The Other Side of Dawn by John Marsden

Title: The Other Side of Dawn

Author: John Marsden
Publisher: Scholastic
ISBN: 978-0-439-85805-2
Pages: 329
Series: Tomorrow #7
Type: Young Adult Action/Adventure
Source: Gift
Goodreads


It's been a little over a year since Ellie and her friends returned from their camping trip in Hell to find their country had been invaded and their families captured. The original group of eight has been reduced to five, and they've gained a group of rescued orphans. Now the New Zealand troops are preparing their final assault, and Ellie and her friends are about to be called into action for one final time.

This is the seventh and final book in the incredible Tomorrow series (after Tomorrow When the War Began, The Dead of Night, The Third Day, the Frost, Darkness Be My Friend, Burning for Revenge and The Night Is for Hunting) and it wasn't really what I expected.

Reading the blurb and other reviews I thought this book would be a series of fairly random attacks where all the main characters were involved. Without including any spoilers, all I will say is that the story took some totally unexpected twists and turns. It was an incredible journey that kept me glued to the page. Knowing that the series and the war would be ending in this book, but not knowing how or whether the characters would survive made it unputdownable.

The ending is fitting to the series, and I'm really glad there wasn't a movie style perfect happy ending where everything is tied up in a neat little bow. At the end of the day the characters have been through an incredible amount so to make everything all better again not only would have been unrealistic, but also would have devalued the previous books.

All in all this was a great conclusion to an amazing series that I thoroughly recommend to anyone who likes dystopian novels and/or action packed stories.

Plot: 9/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Cover: 10/10

Overall: 48/50

The Night is for Hunting by John Marsden

Title: The Night is for Hunting

Author: John Marsden
Publisher: Pan
ISBN: 978-0-330-36136-1
Pages: 252
Series: Tomorrow #6
Type: Young Adult Action/Adventure
Source: Gift
Goodreads


Ellie and her friends have decided that it's time for them to leave Stratton and return to the safety of Hell. Their time in Stratton has given them a chance to heal, but also a chance to betray and be betrayed. Still reeling from Lee's actions, Ellie becomes determined to rescue a group of feral orphans. What Ellie hasn't counted on is that the orphans may not want to be rescued.

This is the sixth book in the Tomorrow series (after Tomorrow When the War Began, The Dead of Night, The Third Day, the Frost, Darkness Be My Friend and Burning for Revenge) and it takes a somewhat gentler tone than previous books. When the orphans were introduced in the previous book I found them to be a bit annoying and distracting so I was a bit apprehensive of reading this. However I'm glad I did.

The pace picks up quickly and stays at quite a high level for the majority of the book. There is a slower paced section where the teens arrange Christmas for the orphans, but unlike slower parts of previous books this doesn't drag. There is still a lot of action based around fights with the invading troops, but the kids also provide more story and an opportunity for the teens to act more maturely. The orphans are also well developed as characters, each having a different backstory that explains their behaviour.

The ending of the book caught me completely off guard. It is cleverly done and leads neatly into the next (and final) book without having a cheesy cliffhanger ending. Instead a few new questions are raised, along with the possibility of an end to the war.

All in all this was a great read and I'm looking forward to seeing how the series ends in The Other Side of Dawn.

Plot: 9/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 9/10

Overall: 48/50

Burning for Revenge by John Marsden

Title: Burning for Revenge

Author: John Marsden
Publisher: Scholastic
ISBN: 978-0-439-85803-8
Pages: 260
Series: Tomorrow #5
Type: Young Adult Action/Adventure
Source: Gift
Goodreads


Ellie and her friends decide to leave the safety of Hell to journey to the nearby town of Stratton. It's a perilous journey not least of all because the enemy's headquarters are somewhere along the way. A careless mistake leads the group into the most dangerous situation yet and presents them with their greatest opportunity when they find themselves within the enemy's heavily fortified airbase. But how much are the teens willing to risk, and when it comes to revenge or escape what will they choose?

