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Daz 4 Zoe
It is the year 2051 and Britain is a divided country, deliberately divided by economic and education strategies. Half the population shelters in fortified suburbs (Newtown); the other half resentfully smoulders in sealed-off ghettoes. This is the story of privileged Zoe and Daz, the semi-literate ghetto dweller, whose brother was executed for raiding with the underground resistance movement. When Zoe and her friends go slumming one day, she meets Daz - and it's Romeo and Juliet all over again. But their impossible relationship has far-reaching consequences ...
150 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1990
9 people are currently reading
176 people want to read
About the author
Robert Swindells
173 books103 followersRobert Swindells was born in Bradford in 1939, the eldest of five children. He left the local Secondary Modern School at fifteen to work as a copy holder on the local newspaper. At seventeen he enlisted in the RAF and served for three years, two in Germany. On being discharged he worked as a clerk, engineer and printer until 1969 when he entered college to train as a teacher having obtained five 'O' levels at night-school. His first book 'When Darkness Comes' was written as a college thesis and published by Hodder and Stoughton in 1972. In 1980 he gave up teaching to write full time. He likes travelling and visits many schools each year, talking and reading stories to children. He is the secutatry of his local Peace Movement group. Brother in the Land is his first book for Oxford University Press. He is married with two grown-up daughters and lives in Bradford.
Author description taken from Brother in the Land.
Author description taken from Brother in the Land.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
June 20, 2013
A dystopian social structure, Romeo and Juliet love story - the cover´s announcment sounds both promising and interesting. However, the novel turns out to be more ordaniary than expected.
Basically it is a downsized Romeo and Juliet story placed in a society that leaves too many question concerning for example the genesis and conflicts of such an dystopian society. The two worlds are strictly seperated, yet permeable. An intruiging ambivalence which could lead to much more tension than Swindells is able to create. The author sticks to the typical (almost stereotypical) problems of two teenagers in two different living conditios. The dystopian world remains the fact that seperates and that´s it. The interesting aspects of such an dystopian society is not thoroughly narrated as it is for example in other literature from this genre.
This way the novel simply touches two aspects: "teenage love" and "dystopia". Both aspects remain superficial and predictable.
My recommendation for the cover: Simple Teenage Love Story in an "Almost-Dystopia"
Basically it is a downsized Romeo and Juliet story placed in a society that leaves too many question concerning for example the genesis and conflicts of such an dystopian society. The two worlds are strictly seperated, yet permeable. An intruiging ambivalence which could lead to much more tension than Swindells is able to create. The author sticks to the typical (almost stereotypical) problems of two teenagers in two different living conditios. The dystopian world remains the fact that seperates and that´s it. The interesting aspects of such an dystopian society is not thoroughly narrated as it is for example in other literature from this genre.
This way the novel simply touches two aspects: "teenage love" and "dystopia". Both aspects remain superficial and predictable.
My recommendation for the cover: Simple Teenage Love Story in an "Almost-Dystopia"
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June 21, 2011An O.K book but not the best book iv'e read in my life.
:)
:)
June 20, 2013
When I first heard about the book Daz 4 Zoe written by Robert Swindells I expected that it would be a futuristic lecture about a boy caring about a girl named Zoe.
The book "Daz4Zoe" deals with two different people who love each other, the problem is that both live in two different living conditions.
Zoe lives in Silverdale, a wealthy suburb, and Daz lives in bad area named Rawhampton. Thus, Swindells calls Zoe a "Subbie" and Daz a "Chippie". The whole community is segregated with fences and mental barriers/mind control/brainwashing.
At first Zoe meets Daz in a pub in Rawhampton which is a totally forbidden place for subbies to hang out at, and both dont have feelings for each other but in the following it evolves to real relationship. Later in the story Zoe runs away from home to live with Daz in Rawhampton! But this fails because the police is looking for Zoe...
