Malorie Blackman (Noughts & Crosses series)

Noughts & Crosses
An Eye for an Eye (novella)
Knife Edge
Checkmate

Double Cross

Everyone in the world should read these novels! Even if you just read the first book (Noughts & Crosses), although you may not be able to stop! The main theme in the story is racism: white people are Noughts, black people are Crosses. In this world, the Crosses rule over the Noughts. This brings a brilliant perspective and view that shows how different life could be, with only a small reality being changed.

A theme affected by the racism is romance. It is seen as an abomination if a Nought and a Cross was to start a personal relationship; this doesn’t reflect the current world to the younger generation like me, yet you can imagine it causing controversy in the past. As a non-racist person myself and of the younger generation, I could view the situations in the novel with a lack of prejudice towards the characters.

These novels show how stupid racism is, and how it can cause unnecessary violence where there should only be peace. Being a romantic, I personally preferred the, well, romance, especially in the first novel and ongoing throughout the others. However, there is definitely action in these too! There is devious plans of terrorism from the Noughts, whilst Callie Rose (a mix-raced and mislead girl) struggles in life, her mother (Sephy) tries to heal her broken heart, her grandmothers (Meggie and Jasmine) try to heal the family. This struggle is down to the conflict between Noughts and Crosses, and made much worse by Jude’s meddling (Callie Rose’s uncle). Callum (the main male character) is present throughout the book, always in the background of the thoughts and actions of the characters, if not physically there.

The story is set in the first novel, and you see the outcome of this resolve throughout the other three in the series. The series is very heartfelt and touching, with many moments when you will laugh, cry, or just plain enjoy it. I loved following the whole world, and it was written so well that you feel like you lived the lives with them. A top series and a must read!

I recommend... Nicholas Sparks

You can not call yourself a romantic book lover until you have read Nicholas Sparks! His novels are just beautiful. The way he tells the story is inspiring; he makes them run so smoothly and the different viewpoints in some novels connect effortlessly. If you have not heard of Nicholas Sparks, you may wonder how a male can write the best romance novels ever. I don’t know, but he does it! My theory is that he is able to understand how a male would react to certain situations, and this makes females want to read more. (He does write from female point of view, and realistically too!)

A Walk to Remember

I came across Nicholas when I fell in love with the movie version of his novel, A Walk to Remember. A romance between two people that you thought wouldn’t fit together, they are so different. A series of situations and noble acts makes love blossom… It sounds similar to many romance novels, doesn’t it? But Nicholas doesn’t leave it at that. When you think that the love story has a happy ending, a secret is unearthed that has the power to break the newly formed relationship. It is the characters that really hold in your heart; their love, their growth, their personalities. I had to read the book! From this point on, I was captured by his writing, his style, and his stories. I recommend the film version as well as the book, they are both masterpieces.

The Last Song

I read this book before the film version, which I am grateful for (although I did enjoy the film). If I had watched the film first, the characters would have been in my mind throughout reading, and the book gives too much depth for that. The book is very… enlightening. It makes you realise what you have and what you shouldn’t take for granted, to put the past in the past and more forward in life. I loved this novel, and it was so different from A Walk to Remember! I can’t believe how the same author could have written both novels. Normally they stick to the same basic story – girl meets boy, something happens to test their love, and they end up together – but not Nicholas Sparks! He includes family troubles, illnesses, morals, trouble makers, crimes, everything! The ranges to his novels are just so amazing! And this counts for all of them, not just The Last Song.

Safe Haven

I would definitely recommend this book! Just wow! It has gone from teenage love stories and troubles, to a woman escaping to a new life whilst her abusive husband tries to track her down. The story is so strong, at the end you feel like you can conquer anything. The reality that abuse does happen will make you feel very attached to the main character, wanting to help her and in turn real people will these troubles. This is definitely for the more mature readers and as a teenager I found the descriptions quite heavy at times, but essential to make the story as strong and impacting as it is. The twist at the end was a surprise, but there are signs along the way, so if you don’t like the storyline, read it anyway to see if you are more observant than me!

The Lucky One

It has been a while since I last read this novel of his, and I only borrowed it then so I can not read it again! I will definitely recommend it to anyone, and again it is very different from all of the others. This novel is about a man who, during the war, finds a photo of a beautiful girl. After the owner of the photo is not found he decides to hold on to it, and luckily too because it saves his life. The girl is his lucky charm, and he wants to say thank you. He goes on a search for this girl in the photo, and when he sees a “help wanted” sign where she works, he thinks this is the perfect way to repay her. As you can see through me recounting the story after so long, it does stick with you (as with all his novels), and is heart warming to read.

I am currently reading his novel Message in a Bottle, and my aim is to read all of his novels before I die - not a hard target, but you have to make it achievable. I would recommend Nicholas Sparks to all the romantics out there, as his writing style and imagination to make each story a new adventure is remarkable.