The Enemy is Mean, Our Heroes Will Get Lean, and IIIdom’s On The Line
Written: Nov 18 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The entire series changed the way I look at life
Cons: I have nothing to say here
The Bottom Line: Essential reading
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| dbcint's Full Review: |
John Marsden’s Tomorrow, When The War Began was a book I was forced to read as part of high school. I’ve always been a good reader (which I guess means I should review books more often), but this was one book I never would have picked up if I hadn’t had to because I’m simply not into war. This was different though. This book, and the following six in the series, made me look at life in a whole new perspective.
The story starts by introducing us to seven Australian teenagers, who live in a country town. Narrated by Ellie, it tells of how she and her best friend Corrie decided to go bush for a few days over Christmas, but their parents will only allow it if a few more people go, so they invite Homer, Kevin (Corrie’s boyfriend), Lee, Robyn and Fiona and they all head of to a wilderness spot officially known as Hell. When they emerge several days later, they discover they’ve been so cut off from the rest of the world that their country has been invaded and war has broken out around them. The series, unofficially called the “Tomorrow” series, tells of how Ellie and her friends have to try and survive in a war zone without getting caught or killed.
This first book spends chapters one through six introducing to all the core characters. This is achieved by those six chapters all being about how they have their camping trip in Hell, and because of this we learn a lot of the ins and outs of the characters and when they come out we see them as being three-dimensional characters instead of a bunch of names.
The amazing thing about this is that these are just average kids who have been thrust into the middle of the strangest situation they’ve ever encountered. They’re not superheroes, and don’t act as such. However, each one of them has something in their personalities that helps the group. They don’t want to fight, and they certainly can’t come right out into the open, but with all their families held hostage what choice do they have? It’s either come out and fight, risking their own lives, or stay in hiding, which means they turn down an opportunity to help their families. Marsden places the reader right in the middle of every decision-making process, which means the reader can feel the struggle going on inside these people.
The story is written in first-person narrative because Ellie and her friends know there’s a chance they won’t survive, and they don’t want their actions to go un-noticed, so Ellie is elected to write everything down.
Although we’re not told specifics about Ellie and her friend’s ages, we are told they’re teenagers, and it’s a story written as if a teenager was telling it. Sometimes, there’s things “Ellie” writes about other than the war – the scenery, and quite often, her feelings for Lee. With a group this big and isolated, and a mixture of males and females, there’s a few love stories that go on, and every time Ellie is struggling with her own emotions, she “writes” about it. This makes it seem like we’re right there with her, making the reader more involved in the story. Although the love stories do make up a large portion of the series, action freaks should not be disheartened because the central focus is always the war. However, the war does carry on for a long time, as wars have a habit of doing, and it simply wouldn’t be natural for the mind of a teenager not to wander every now and then.
It’s told from a teenager’s perspective and is aimed at teenagers. As such, there are times when the mood can seem light and the mood somewhat flippant. That’s because it adds more character to the characters, and Ellie and her friends are the driving force of the book.
Read it. You’ll never take life for granted again.
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This is my second review in Sleeper54's Lean & Mean III W/O.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dbcint
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Member: Dean Cowie
Location: Invercargill, New Zealand
Reviews written: 198
Trusted by: 39 members
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