Wow! I flew through this book!! It was a very easy quick read and the story was fantastic! I really enjoy survival/dystopic stories and this is a good one (and really realistic, not to far fetched). And the best part is that this is the beginning of a pretty big series of books, so I have quite a long way to go with these characters and that's great because I wasn't ready to say good bye to my new Aussie friends. The story wasn't a masterpiece as far as writing goes but the story was VERY entertaining so that made up for it.
So here is the plot. Ellie, Homer, Fi, Corrie, Kevin, Lee, and Robyn decide it would be great fun to go camping during the Christmas break (which by the way is Summer time in Australia). They head out on their week long camping trip to a place called Hell, a secluded wild area surrounded by cliffs and hills. When they return home after their little adventure they find their houses abandoned, their animals dead, and their families no where in sight. They head into town and start to realize that something has gone terribly a-rye. Military from some other non-English speaking country has invaded their town and are holding their the entire town prisoner at the fair grounds. The 7 friends have to find a way to survive for an undetermined amount of time by pillaging houses, and literally moving to Hell. The story ended with a HUGE cliff hanger that I am not going to talk about, because I want you to read it for your self!
I loved this book. Like I said before it was easy to read, and though it wasn't very challenging (I LOVE challenging books), there were enough Australian words to keep my brain stimulated. I loved how the enemy was up to your imagination, they never mention the way they look or the way their language sounds. I found this quite interesting that they were facing this nameless army. I am looking so forward to reading the second installment called The Dead of Night. Bravo John Marsden for such a creative and exciting tale!
BOOK vs. MOVIE: I would absolutely LOVE to see a movie version of Tomorrow, When the War Began. And it looks like we won't have to wait too long either. The movie adaption is in post-production and is scheduled for a 2010 release!!! Woot woot!!!
RATING: 4 Stars
3 More Reviews on Tomorrow, When the War Began:
Tomorrow, When the War Began
by John Marsden
ISBN 0-439-82910-0
Pages 279
If you liked this book read: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Great review. The book sounds interesting and i think it would be a great movie!
ReplyDeleteI never heard of this book before, so thank you for putting it on my radar!
Just found your blog through 20-Something Bloggers. What a great idea you have. I'm always looking for new books to read and your blog is going to be very helpful to me!
ReplyDeleteI am a huge fan of survival based stories, too (mainly post-apocalyptic...my friends think I'm strange).
O this one is on my list. Looks SO good!
ReplyDeleteExcellent review. Looks like you are enjoying some great Aussie Authors in John Marsden and Markus Zusak so far this year - have you checked out the Aussie Author Challenge I'm hosting at http://bookloverbookreviews.blogspot.com/2009/12/im-hosting-aussie-author-challenge-sign.html . You're already close to completing the challenge at the Tourist level! :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds awesome. I'm a big fan of dystopian books too and am going to have to check it out!
ReplyDeleteEveryone thank you so much for all the great comments. If you haven't read this book I totally recommend it!
ReplyDelete@Nina, I just discovered your blog the other day! I am now a follower!
@Manolo, I have been reading you blog for a while now too! Lovely shoe collection by the way! :) {I'm super jealous}
@BookWordLover, I will have to look into this challange!
Happy Reading everyone!
I don't think I've ever heard of this book. Or the author. It looks great, though.
ReplyDeleteSo cool that I found your blog because I've been looking for more variety in the kind of books I read. Your blog should be a good reference to come back to. :)
Great review by the way.
this is a great series, i really enjoyed it (i'm an aussie and also doing the aussie book challenge :-)). i did think that it could've ended up around book 5 however. there is also the ellie chronicles which follow this series. i haven't read them but i've heard they are very good too.
ReplyDeleteThis series was one of my favourites as a teenager. I loved it. I loved it because it reminded me of the sort of things that I was doing at the same time i was reading the books - bushwalking and hanging out in our local national park with my friends. I can't wait for the movie!
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