The 100
By Kass Morgan

I had a lot more fun with this book than I thought I would!

I did watch the full TV series (a few years ago now) before ever touching the books. But really, the TV series took a different direction than the books: another one of those “inspired by” rather than “based on” things, it feels like.

The characters are the same and their personalities aren’t too different than what I remember from the TV show. However, I get the feeling the TV show aged down the main characters, and they definitely aged up Octavia a good two or three years. Not a complaint so much as it is a confused observation. Since I know the plot of the TV series though, maybe they really did go way off later on and leave the books behind. We’ll see!

For a book that is so fast-paced, I was surprised it only got through the first few weeks of The 100 being on Earth. The book frequently does flashback sections to show the reader what life was like on the spaceships above Earth though, and it’s something I appreciated as those scenes act as character-building moments that we simply wouldn’t have if the book only stayed in the present.

Of course, because I’ve seen the TV series, I knew the “big surprises” already, so the end wasn’t a surprise for me. At the same time, I do think the end of The 100 could’ve been executed better. More hints here and there, at the very least. Until the reveal happens, there’s really no clues, and that’s just not as fun for the reader.

I’m sad the character Glass didn’t make it into the TV series, but I understand why she was cut. Overall, though, I sped through this book in the course of a day. It’s fast and fun and pretty light. Well, as light as post-apocalypse fiction can be.

~ Anna
(Entry 30)