The book is a typical romantic dytopian lovestory about two young-adults. The book shows some prejeduces about the society The book is written from two perspectives, one is Daz slang language and the other is Zoe´s view. When you first read the book it thought "what the heck, why does Daz talk so strange" its always comfortable to read the parts of Zoe because she writes like normal kids. The diffrent types of writting-style should underline the both social and educational background. When you read the book more and more you get used to Daz´s language. Instead of his strange language use I really liked the book but it was quiet simply written.
The book represents a possible future of our modern society and kind of shows us our society today!
All in all I would recommend the book for school but the students have to be quite good at English because if they read the parts of Daz they could adopt the style of grammar which could affect their English tests.
The book "Daz4Zoe" deals with two different people who love each other, the problem is that both live in two different living conditions.
Zoe lives in Silverdale, a wealthy suburb, and Daz lives in bad area named Rawhampton. Thus, Swindells calls Zoe a "Subbie" and Daz a "Chippie". The whole community is segregated with fences and mental barriers/mind control/brainwashing.
At first Zoe meets Daz in a pub in Rawhampton which is a totally forbidden place for subbies to hang out at, and both dont have feelings for each other but in the following it evolves to real relationship. Later in the story Zoe runs away from home to live with Daz in Rawhampton! But this fails because the police is looking for Zoe...
The book is a typical romantic dytopian lovestory about two young-adults. The book shows some prejeduces about the society The book is written from two perspectives, one is Daz slang language and the other is Zoe´s view. When you first read the book it thought "what the heck, why does Daz talk so strange" its always comfortable to read the parts of Zoe because she writes like normal kids. The diffrent types of writting-style should underline the both social and educational background. When you read the book more and more you get used to Daz´s language. Instead of his strange language use I really liked the book but it was quiet simply written.
The book represents a possible future of our modern society and kind of shows us our society today!
All in all I would recommend the book for school but the students have to be quite good at English because if they read the parts of Daz they could adopt the style of grammar which could affect their English tests.
July 14, 2022
We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace…
This novel was penned under the Thatcher-regime. Loved and detested in equal measure, Maggie Thatcher was one of Britain's most discordant leaders of the last century, when the country's left and right battled for the essence of modern politics.
Rejecting the political compromise politics of postwar Britain, she ushered in a more argumentative era based on tighter monetarist policies, privatization of incompetent nationalized industries, individual shareholding, and a curbing of the power of trade unions, which had dominated politics.
Thatcher, the prime minister of England from 1979 to 1990, angered many by her tough policies, including some writers, who believed she set out to create a divided society.
The narrative is set in a dystopian 2051. And the population is indeed alienated.
The advantaged half lives in equipped suburbs, and the other half ekes out an existence in ghettoes.
When the affluent Zoe meets impoverished, uneducated, unemployed Daz and they fall in love, and there is bound to be trouble.
Writing in discontinuous voices, Swindells realistically presents Daz’s sections in the scarcely literate language of those locked out of even basic schooling.
Read in 2011, I thoroughly enjoyed this tome back then.
This novel was penned under the Thatcher-regime. Loved and detested in equal measure, Maggie Thatcher was one of Britain's most discordant leaders of the last century, when the country's left and right battled for the essence of modern politics.
Rejecting the political compromise politics of postwar Britain, she ushered in a more argumentative era based on tighter monetarist policies, privatization of incompetent nationalized industries, individual shareholding, and a curbing of the power of trade unions, which had dominated politics.
Thatcher, the prime minister of England from 1979 to 1990, angered many by her tough policies, including some writers, who believed she set out to create a divided society.
The narrative is set in a dystopian 2051. And the population is indeed alienated.
The advantaged half lives in equipped suburbs, and the other half ekes out an existence in ghettoes.
When the affluent Zoe meets impoverished, uneducated, unemployed Daz and they fall in love, and there is bound to be trouble.
Writing in discontinuous voices, Swindells realistically presents Daz’s sections in the scarcely literate language of those locked out of even basic schooling.
Read in 2011, I thoroughly enjoyed this tome back then.
