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A review by bookwormlukas
Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden
5.0
One of my favourite YA series.
I started reading this series when I was around 14 years old, and while they are a series of seven I only made it to about book number three at the time. Over the years I have always meant to pick them up again and read them to the end, and I finally got round to it today, finishing the first book in one sitting.
I was surprised when reading the first one how much I was reminded of 'The Hunger Games', but without the battle royale styled arena violence. If you take away the sci-fi aspect of 'Hunger Games' and ground the story of kids fighting for their towns/districs into a more realistic setting, the 'Tomorrow Series' is basically what you would get.
This is a book that is quite slow, especially in the beginning when it's just the kids on the camping trip, but really ramps up the action as soon as the actual war hits. I was surprised by how little I genuinely remembered, and while obviously targeted towards a more young adult audience, it becomes more of an older focused book as the novel goes on, and the kids started dealing with their guerrilla tactics. Yes, the kids seem to adapt a little too quickly to their new life, and everyone conveniently has the 'skills' they need to survive, but I enjoyed the hell out of it, and now have to wait until christmas to get the rest of the series.
I decided to give this five stars, despite a few faults (the love story/triangle feels a little forced and quick) as overall it's a great start to a series I read as a kid. So understand that those 5 stars have a very nostalgic edge to them, which probably did affect the overall rating somewhat.
I started reading this series when I was around 14 years old, and while they are a series of seven I only made it to about book number three at the time. Over the years I have always meant to pick them up again and read them to the end, and I finally got round to it today, finishing the first book in one sitting.
I was surprised when reading the first one how much I was reminded of 'The Hunger Games', but without the battle royale styled arena violence. If you take away the sci-fi aspect of 'Hunger Games' and ground the story of kids fighting for their towns/districs into a more realistic setting, the 'Tomorrow Series' is basically what you would get.
This is a book that is quite slow, especially in the beginning when it's just the kids on the camping trip, but really ramps up the action as soon as the actual war hits. I was surprised by how little I genuinely remembered, and while obviously targeted towards a more young adult audience, it becomes more of an older focused book as the novel goes on, and the kids started dealing with their guerrilla tactics. Yes, the kids seem to adapt a little too quickly to their new life, and everyone conveniently has the 'skills' they need to survive, but I enjoyed the hell out of it, and now have to wait until christmas to get the rest of the series.
I decided to give this five stars, despite a few faults (the love story/triangle feels a little forced and quick) as overall it's a great start to a series I read as a kid. So understand that those 5 stars have a very nostalgic edge to them, which probably did affect the overall rating somewhat.