YA in Review: How I Live Now (Meg Rosoff)

This post contains mild Spoilers, although they occur not far into the book. Comments by other users may possibly contain information that further spoils portions of the plot, so read at them your own risk. This book was adapted into a movie in 2013 which stars Saoirse Ronan, and is an early role for Tom Holland.

penguin.com.au

What it's about:

Fifteen year old Daisy defines herself by everything she is not; She is not Elizabeth, not wanted at home, and definitely not going to eat. Sent from the United States to live on an English farm with her aunt and cousins, Daisy finds herself thrown into a very different world. Instead of her indifferent father and nasty stepmother, she is greeted by four quirky and connected cousins, and her mother's loving sister. Quickly fitting in, Daisy finds the family dynamic she didn't know she could have. Yet, just as suddenly as her idyllic farm life begins, it is shattered by the start of World War III. The enemy is as unknown as the future as everything gets thrown into chaos. But for Daisy, there is nothing more important than holding on to her newfound life.

Why it's worth a read:

• It's a quick, addictive read that you will blast through. I don't know what it is about this book, but something just keeps you hooked on it. You can easily finish it in a few days, and it isn't hard to pick back up at any time.
• It's a really interesting idea that you feel immersed in. You feel just as lost and confused as the characters, and the writing style really lends itself to this surreal feeling. You never really feel confident you know what is going on, or what is going to happen next - just like if you were in a war-torn environment yourself.
• The plot points aren't complex or intricate, so it's easy to get back into during each reading session. A few intense or shocking moments will have you not want to step away though, so watch out if you're reading it on your break at work (I did that - it was rough).

Where it disappoints:

• Spoiler alert. So, this book features an incestuous relationship in it. This was absolutely not something that I expected or signed up for when starting it. And no, it's not just the "I have a little crush but then I figure out that is a bad plan and it goes away." Oh no, definitely not.
• I spent a good chunk of the book (i.e. 75-80% of it) kind of hating reading it because of the style alone. It's written in a very odd first person perspective. It's first person past, with nothing written in quotation marks and instead written so that every first letter in the words are capitalized, or the words are in all caps. It doesn't flow very well that way, and just sounds like a bitchy teenager who can't write...which I suppose is accurate...but it makes the main character Daisy seem unintelligent.
• You don't really get any answers. You don't ever get fully detail on what is going on and why. Although this isn't the most important, as the book aims to focus more on Daisy's growth and change, this will be a problem for many readers.

Final Thoughts:

Full disclosure: I don't know how I exactly feel about this book. I both loved it and hated it at the same time. This might make you think that I overall feel "meh" about it, but I really don't - I love it and hate it. I think the writing style was odd, and a lot of things weren't fully developed, which drove me nuts. In the beginning, I considered DNFing it because of the cryptic style and lack of punctuation for dialogue. Yet, I kept reading it. And then I would start reading it on breaks at work and once I got home. I got addicted to the storyline, and wanted to know how everything would resolve. The style of the ending bothered me a bit, but I finished the book feeling favourably about it once I had become accustomed to the style. I still look back on it and hate the things I hated, but I enjoyed reading it all the same. Confused? So am I!