Reviews

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

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sarahannkateri's review against another edition

4.0

Seven teenagers decide to go camping in a remote part of the Australian outback. After spending several days hiking, exploring, and lazing around, they return home, only to find their families missing, their pets dying, and patrols of armed soldiers roaming the streets. It seems that while they were in the bush, Australia was invaded, and they are among the few who have escaped capture.

This book holds up remarkably well for having been published in 1993. The teens' banter and relationships ring true, and while their personalities start out as stereotypical (there's the sheltered rich girl, the sarcastic, smart one, the religious nut...) they all grow and change throughout the story. While there's plenty of action and romance, the book still finds time to fit in a rumination on the nature of evil. Tomorrow is a good, solid adventure read, although I wish I didn't have to read 6 more books to get the whole story. Curse you, series writers!

Hunger Games fans might dig this one, as will people who like wilderness survival stories.

ailsahatton's review

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3.0

The series was pretty good - but I got a bit bored of I WAS SCARED AND THEN I CREATED AN EXPLOSION AND THEN SOMEONE DIED AND THEN I WAS TRAUMATISED by the end of it.

But the pacing was good, and I read them all in short order so it can't have been that bad.

mia_scheepers2008's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

mega_randomer's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

charli_bear's review against another edition

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2.5

Boring as hell (cringe pun intended). The fact that this was a novel we had to read for school is what played into my low rating as forcing myself to finish this was painful. I personally didn't find the characters that captivating and some of the major characters I know very little about. The plot was average and there were a few scenes that where decent. The romance was immature. It may be true to some people, but I found the way it was presented weird, as I don't relate to it at all, and I'm also an Australian teen around their age, however maybe you will. whoever reads this, I hope you have/had a better experience with this than I did.