Sunday, November 2, 2014

Kass Morgan: The 100

Kass Morgan takes the readers to the future, where humans have been forced to live in space for hundreds of years due to nuclear winter, but unforeseen events are going to lead to an early return Earth:

100 teens have been chosen for the ultimate test of life or death, whether the Earth is safe for human life. They were going to be killed when they turn 18, so this gives them at least an opportunity to try and live. The Colony is failing and it is in these teen's hands to prove that Earth is livable and if not, this may be the end of the human race. But there are some elements of human nature that never go away and the possible radiation on Earth should be the least of everyone's worries.

If you watched the TV show and are planning on reading this book to get more than what the TV show portrayed to the view, you are going to be pretty shocked. This book is very very different from the CW TV show. There are some of the same names and the overall concept of sending the 100 is the same but that is where the similarities basically end. The reason for going to Earth is somewhat the same but how that situation occurred is very different, both of Clark's parents are dead and they show more of the Class system that had been developed on the colony in space. There are also many additional character within the novel that never made it onto the TV show, even one that seems to have a lot of POV time in the book Glass, who escapes being sent back to Earth and is the main POV on the Colony.

There are way too many point of views in this novel especially as it is a short novel, you never really get an attachment to any of the characters. You also only get small snippets of what is occurring and it felt at times that you were left to fill in the cracks and draw your own conclusions about what was happening. For me my attachment to Clark is based upon liking her in the TV show. I also like Octavia in the the TV show, but the Octavia in the novel is extremely different character, I do not think they share any of the same traits and I do not like her character in the book.

This book is teenage drama set in a post apocalyptic world, that's right a cool premise of living in space and then returning to Earth and the main aspect that Morgan decides to focus on is "will Luke forgive me for what I have done" or "should I forgive Wells for what he did, but I really did like kissing Bellamy, I think."  I cannot fault this book for taking a more YA approach than an adult approach as this book is for a YA audience, I just think that Morgan could have decided to focus on something else (maybe taken a bit more time to do some world building and actually describe The Colony and Earth state better).

The book just seems to end, with a lot of missing pieces are left open, I understand that Morgan probably wanted to leave a cliff hanger at the end, but it seemed to me that this is the moment we had been building to in the novel and then just to have it end was not a very satisfying ending for me. I am not sure why Morgan decided to end the book when she did, it felt like the plot was finally going to be something more.

This is another YA book that I think is best left for the young adult crowd. This book was very much a teenage drama throughout and that seemed to be the main focus that Morgan wanted to take. While I enjoyed the TV show, this book is vastly different, really only the character names are the same. So if you are a young adult looking for a YA read, this is for you, if you are an adult and have enjoyed books such  as the Hunger Games, Angelfall ect then I think this book is not for you.

Cheers!!
For Similar YA Reads,
Check These Out Too:
http://j9books.blogspot.ca/2012/10/ilsa-j-bick-ashes.html  http://j9books.blogspot.ca/2014/10/james-dashner-maze-runner.html

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