Fifteen-year-old Daisy goes to live with her aunt Penn and cousins in England when her stepmother gets pregnant. At first upset by her exile, Daisy quickly adjusts to life with her cousins and finds herself in the bosom of a family. At that moment, however, England finds itself in a severe war and the children are left without any parental supervision as the war comes right to their doorstep.
This is an incredibly compelling book. Daisy is a fifteen-year-old with serious issues. She makes light of her anorexia, which is severe, and she proceeds to fall in love with her first cousin in a matter of days. Yet I found her voice incredibly compelling, very much like a teenager would talk. I may be the only one who wasn’t annoyed by the run-on sentences. I just loved the way it changed over the course of the book as she matured and had to deal with harder and harder situations. I felt bad for her at the beginning but she really strengthened and even though her situation didn’t really improve, I started to believe she could handle it. Some of the realizations and changes she makes towards the end were brilliantly done.
I also thought the whole book was a stunning look at the effect a real-life war would have on a first world country at this point in time. The enemy takes over England and everything changes. I actually thought some of the sections towards the end, when two of the characters are particularly desperate, were some of the best in the book. They were so realistically drawn, even though there is a slight hint of fantasy throughout the book. It’s hard to tell whether it’s actually meant or just children’s imaginings but it fit well.
I suppose if I were to have any problem with this book, it might be the fact that Daisy almost instantly falls in love with her first cousin. But she’d never met him before, so it’s difficult to blame her even if it is a bit unnatural. Perhaps it’s just uncomfortable because the author writes their love story so well in the first place!
This was a perfect Read-a-Thon book but I’d recommend How I Live Now to anyone, especially those who like YA dystopias.
I have read quite a few YA dystopian novels recently but this one has been languishing on my shelves for no good reason! It sounds awesome. I really should make it a priority.
.-= Stephanie´s last blog ..The Sunday Salon =-.
I listened to this on audio a few years ago, and for some reason I thought before I started it that it was set during WWII. I was SOOOO confused for like the first hour, and I don’t think I ever quite adjusted my thinking enough to enjoy it. (Plus, I’m not a dystopia girl.) I’ve really been wanting to give Rosoff another chance though! I’m eyeing that Victorian historical one Ana reviewed awhile back.
.-= Eva´s last blog ..Sunday Salon: the April Showers Post =-.
Love dystopian fiction. This is the first review I’ve read & it looks like one I’d like – Thanks!
.-= Elisabeth ~ Babbette´s last blog ..Weekend Update =-.
Wow, it sounds compelling and rather scary too!
I wasn’t bothered by the run-on-sentences either, I thought it perfectly suited Daisy’s voice at the time.
Like Eve, I went into this thinking it was a WW2 novel!
I really like Rosoff as an author, she appears to try to have a unique voice for all her novels.
.-= Darren @ Bart’s Bookshelf´s last blog ..Short-list Announced for the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction =-.
Erm, that would of course be Eva, not Eve! (I swear these keys move around!)
I assumed this was a WWII novel, too! It does sound like a good read.
I really liked this one as well, though I don’t remember it at all now
Just a general memory of satisfaction!
.-= Aarti´s last blog ..Review: Sweet Dates in Basra =-.
I loved loved loved this book. But then I’m a shameless Meg Rosoff fangirl
.-= Nymeth´s last blog ..March by Geraldine Brooks =-.
I loved this one too! For whatever reason neither the voice nor the cousin thing particularly bothered me.
.-= Jessica´s last blog ..The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum =-.
Oh, this sounds like a wonderful book! I am so glad that it was such a compelling read for you and that you ended up loving it. I am going to add this book to my wish list right now. Yours is the first review I have seen of this book, and it was very well done!
.-= zibilee´s last blog ..The Vintner’s Luck by Elizabeth Knox — Guest Post with Aarti =-.
I found this totally moving, too, and have thought about it often since finishing it last year! Some of the images in the story, disturbing though they may be, are hard to shake. The “unnatural” cousin love was weird, I’ll admit, but you’re right: the love story is so realistically drawn, it was hard for me to be too weirded out by it. It just seemed… normal? I don’t know. Definitely a fascinating novel.
.-= Meg´s last blog ..It felt a little like stealing, but I most definitely took it =-.
I really enjoyed this book as well. I agree that the loving relationship between the cousins was a bit disconcerting at the beginning but Rosoff wrote it so well that I found myself forgetting that point much of the time.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
.-= Michelle´s last blog ..Susan Beth Pfeffer – Life As We Knew It =-.
Note to self: dig into the TBR pile and find this book (it’s here somewhere) and read it already!
.-= Beth F´s last blog ..Challenge: 2010 EW Summer Books =-.