The 100

Author: Kass Morgan

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Adventure

Publisher: Little Brown and Company

Year: 2013

Ranking: 3,3/ 5

  

Synopsis

NO ONE HAS SET FOOT ON EARTH IN CENTURIES - UNTIL NOW.

Ever since a devastating nuclear war, humanity has lived on spaceships far above Earth's radioactive surface. Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents - considered expendable by society - are being sent on a dangerous mission: to recolonize the planet. It could be their second chance at life... or it could be a suicide mission.

Clark was arrested for treason, though she's haunted by the memory of what she really did. Wells, the chancellor's son, came to Earth for the girl he loves - but will she ever forgive him? Reckless Bellamy fought his way onto the transport pod to protect his sister, the other half of the only pair of siblings in the universe. And Glass managed to escape back onto the ship, only to find that life there is just as dangerous as she feared it would be on Earth.

Confronted with a savage land and haunted by secrets from their pasts, the hundred must fight to survive. They were never meant to be heroes, but they may be mankind's last hope.

The Author

Kass Morgan is an American author and editor. She wrote the epic sci-fi trilogy, The 100, which has inspired the CW television show by the same name. She attended Brown University, studying English and History, and later earned a Master's at Oxford in 19th century literature. She now lives in New York.

Personal Experience with This Book

I started reading this book because I found the TV show and as I loved it and I found out that the show was based on a TV series I wanted to read the books too. And I say this because as I watched the two seasons of the TV series maybe my review would be a little influenced in this regard.

First I found we have 4 different points of views, which I thought was interesting because not only we had to Clarke telling the story but also, we are able to meet characters who did not have much significance in the series, Wells and Glass (Glass does not even appear in the series). However, although I appreciated this fact of different POVs, I think that the author concentrates on mundane things without any sense.

We have a book that promises a lot when you read the synopsis you think you'll find a book of adventure, survival, science fiction and chaos - a lot of chaos - but in fact the author emphasizes a lot on the romantic lives of the characters and this makes the plot that seemed interesting to read vague. The whole synopsis gets lost on all that romance. This situation did not bother me to the point of hatred because the fact of knowing a little more the back stories of each character and know how they came to be in that place in first place is also important. Especially since it is necessary to know that each had their reasons for being on that ship and helps a lot to know their personalities, etc. If this situation did not cover almost 80% of the book it would have been ok and the book, I think, would have been much better. And this is where my inclination to the TV show is shown, because in the books the romance overcomes the whole story while in the TV show the main plot stays as in the synopsis is stated, which I am grateful to the writers and directors who did something the author could not do, to give an importance to the situation and the world she created.

I gave this book a 3.3 because I liked some of the changes in the storyline that the author had in the book that I did not see in the TV show. The fact that the history of Glass is not present in the show, for example, is very sad because this small part gives a little tenderness and a deep sadness to the book. In addition, we could also see a different part of the whole story. However, again, the history of Glass is more focused on her love life than what happened to be arrested or that she knows about the 100 being sent to earth and cannot say anything about it.

I also liked the changes they made in the stories of Wells and Bellamy... but again the romance overcame everything. Seriously guys you ended up crashing on a planet that is supposedly toxic and the only thing you think about is: Wells, for example, wants Clarke to fall in love with him again and Bellamy cannot stop thinking about a girl he just met like a week ago while his sister, Octavia, is the main reason he is in earth in first place. He went there to protect her but then he pays more attention to Clarke.

Another thing I found, let’s not say bad but rather stupid, is the fact that there are 3 books about it. And by the way the first book ended I must say that I consider it unnecessary. She could have written a long book where she explains more about the situation of these teenagers and the arc without having to split it into 3 parts. Or at least that's what I think.

I will keep reading the other two books out of curiosity to know how the story will evolve and continue to see what they changed in the TV show but not because I loved it. It is the first time I say this but WATCH THE TV SHOW. There is a deeper story in the TV show than in this book. It is super strange for me to say that a TV series or film is better than its book version and that already says enough. Anyway ... if by any chance you have not seen the series, I recommend reading this book first or not to read it at all and go straight to the series. If you are like me and watch the TV show first you will feel quite disappointed about it.