*ARC* The 100 by Kass Morgan

The 100 (The Hundred #1)

By: Kass Morgan

Published: September 3, 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

352 pages

Source: ARC from Netgalley

(Goodreads /Amazon)

Summary:

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:
I initially requested this book because I watched season one of the show and enjoyed it. It intrigued me to want to read the inspiration of the show. Aside from the names of some of the characters, and the premise of the story being humanity had to escape earth 300 years earlier to survive and has since been living in space....the two stories are vastly different.  I enjoyed both equally, some parts more in the book.

This story is told from alternating POV's between Clarke, Bellamy, Wells and Glass. There are 3 ships that are connected with three different classes of people. Just like on earth, humanity has divided itself into statuses based on income, position, and birth. However, when rules are broken the sentencing is the same no matter who you are or who your parents are. One hundred juvenile delinquent teens, who have been in confinement for breaking various rules and laws among the ships, have been sent to earth on a mission to determine whether earth is livable or not. The spaceship that humanity has been surviving on for the last 300 years was never meant to last forever and the leaders on the ship know that their time is running out - mainly on oxygen. These kids are their last hope for survival.

Clarke is the daughter of two scientists. She has studied medicine to follow partially in their steps of being a doctor but was arrested for treason.  Wells is the son of the Chancellor and sacrificed himself so that he could be sent to earth with the girl he loves but who currently wants nothing to do with him because he betrayed her. Bellamy is a Waldinite, considered a lower class individual and he finds entrance onto the dropship to earth after he commits a crime that would be immediately punishable by death if he had been caught. His sister is on that ship and he will sacrifice whatever he has to in order to protect her. Then there's Glass. A character I really enjoyed reading about. Glass was scheduled to be on the dropship to earth but during an unexpected twist of events she escapes because she has to see someone one last time.

The story then shifts between the events that happen on earth and the events happening back on the ships. Problems abound on both. Within those events the characters have flashbacks to the past. Through all of this I felt like I learned a lot more about each character, and their back story to how they came to be in the situation they are. Overall, I enjoyed the story. It didn't blow me away and keep me wanting to know more without setting the book down. It does have a slow build of interest and I'm curious to know what happens in book two. Just when it was ending was when the story really started to get good.

One small irritation. I don't like when a books continuity in the time frame of events seems off. 71% through the book Bellamy makes reference to the time frame in which they had been on Earth. (Over the past few weeks, he'd discovered that he enjoyed the company of trees more than people.) The problem I have with this is that "few" is more than a "couple" so therefore the reader is left to think this means 3 or 4 weeks have passed since they landed on Earth. However, more events happen before the end of book one which adds more time that has passed, but yet book two picks up on Day 21 right after a big event that happens at the end of book one. 21 days is only 3 weeks. So it seems to me that either Bellamy's comment was wrong and perhaps should've said "over the past couple of weeks", or the time frame for book two needed to be extended out farther.

If you enjoyed the show or if you like sci-fy type stories, you'll enjoy this read.

Favorite Quotes:
"I meant" - she cut him off with a small smile - "there are some poisonous plants out here that could make that pretty back of yours erupt with pus-filled boils."

To save the girl he loved, he'd have to endanger the entire human race.

Final Rating - 3.5 stars

This post is part of the ARC Thursday feature on Words Fueled by Love.