This is the fifth book in the Tomorrow series (after Tomorrow When the War Began, The Dead of Night, The Third Day, the Frost and Darkness Be My Friend) and continues the story of the teens fighting a guerilla war against invaders. The pace of the book is pretty up and down and it did mean at times I found my interest waning. Parts of the book are action packed and fast paced, but the start and middle are more introspective and far slower in pace.

One thing I did notice with this book was that at times I found it hard to keep reading, partly due to the pacing issues and also partly due to Kevin. He becomes very withdrawn in this book which is understandable, he's been a captive and his girlfriend died at the hands of the invaders, but it does make the book quite depressing at times. After the epic failure of everything the teens tried to do in the previous book, this one sees them be more successful in their fight but lacks the emotional high.

All in all this was a great read and I'm looking forward to The Night Is for Hunting.

Plot: 8/10
Characters: 9/10
Ending: 7/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Cover: 9/10

Overall: 40/50

Darkness, be my Friend by John Marsden

Title: Darkness, be my Friend

Author: John Marsden
Publisher: Pan
ISBN: 978-0-330-36005-0
Pages: 274
Series: Tomorrow #4
Type: Young Adult Action/Adventure
Source: Gift
Goodreads


Five months after their rescue, Ellie and her friends have been recuperating in New Zealand and trying to deal with the loss of their friend Robyn. Now their rescuers need their help - the New Zealand troops want to go behind enemy lines...and they need local guides. Soon the teenagers are back in Hell, but when something goes wrong the mission becomes fraught with tension and the inevitable question - will they ever escape Wirrawee again.

This is the fourth book in the Tomorrow series (after Tomorrow When the War Began, The Dead of Night and The Third Day, the Frost) and has a different tone to the previous books in the series. The previous book saw some massive twists and turns, not least of all the death of Robyn and this book mostly deals with the psychological consequences.

The book begins in New Zealand, but the narrative feels forced and lacks the spark of the previous books. Once the group returns to Wirrawee the low-key tone flows easier and makes more sense. After all the characters were rescued and given the opportunity for normal lives, but chose to return to their home and start their fight again. This time they are out of practice, and the drama comes not from the risks they take but from the mistakes they make.

The level of introspection also means that at times news important to characters other than Ellie gets covered very quickly without the detail previously seen. It is interesting to see how Ellie deals with her choices, but I wish the other characters had gotten a bit more attention.

All in all this was a good read and I'm looking forward to Burning for Revenge.

Plot: 8/10
Characters: 9/10
Ending: 7/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Cover: 10/10

Overall: 42/50

The Third Day, the Frost by John Marsden

Title: The Third Day, The Frost

Author: John Marsden
Publisher: Pan
ISBN: 978-0-330-35668-8
Pages: 278
Series: Tomorrow #3
Type: Young Adult Action/Adventure
Source: Gift
Goodreads


After the tragic and unnecessary death of their friend Chris, the remaining five teenagers have spent several weeks hiding in their safe haven of Hell. As the intense search for them after the explosions they caused in Wirrawee lessens, they begin to crave action once more. Ellie and her friends decide to target the harbour at Cobbler's Bay, but the journey there and the attack on the most fiercely guarded location they've seen brings unexpected joy and tragedy.

This is the third book in the outstanding Tomorrow series (after Tomorrow When the War Began and The Dead of Night) which is annoyingly difficult to get hold of outside of Australia. The recent movie based on the first book has increased demand, and it appears all the books will be republished in the UK. This installment has all the action of the previous books and is full of twists and turns leading up to a shocking, tragic conclusion.

After the death of Chris in the previous book due to a drink driving accident, the characters are trying to make sense of their new smaller group and decide to lead their biggest attack ever. As they journey to Cobbler's Bay they are reunited with Kevin who was captured when he saved Corrie at the end of the first book. There are new dangers introduced, and a major twist I never saw coming that leads to the loss of a major character.

I've noticed a few reviews of the series as a whole that said it would have worked as a trilogy. While the ending of this book definitely ends one part of the character's journey, I would be disappointed if the entire series had ended here as far to much remains unresolved.

