From the Publisher
"It's easy to be drawn in by the Lord of the Flies-style tension that builds as the teens struggle to set up a new society on a battered Earth, and by the smoldering romances that hang in the balance."—Publishers Weekly
"Dark and riveting...A mash-up of The Lord of the Flies, Across the Universe, and The Hunger Games."—Booklist
"A mash-up of the hit TV reality show Survivor and traditional science fiction...Morgan's weave of pop-culture elements and politics make for a gripping read."—School Library Journal
"Likely to be a hit with readers who want their Pretty Little Liars mixed with Lord of the Flies."—The Bulletin
The Bulletin
"Likely to be a hit with readers who want their Pretty Little Liars mixed with Lord of the Flies."
Booklist
"Dark and riveting...A mash-up of The Lord of the Flies, Across the Universe, and The Hunger Games."
Kirkus Reviews
2014-10-06
The 100 teenage convicts sent to recolonize Earth (a need more pressing than they know) in The 100 (2013) discover just how inhabited the planet really is. As in the series opener, the narration is divided among characters. Amid frequent flashbacks, Bellamy, Clarke and Wells struggle through love triangles on Earth, while up in space, Glass updates readers on the colony's status. The situation's deteriorating rapidly—they're running out of oxygen, and the colony doesn't have enough dropships to take everyone to Earth. Class conflicts among the three ships are highlighted in the subsequent struggle, yet the root of this animosity is still a mystery. On Earth, the survivors of the 100 cope with both the most recent attack by the Earthborn and a mysterious illness—possibly radiation poisoning. The teens capture an Earthborn girl and discover that they aren't the first colonizers sent. Rather than getting any useful information from the girl (it's all withheld for last-minute reveals), they waver between wanting to execute her and including her in relationship drama. It's amazing anything survival-related happens considering the amount of energy spent on characters' rapidly vacillating feelings toward one another (the dynamic appears to be a binary one: love or loathing). Despite this, the novel is still faster paced than The 100. Additionally, Glass' storyline speeds up at the conclusion, positioning readers for the next installment. A logic-light, romance-heavy novel that evidently has no aspirations beyond accompanying the CW series. (Science fiction. 14 & up)