Customer Reviews

Tomorrow, When the War Began

5 star:		(161)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this for my daughter to encourage her interest in reading. We wound up fighting each other for turns at it. Within a week, with a few past-midnight "power reads" I hoed through every book in the series. The first three are superb, each better than the last. There are some niggles - the stories rely a touch too much on luck and coincidence, and there is some repetition of ideas. But the strengths are real ones. The plotting is superb - few writers in any genre can get you turning pages like Marsden can. The characters are psychologically and emotionally convincing. The heroism is fairly shared between the boys and the girls in the group. (The female narrator is a refreshing touch). Negative emotions, fear, fatigue, impatience, are not shied away from. The central device is an unexpected invasion of Australia by a foreign force which separates a group of teenagers from adult supervision, leaving them to rely on their own resources. It allows Marsden to explore real issues for teenagers about responsibility, courage, sexual attitudes - even spirituality. All are delivered without judgement or the author's baggage. The action is so exciting - real pulse-racing stuff - but from a parent's perspective it also carries an important theme: life may be difficult, threatening, even terrifying, but it is always worth living, and courage - in whatever its form - is a quality everyone can find and one that is always worth seeking out. I recommend this series to anyone, although the mild sexual references may make it more appropriate for post-pubescent readers.

Any teen, any adult, any grandma must read this book!!!

The whole series is absolutely amazing, I swear, I lost my life for 2 months reading these books. You probably don't need any filling in on details of what actually happens in the book, but I'll give you a brief introduction... A group of teenagers take a little holiday and come back to see their country has been invaded. Ever since I finished, (a good 2 months ago) all I have been thinking about it the books, I want to go to hell, I want to experience what they experienced myself... It's amazing what this book does to you.
Marsden has made no mistake in this book, he gave amazing descriptions, that when I saw pictures of what he had wrote about it was just what I had envisioned. When I finished I felt as though I knew the characters personally (I don't know if this was just because of the length). Dude, what more can I say, these books are amazing, they mess with your mind, you don't know how many Tomorrow Series dreams I've had since finishing, lol.
But yeah, if you walk past one of the books in your libary, or at a book store, GET IT!

I can't say I was too hapy with the sequel, 'The Ellie Chronicles', bit of a waste of time, IMO, I think if the ******* (you know what I mean, if you have read the book) happened again, just for one book it would be good.

I'm done... Now it's your turn, get it!!!

I wasn't sure I'd like this book, but it turned out to be awesome! It was chilling because these characters, who seemed so real, were just ordinary teens who had comfortable lives until a terrible war separated them from their families and forced them to be heroes. I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

Ellie has a story that must be told about her and her six friends: Homer, Fiona, Lee, Robyn, Corrie and Kevin. They thought they were just going to spend a week in the bush, but all of that has changed. They emerge from the bush to find that Australia has been invaded, and that their whole town has been taken over. They are located in a pivotal place for the invading army, and the town is full of hostages and prisoners. Their best choice is to go bush again, to seek refuge in a place called Hell.

I started reading this series when the fifth book was released and had an agonising wait for the sixth and seventh books to be released. This series is one of the best ones that I have ever come across written especially for teen readers - and John Marsden writes a gritty and realistic fiction that leaves you exhausted and satisfied at the same time. Ellie and her friends will win you over and make you hate them a dozen times over as their stories progress.

This book will grab you and shake and make you wonder how safe you really are. In this case the country that was invaded was Australia, but it could just as easily have been New Zealand, or Hawaii, or Britain, or ... At times I cried, at times I cheered, and at other times I just read about their lives and was grateful it was not me living that life.

You have got to read this series, even if it is just so that you can talk to your friends about it. The one word of warning is that you have to read the series in order or it will ruin parts of the story and be somewhat confuding.

This is a fascinating book. It has all the factors of the coolest book in the world! It's companions (Book 2 The Dead of Night, Book 3 The Killing Frost/The Third Day, The Frost, Book 4 Darkness be my friend, Book 5 Burning for revenge, Book 6 The Night is for Hunting and Book 7 The Other Side of Dawn.) all are really good though not all available to the poor readers in The USA! :( Just to tell you I am one of the unfortunates... anyway. Tomorrow when the War Began is compelling and action packed. READ THIS BOOK! You won't regret it!

