Wednesday, July 8, 2015

The 100

by Kass Morgan
published: Little, Brown and Company, 2013
pages: 323

When one hundred juvenile delinquents are selected to go back to Earth almost a hundred years after human evacuation, they will have to figure out how to survive a terrain they've only dreamed of, that is of course if they don't die from radiation from the Catalytic war.

Please be warned this book is NOT the TV show.  They share some characters, a setting, and a basic plot.  Other than that the book takes a turn for its own, which is a good thing.  After I wrapped my brain around the vast differences between the show and the book I began to enjoy this story.

This story is told from four different points of view; Clarke, Bellamy, Wells, and Glass. Each of these kids have a very different way of looking at their situations. One is the chancellor's son, one is the older brother of a teen prisoner, one is the daughter of two dead scientists and one is in love with a boy her mother disapproves.  Their voices are distinct and provide unique views of the situation.  I really enjoyed each perspective and found they each added a dynamic to the story that enhanced the read. 

This book was very fast paced. It flowed from one point of view to the next pretty seamlessly which is great because of how many narrators were telling the story.  Usually when there is more than one character telling the story, I favor one voice over the others.  That wasn't really the case with this book.

In this book we hit the tip of the iceberg in terms of values and moral ambiguity.  I anticipate much more moral grey area in the two final books in this trilogy.  I love when characters struggle with right and wrong; it always leads to character development and man I love good character development.  We have characters who have hidden agendas and secrets they want kept.  We have characters who genuinely want to help, but don't know how.  It's fun (I'm not sure that's the correct word) to see them all interact and fall into miscommunication and deceit.

This books takes us through only the beginning of these characters' stories.  The cliffhanger at the end was really good.  Even if I hadn't watched the series before, I would have wanted to read the sequel right away.

Stars: 4/5

Praise:

"[Readers will] be drawn in by the Lord of the Flies-style tension that builds as the teens struggle to set up a new society on a battered Earth, and by the smoldering romances that hang in the balance."
     --Publishers Weekly

"Dark and riveting... A mash-up of The Lord of the Flies, Across the Universe and The Hunger Games."
     --Booklist


An Eclectic Reader 2015 Challenge book.
A Full House Reading Challenge 2015 book
An Alphabet Soup 2015 Challenge book. 

1 comment:

  1. I've enjoyed watching this TV series. Thanks for sharing your Eclectic Reader challenge review.

    Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out

    ReplyDelete