Reviews with content warning for Abortion - Himmel und Hölle

I decided to read this book because I brought a poster with 100 books to read in your lifetime. This is the eleventh book I've read on this poster. I knew this book was going to be brutal, but holy hell.

This book has two points of views. The first is Persephone Hadley AKA Sephy. She is a Cross with dark skin and the daughter of a wealthy senior politician. She lives a life of power and privilege. But she is lonely, and burns with injustice at the world she sees around her and she wants to make the world a better place. The second point is Callum McGregor. He is a Nought with white skin. His mother used to work for Sephy’s mother as a nanny. Callum is considered to be less than nothing – a blanker, there to serve Crosses, but he dreams of a better life. Sephy and Callum have been friends since they were children, and they both know that’s as far as it can ever go. Noughts and Crosses are fated to be bitter enemies – love is out of the question. Then, in spite of a world that is fiercely against them – these star-crossed lovers choose each other. But this is a love story that will lead both of them into terrible danger, and will have shocking repercussions for generations to come.

This book is brutal, yes, it is supposed to be a dystopian and fictional book, but it didn’t feel like it at all. This shows the way that society still is and it made my blood boil. I don’t think it helped that I was reading The Devil’s Advocate by Steve Cavanagh at the same time as that book showed small town white supremacy and racism. It just frustrates me like how can people still be like this? This book is fast-paced and the storyline moves along very quickly. This is a powerful book, I feel like everyone in high school or college should read this (I would say younger but there is a lot that happens that could trigger someone so I would suggest checking triggers first). It has a powerful message and Malorie Blackman made sure she was heard. The message with this book doesn’t even have to be about race (although it mainly is), but it can be about fighting for what you believe in, to not judge someone based on background or who their parents are/ what their parents did and to be fair and kind.

What I didn’t like was the jump in the timeline to like 3 years later and how it wasn’t much of a build up to what happened. I would have loved to seen more at how Sephy was advocating at her school and how Callum made his rank in the Liberation Militia. I would have preferred additional POVs chapters from the family as well. I just wanted to know what Lynette was thinking and feeling and how Jude was thinking and feeling as both of them had different experiences in life. I felt like Sephy and Callum had nothing else to do but be obsessed with each other and going back and forth between, “I shouldn’t like them” and “I want to see them now.” I would like more of a second-chance or a more of a distinct break so that us as readers were itching for them to be back together.

I personally believe this book should be a standalone, but seeing as there are 5 or 6 other books, I'm intrigued to see how Malorie has carried this series on especially with how this book ended, unless it’s to do with the next generation and we find out how Sephy did after the events in this book.

Content Warnings

gracey72's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

izzyvioletgrace's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

An amazing book facing many difficult topics: racism, societal standards and mental health. I loved it.

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