I have no idea how John Marsden writes such awesome books. One day in my school libray, I picked up the third book in the series. I flew through it. So, then I read all the books up untill the last three, because the last three weren't in that libray. So I bought the last three from amazon.co.uk. These books are amazing. The books in the series are:(1) Tommorrow, When The War Began (2) The Dead of The Night (3) A Killing Frost (4) Darkness, Be My Friend (5) Burning For Revenge (6) The Night Is For Hunting (7) The Other Side Of Dawn. IF YOU STILL NOT SURE IF YOU SHOULD BUY THE BOOK OR NOT, SMACK YOURSELF AND BUY IT. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. THESE BOOKS ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow, When The War Began is a great book. It is told by one of the main characters Ellie. A group of seven teenagers takes a camping trip to Hell. It's not really Hell, it's just a place that is isolated from the rest of the town. They have to travel down "Satan's Steps" to get there. The teens return home only to find that their country has been invaded. The group runs into another friend. They load up supplies and go back to Hell, now as a group of eight. I like this book because it is full of excitment. It keeps you on the end of your seat to the very last page. This book os also full of drama and a little bit of romance. There really wasn't any part of the book that I disliked. This book is unlike any others I have read. I loved this book and recommend ot to all teens, boys and girls.

I was first introduced to this serioes at school, we were assigned to read it for English, before this book all books assigned to us in school were all garbage and I expected the same, as did most the other students in my class, most wouldnt bother to read it, so the teacher read it aloud in class, for most of it upuntil the half way mark I ignored most of it, until it dawned on me that this book was actualy sounding o.k. When I got home i got my copy from the bookshelf and actualy started to read it, and I read at any chance I had, and when I finished I read the second and third and then had to wait while the rest were written and released
The amazing story starts off with a group of teenagers going camping, and when they return the find the Australia has been taken over by another country, they go to the bush again to hide, but can't just sit back and do nothing and decide to fight back in what ever way they can, although unconventional, when all is said and done and the series is over they made a huge impact on the war, sometimes planned, sometimes fluked, of coarse not all survive and with every loss you can not help but feel the emotional pain of the others, it is the best comming of age story I have read, and although it is listed as a young adult series, it will be unforgetable to all ages and you will develop a bond with Ellie, Homer, Kevin and the rest of the gang, I have never fell in love with any fictional charactors the way I did with these guys, not even in T.V series
A story like this comes along once in a life time, do not, and I mean do not missss this book

I have to admit that I'd never heard of the 'Tomorrow' books prior to the film being released. However, I thought I'd read the first book before seeing the film, so I purchased the Kindle version of it.

I was very impressed with these resourceful teens and the book was full of action, suspense and adventure. Marsden has beautifully captured the essence of being an Aussie teen in the country and has drawn the characters extremely well. I would happily recommend this book to any teenager or young adult, but also to any adult who likes a cracking read.

Unfortunately, the Kindle version of the book contained no fewer than 45 typos, which greatly detracted from my reading experience. I daresay that this book may have been converted to an e-book in Germany; on a number of occasions "the" was replaced with "die". How disappointing for Mr Marsden to have his book marred in this way.

I thought this was going to be boring and stupid, seeing how the premise of the book is Australia suffering a military invasion. I don't believe your government would be that short sighted.

Turned out its a good read. I like the ordinary people faced with extraordinary situations aspect, and how they react. I'm halfway through the second book, plan on reading them all. I really hope at some point they say who the invaders are. At first its kind of confusing trying to keep all the players separate, but the author whittles them down, and gives them all distinct traits. I still want to know why Ellie had to turn the phone to talk? Whats up with that? :)

In case any Aussies are wondering, and I know its for local consumption.And its just a plot device,but our memory extends further back than Viet Nam, within 72 hours of any invasion,their would be so much US firepower floating off your shores, it would make D-Day look like a Sunday Sail. For better or worse,like it or not, your on our "short list" of people not to be screwed with.