"Tomorrow, When the War Began" Book Review

Tomorrow, When the War Began

By: John Marsden

"No, Hell wasn't anything to do with place, Hell was all to do with people. Maybe Hell was people."
-John Marsden, Tomorrow, When the War Began

     
     Tomorrow, When the War Began follows Ellie Linton, a high school student, who goes on a camping trip with her school friends. She and her friends are an adventurous bunch who make their way to an isolated area of the bush which is known as ’Hell’ to the locals. There is a twist in the story when the group returns home and find nothing how they left it. All of their houses are empty, their parents and siblings are nowhere to be found and all of their livelihoods are either dying or dead. Ellie and her friends soon figure out that Australia was invaded while they were on their trip and so they head back to Hell where they decide they’ll be safe for a while in order to plan how they are going to fight back. The group of friends are forced to grow up and fight for their country but what can a few seniors really achieve against a trained army?

     This book by John Marsden is the first novel in a series of the same name (Tomorrow, When the War Began) which is then followed by a sequel series called ‘The Ellie Chronicles’. It is a great introduction to the series because it immediately gets the reader’s attention and makes you want to read the rest of the series.

     I personally love adventure and this book being about war definitely falls into that category, but I would recommend this book to anyone, boy or girl, no matter what genre they prefer. Some girls tend to think that adventure is more for guys and that adventure books are all about killing, but this book shows a war from a girl’s perspective, though it still has all the action that is to be expected. I would give this book 10 out of 10 because it’s one of those books that you literally cannot drag yourself away from, no matter what kind of books you usually read. New drama awaits the reader on every page and that’s what makes the book so irresistible. This book is a definite must read for all adventure lovers, I also think that people who loved “The Hunger Games” will enjoy this book.