Noughts and Crosses. Malorie Blackman.
The future is bleak in this dystopian story of love, prejudice and discrimination. It is one of a series: Knife Edge, Checkmate, Double Cross, An Eye For An Eye and Callum.
Sephy is a Cross, privileged, one of the ruling class from a wealthy but dysfunctional family. Her father is a political figure, more concerned about his own image than considering the welfare of his family. His wife had an affair and then became an alcoholic and this is how she deals with her miserable life.
Callum is a Nought, sometimes called a blanker who refuses to tolerate the prejudice in society. He is a fighter who turns into a cold-blooded killer but his redeeming feature is his undying love for Sephy that survives throughout all of this adversity.
Sephy is a fighter too and she suffers just as much as Callum. It's a retelling of Romeo and Juliet with a different kind of "ancient grudge."
She is prepared to stand up for her beliefs of equality and suffers physical and verbal abuse but this increases her resolve and her determination to bring about a change in society.
There are some extremely uncomfortable moments of drama during the kidnapping scene, the "rape" and the execution. What is effective is the personal story told by both of the main characters, sharing the narrative and giving us personal insight into human weaknesses, moments of passion and a sense of hope in a bleak existence.
Blackman proposes that violence has to be met with violence and hence the militia group that Callum, his brother Jude and his father Ryan join with tragic consequences.
Suicide, violence and death are strong features, constantly lurking in the shadows and as the clock ticks away we know that the executioner is ready, the prisoner hooded, holding back the tears with his final desire for life not death.
Blackman's morals on the nature of dreams of living in a world without discrimination or prejudice are destroyed by Jack, a prison officer who states:
" People are people. We'll always find a way to mess up, it doesn't matter who's in charge."
I warned you it was bleak, didn't I? But I would strongly recommend a read when you are in a serious mood.
Sephy is a Cross, privileged, one of the ruling class from a wealthy but dysfunctional family. Her father is a political figure, more concerned about his own image than considering the welfare of his family. His wife had an affair and then became an alcoholic and this is how she deals with her miserable life.
Callum is a Nought, sometimes called a blanker who refuses to tolerate the prejudice in society. He is a fighter who turns into a cold-blooded killer but his redeeming feature is his undying love for Sephy that survives throughout all of this adversity.
Sephy is a fighter too and she suffers just as much as Callum. It's a retelling of Romeo and Juliet with a different kind of "ancient grudge."
She is prepared to stand up for her beliefs of equality and suffers physical and verbal abuse but this increases her resolve and her determination to bring about a change in society.
There are some extremely uncomfortable moments of drama during the kidnapping scene, the "rape" and the execution. What is effective is the personal story told by both of the main characters, sharing the narrative and giving us personal insight into human weaknesses, moments of passion and a sense of hope in a bleak existence.
Blackman proposes that violence has to be met with violence and hence the militia group that Callum, his brother Jude and his father Ryan join with tragic consequences.
Suicide, violence and death are strong features, constantly lurking in the shadows and as the clock ticks away we know that the executioner is ready, the prisoner hooded, holding back the tears with his final desire for life not death.
Blackman's morals on the nature of dreams of living in a world without discrimination or prejudice are destroyed by Jack, a prison officer who states:
" People are people. We'll always find a way to mess up, it doesn't matter who's in charge."
I warned you it was bleak, didn't I? But I would strongly recommend a read when you are in a serious mood.
Copyright 2012. Permission to use this review must be obtained from the author.
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