June 20, 2013
Separation in the society can be a distopian world in the future and is the topic of the book Daz 4 Zoe written by Robert Swindells. The book is about the problematic relationship of the two teenagers Daz and Zoe. Daz is a guy from the city called Rawhampton, which is the area where the poor "chippies" live. Zoe is a forteen years old girl who lives in a suburb named Silverdale. This place is gated with fences and protected by guards, because only rich people live there and the poor are not allowed to get in. The teenagers meet each other in a club in Rawhampton where Zoe and her friends from Silverdale are going to have fun. The book has an interesting kind of style, because it is written in two different first person perspectives, which are changing. The parts of Daz are written in phonetic spelling and shows that he isn´t well educated. All in all I think Daz 4 Zoe is a very good book with an interesting story. The charecters are nice and the problem of seperation society is a mordern topic. I would recommend the book for everyone how likes lovestorys or the topic of a distopian world.
June 20, 2013
Rawhampton vs. Silverdale
In his novel Robert Swindells created a seperated society in England. Half of the population,called Chippies, live in dirty and poor areas and the other social group, Subbies, in rich and wealthy suburbs. They have not got any contact with each other. One day the young chippy boy Daz meets the subby girl Zoe and they fall in love. After this "suprise meeting",their lifes change forever. Swindells chooses a sciene fiction topic with a modern lovestory of Romeo and Juliet. After I have read the title, I was suprised to read a different story,than I expected. I was suprised to read a story like this. The novel uses a typical love story to entertain the readers and put the plot into the backround.It looks like Swindells wants to show the social conflicts and problems of the political system, Daz and Zoe are only the means. He uses a simple and clean language, this makes the story much more interesting. Another point is the language of Daz. Not everyone knows which parts of his language is right and which one is wrong. That is a negativ aspect of this novel. In contrast to my first expectations the novel was much more interesting and educational for teenies at my age. Who wants to read a different kind of love story, with a possible future view of our society should read this book!
In his novel Robert Swindells created a seperated society in England. Half of the population,called Chippies, live in dirty and poor areas and the other social group, Subbies, in rich and wealthy suburbs. They have not got any contact with each other. One day the young chippy boy Daz meets the subby girl Zoe and they fall in love. After this "suprise meeting",their lifes change forever. Swindells chooses a sciene fiction topic with a modern lovestory of Romeo and Juliet. After I have read the title, I was suprised to read a different story,than I expected. I was suprised to read a story like this. The novel uses a typical love story to entertain the readers and put the plot into the backround.It looks like Swindells wants to show the social conflicts and problems of the political system, Daz and Zoe are only the means. He uses a simple and clean language, this makes the story much more interesting. Another point is the language of Daz. Not everyone knows which parts of his language is right and which one is wrong. That is a negativ aspect of this novel. In contrast to my first expectations the novel was much more interesting and educational for teenies at my age. Who wants to read a different kind of love story, with a possible future view of our society should read this book!
June 20, 2013
A dystopian society separated in two groups, a poor one called chippies and a rich one called subbies. Extreme prejudices reinforce the hostility between this two groups. The contact beween this two societies is strictly forbidden, walls and fances separate this two groups. The book tells the story about two young persons, Daz and Zoe who fall in love with each other. Daz is a rebellious young chippy who has a lack in education because of his social situation. Zoe is a young subby, she is smart and courious about the life of the chippies. The story is written in two perspectives. One perspective is written by Daz in his own slang language, the other perspective is written by Zoe.
In my opinion the book shows life in a dystopian society in an interesting way. Also, the love story is well told.
On the other side there is a simple ending of the book.
All in all, half of the book is written in a difficult slang of Daz which makes it dfficult to read, thats why i dont recommend it for inexperienced readers.
In my opinion the book shows life in a dystopian society in an interesting way. Also, the love story is well told.
On the other side there is a simple ending of the book.
All in all, half of the book is written in a difficult slang of Daz which makes it dfficult to read, thats why i dont recommend it for inexperienced readers.
May 2, 2018
A firm three and a half. A reread from my school days.
This is a very clever book which, when written, was a ahead of its time. I love the phonetic spelling of Daz’s language, and the well designed and immersive setting. I just have a natural reluctance to the insta-love of the story: yes Zoe is young and stubborn, but surely she wouldn’t give up her entire life for - as she quite rightly points out - a boy of whom she doesn’t know the second name! Still, it’s a quick and interesting read which I would recommend, particularly from a literary perspective.
