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eatingwords's review against another edition
3.0
I don't really know what to think of this book. It took me quite a while to read through it, although this is such a small book.
I started out quite okay. Nothing big really happened, but I still liked Ellie's POV.
Then the camping trip dragged on and on, the interesting part was not displayed as that interesting. There seemed to be just facts randomly thrown at me.
I liked the character developments though. There seemed to be so many characters, everyone stood out with their different personalities.
Also the ending had a cliffhanger and I would like to know if the story will improve with the sequel.
I started out quite okay. Nothing big really happened, but I still liked Ellie's POV.
Then the camping trip dragged on and on, the interesting part was not displayed as that interesting. There seemed to be just facts randomly thrown at me.
I liked the character developments though. There seemed to be so many characters, everyone stood out with their different personalities.
Also the ending had a cliffhanger and I would like to know if the story will improve with the sequel.
janaroos's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 rounded up because it made me gasp once (that's good, not sarcastic).
Read this as a prescribed book I'll be teaching soon, so I made notes throughout. Most of them said 'ew' and 'gross' about various romantic moments, but aside from that I actually really enjoyed this book. The action was realistic and the teens' responses really good--no one was the hardened, macho Rambo-type, and it made them and the situation ring very true.
The basic conflict, the invasion (is this book why Australia fears boat people so much?), was a little bit of a socio-political stretch in my opinion. The attackers were kept too vague, and I think the author should just have committed to a country or alliance and offended whomever he was going to offend in order to make the world-building more realistic. The enemy soldiers' ethnicity is never described, their language is apparently unrecognisable to anyone and they wear no flags on their uniforms or vehicles. It's a little awkward, tbh. Commit, or if you're scared of sounding non-PC, make them aliens. Maybe all this is explained in the sequels.
However, when it came to the survival measures and tactics of the kids, though, I think the author did a great job. Ellie cheats a bit at narration at points, but you can't have everything. As for the romance, ew, and also THANK HEAVENS we avoided the love triangle (I might mark this as a spoiler later, but it's barely one). It was threatening for a while but it seemed like something the publisher wanted the author to add so he made a half-hearted attempt but just went their own way anyway. But honestly, I don't know if I'd have energy for starting relationships while there's a literal invasion going on. Must just be me though, cos the kids in this book sure decided they loved their new partners VERY quickly (pet peeve. You don't love someone after two weeks of knowing them, you tiny fool).
But all in all this was quite an exciting read, and I love a good bit of survival and strategy. I'm not sure if I'll read the sequels, though--YA isn't really my thing (largely because of the inevitable romantic crap) and the characters stayed a little too flat for me to be invested enough to really care about their longterm well-being. Eh. If I ever saw the books at the library or for free I might give them a go, but there are better things I want to spend money on.
Side-rant: I don't know about this as a prescribed book. Is this what we're prescribing to teens now? Books with teens in them? Why? I can understand prescribing The Hobbit and Harry Potter, both of which, aside from being popular, are classics. And the reason for that is that they don't only have important themes of friendship and sacrifice and whatnot, but they're also well-written and well-structured, and have usually had some large cultural impact. They're in some way important to have read and, in cases like To Kill a Mockingbird, important to have understood.
If the goal is to get teens reading, I don't know whether trying to give them something they'd 'identify' with is the way to go about it. Firstly because adults usually aren't great at knowing what teenagers are interested in and identify with. Secondly, teens, like any human beings, have diverse interests, and therefore it's better, imo, prescribing a culturally important book rather than a book 'they might like'. A lot of them probably won't like it. Thirdly, in my experience, analysing a book at school kills it (with TKaMb being the notable exception, brilliant no matter what). Having to write and think about character motivations and themes and whatnot lessens the enjoyment, and so a book that otherwise may have been enjoyable and encouraged someone to keep reading, becomes a chore. Since a lot of classics are chores already it wouldn't matter so much there :P
Read this as a prescribed book I'll be teaching soon, so I made notes throughout. Most of them said 'ew' and 'gross' about various romantic moments, but aside from that I actually really enjoyed this book. The action was realistic and the teens' responses really good--no one was the hardened, macho Rambo-type, and it made them and the situation ring very true.
The basic conflict, the invasion (is this book why Australia fears boat people so much?), was a little bit of a socio-political stretch in my opinion. The attackers were kept too vague, and I think the author should just have committed to a country or alliance and offended whomever he was going to offend in order to make the world-building more realistic. The enemy soldiers' ethnicity is never described, their language is apparently unrecognisable to anyone and they wear no flags on their uniforms or vehicles. It's a little awkward, tbh. Commit, or if you're scared of sounding non-PC, make them aliens. Maybe all this is explained in the sequels.
However, when it came to the survival measures and tactics of the kids, though, I think the author did a great job. Ellie cheats a bit at narration at points, but you can't have everything. As for the romance, ew, and also THANK HEAVENS we avoided the love triangle (I might mark this as a spoiler later, but it's barely one). It was threatening for a while but it seemed like something the publisher wanted the author to add so he made a half-hearted attempt but just went their own way anyway. But honestly, I don't know if I'd have energy for starting relationships while there's a literal invasion going on. Must just be me though, cos the kids in this book sure decided they loved their new partners VERY quickly (pet peeve. You don't love someone after two weeks of knowing them, you tiny fool).
But all in all this was quite an exciting read, and I love a good bit of survival and strategy. I'm not sure if I'll read the sequels, though--YA isn't really my thing (largely because of the inevitable romantic crap) and the characters stayed a little too flat for me to be invested enough to really care about their longterm well-being. Eh. If I ever saw the books at the library or for free I might give them a go, but there are better things I want to spend money on.
Side-rant: I don't know about this as a prescribed book. Is this what we're prescribing to teens now? Books with teens in them? Why? I can understand prescribing The Hobbit and Harry Potter, both of which, aside from being popular, are classics. And the reason for that is that they don't only have important themes of friendship and sacrifice and whatnot, but they're also well-written and well-structured, and have usually had some large cultural impact. They're in some way important to have read and, in cases like To Kill a Mockingbird, important to have understood.
If the goal is to get teens reading, I don't know whether trying to give them something they'd 'identify' with is the way to go about it. Firstly because adults usually aren't great at knowing what teenagers are interested in and identify with. Secondly, teens, like any human beings, have diverse interests, and therefore it's better, imo, prescribing a culturally important book rather than a book 'they might like'. A lot of them probably won't like it. Thirdly, in my experience, analysing a book at school kills it (with TKaMb being the notable exception, brilliant no matter what). Having to write and think about character motivations and themes and whatnot lessens the enjoyment, and so a book that otherwise may have been enjoyable and encouraged someone to keep reading, becomes a chore. Since a lot of classics are chores already it wouldn't matter so much there :P
vera_baetas's review against another edition
3.0
I already seen the movie so no big suprises for me. Can't wait for the rest of the serie.
princesscai08's review against another edition
4.0
This series was so addictive. Once you start, you can't stop.
daisy17's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
taryncrib's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
ashleigh_k's review against another edition
Compelling, easy to read, sometimes frustratingly 2D (the classic young narrator problem)