The Other Side of Dawn by John Marsden

The Other Side of Dawn by John Marsden

I don't remember the edition - it was hardback, first published in 1999. Library copy.

This is the seventh and last book in the Tomorrow series by John Marsden. The series follows a group of Australian teens who go on a camping trip the same weekend their country is invaded. They do what they can to survive and thwart the plans of the enemy soldiers. In this book, Ellie Linton and her friends are put on a last mission while the New Zealand troops attack the enemies with all they have.

I liked Ellie's character development. A couple times she was in one on one battles and she knew she'd have to kill to save herself. It's crazy because in the first book, she was wondering what was wrong or right, if she could do it, etc. A year and a half has passed, and she's come to the point where she realizes she has no choice. Not to stay she became ruthless or anything like that, she's just changed. At the same time, I think her internal monologues sometimes slow down the prose. She's always thinking back to the farm and stuff. I realize this is how people think in real life, but it was kind of a disjointed narrative.

I'm so sad that this series is over! I really loved it. This book I read in less than twenty-four hours even though I had it for a couple weeks from the library. I was expecting something a little more climatic, though, I felt like the second half was kind of a letdown. I think that's a cool thing about this series, though; he decides on realism instead of entertainment. War is uncontrollable and so is the violence that accompanies it. I also think it was kind of neat to see the prison camp because you can't deny that dehumanization happens in war. It's sad to think this is happening all over the world and has happened for years and years. It makes me think about why we value certain things and what we're willing to do for land and resources.

I'm going to check out the Ellie series, but I don't know whether to have low expectations or not. Not too many great reviews on Goodreads. I really like his writing, and everything goes so fast, so I probably will if the library has it.