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How I Live Now
How I Live Now
Author: Meg Rosoff
Fifteen year old New Yorker Daisy is sent to live in the English countryside with cousins she’s never even met. When England is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy, the cousins find themselves on their own. Power fails, systems fail. As they grow more isolated, the farm becomes a kind of Eden, with no rules. Until the war arrives in thei...  more »
ISBN: 496868
Publication Date: 4/2006
Pages: 194
Rating:
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0 stars, based on 0 rating
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
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nantuckerin avatar reviewed How I Live Now on + 158 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
How I Live Now boasted a concept right up my alley: in the not-so-distant-future, England has been attacked by an unnamed enemy and 15-year-old American Daisy is in the wrong place at the wrong time. She's been sent to stay with her cousins and aunt at their country home by her absentee father and her new pregnant stepmother. Of course, everything quickly goes horribly awry as her politician Aunt Penn is detained away from the home by the fighting and the kids are left to fend for themselves in the middle of a war-torn nation.

It's a good foundation, but I had some problems with How I Live Now. First of all, there's Daisy. As a narrator, she actually embodies everything that frustrates me about today's teenagers. The book is written in her voice, meaning there are lots of really long sentences without proper punctuation, Totally Unnecessary Capitalizations for Emphasis and a view of the action and world events filtered through the observations of a self-centered teenager. I almost quit reading the book because her voice annoyed me so much.

Another thing that may raise the hackles of some readers is Daisy's relationship with her 14-year-old cousin, Edmond. As in, their romantic relationship. I understand that in England and many other countries, marrying your first cousin isn't illegal or frowned upon, but I had a hard time stomaching their relationship. It was very romantic and I understand why they came together under the extraordinary circumstances they were facing, but I couldn't get over the fact that these two teenage lovebirds were first cousins. And having sex. Yick.

The book had a few other issues -- there are a few things the author hints at and never explores, and I would have liked more information abou the war. It provides a good effect though -- the reader doesn't know any more about what is going on than the teenagers do.

The ending is unsatisfying, but the book is worth a read. Rosoff has created an intriguing dystopian view, and despite my frustrations with her heroine, I enjoyed the book as a one-time read.
reviewed How I Live Now on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
The main character has a very strong voice. The premise is interesting, without being too outre. The love story is touching without being sacharine. Overall an excellent YA book. Highly recommended.
reviewed How I Live Now on + 22 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is supposedly a teen book, but it is a very nice read for adults, too. Very contemporary.
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reviewed How I Live Now on
Easy to read and entertaining.
lvp avatar reviewed How I Live Now on + 41 more book reviews
I found this book to be just ok. I mainly picked it for the interesting cover, and it never really left an impression on me, a good one at least. It was sweet until somewhere around the middle when some strange and frankly kind of disturbing relationships occur. I wouldn't recommend this for younger teens.
aterpstra avatar reviewed How I Live Now on + 2 more book reviews
I am not sure what I expected, but this is definitely an interesting read. I am not sure I appreciated the setting, but the characters were interesting.
catvar avatar reviewed How I Live Now on + 4 more book reviews
Very powerful book!
Writing style matures as the teen journaling it does.
Tough circumstances forces new bonds. Very moving book.
reviewed How I Live Now on + 3 more book reviews
Short, interesting read.

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