Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden

Plot

7 teens make their way out to a place called Hell in the Australian bush in order to have one final adventure before they have to return to school. When they come back from their five days in the secluded outback they find that the world has changed. Their houses are deserted, their animals either dead or dying, electricity, gas and other utilities have been turned off.

As the teens start to adjust to this new world they realise that Australia has been invaded and that their families and friends have been taken hostage, in order to try and take back their country the teens become a guerilla group, putting themselves in constant danger.

Writing

I loved the writing, for the most part, but in some places it dragged and I had a hard time wanting to carry on reading it. I think this is part of what ruined the reading experience for me.

The strange thing about this book is that it started to drag during the action. I think this is because the narrator felt the need to describe every single thing, even when there's nothing going on. It annoyed me more than a bit.

Characters

The characters in this book don't really matter for me. In my honest opinion this book is more about the story itself and the need for the human race to survive and save their families, whatever the cost.

Overall

It's a solid opening to the series, I can see why it's had such good reviews because I'm giving it one myself. Saying that, this book was nowhere near good enough to get 5 stars from me, don't get me wrong it's a good book but it's not a great book. Although I liked it and the story I didn't love it. I didn't feel the urgency to carry on reading it.

I give it 4 stars, it's well written and it's got such a good premise but I thought that there were a couple of things missing. However I revcommend the book whole heartedly, especially with the film coming out soon.