Title: The 100
Author: Kass Morgan
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published: August 29th, 2013
Genre: Young Adult / Science Fiction
Source: Easons
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.
'The 100' by Kass Morgan tells the story of 100 young adults, but predominantly 4, in a year at least three centuries from now, present day. It's an interesting perception of how a world of angsty youths would work in extreme conditions, the most evident being that they're the first to step foot on Earth after a nuclear apocalypse deemed the planet inhospitable for over three centuries. Interesting, fast-paced and.. romantic.
This is a book out of this world. Or, to phrase is more accurately, it has a storyline out of this world. Now this can be taken sometimes on a figurative level, because I had genuine moments of welcomed amazement, and it can be taken literally, because.. well.. a great deal of the book is set in outer space! For me, that's an immediate winner. Just the stripped-back, raw idea of the book got me hooked. I mean come on, imagine being in one of the character's shoes. Three hundred years into the future, you're a young person, probably not unlike yourself now; firstly, you're living in space, imprisoned for God knows what, and sent down to Earth, which was previously made inhabitable my a nuclear apocalypse, surrounded only, by others your own age.. How freaking amazing does that sound!
Unfortunately the concept and the plot are among the book's few redeeming qualities. There was a noticeable lack of direction in the middle of the book but the use of four different points of view helped with moving the story along and you never really get bored, even though the content may be considered boring. The plot was pretty enjoyable, and doubled with a really really awesome idea, the book could have really been top notch, stressing could have been, because it wasn't.
While having four different points of view helped with the plot and pacing of the book, it really didn't help with character development. Out of the four protagonists in the book; Clarke, Wells, Bellamy and Glass, only two can really be considered
good characters, Clarke and Bellamy. Wells and Glass were just underdeveloped and seemed just tools to flesh out the different layers of the book. And they were blunt tools too, so not the most helpful.
With Wells, the Chancellor's son, everything was just way too predictable.. and boring. When the Morgan wrote about Wells and Clarke in the flashbacks, I sub-consciously found myself comparing old him and new him, and old him was so much better! Getting himself arrested and coming to Earth for Clarke might seem noble and romantic, but really it was just selfish, and when he held Clarke back from helping Thalia, I seriously wanted to strangle him, he was the most self-indulgent character I'd ever read about!
Glass, on the other hand, was just annoying. She's confined for what, six months(?), and the moment she escapes, the first person she thinks about and goes to visit is her ex-boyfriend? Granted her Mother isn't the best, but seriously?
Glass' story sort of leads to the next biggest problem I had with this book. And that was the amount of romance in this book. Living in a world where romance is guaranteed in a YA novel, I expected some romance to be in the book, especially having seen the adapter tv show. But having 80% of the novel revolve around love, when something as awesome as the theme of survival could take its place, was just so annoying. And I mean 80% literally. 25% from Clarke and 25% from Wells and their tiring broken love, 25% from Glass and her annoying 'Romeo-Juliet' love attempt, and 5% from Bellamy, who really was the most interesting character by far. I just thought, that in a Sci-Fi novel, romance didn't have to play such a big part.
So in conclusion, 'The 100' by Kass Morgan, while an exciting read, felt damp with huge problems.
Have you guys read The 100? Have you seen the show? What did you think??
Thanks for reading guys!
