How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff was the first novel I completed for one of my creative writing classes this semester. It’s a second-year course that switches the genre it focuses on ever time it runs. This time it’s teaching YA, which I guess is kind of convenient because one of my primary projects at the moment happens to be YA.
Anyway, onto the book. I really didn’t think I would like it at first because at the start the protagonist came off as a little annoying and the novel isn’t structured traditionally, so it was a little difficult to read at first. There’s no actual dialogue, it’s all just a part of the narrative– although it’s not too difficult to tell who’s talking once you get used to it.
I guess I didn’t really like the first half of the book because it was 90% characterization, and since I didn’t really like the protagonist I didn’t care about any of her relationships with other characters. But once the plot started moving, the protagonist changed, she became more tolerable, and eventually, I became interested in her and the overall story. It was an unusual experience because most of the time when I don’t like a character up front, I don’t end up liking them at all.
The book was alright overall. It was a short read and I think with the help of the course I did learn a little from it, so that’s a plus. 🙂
~Erynn
An Adventure Every Day 