All in all, this was an incredible read and I can't wait to get started on Darkness Be My Friend.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 10/10

Overall: 49/50

Teaser Tuesdays (28)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

My teaser:

"I wondered as I looked at it whether I was looking at my own coffin. It was a horrible feeling, to think that I'd be locking myself into that big metal box."

~ Page 117, The Third Day, the Frost by John Marsden

The Dead of Night by John Marsden

Title: The Dead of Night

Author: John Marsden
Publisher: Scholastic
ISBN: 0-439-82911-9
Pages: 264
Series: Tomorrow #2
Type: Young Adult Action/Adventure
Source: Gift
Goodreads


A few months after a foreign force invaded their homes, Ellie and her friends remain in the hidden safe haven of Hell. They have fought against the invaders, and two of their number have fallen behind enemy lines. Now the remaining six will hunt for their friends, and in discovering a new group of survivors put themselves at greater risk than ever before.

Following on from Tomorrow When the War Began, this book begins a couple of weeks after the devastating events of that concluded the last book. Corrie and Kevin's location is unknown to the remaining six teenagers, and their decision to hide out in Hell for a while means that when they do re-emerge the world has changed once more. The invasion is becoming more complete, and the teens come across the first free adults they have seen since the war began with devastating results.

While the first book showed the shock of the attack, this shows the characters beginning to come to terms with it. The author manages to keep the characters unique in the way they adjust to their new lives. Homer and Lee show the biggest changes in becoming able to do things they never could have thought themselves capable of in order to protect what little they have left. Chris's adjustment is sadder as he begins to spiral into alcohol addiction, separating himself from the rest of the group.

The romance, although I hesitate to call it that, between Ellie and Lee continues on in this book but is generally kept in the background. If you are looking for in depth romance, this isn't your book as it focuses mostly on the war that is going on.

All in all, this was an awesome read and I can't wait to get stuck into The Third Day, the Frost.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 8/10

Overall: 47/50

Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden

Title: Tomorrow When the War Began

Author: John Marsden
Publisher: Quercus
ISBN: 978-0-85738-733-2
Pages: 284
Series: Tomorrow #1
Type: Young Adult Action/Adventure
Source: Gift
Goodreads


Seventeen-year-old Ellie Linton travels into the bush with her friends for one last adventure before they return to school. Ellie and her friends (quiet Fi, serious Robyn, best friend Corrie and her boyfriend Kevin, arty Lee and class clown Homer) return to a changed world. While they were camping in an idyllic hard-to-reach valley called Hell, hell has taken over their town and Wirrawee is no longer the home they left behind. Joined by stoner Chris, the teenagers are faced with a question - how far will they go to regain what has been lost?

I have to admit the preview for the movie was the driving force behind me getting a copy of this book, partly because it looked great and partly because it reminded me that I read and loved this book about eight years ago. At that point the rest were unavailable so I gave up on the series. Seeing the preview reminded me how much I'd enjoyed the book and led to me tracking the entire series down (even to retailers in Australia) and then asking for them as birthday gifts.

Having now reread the book I must say I still find it to be an incredible read. Written in the past tense, the book starts after the invasion but everything is revealed in chronological order so there is a lot of 'so I thought' or 'that was before'. This is a really clever technique as it builds the tension right from the start so even the relaxing camping trip the characters take at the beginning has a vein of tension running through it. The events are dealt with realistically making the book believable. The setting is also beautifully described. I was a huge fan of The Silver Brumby as a child and this captures the Australian outback with that level of imagination and detail.

The book is pretty heavy on characters as eight teenagers are the main focus. Once the events get underway they begin to split into smaller groups so the sheer volume of cast doesn't become overwhelming. Each character is also really unique, and as they are described before and after they become three dimensional. The book is written from Ellie's perspective and, although she can be a little immature at times (understandable given her age and situation), I really liked her as well as the other characters and it was great to see how the events of the book changed them.

All in all, this is an incredible read and I'm really looking forward to reading The Dead of Night.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 10/10

Overall: 49/50