When their country is invaded and their families are taken, eight high
school teenagers band together to fight. Seventeen-year-old Ellie Linton wants
one final adventure with her friends before the school holidays are over. Packed
in Ellie's parents' land rover they drive to the famously isolated rock pool
Eden dubbed 'Hell' by the locals. Returning to their home town of Wirrawee, the
seven teenagers realize that something is seriously wrong. Power to the houses
has been cut, pets and livestock have been left dead or dying, and most
alarmingly of all, everyone's family has vanished. When the hostile armed forces
discover that the teenagers are lying low in the vicinity, Ellie and her friends
must band together to escape, outwit and strike back against the mysterious
enemy that has seized control of their town and imprisoned their friends and
loved ones...
I recived the first three in this series from Luisa from Chicklish - thank you! Here is my review for the first (the second and third book reviews will also appear on Chicklish).
Most of the Amazon reviews I saw for this book told me it was exciting and full of action. I knew it was about a war, but not much else.
It started very slowly, with the main character, Ellie, randomly organising a camping trip and seemed to invite everyone she knew - even if she didn't know them that well. This part of the story didn't really capture me - nothing exciting happened, it was just a group of teens going camping for a few days, although we get introduced to the other main characters and find out a bit about them.
The story picked up when the characters arrived back from their trip and found out that there was something odd happening in the town. There isn't much of an explanation as to why Australia was invaded so suddenly, why everyone else was captured/kidnapped/put in prison (I can't remember if it ever said), or even who invaded, which might be revealed in the other books but I think should've been mentioned in this one.
There wasn't as much action as I expected - most of the book was about the group avoiding the war and planning on how to survive. I was quite surprised they were never spotted or discovered at all during the book, and at some parts it hardly seemed like an action/war story. I wasn't really sure where the story was going at all, apart from the general idea of 'survive and don't be caught'.
I didn't have a favourite character. I found there were quite a few characters who were in Ellie's group, which got a bit confusing, and we didn't really find out a lot about them. I wasn't a huge fan on Ellie, especially when she was talking about boyfriends - it seemed to me as if she was always desperate for one. She mentioned that she hardly knew Lee, but within a few chapters she decided she was in love with him....I'm not hugely into romance so maybe it's just me but those parts of the book didn't seem to fit. We don't even find out much about Ellie.
Even though it wasn't action packed, I didn't think it was too slow paced after the first camping trip part. Overall, it was ok. It wasn't hugely exciting, and I didn't like Ellie and the romance didn't fit (in my opinion). I have to say if I didn't have the next two to review, I would not bother continuing this series.
Rating: 3/5
I agree that its not really headed in a clear direction. But I think Marsden has put individuality into each of the characters...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment :) I agree that the characters were quite individual, none of them seemed too similar.
DeleteCannot take anything away from that book review.
Deletei think the point of it is to show the teenagers reactions to the situation without the guidance of adults
ReplyDeleteHmm, I see your point!
Deletejake walker
DeleteI disagree that it isnt clear in the start, you dont get that she wants to just go camping during the holidays to fill in time with friends.
ReplyDeleteI see what you mean, but I thought it made the story start very slowly.
Deleteif you look at it from a teenagers perspective (which is what they are) the romance fits in perfectly.. as a teenager romance is a huge thing and being in college and wanting a boyfriend is a large amount of girls dreams.
ReplyDeleteI agree but i think ur review is good 2
DeleteI remember really liking the book when I was a teenager - I was obsessed with them. As a teenager it seemed exciting, relevant and all around nail-bitingly good. But looking back, I was also emotionally immature and that is probably the only reason I could enjoy the romantic relationships. Now, I'm a little put off by the emphasis. Just today I wrote a blog post about the book, my experience reading it as a teenager and my reflections in retrospect. It's not too long, but a bit long to reproduce here in response, so I thought I might just link to it here. I enjoyed your article :)
ReplyDeleteIf you'd like to read my views on the novel, I'd really appreciate it. It can be found here:
http://www.LearningandWriting.com/1/post/2013/02/tomorrow-when-the-war-began-introduction-and-review.html
its really cool
ReplyDeleteby the way i'm from australia
ReplyDeletewe do u live in austraaliaa -_-
DeleteI actually disagree with all of which you have said. Although it does have that sense, i believe that the true essence of the book comes from the thoughts that trail it. The book is obviously alot deeper than the story line. I know that personally for me i was left in ponder; what if i was in that situation, how would i react? It also draws a vivid message, only a small amount of light is needed to illuminated a dark world. BoOm :S
ReplyDeleteI dont fully agree with all of this statement, but there is diffenantly some sense in what you have said.
Deletehmmmmm i agree
Deletei disagree ^^^^
Deletemy mum agrees
Deletesame with myne
DeleteRead my reveiw of this book on, SO MANY BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME. Granted, my blog was just temporary school project but I believe it has some good insites. Also, not mentioned in my reveiw, it wasn't the first book that fully grabbed me but the entire series. And I know your only reviewing the first but read the others and give them all a chance. I promise it's worth it!
ReplyDeleteI love the series and i would rate it 4.5 stars
ReplyDeletei like pineapples to tell the truth
ReplyDeletesexy beast ^^^
Deleteyes iam
Deletei like them to
ReplyDeleteharry andrews
ReplyDeletehey tyson
ReplyDeletethank you!
ReplyDeletethis really helped me for my critical review.
its a really good explanation
hey popee
ReplyDeleteI totally disagree with your review in the rating I think the story disserves at LEAST 4 stars. I have read the whole series and loved every second of it. And yes I understand where you are coming from when you say that it starts slowly because I too found that but overall I absolutely loved The Tomorrow Series!!!
ReplyDeletenice review.
ReplyDelete