Sorry, I haven't been on and done a film vs book vs TV program review like I said I'd do every week but I didn't realize how difficult college actually is until I fell behind with my work. Anyway, I have to read some books for the Essex Book Awards and then review them. So far I've read 2 books and only one of them is worth reviewing in my opinion.
Cracks by Caroline Green
I loved this book because it follows the story line of one character and so you only get information that is important to that character, this means that the other characters that Cal, the protagonist, meets you don't know much about unless it's truly necessary to the plot.
Cal is a 14/15 year old who was taken as a 2 year old and placed into a coma. Whilst in the coma the Dr puts a microchip type thing in his head that allows the Dr to see Cal's thoughts. The book follows Cal's life after he wakes up from the coma and then the trouble he is placed in afterwards.
I liked the fact that Caroline Green addresses the main problems we face as a society today, even though the book is set in 2024. Many of the problems faced in the book are written in such a way that you can relate to them and see what will happen in the future unless we do something about it. The problems she writes about are those such as; terrorism, pollution, overcrowdedness of cities and powerful groups need for control.
The main problem faced in the book is that of fear, fear of the unknown, fear of terrorism, fear of others. This is portrayed by the descriptions Green uses of the cities and outside world. The 'tagline' for the book is "Who do you trust when your whole life is a lie?" I think this is brilliant as it makes you question who you would trust if suddenly nothing is real anymore and people aren't who you thought they were.
The reason I chose to read this book is because I find the cover intriguing. The cover has an almost spiderweb like look to it which links well with the story as you could say that Cal has fallen into a spider's web of lies and deceit.
I would give this book 10/10 as it seems impossible to put down and I wanted to read it right to the end in one sitting. The one thing I would do to improve it though is to make it longer or part of a series or a trilogy as so much seems to happen that you don't find out much about anyone or any place else in the story.
I'd suggest this book to anyone who loves a good read.
Bethan
