Review: The 100 by Kass Morgan

The 100 by Gail Carriger

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Source: Bought 

Synopsis from Goodreads:
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.

This is probably one of the best books I have read this year- I seriously loved and connected with this story. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would. 

I love that feeling when you are reading a book and you are completely immersed in it- you love the characters, you can see the world in your head, and when you stop reading you can't stop thinking about it. Since I finished reading The 100 I have thrust it into at least two people's hands going "you HAVE to read this book!"

THAT'S HOW GOOD IT IS!

So, if I can stop fangirling for a minute and try and explain why I loved it so much...

A lot of people when they hear 'sci-fi' just think aliens and spaceships, and "not a real story", but this book focuses so heavily on the experiences, emotions and lives of this band of fantastic characters that it is easy to believe in, and connect with them. 

It is almost like two stories in one as you have in every chapter the story itself unfolding, and then flashbacks to what happened a year ago, relevant to what is happening in the present. What is very clever about this is not only a gradual unfolding of the complete picture, but you can see how each everything is connected to each other. Each of the character's lives and stories, and all the events are all linked up to one another in very subtle ways, and I loved seeing all the tiny puzzle pieces slowly coming together by the end. 

For me personally I don't think any story is whole without a decent love story within it, and in this book we have at least two really good ones. There are struggles, forgiveness, separations, complications- it is never easy, but it feels real, and you really root for these people.

The society itself is hard and brutal. The main characters are all criminals, but for a lot of them it is a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or just being unlucky. You get the sense immediately that really they are decent people with a good heart, that have just had a tough break. 

You have the guy who's desperate to protect his younger sister; the rich kid who would do anything to look after the girl he accidentally betrayed; the former rich girl prisoner who escapes to find her former love; and the troubled girl who is tormented by the memory of her parent's death. 

The young criminals are sent to try to recolonise a damaged and polluted Earth, being the only members of the population the leaders of the ships are willing to risk attempting to find out if it is safe to live on Earth again after 300 years. It becomes a story of survival, and I loved seeing these youngsters struggle to adapt, survive and learn to work together in the woods on Earth.

But running parallel to these events we also see the events unfolding on the spaceships after the 100 leave, through the eyes of Glass, the only one who managed to escape off the drop ship. The ships themselves are interesting to read about- you have sectors that are like uptown and downtown- the poor side and the rich side, and both have very different motivations. 

It is currently being made into a TV series, and I can't wait to see it converted onto the screen- I think it will translate really well because the book itself is written in a very narrative way. This book is clever, moving, exciting and a constant thrill ride. I cannot wait to watch the show, and I'm keeping a lookout for a follow up book as well. 

This book also won the Best of the Bunch award on the blog for November