3.5 stars

Review originally posted at Fluttering Butterflies

It's been a really long time since I've been as excited as I am about a series as I am right now with the Tomorrow series by John Marsden. In this, the second book in the series, The Dead of the Night, I was just as drawn into the story, drawn to Ellie's voice and the other characters as well as the emotions and decisions and the action and these teenagers struggle to survive and to make a difference.

The Dead of the Night by John Marsden follows on a few weeks after the shocking ending to Tomorrow, When the War Began. Ellie and her friends are still in their hidden valley (which they call Hell) and are pretty shaken up with the departure of two of their friends. The balance seems to have shifted and without their two friends, they've lost their hope and their momentum.

A decision is made pretty early on into The Dead of the Night that they need to shake themselves awake and start preparing for more of the worst. Their families are still being held hostage by foreign invaders and it's beginning to get colder. Ellie and her friends decide they need to stockpile more food and supplies, they need to go after their two missing friends and they need to take stock of their surroundings to find out the situation in other places beyond their secluded little family.

Honestly, I really love this series, but I'm also finding it a little difficult to describe just what it is that I really love about this story or these characters so much. Ellie and the rest of them are dealing with something really horrible and disturbing - a complete change in everything they knew. And they have to come up with the strength to keep going, to plan ahead, to continue rebelling and using what they know and what little they have in order to provide for themselves as well as strike a blow against the people who have taken everything away from them. It also raises some thought-provoking questions about life and death and what it means to take someone else's life.

And as well as being this exciting and dangerous story about a bunch of teenagers making it on their own and blowing stuff up (which happens a lot, to my utter amusement and joy!) but there's also some really complicated and emotional connections between these friends as they navigate new relationships and heading into territory. I'm so seriously excited and anxious to dive into the third book and continue on with this story. Why has it taken me so long to get to these books?!

This book seemed to falter in places. I still enjoyed it a lot, but, it felt like there were times when things just sort of fell apart. It wasn't the kind of fall apart that helps the story, but rather the kind of fall apart that makes the reader wonder what exactly is going on and how it's going to be resolved.

I really enjoy the conversational style of these books. Ellie feels like a real person. Her viewpoint is accurately young girl, and I enjoy reading her mature and deal with the crazy issues she's faced with.

Interesting note, apparently New Zealand has been very helpful in this war. Coming immediately to the aid of Australia and fighting for her. Really?

All I know about New Zealand/Australia relations comes from Flight of the Conchords and they gave the impression they were not fond of Australia and thought they were “subtlety mocking their accents” whenever speaking with an Australian.

I really enjoyed the first book in the Tomorrow series but you know how 2nd books can be a bit lame? Dead of Night is in the same shit kicking league as [b:Tomorrow, When the War Began|71865|Tomorrow, When the War Began (Tomorrow, #1)|John Marsden|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328867372s/71865.jpg|1253352]
It is much more intense and the light moments are few and far between, but still so exciting and emotional.

I do not know what I would do if Canada ever was invaded, I feel like we have this security of being right next to the USA and USA would be all “Hell No” to our invaders. Unless the US is gonna invade …but you guys would tell me if that was the plan right?
This book basically is saying “what you would do? You would have no say in what would happen, obviously you would be caught and be taken prisoner” and then it shakes its head and laughs at how naïve I am. Shut up book! Yes I would be caught I am very loud and hide and seek was never my game, plus I would have my kid (also loud) and St.Bernard (gigantic) the odds are against me.

But the book is right I cannot tell you how upset I was with the injustice of it all, people being taken off their property, being held prisoner. Oh! and then they are bringing colonists to start living on farms (their farms!) and I was also “HELL NO!” Unfair!! I feel ridiculous when I say these things, war is not a tea party I know this. I read war stories all the time but from this perspective of someone observing the invasion is so different from an actual prisoner and or soldier. This perspective is what these books have going for it, it takes the depressing aspect away a bit and leaves you more indignant then defeated.

Rating:3.5

It took me a while to get into this; the first 150 pages seemed to really drag on. I wasn't enjoying it at all. But then things started to happen, and the book redeemed itself.

If I were to spilt the book up into two parts, part one would get a rating of 2/5 and part two 4/5.

So yes, the book was a good one, but it just took a while to get good. I do think that the good section was able to make up for the bad.

War is Hell. - Robert E. Lee
The teens get a taste of hell as the series continues. They get to see different people reacting to the occupation of their homeland and are given a chance to react and grow as characters.
The series gets stronger with the second entry. The characters gain more depth as they react to the first novel.

My blog post about this book is at this link.

I can't put these books down. So good!