I unfortunately missed watching the television show “The 100”
when it aired on The CW this past season (and am anxiously awaiting its release
on DVD I might add), so I was more than thrilled with the opportunity to read
the book that inspired the series!
Knowing the typical show on that station is generally filled with
teenage angst, I expected the same from the YA book. And it more than delivered on that account. But that doesn’t necessarily detract from the
storyline. But I’m getting ahead of
myself…
Here’s the bit from the publisher:
In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.
Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents are being sent on a high-stakes mission to recolonize Earth. After a brutal crash landing, the teens arrive on a savagely beautiful planet they've only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. But they're haunted by their past and uncertain about the future. To survive, they must learn to trust - and even love - again.
The description sounds solid enough – convicted teens given
a second chance at life and redemption by being tossed onto a planet that may
or may not be toxic to them all in a last ditch attempt to save humanity (and
get them out of space and onto solid ground).
No pressure on the delinquents, right?
The sci-fi, dystopian junkie in me really wished there was more of this
within the book but instead we are left with the teenage angst where the
characters seem a bit more preoccupied with their love life than survival and colonization. Then again, this is a YA romance book so I
can live with that disappointment.
Looking past that, this is a fast read and, if I had had the
time to devote to it as I normally do, I would have finished this book a lot
sooner - but life tends to get into the way of reading some days. I am about to open the second book, Day 21, (being released September 16, 2014) and will
write a review when it’s finished. The
way book 1 ends makes this a necessity since it just ended almost within mid-sentence (fair warning if you are starting
the series now).
All in all this is enjoyable. The book is written from multiple points of
view by select characters on and off earth with flashbacks to what happened
that got them convicted in the first place.
The only real nit-picky thing I have about the writing with the
flashbacks is the way the author ended each section with “if only so-and-so
really knew what I did...” *yawn* Here’s hoping
book 2 eliminates that and moves on with more world-building and less
angst. Lord of the Flies this is not, but it’s readable.
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