Noughts and Crosses (Special Edition feat. An Eye for An Eye)

Author: Malorie Blackman
Link to book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Noughts-Crosses-Trilogy/dp/0552555703/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281439743&sr=8-1

Main characters: Persephone aka Sephy, Callum, Jude (Callum's brother), Meggie & Ryan (Callum's parents), Minerva (Sephy's sister), Kamal and Jasmine (Sephy's parents)
Genre and audience: Teenage upwards, fiction: based around racial equality, relationships and terrorism.

First of all, I finished this book a few days ago and don't actually have a copy in front of me, so this might not be as strong a review as the others.

Noughts and Crosses is a book based around a fictional race divide, where the Noughts (white people) are the second-class citizens, demeaned and victimised by the Crosses (black people), who are the superior race, apparently 'closer to God'. Mixed race? Forget about it. If you are, you're better off dead in this book. I can't tell whether Malorie has based it in England or America, it never really makes it that clear. What I can tell is that it is a more developed country such as these.

I first read this book when I was in my early teens, and I've been hooked ever since. The concept is unique, in that it looks at the world in a way that has never been done to this extreme! Race has been used in books before, of course, but not to this level of extremism including political terrorist groups, murder, assault and battery due to a person's race, and the serious degradation of a race simply because of their skin colour. It's sort of what could have happened to our countries if we hadn't looked past it.

Callum is a nought, a downtrodden 16 year old in a society which sees him as good for nothing and better off dead or as a terrorist. Sephy is a 14 going on 15 Cross girl, daughter of the Deputy Prime Minister and treated as top dog simply because of her skin and who her father is. These two spark an unlikely friendship as young children through their mothers' socialising (Meggie used to work for Jasmine) which blossoms as young adults a la Romeo and Juliet/star-cross'd lovers and all that. However, the world just can't see past their skin colour, and it is fated to become something much more than ever expected, involving the Liberation Militia, a nought 'Freedom Fighter/Equality' group which seems to the outside world to be nothing more that home-grown terrorists. It is tragic throughout, dealing with loss, madness, alcoholism, murder and much more.

Malorie perfected the different viewpoints feature that's been mentioned in previous reviews. She seems to see through the eyes of every different character perfectly (and why wouldn't she? She created them!) and has done so taking into account not just who everyone sees them as, but their emotions, feelings and internal conflicts. She also managed expertly to script the thought processes from these two main characters as they grow and change from young teenagers to young adults, and does it with a finesse that you just don't see in other books. The story draws you in from the first few pages, although it takes reading a couple of (short) chapters from each character to get a real grasp of what they are like as people. Which is what I think a book should be like - you get a feel for the characters from the start, but it takes reading to understand more about them.

From the story point of view, even jumping from character to character doesn't restrict the continuity, and they are all related clearly. The story is exciting, unique and involving - you feel yourself seeing the scenes and feeling the atmosphere. At least, I did! It makes you think about what it would be like if the world was really like this, and how on Earth you would survive through it. I can guarantee that no-one would want to live in this detailed, complex and heartbreaking world that Malorie has created.

Would I read it again?: Of course! I was so hooked on reading this that I read the full 448 pages in less than 36 hours. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a deep, involving read that will draw you in from page 1. Or just anyone who wants something to read!

All in all: 5/5. The first novel in the Noughts and Crosses series (there are currently 3 more, with a 5^th novella set as a ‘What If?’ scenario) sets the stage perfectly, with detailed, sophisticatedly written characters, scenes and backgrounds that could only be imagined by Malorie and is written like you were almost there, and a plot that will have you feeling the pain of the characters involved. I can't see a way that this book could be improved, but you'll have to read it for yourself


Name & TGPF username: Lauren – SapphireDreams