Hey everyone and welcome back to my blog! It’s been a while since I posted my last blog post but I’m back and today I’m going to be doing my first ever review!!I’m going to be reviewing the noughts and crosses series by Malorie Blackman.
I’m probably literally the last person ever to read these books but I’ve only recently read them and wanted to share my views.
DISCLAIMER, MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! READ ON AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
About the books and author
There are 4 books in this series: Noughts and Crosses, Knife Edge, Checkmate and Double cross.
It’s based in a dystopian world where black people rule and white people are discriminated. These books were written by Malorie Blackman.
She is a British author, born on the 8th of February 1962 in London. The first published book she wrote was “Not so stupid!” Which was published in 1990. She has received several awards including the Fantastic Fiction Award and was the Children’s Laureate 2013-2015. Her most recent book was Chasingn the stars published in 2017. However, she is mostly known for the Noughts and crosses series.
Noughts and crosses was first published in 2001. Since then she wrote three more books for this series and two novellas: Callum and An eye for an eye.
Blurbs
Noughts and Crosses
“Stop it! You're all behaving like animals! Worse than animals - like blankers!”
Sephy is a Cross: dark-skinned and beautiful, she lives a life of privilege and power. But she's lonely, and burns with injustice at the world she sees around her.
Callum is a nought: pale-skinned and poor, he's considered to be less than nothing - a blanker, there to serve Crosses - but he dreams of a better life.
They've been friends since they were children, and they both know that's as far as it can ever go. Noughts and Crosses are fated to be bitter enemies - love is out of the question.
Then - in spite of a world that is fiercely against them - these star-crossed lovers choose each other.
But this is love story that will lead both of them into terrible danger . . . and which will have shocking repercussions for generations to come.
Knife Edge
WHEN TRUTH AND JUSTICE ARE NO LONGER BLACK AND WHITE ISSUES . . .
Sephy is a Cross, one of the privileged in a society where the ruling Crosses treat the pale-skinned noughts as inferiors. But her baby daughter has a nought father . . . Jude is a Nought. Eaten up with bitterness, he blames Sephy for the terrible losses his family has suffered . . .
Now Jude's life rests on a knife edge. Will Sephy be forced, once again, to take sides?
Checkmate
Can the future ever erase the past? Rose has a Cross mother and a nought father in a society where the pale-skinned noughts are treated as inferiors and those with dual heritage face a life-long battle against deep-rooted prejudices. Sephy, her mother, has told Rose virtually nothing about her father, but as Rose grows into a young adult, she unexpectedly discovers the truth about her parentage and becomes determined to find out more. But her father'sfamily has a complicated history - one tied up with the fight for equality for the nought population. And as Rose takes her first steps away from Sephy and into this world, she finds herself drawn inexorably into more and more danger. Suddenly it's a game of very high stakes that can only have one winner . . .
Double Crossed
Just this once. Just this once and no more, I promise.
Please let me get away with it just this once . . .
Tobey wants a better life - for him and for Callie Rose. He wants nothing to do with the violent gangs that rule the world he lives in. But when he's offered the chance to earn some extra money, how much could it hurt to just this once say 'yes'?
Callie Rose knows all about the danger of saying 'yes'. She knows about terrible mistakes, and violence and family feuds, and the fierce divide between Noughts and Crosses.
And knowing so much about the past makes her afraid for her future.
Because sometimes, one little bad decision can change everything . . .
——————————————————
So I can’t believe it took me so long to finally get around to reading this and I can’t believe how long it took me to physically read the first book. I don’t know why but it just didn’t captivate me the way other books have. But when I did become captivated I just couldn’t stop! It took me around less than a month to finish the last three books. In the beginning I did find it hard to follow along because it skips a large period of time between each chapter but as I carried on reading I found it easier to grasp. The story line and message behind it is absolutely amazing and I think that everyone should read it because it has such a powerful message. It’s something important and it’s not just everyday fiction that has no relevance. She explores several themes like romance, racism and terrorism.
It’s extremely relevant to everyday life, especially for black people living and integrating into western society. It teaches us so many things about how hard it is to live in discrimination and poverty and It captures the development of equality in society perfectly. Even though these books made me feel a rollercoaster of emotions but mainly I feel super depressed whilst reading them, I will most definitely be reading them again and HIGHLY recommend this series. There were so many character developments it actually amazes me. These books were so well written and are honestly so powerful and I feel like they would help everyone see the world differently. They have a mix of genres; a little action, a little romance etc. The relationships in these books make them even more captivating because they’re so real and are in some instances relatable.
I honestly love these books will all my heart and 100% recommend thag EVERYONE should read them, in fact I would go as fast as to say they should be a requirement in schools.
So that’s my review of the noughts and crosses series. I tried not to reveal anything but if I did then I do apologise. If you guys want me to do more book reviews let me know and also which books do you guys recommend?
Follow me on my social media’s:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/asimplehijabi/
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/asimplehijabi
And if you would like to contact me for PR or anything else email me at: asimplehijabi@gmail.com
Thank you guys for reading this post,
Talk to you guys soon,
Stay Modest and Fabulous,
Love Your SimpleHijabi X