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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Even though I'm older now this series still touches me. Keeping this series I think :O)
This second instalment in the popular Australian YA series is everything a sequel should be. The characters more focused, the danger heightened, and the plot twists just as interesting. Like the first in the series, I read this in one sitting and can't wait to start book three, luckily which I have already bought.
This entry is very similar in plot to the first entry, with the kids sizing up and taking down a target within the invaders base, but this time we get to hear a little more about who these invaders actually are, although still not enough to feel like we have actually learnt anything. A more personal villan is introduced in the character of Major Harvey, who I couldn't help but associate as a similar character to Dolore Umbridge in the Harry Potter series. The story overall feels more focused than the first, and now that we know the characters, there is more action, and more of an adult theme, as the kids truly ask themselves can they kill in cold blood? and what the mental ramifications are when they do.
I've so far given the two instalments of this series 5 stars, which I don't often do unless I think a book has re-read value, which I believe this series will have (if it keeps up this level of quality through it's seven instalments). I thought I had read to at least book number four when I read this when I was younger, but it turns out I only read to the end of this one, which means everything that comes will be completely new to me.
I still don't know if I'm enjoying these as I enjoyed them when I was younger, or they are generally books that anyone could enjoy...but with the 'Hunger Games' being such a big presence now, I can't imagine anyone enjoying that and not liking this series.
This entry is very similar in plot to the first entry, with the kids sizing up and taking down a target within the invaders base, but this time we get to hear a little more about who these invaders actually are, although still not enough to feel like we have actually learnt anything. A more personal villan is introduced in the character of Major Harvey, who I couldn't help but associate as a similar character to Dolore Umbridge in the Harry Potter series. The story overall feels more focused than the first, and now that we know the characters, there is more action, and more of an adult theme, as the kids truly ask themselves can they kill in cold blood? and what the mental ramifications are when they do.
I've so far given the two instalments of this series 5 stars, which I don't often do unless I think a book has re-read value, which I believe this series will have (if it keeps up this level of quality through it's seven instalments). I thought I had read to at least book number four when I read this when I was younger, but it turns out I only read to the end of this one, which means everything that comes will be completely new to me.
I still don't know if I'm enjoying these as I enjoyed them when I was younger, or they are generally books that anyone could enjoy...but with the 'Hunger Games' being such a big presence now, I can't imagine anyone enjoying that and not liking this series.
To start with there seemed to be an unexplained time skip at the start of the book. However, that didnt deture from the story as it progressed. What can I say, I loved how book 2 continued the story developed the characters. Can't wait to stick in to book 3.
For some reason I don't think these books are so good once I've put them down for a while but as I'm reading them they're exciting. There were actually a couple of funny moments in this book, and besides from a massive pause where I stopped reading this for a month (the book had a slow start) it was pretty exciting the whole way through. A little bit of lame teenage stuff but that's to be expected in a book like this.
Loved it! Great sequel to a great series.
Plot summary: Following the invasion of Australia, Ellie and her friends are back in their secret valley, Hell, and dealing with the loss they suffered at the end of Tomorrow, When the War Began. But they can't stay in Hell forever. As colonists start to arrive in the Wirrawee area, they decide to take action. They're still not giving in without a fight.
Thoughts: As with Tomorrow, When the War Began, it's been years and years since I read this. I liked it. A lot. But it's never really stuck with me quite as much as the first book. Where TWTWB is about fear, this is about anger. Anger at themselves and the actions they've taken. Anger at the other guerillas they come into contact with. Anger at the invaders and the colonists. Anger with each other.
In so many ways, The Dead of the Night is Australian history repeating itself. Okay, so there are slightly more explosions than there were when Europeans first settled in Australia in the late eighteenth century. But so much of that anger, that "why are they here?", that "it's OUR land" attitude could be equally applicable to a story about a group of Indigenous Australians hiding out from European colonists.
It has a wonderful mix of the every day and guerilla action - despite the war, life is still the same as it ever was. They're still teenagers - they fall in love, they fight, they have inappropriate emotional reactions, they get upset when adults don't take them seriously. And it's this, more than anything, that brings realism to the story for me.
Still heartbreaking at times, but without as much of the "Holy crap, this could happen to me" factor of the first book.
Thoughts: As with Tomorrow, When the War Began, it's been years and years since I read this. I liked it. A lot. But it's never really stuck with me quite as much as the first book. Where TWTWB is about fear, this is about anger. Anger at themselves and the actions they've taken. Anger at the other guerillas they come into contact with. Anger at the invaders and the colonists. Anger with each other.
In so many ways, The Dead of the Night is Australian history repeating itself. Okay, so there are slightly more explosions than there were when Europeans first settled in Australia in the late eighteenth century. But so much of that anger, that "why are they here?", that "it's OUR land" attitude could be equally applicable to a story about a group of Indigenous Australians hiding out from European colonists.
It has a wonderful mix of the every day and guerilla action - despite the war, life is still the same as it ever was. They're still teenagers - they fall in love, they fight, they have inappropriate emotional reactions, they get upset when adults don't take them seriously. And it's this, more than anything, that brings realism to the story for me.
Still heartbreaking at times, but without as much of the "Holy crap, this could happen to me" factor of the first book.
Rilettura: dal 09/08 al 10/08/2016
Rimango dello stesso parere della prima lettura, ritmo un po' altalenante che tiene incollati al libro nei momenti di azione (e ce ne sono parecchi.. Questi giovani guerriglieri ci stanno prendendo gusto a far saltare cose in aria) e fa tirare il fiato nei momenti più riflessivi che danno sì una mano per la caratterizzazione dei personaggi, ma in paio di occasioni mi sono sembrati solo ripetizioni di riflessioni già esposte da Ellie..
Prima lettura: dal 31/03 al 07/04/2015
non male, 3 stelline se le porta a casa ma il ritmo della narrazione è davvero troppo altalenante!! Si passa dai momenti di azione e adrenalinici (quelli riusciti meglio) a dei momenti più riflessivi che però sfiorano LA NOIA!!!
Rimango dello stesso parere della prima lettura, ritmo un po' altalenante che tiene incollati al libro nei momenti di azione (e ce ne sono parecchi.. Questi giovani guerriglieri ci stanno prendendo gusto a far saltare cose in aria) e fa tirare il fiato nei momenti più riflessivi che danno sì una mano per la caratterizzazione dei personaggi, ma in paio di occasioni mi sono sembrati solo ripetizioni di riflessioni già esposte da Ellie..
We had no foundations, and we had no secure walls around our lives any more. We were living in a strange long nightmare, where we had to make our own rules, invent new values, stumble around blindly, hoping we weren't making too many mistakes.
Prima lettura: dal 31/03 al 07/04/2015
non male, 3 stelline se le porta a casa ma il ritmo della narrazione è davvero troppo altalenante!! Si passa dai momenti di azione e adrenalinici (quelli riusciti meglio) a dei momenti più riflessivi che però sfiorano LA NOIA!!!
Borrowed this from my principal a year ago and FINALLY read it. Totally worth the wait. It was awesome.
Interesting. Now I have to go back and read the first in the series.