This is a very clever book which, when written, was a ahead of its time. I love the phonetic spelling of Daz’s language, and the well designed and immersive setting. I just have a natural reluctance to the insta-love of the story: yes Zoe is young and stubborn, but surely she wouldn’t give up her entire life for - as she quite rightly points out - a boy of whom she doesn’t know the second name! Still, it’s a quick and interesting read which I would recommend, particularly from a literary perspective.
January 25, 2021
When I read parts of this book at school, the dystopia portrayed in ‘Daz 4 Zoe’ seemed like a fanciful, if terrifying, vision of the future.
Now, almost 20 years later (sigh!), a divided world; where the rich elite have perpetual control, and the poor are priced out of education, services and democracy itself; seems less a possibility, and more an inevitability. Frightening.
The best YA fiction often holds a more honest mirror to society than literary fiction. It’s free to tell its truth in a more accessible way, and as such, it’s message resonates so much more.
The love story at the heart of this novel, is as overwrought and cliched as any other tale of teenage heartache. Exactly as it should be, when considering the target audience. But Daz and Zoe’s struggle to be together only serves to highlight the damage that segregation and prejudice does to people and societies.
While the ending felt a little rushed, and we aren’t offered much in the way of a conclusion, the story itself is gripping, and has genuine moments of heart-stopping tension. It’s all too easy to imagine being in Daz’s shoes, as he tries to avoid capture in Silverdale, or Zoe’s feeling of helplessness, as her friends are banished for fraternising with ‘chippies’.
In a world more divided then ever, this book remains vital reading.
Now, almost 20 years later (sigh!), a divided world; where the rich elite have perpetual control, and the poor are priced out of education, services and democracy itself; seems less a possibility, and more an inevitability. Frightening.
The best YA fiction often holds a more honest mirror to society than literary fiction. It’s free to tell its truth in a more accessible way, and as such, it’s message resonates so much more.
The love story at the heart of this novel, is as overwrought and cliched as any other tale of teenage heartache. Exactly as it should be, when considering the target audience. But Daz and Zoe’s struggle to be together only serves to highlight the damage that segregation and prejudice does to people and societies.
While the ending felt a little rushed, and we aren’t offered much in the way of a conclusion, the story itself is gripping, and has genuine moments of heart-stopping tension. It’s all too easy to imagine being in Daz’s shoes, as he tries to avoid capture in Silverdale, or Zoe’s feeling of helplessness, as her friends are banished for fraternising with ‘chippies’.
In a world more divided then ever, this book remains vital reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2021
Masterpiece
February 14, 2021
It need a bit more plot development .I think it had a lot of potential. However,it wasn’t very exciting.
Also Zoe was extremely annoying for me. sorryyy
Also Zoe was extremely annoying for me. sorryyy
January 2, 2011
As a new-to-the-trade English teacher I've very quickly become immersed in teenage literature and find Swindells to be one of the most compelling authors. After reading Stone Cold with a Year 9 class I was extremely impressed and felt compelled to conduct some further investigation.
Daz 4 Zoe had been described to me as a modern day Romeo and Juliet. There are obvious comparisons, nevertheless I feel the association is unhelpful. Swindells sets his love story in a dystopian vision of 2050 Britain, where Zoe's Subbies enjoy the luxuries of health, hygiene, education, employment etc, while Daz's Chippies scrap and scrape to maintain a pitiful existence. A rather farsical 'falling in love' between the eponymous characters, leads to Zoe's realisation that Chippies are not so different to Subbies and her breaking out of her luxury prison to be with Daz. However, there is no fairy tale ending for Zoe.
The book was very easy to read and enjoyable. I particularly liked the political dimensions and can certainly see how I could structure activities with my pupils to activate deeper thinking abilities.
If you've never read Swindells before, I would recommend Stone Cold over this, but maybe not for younger readers (12 and below).
