A review by missknown
Os 100 by Kass Morgan

adventurous lighthearted relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

My relationship with The 100 started off in 2014 shortly after the conclusion of the first season. I was series-less, and a friend recommended me to watch it, and I binged the entire thing in two days (just because I had to sleep). Although, I can’t remember when did I become aware the show was based on a book by Kass Morgan. Since then, all I ever wanted to do was to pick up the book. However, you don’t need to do much research to discover that both stories mostly have the name in common and nothing else. And this was a risk for me. I was completely in love with the TV series, and I didn’t want to lose that love for finding the books better or the other way around. Bottom line, I didn’t want the story of one to influence my opinion on the other. So, even after buying the first book, I kept it on my shelf untouched until the right moment came.

I have to say this first book felt more like an introduction story than anything else. It doesn’t have a proper plot other than letting you know the characters, the dynamics between them, and the secrets that all of them hide. But it’s not a bad book. Instead of action-packed scenes, fight-for-your-life type of thing, the story is more chilled and very enjoyable. Most of the book is about teenage drama, if you are expecting a proper survival story and the lengths people need to go to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, this is not the book. The characters are really the central point of the story.

Do you know how the first half of a book is usually lower passed to introduce the characters and then suddenly shit starts to happen and the story is going so fast your eyes feel like they can’t go along? Well, The 100 is just the first part of that book. When shit is about to start happening the book ends. It can be a little anticlimactic since you are hoping for something very exciting to happen and that moment never comes.

The story is told from 4 different points of view: Clark, Wells, Bellamy, and Glass. And inside of each perspective, we have a lot of throwbacks about their lives up there in the spaceship which let us know the characters’ personalities. On those throwbacks, we also get to know what they have done to be locked up, and the relationships between the characters. From all of them, Glass is the only one that isn’t on Earth, so we don’t get to see her interact with the other main characters – at least for now. And there is something about her that itches my nose, and I don’t know why. I think I need to learn more about her to finally decide if I like her or not.

Something that can’t be left out when the story is about teenagers, is the romance. And in this book, it creeps up very slowly and silently, and then… BAM! In your face. Yet, the romance doesn’t have a centre point in the story. It’s something very small. It happens and then it’s not brought up again. So it exists to set in motion changes between the character for the next book. Although Wells does go down to Earth chasing the girl he loves and is probably the only character that is romance-driven in the story, making him a little annoying sometimes.

Believe it or not, this book was a page-turner for me. Every time a character had a throwback so much information was left untold, and that kept me going page after page until that character perspective came up again, and I could know more. But then something else was missing. And so I got on this hunt for information that lasted the entire book. I don’t remember ever being bored but I do recall wanting to shove Wells’ head up his own ass to shut him up – who knew he was so annoying?

Bottom line, if you are looking for heavy drama, survival, and a lot of action, as the TV show, you are going to get disappointed. Although if you are looking for something more light-hearted and slightly different from the TV series, the book might be for you.