Review: The 100 by Kass Morgan

Book Blurb: 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. CLARKE 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. My Review: 3 Out of 5 Stars

Genre: Dystopian, Space, Survival, TV/Movie Earth was destroyed by nuclear attacks, causing the last remaining humans to launch a colony into outer space. It has been a hundred years, and supplies are running low on the space colony. In a last ditch effort, 100 of the juvenile convicts are sent down to earth to see if it is habitable. Those that survive the journey find that earth is not what they expected. So let me confess my guilty sin here: I watched the first season and a half of the television version of the 100 and absolutely love it. I was excited to get my hands on the book since I enjoy the show so much. Unfortunately, the show is better than the book. Which is usually blasphemy in the book world, but completely how I feel. The television show is about survival, adventure and lies. But the book is about love triangles, sacrificing everything in the name of love and buckets full of angst. Which is fine and all, but I found it to be disappointing after watching such a fast pace show. For the most part, the only things the two have in common are a few characters and the idea that 100 kids were sent to earth. And that is basically the only similarities. The story alternates between 4 different characters points of view, each chapter a different person. Clarke was the apprentice doctor, daughter to the elite researcher parents, who was sentenced for a crime she did not do by her love. Wells is the love struck boy who wants to redeem himself in Clarke’s eyes so he commits a terrible wasteful crime to be sent to earth. Bellamy is the only person to have a sibling, one he would do anything for, including hijacking the launch. And Glass, the upper-class girl who nobody even knew was in prison, who escapes being sent to earth to see her true love again. Everything was just so melodramatic. I did not really have a favorite character, they were all just ok. (My favorite character in the television show doesn’t even exist in the book) It seemed like not very much happened in the story, predominantly because most of it was told in memories the characters were having of why things are they way they are now. So much of the story was flashbacks instead of actual action. I would have loved more of now and less of then, but I guess that was how the author built the back-story for the characters. I was not in love with this book, but I will probably give the second book a chance to get better now that the world and characters are established. The ending of the story has quite a few cliffhangers as well, so expect an open ending to leave you with questions and no answers. I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.