Mumsnet Talk

'How I Live Now' by Meg Rosoff.

This is actually a book written for teenagers but I think it works well for adults too. This is a book set slightly in the future and features a young American girl who comes to visit her English relatives. The visit does not go as planned but I will not say any more. I found tis book surprising, it was not how I thought it was going to be.
I picked the book because whilst it is not a perfect book, I think it is interesting and thought provoking and was certainly different to what I would normally read.

I thought this a bizarre read, and I think if I'd read it when I was younger it really would have captured my imagination. As it is, I'm not very good at suspending disbelief and so read it with a touch of scepticism!! I still enjoyed it though, and think it would be a real hit if you enjoyed surreal stories!! A very interesting choice

I enjoyed this. I really liked the teenager narrator's tone, that kind of OMG Mum you are SO stupid thing. I like these sort of post-nuclear holocaust things too, like Z for Zacharaih or On the Beach. I thought the story was quite believable but other than the narrator I didn't really engage with any of the characters. I was a bit disappointed with the way it ended though. You;d never guess from the terrible blurb on the back cover what it was about, though, so I would never have picked it up in a shop/library based on that. Glad I did though. Thanks Hollytom!