Daz 4 Zoe had been described to me as a modern day Romeo and Juliet. There are obvious comparisons, nevertheless I feel the association is unhelpful. Swindells sets his love story in a dystopian vision of 2050 Britain, where Zoe's Subbies enjoy the luxuries of health, hygiene, education, employment etc, while Daz's Chippies scrap and scrape to maintain a pitiful existence. A rather farsical 'falling in love' between the eponymous characters, leads to Zoe's realisation that Chippies are not so different to Subbies and her breaking out of her luxury prison to be with Daz. However, there is no fairy tale ending for Zoe.
The book was very easy to read and enjoyable. I particularly liked the political dimensions and can certainly see how I could structure activities with my pupils to activate deeper thinking abilities.
If you've never read Swindells before, I would recommend Stone Cold over this, but maybe not for younger readers (12 and below).
June 20, 2013
the novel was quite good because it is really interesting to see how other people,like Robert Swindells,think about the future in our "society". Everybody asks themeselves how the future of our society could be and how it develops. the novel shows us a possible future society.
It is about England who is divided into two societies ("subbies"-> are the people who live in the better part of England; "chippies"-> are the people who live in the bad part of England) and it is strictly forbidden for the "populations" to get in contact. One day a "subby-girl" (zoe) and her friends get in trouble in the chippie-area and a "chippy-boy" ,called daz, protects them although the chippies are against the subbies. so daz and zoe fall in love although its forbbiden and in the following they´ll fight against the government. it is a modern romeo julia love story in a "distopian world".
the narration perspective is quite good. the story is told from two different views so you can better understand the protagonists´s emotions.but daz spelling in the novel is hard to read / to understand.
the novel is good.
It is about England who is divided into two societies ("subbies"-> are the people who live in the better part of England; "chippies"-> are the people who live in the bad part of England) and it is strictly forbidden for the "populations" to get in contact. One day a "subby-girl" (zoe) and her friends get in trouble in the chippie-area and a "chippy-boy" ,called daz, protects them although the chippies are against the subbies. so daz and zoe fall in love although its forbbiden and in the following they´ll fight against the government. it is a modern romeo julia love story in a "distopian world".
the narration perspective is quite good. the story is told from two different views so you can better understand the protagonists´s emotions.but daz spelling in the novel is hard to read / to understand.
the novel is good.
June 20, 2013
"daz4zoe" is a distopian lovestory which was written by robert swindels in 1990.
the book is about two young persons who live in seperated societies.
on the one hand there is daz a bad educated boy who lives in very bad living conditions and on the other hand there is a beautiful, decent and rich girl named zoe who lives in the suburbs.
one day both meet each other by chance and fall in love.
they do everything to stay together but because of the relationship between this two societies it´s almost impossible.
it´s very intresting to imagine such a relationship and trouble between two different worlds.
especially the idea of seperatet distopian areas and the language of daz are great!
this lovestory or rather the fellings of daz an zoe are just so cute that i could feel into in their situations.
i can guarantee, this book makes you tremble and cry!
omg i love this book!
the book is about two young persons who live in seperated societies.
on the one hand there is daz a bad educated boy who lives in very bad living conditions and on the other hand there is a beautiful, decent and rich girl named zoe who lives in the suburbs.
one day both meet each other by chance and fall in love.
they do everything to stay together but because of the relationship between this two societies it´s almost impossible.
it´s very intresting to imagine such a relationship and trouble between two different worlds.
especially the idea of seperatet distopian areas and the language of daz are great!
this lovestory or rather the fellings of daz an zoe are just so cute that i could feel into in their situations.
i can guarantee, this book makes you tremble and cry!
omg i love this book!
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June 20, 2013Review „Daz 4 Zoe“
Robert Swindells’ „Daz 4 Zoe“ descreibes a typical love-story, which is complecated. Daz and Zoe are the maincharacters and lives in two complete different social groups. They meets themselves randomly and fall in love together. This love-story is very simple build and many situations are foreseeable. That aspect makes the book a bit bad. It was a nice idea fromRobert Swindells, but the “romeo and Julia”-lovestory destroys everything! Besides the plot is sometime very fast. Daz did never say something, that could be improtant for the contant and Zoe tells the most important things very often in a few words and continue with a lot of uninteresting things.
