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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I loved this book in middle school…
Why was I reading this in middle school?
Why was I reading this in middle school?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest
I'm giving it a 2.5. I didn't hate it, but I wouldn't go so far as to say I "liked" it. The Random Capitalization was a bit Weird. I actually found myself judging her when she didn't capitalize something. I've never read something that was quite so stream of consciousness and I think I could have enjoyed it, but this time it felt quite disjointed. Trying the movie now.
A slim book packed with plot with a distinctive narrative voice.
YA dystopian novels are my guilty pleasure, and this one is well-worth the hype. But the reason I didn't give this 5 starts is that while the writing was clever and humorous and poignant and the events were well-conceived and engrossing, I just didn't like the main character. She's annoying, shallow, and doesn't really contribute much until she is literally the only one close to adulthood left standing (which made the first half of the book a bit difficult to get through). Her continual sarcasm does offer some much-needed levity to the heavy events unfolding, but it took a while before I could appreciate it.
Imma be honest, kinda wild a cousin fucking, world war III, young adult book has an award and a movie... but I guess that's just how the British be?
A very interesting book. Rosoff writes very descriptively, but sometimes the writing style took me out of the story a little bit.
I had forgotten the name of this book before I loaned it to Ali, I really love this novel, it is well written, and had me on the edge of my seat as I read it. Found it randomly @ Cosco a few years ago.
When I checked this book out from the library, one of my co-workers saw the cover and exclaimed, "I love that one!" (She really did say "love" in bold and italics. This co-worker often uses enthusiastic words like "Fantastic," or "Awesome," or "Excellent," and it is very cute.) I find myself not wanting to say too much about the book, because I can't do it justice. You'll just have to read it.
A girl is sent to London because her family doesn't know what to do with her. No doubt from her dad's point of view she is anorexic and irrational, but we're not reading his POV, we're reading Daisy's. From her view, her stepmother was trying to poison her, and at first that was why she stopped eating. Later, it became a means of power. So, she goes to the country outside London to live with her mother's sister and her cousins that she'd never met before.
Almost immediately her aunt travels to Oslo for peace talks, but the war breaks out while she is gone. The war is never defined clearly. We don't find out who attacked cities in England and the US. Even Daisy is unsure. This is a story that could happen a few moments in the future, or in the world just parallel to this one. All that doesn't matter: the war is backdrop for her life as it unfolds with her cousins, and the fierce loving larger-than-life bond they find for each other.
Not until I reflect on the whole story do I realize that this is a re-telling of a certain fairy tale. I'll leave that for the reader to discover. For a much better review, see Dewey's.
A girl is sent to London because her family doesn't know what to do with her. No doubt from her dad's point of view she is anorexic and irrational, but we're not reading his POV, we're reading Daisy's. From her view, her stepmother was trying to poison her, and at first that was why she stopped eating. Later, it became a means of power. So, she goes to the country outside London to live with her mother's sister and her cousins that she'd never met before.
Almost immediately her aunt travels to Oslo for peace talks, but the war breaks out while she is gone. The war is never defined clearly. We don't find out who attacked cities in England and the US. Even Daisy is unsure. This is a story that could happen a few moments in the future, or in the world just parallel to this one. All that doesn't matter: the war is backdrop for her life as it unfolds with her cousins, and the fierce loving larger-than-life bond they find for each other.
Not until I reflect on the whole story do I realize that this is a re-telling of a certain fairy tale. I'll leave that for the reader to discover. For a much better review, see Dewey's.
Analysis: This modern fantasy novel’s greatest strength is the change in the characters. While they aren’t bad in the beginning, they are immature and a bit selfish, not at all concerned with the welfare of others, even the mother. They are just happy to be on their own. As the story progresses and Rosoff presents the children and the reader with some of the horrifying effects of war, we see them slowly change into more compassionate people. At the beginning of the story, Daisy is mainly concerned with her own unhappiness with her stepmother and her father’s indifference. She has even become anorexic to annoy and frustrate her step-mother. When the government institutes rationing, Daisy doesn’t mind because it makes it easier not to eat; however, when she and Piper are hiding in the forest during their journey home, living on what they can find, she finally realizes she has been starving all along for love and for food. This revelation helps her overcome the disorder. She also describes her feelings for Edmund as starvation and hunger. It is the powerful relationship with Edmund that teaches Daisy compassion. Even though the characters are separated for about two thirds of the book, the connection is so strong they can sense each other across the miles.
All the cousins have telepathic ability and seem to be more fragile than Daisy. As the story progresses, she forgets herself and begins to take responsibility for protecting them. Rosoff uses Daisy to illustrate the callousness of human nature when presented with the suffering of others. Like Daisy, many people aren’t concerned with a problem if it doesn’t directly affect them. By the end of the book, Daisy understands the suffering of war and takes her place among her cousins as a protector. Most of the characters are helpful and considerate, making the best of a bad situation, but the occupying army knows they will most likely be killed eventually and the soldiers have no fear of death. Rosoff shows the effects of wars fought by suicide bombers and people with nothing to live for.
The book has some elements of fantasy (telepathic ability and an alternate reality embroiled in WWIII), but Rosoff’s descriptions are graphic and intensely realistic. It is not hard to imagine the world in a similar state.
All the cousins have telepathic ability and seem to be more fragile than Daisy. As the story progresses, she forgets herself and begins to take responsibility for protecting them. Rosoff uses Daisy to illustrate the callousness of human nature when presented with the suffering of others. Like Daisy, many people aren’t concerned with a problem if it doesn’t directly affect them. By the end of the book, Daisy understands the suffering of war and takes her place among her cousins as a protector. Most of the characters are helpful and considerate, making the best of a bad situation, but the occupying army knows they will most likely be killed eventually and the soldiers have no fear of death. Rosoff shows the effects of wars fought by suicide bombers and people with nothing to live for.
The book has some elements of fantasy (telepathic ability and an alternate reality embroiled in WWIII), but Rosoff’s descriptions are graphic and intensely realistic. It is not hard to imagine the world in a similar state.
I didn’t care for this book much. The story felt like historical fiction set in modern day, which was weird. I don’t know what themes the author was trying to convey, and I found the characters unsympathetic.