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• Punctuation-unneccesary! Taboos-exposed! Characters-absorbing! Style-relentless! Result-genius!I can't even remember why I picked this one up off the shelf-it completely cut the queue in my 'to read' pile, but I'm glad it did. A cross between-if you can believe it-Enid Blyton, John Marsden and countless others-all combined by a stream of consciousness prose style and some really engaging characters.OK, some people will get annoyed that the paragraphs and sentences are the same length, and that she invents compound words rather than using a thesaurus, but it is the extremely authentic voice of 15-year old heroine Daisy that comes through loud and clear on the pages of Meg Rosoff's debut novel.Set in the not very distant future, Manhattanite Daisy is sent to England to live with her cousins in a rural village in England due to the threat of war. War breaks out, but time seems to stand still during Daisy's first, magical English Summer and for a time the conflict seems far away and quite irrelevant. The storyline disposes with any responsible adults pretty quickly leaving the cousins alone to deal with the confusion and brutality of the war when it finally comes.To cope, the cousins become very close during this time, and in the case of Daisy and cousin Edmond very, very close. Rosoff's skill is evident as she makes this incestuous relationship seem charming and completely right rather than a little creepy.The family is separated, both from each other and their home and the second half of the book documents their trials as they attempt to find each other. It's not pretty (what war story is?) but Daisy shows herself to be a resourceful and resilient character with many more nature survival skills than you would expect from a native New Yorker! Daisy is funny too, having the kind of quick wit typical of many much loved literary characters.I won't give the ending away, but don't be put off by the fact that it's in the teen section. It's themes-though not gratuitously depicted-are for an older teen to adult audience and as there's little to no punctuation you'll have it finished in no time!

  5.00 out of 5

  funnyanimal

• This book had been sitting on my shelf since the spring. At the time when I bought it it looked amazing. Then I heard some bad things about it... You know how when you here something it can completely change your opinion of something? Well that's what happened. But I was looking for a short read over the weekend and decided it was high time to read it!I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book. Meg's character is quite secretive and a little bit shy, but she fits in perfectly in England with her cousins. And her and Edmond, although cousins, seem perfect, maybe because they have never met and their connection is not a family bond but something different... The story is confusing and goes from one point to another faster than you can say "how I live now". At the end it leaves your mind feeling a little fuzzy and slightly off track, but it is all worth it for this wonderous story of love, hope and distruction.

  5.00 out of 5

  chlokie

• Story follows the rebellious and independent teenager, Daisy, as she battles through the troubles of war. As the story progresses, Daisy falls in love with her cousin, Edmond. By the end of the story, Daisy has matured and gained much strength. I loved this book because it was written like Daisy wrote it herself. She never held back on what she felt or the truth of what was really going on. Very powerful and extremely emotional. One of my new favorite books!

  5.00 out of 5

  LitChick26

• I've waited a few days after reading this and I still can't muster up a review. This book was astonishing - astonishing and good. I hadn't read any reviews, so I came to it with no background, and the terrain kept on shifting - when Daisy arrives in the UK, I thought is was going to be a family story, and I was enjoying the group living under the benign neglect of Aunt Penn. A dusting of fantasy appeared with the hinted telepathy of her cousins. Then I thought it was going to be a romance, with a distant backdrop of war to add tension. Then all hell broke loose.I enjoyed every moment of this, Daisy's descriptions were spot on, and her change from guarded city girl, to a member of a family, to her cousin's protector was heart-rending to experience. Like John Marsden's Tomorrow series, this places a conflict on familiar home turf, and turns a comfortable landscape terrifying and alien is a very effective way to show the horror of war.Daisy's observations of tiny details brings an intensity - when a man is shot, it feels like you are seeing it in slow motion - not the gore, but the fact that he is a human being with a life, and feelings, and it is all coming to an end.I'd give this book to someone looking for an edgier story, someone interested in family secrets, stories of surviving wars, or war time romances.

  5.00 out of 5

  francescadefreitas

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