I was prepared to give this one a go given all the positive reviews, awards, and the fact it is rarely on the school library shelves, despite being five years old.
My first impressions were that Daisy is a nasty piece of work: obviously anorexic and manipulative to boot. I would have sent her to the other side of the Atlantic too! The instant attraction to her cousin is a bit sudden. AND what sort of self- absorption does it require to ignore terrorist attacks and invasion in the capital city of the country you're living in?
So, there I was disliking her when she crept up on me and all of a sudden I was on her side. The anorexia was an important motif; for Daisy and Piper have to struggle for food to survive and starving yourself when there's an abundance seems so ridiculous. If teenage girls only take that message away, then that's a GOOD THING.
The style of writing changes as the narrative moves along too. The run-on, overly long sentences were beginning to drive me berko, but I guess that this is the 'authentic teenage voice' that so many reviewers commented on. Anyway, by the end of the book, the sentences were shorter, thank goodness! And the last section is beautifully constructed.
Recommended for:
- those who enjoyed the Tomorrow series by John Marsden
- romantics
- readers who enjoy a pacy, rip along read. (I did it in two hours.)
http://www.penguin.com.au/PUFFIN/NOTES/f_notes.cfm
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