, rather than a medical condition.
This could be a useful book to consider when thinking about how stories are told, but (particularly due to the mishandling of anorexia, and the subpar narrative) there are better options to read and I wouldn't tend toward using it in the high school classroom.
My suggestion? Read John Marsden's "Tomorrow, When the War Began" instead.
The passage of time too, suffered as it was buffeted along to reach a more convenient conclusion. I'm not sure why a cousin/cousin romance was needed--as it seemed to be used more for shock value than because it was necessary to the plot. It would have been very simple to have made Aunt Pen a friend of the protagonists mother, rather than an actual aunt, and so the relationship between Daisy and Edmund just felt contrived. As with the cousin on cousin romance, the discussion of anorexia and the incorporation of the condition into the primary character--who is "cured" as she witnesses those who suffer from hunger and starvation during the war-- treats anorexia as something caused by selfishness, rather than a medical condition.
This could be a useful book to consider when thinking about how stories are told, but (particularly due to the mishandling of anorexia, and the subpar narrative) there are better options to read and I wouldn't tend toward using it in the high school classroom.
My suggestion? Read John Marsden's "Tomorrow, When the War Began" instead.
Printz winner.
I was disappointed. It disturbed me, but not in a good, insightful way. It just disturbed me, and I didn't feel connected to the characters, or able to suspend my disbelief on a few key points.
I was disappointed. It disturbed me, but not in a good, insightful way. It just disturbed me, and I didn't feel connected to the characters, or able to suspend my disbelief on a few key points.
In theory i like the story, but what is up with the incest-storyline? Help!