Robert Swindells’ „Daz 4 Zoe“ descreibes a typical love-story, which is complecated. Daz and Zoe are the maincharacters and lives in two complete different social groups. They meets themselves randomly and fall in love together. This love-story is very simple build and many situations are foreseeable. That aspect makes the book a bit bad. It was a nice idea fromRobert Swindells, but the “romeo and Julia”-lovestory destroys everything! Besides the plot is sometime very fast. Daz did never say something, that could be improtant for the contant and Zoe tells the most important things very often in a few words and continue with a lot of uninteresting things.
November 15, 2011
I dont like this book very much, to be honest. Zoe is stupid, naive and obsessed with Daz. Also she doesnt really think about her friends and familys feelings when she does certain things. It annoys me how in Daz`s parts of the book, it is all spelt wrong. It takes me ages to read!
June 20, 2013
The book is about a forbidden love story with two teenagers and a dystopian society.
This book is outstanding, it exceed all what I read before.
Robert Swindells is an master in his time he change my view of the world.
I love this book!
This book is outstanding, it exceed all what I read before.
Robert Swindells is an master in his time he change my view of the world.
I love this book!
February 21, 2017
Apparently I read a lot of Robert Swindells books between the ages of 12 and 18.
I was driven to seek out every book of his our local library carried after reading the bleak but very good Brother in the Land. This one was not so good.
I was driven to seek out every book of his our local library carried after reading the bleak but very good Brother in the Land. This one was not so good.
October 17, 2022
Robert Swindells Daz For Zoe is a love story about two teenagers in the future who come from different worlds. The have's and the have nots. Zoe is from a safe and privileged society and Daz is a chippie from a rough, poverty stricken society. The Two should never have met. The Two should never have mingled. Their worlds are so far apart and yet so physically close and like all stories of this nature they fall in love.
This book is a nice, easy, young adult read. A good book to pick up to pass the time and nice to read after you have read something very heavy. I was a bit disappointed with this book because the characters aren't original and not really fleshed out in a way that would have added more substance to to book. I didn't feel a connection for either character and generally found the book to be very predictable and a bit slapped together. As a film I think a lot more can be done with the stories and a lot more action and suspense could be created to keep the reader/viewer more engaged than I was. I have given this a two because I think overall it was bit of a let down, especially the ending.
This book is a nice, easy, young adult read. A good book to pick up to pass the time and nice to read after you have read something very heavy. I was a bit disappointed with this book because the characters aren't original and not really fleshed out in a way that would have added more substance to to book. I didn't feel a connection for either character and generally found the book to be very predictable and a bit slapped together. As a film I think a lot more can be done with the stories and a lot more action and suspense could be created to keep the reader/viewer more engaged than I was. I have given this a two because I think overall it was bit of a let down, especially the ending.
November 23, 2020
3.5
Good story, I really liked the meaning behind it. The plot, however, sometimes lacked authenticity (in my opinion), and the end felt like it was cut short.
Nevertheless, I think it’s an important book and that it’s very well suited for reading and discussing in 10th grade or so. There are a lot of society-critical aspects and I felt as there were a lot of comments or quotes that resonated quite deeply and that could be transferred to today’s society and/or be discussed in today’s politics etc.
It was a bit tough to get into Daz’s reading at first. As someone who’s quite familiar with the accent, I still had to shut off the “reading voice” in my head and read it as if someone was talking to me.
Although it is interesting and gives the book an added twist, I don’t know how well kids in 9th-11th grade who (as with this version for English Lessons in Germany) have learnt the classical “School English as a second language” will cope with the writing, especially because there are a lot of slang terms that they may not be familiar with in the first place.
Good story, I really liked the meaning behind it. The plot, however, sometimes lacked authenticity (in my opinion), and the end felt like it was cut short.
