Tomorrow When The War Began by John Marsden

BANG! BANG! BANG! Three bullets fired so fast, one swiftly after another, the enemy soldier’s gun shots rang through Hell. Imagine all the action that would come with being continually shot at, enemy soldiers chasing you and romance in a war zone, if you like drama filled action then this is the perfect book for you. John Marsden’s Tomorrow when the War Began is the first in the enthralling Tomorrow series. When the invasion begins, Ellie, Homer, Kevin, Corrie, Fi, Lee, Chris and Robyn are camping in a secret place no-one has ever been before, except maybe the Hermit that was rumoured to lurk in its dark corners, Hell. With no idea as to the meaning of the mysterious sightings of jets roaring above them, they later return home from camping, but when they get there everyone has mysteriously disappeared. They soon find that the country was at war, but with who? Can they survive by themselves? Will the romances slowly forming in the group survive the war raging on? If they fight with each-other they may be in more danger than they thought.

 

Kevin is one of the side characters in the group. He has never been expected to fight or to even stand up for himself. When the war began it was as though Ellie and Homer did most of the work, while the others simply agreed to whatever they said. The group grows increasingly aggravated with Kevin throughout the novel. He did no work and always seemed to be scared and tried to back out every time things got rough, like when they agreed to go head-to-head with the enemy soldiers. Kevin is quite irritating throughout the course of the novel; he consistently seems to be useless, not in action, planning or even in general situations. Will the war eventually wake Kevin up and into action?

 

The settings change from the scene of Hell, the farms in Wirrawee and the enemy locations. The story dialogue and narrative style in Tomorrow When The War Began has bits of slang from the characters’ lives in Wirrawee, Australia. The story is from the point of view of Ellie, a teenager that helps her father with the animals on their land. The main message in the novel is the startling change that can come with wars and battles and how they change the people involved. These are the reasons why I really like the novel Tomorrow when the war began. I think that it is an amazing and entertaining novel for anyone to read and enjoy at any time.