Noughts & Crosses
Oct. 18th, 2021 12:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearAfter enjoying the TV series based on this book series, I decided to read the first instalment, Noughts & Crosses by Marjorie Blackman. It's set in a world where black people hold the power, and there is a very segregated society in the UK, between the 'noughts' (white people) and the 'Crosses' (black people).
The book alternates POV between Callum, a nought teenager, and his childhood friend, Sephy, a Cross girl who is a couple of years younger than him.
It's certainly an interesting setup but, in my view, falls foul of a similar problem to The Hunger Games. Because the POV is restricted to two emotional teenagers, who are struggling with all the normal aspects of growing up, as well as the societal and political situation in the their world, there's a lot more teenage melodrama and a lot less exploration of the world and its more global issues.
For a teen audience, I suspect that's a good thing, but it didn't really work that well for me. The book is well written, and the characters come through very strongly, but I missed the more nuanced and expansive view of the world that was provided by the TV series. The ending was also very different, which took me rather by surprise. Again, not a bad thing, per se, but not what I was expecting.
The book was good for what it was (and I can understand why it has garnered critical and fan acclaim), but I'm not going to carry on with the rest of the series.
The book alternates POV between Callum, a nought teenager, and his childhood friend, Sephy, a Cross girl who is a couple of years younger than him.
It's certainly an interesting setup but, in my view, falls foul of a similar problem to The Hunger Games. Because the POV is restricted to two emotional teenagers, who are struggling with all the normal aspects of growing up, as well as the societal and political situation in the their world, there's a lot more teenage melodrama and a lot less exploration of the world and its more global issues.
For a teen audience, I suspect that's a good thing, but it didn't really work that well for me. The book is well written, and the characters come through very strongly, but I missed the more nuanced and expansive view of the world that was provided by the TV series. The ending was also very different, which took me rather by surprise. Again, not a bad thing, per se, but not what I was expecting.
The book was good for what it was (and I can understand why it has garnered critical and fan acclaim), but I'm not going to carry on with the rest of the series.