Nevertheless, I think it’s an important book and that it’s very well suited for reading and discussing in 10th grade or so. There are a lot of society-critical aspects and I felt as there were a lot of comments or quotes that resonated quite deeply and that could be transferred to today’s society and/or be discussed in today’s politics etc.
It was a bit tough to get into Daz’s reading at first. As someone who’s quite familiar with the accent, I still had to shut off the “reading voice” in my head and read it as if someone was talking to me.
Although it is interesting and gives the book an added twist, I don’t know how well kids in 9th-11th grade who (as with this version for English Lessons in Germany) have learnt the classical “School English as a second language” will cope with the writing, especially because there are a lot of slang terms that they may not be familiar with in the first place.
December 28, 2018
I first read this back in High School for part of my English class and even though it was for a test or homework I found myself enjoying it. I re-read it and again I find myself still enjoying it.
Robert Swindells creates a society which has been separated due to social class - the rich and the poor. The books follows two teens on separate sides of the division - Daz and Zoe. They meet at a club when Zoe feels rebellious and crosses the border with her friends. Long story short they fall in love!
Some parts of the story I found myself a little annoyed or irritated with such as Zoes stubbornness, the way she feels it's the end of her life if she does not meet Daz etc. I really enjoyed the setting and theme - the fact that these two neighbourhoods have been separated due to the difference in social class. I think Swindells does a good job at describing and creating images of both neighbourhoods and the people who live in them.
I maybe wouldn't rush out to reread it!
Robert Swindells creates a society which has been separated due to social class - the rich and the poor. The books follows two teens on separate sides of the division - Daz and Zoe. They meet at a club when Zoe feels rebellious and crosses the border with her friends. Long story short they fall in love!
Some parts of the story I found myself a little annoyed or irritated with such as Zoes stubbornness, the way she feels it's the end of her life if she does not meet Daz etc. I really enjoyed the setting and theme - the fact that these two neighbourhoods have been separated due to the difference in social class. I think Swindells does a good job at describing and creating images of both neighbourhoods and the people who live in them.
I maybe wouldn't rush out to reread it!
November 23, 2022
This book is mediocre. If you read it just for fun, you will be incredibly dissappointed, the love-story is a little nonsensical, the protagonists are 14 and 15 years old and definetly act like it. If you do invest a little more time into analysing this book, you will find a lot of parallels to real-life events, like sundown towns or german society during and shortly before world war 2. The references are well done, but the storytelling is weird. We are promised social commentary in the prolouge, which we do get, but it is very shallow. Would not reccomend.
November 16, 2017
The idea of the book was pretty cliche but the plot was interesting anyway. The main characters were completely stupid but i guess they were 'in love'. Both Zoe and Daz were selfish and immature. I'd like to read an extension of this book as see how their 'love' lasted 10, maybe 20 years down the line. I guess an outstanding thing about this book was that it actually made me laugh which was surprising.
August 29, 2022
If I could give no stars I would. I only read this because it was on my university reading list, if I’m ever asked to teach this book I will refuse. The way the Daz chapters are written in slang terms and spelling with 1 and 2 in place of one and two/to/too is horrendous to read. It is a poorly crafted retelling of Romeo and Juliet. The premise of the book is a great dystopian idea but so poorly executed it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.
January 13, 2025
I read this with my tutor group
It was super hard at first because Daz’s spelling is so poor but obviously I get that that’s the point because he’s illiterate and uneducated but there were points where it was just hard to read
I feel like the ending was SUPER rushed and all the drama happened in like three chapters
Wouldn’t read again
It was super hard at first because Daz’s spelling is so poor but obviously I get that that’s the point because he’s illiterate and uneducated but there were points where it was just hard to read
I feel like the ending was SUPER rushed and all the drama happened in like three chapters
Wouldn’t read again
June 24, 2023
I read this book when I was in year 9 at school due English. I remember enjoying it quite a lot actually but it was rather like a modern take on Romeo and Juliette. I keep meaning to re-read as an adult.
September 19, 2019
Not bad for a short read.
November 18, 2021
Not a bad book, but too simple for my taste.
January 25, 2022
Absolutely loved this book as a child. It's my go to when I feel like reliving my past
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