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Days Like This
She has to escape.
But who else is out there?
And can anyone survive days like this?
I want to go back to the days when life made sense. The days before our parents became strange; before the warming ate away at all the living things in the world; before The Committee and their Blacktroopers. Before the Wall.
Lily is a prisoner in her own home. Forced to stay inside by The Committee and guarded by their increasingly distant parents, Lily and her brother Daniel are beginning to ask why. Then, when Daniel disappears just before his seventeenth birthday, Lily knows she is next.
Days Like This was Finalist in the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Young Adult which resulted in publication by Penguin.
But who else is out there?
And can anyone survive days like this?
I want to go back to the days when life made sense. The days before our parents became strange; before the warming ate away at all the living things in the world; before The Committee and their Blacktroopers. Before the Wall.
Lily is a prisoner in her own home. Forced to stay inside by The Committee and guarded by their increasingly distant parents, Lily and her brother Daniel are beginning to ask why. Then, when Daniel disappears just before his seventeenth birthday, Lily knows she is next.
Days Like This was Finalist in the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Young Adult which resulted in publication by Penguin.
302 pages, Paperback
First published July 27, 2011
15 people are currently reading
1060 people want to read
About the author
Alison Stewart
24 books40 followersAlison has had nine books published - two books for adults and seven for young people. Four of them have been translated into Italian, Danish, Dutch and Thai.
Her latest project,Cold Stone Soup, an unpublished memoir about growing up under apartheid and migrating to Australia has won the FAW 2013 National Literary Awards (Jim Hamilton Award for a non-fiction manuscript). Cold Stone Soup was also runner-up in the 2010 Penguin/Varuna Scholarship.
Her first book for adults, Born Into the Country (Justified Press 1988, South Africa) was shortlisted for the 1987 AA Mutual Life Vita Young Writers’ Award. Heinemann Australia published her next adult novel, Bitterbloom in 1991. Her YA novel, The Wishing Moon was shortlisted for the 1995 Australian Multicultural Children’s Award and was a 1995 Children’s Book Council Notable book.
Her YA dystopia, Days Like This, published by Penguin Australia was a finalist in the inaugural 2010 Amazon/Penguin Breakthrough Novel Award in the YA category.
Alison lives in Sydney and is married with two adult children. When she gets the chance, she loves travelling - who doesn't? Alison worked for years as a news and feature journalist. She currently writes travel stories.
Her latest project,Cold Stone Soup, an unpublished memoir about growing up under apartheid and migrating to Australia has won the FAW 2013 National Literary Awards (Jim Hamilton Award for a non-fiction manuscript). Cold Stone Soup was also runner-up in the 2010 Penguin/Varuna Scholarship.
Her first book for adults, Born Into the Country (Justified Press 1988, South Africa) was shortlisted for the 1987 AA Mutual Life Vita Young Writers’ Award. Heinemann Australia published her next adult novel, Bitterbloom in 1991. Her YA novel, The Wishing Moon was shortlisted for the 1995 Australian Multicultural Children’s Award and was a 1995 Children’s Book Council Notable book.
Her YA dystopia, Days Like This, published by Penguin Australia was a finalist in the inaugural 2010 Amazon/Penguin Breakthrough Novel Award in the YA category.
Alison lives in Sydney and is married with two adult children. When she gets the chance, she loves travelling - who doesn't? Alison worked for years as a news and feature journalist. She currently writes travel stories.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
July 31, 2011
Lily, her brother Daniel and their little sister Alice have not left the house in three years. They, like all other children, have been locked away from the outside world for their own safety, so say the Central Governing Committee. The Committee have had the people’s best interests at heart ever since The Wall was built 12 years ago. When water became scarce and only the privileged could afford to drink, The Wall was built to cordon off the wealthy areas around Sydney Harbor, keeping out the riff-raff with the help of patrolling Blacktroopers. But since their captivity, Lily and her siblings have noticed a change in their parents. Their mother and father no longer touch them when they’re sick, they insist on feeding them strange serums and there is whispered talk of ‘serum enhanced’, ‘hormonally lucrative’ and an upcoming ‘harvesting’. When Daniel disappears in the middle of the night, Lily is certain she’s next, so she escapes. She steps out of her house for the first time in three years, and what she discovers on the outside is worse than she and Daniel ever imagined. With the help of an underground network of child survivors, Lily is determined to find her siblings and save them all.
The Wall was supposed to keep them safe, but all it has done is keep them in.
‘Days Like This’ is a new YA dystopian novel from Alison Stewart.
‘Days Like This’ was always going to be a show-stopping release. It was shortlisted for the 2010 Amazon/Penguin Breakthrough Novel Award and picked as one of three finalists in the young adult section. But more than that, this novel is a hotly anticipated addition to an ever-popular genre. . . Australian readers can rejoice – we have arrived! Finally, we have a dystopian novel to call our own! Not just that, but this dystopian is based in and around Sydney Harbor in a post-pharma state where aging adults have become the enemy and children are, literally, walled in.
‘Days Like This’ was impressive for a number of reasons, but the two big selling points for me was Stewart’s clever hark back to history, and her empowering of the young characters.
The novel's references and can be likened to a number of historical events. The Wall that has been erected around Sydney Harbour is reminiscent of the Berlin wall, erected in 1961 to segregate East and West Berlin. The Central Governing Committee’s Blacktrooper soldiers, who patrol the Sydney streets, are reminders of Hitler’s SS or Russia’s KGB, for their distinctive look and brutish behaviour. And when Lily ventures beyond her house and bands together with a group of other Wall-outsiders and child survivors, their underground network is akin to guerrilla war efforts – like the Vietnamese Viet Cong.
Alison Stewart never outright references these major historic events – but they’re impossible to miss and chilling in their reinvention on the page. Stewart has done a wonderful job of blending histories past mistakes to create a frighteningly controlled dystopic world.
At night Lily often woke in a sweat from a recurring dream in which all her memories were rubbed out and she was alone in a closed-up world. She had to work hard then to remember what outside even felt like.
Dystopia is a genre which inherently understands that young characters should be their own saviours and must empower themselves. Dystopia doesn’t often rely on adult characters to save the young people as the combination of societal explorations and thrilling adventures means that the young protagonists are at the helm of their destiny – urged to fight for themselves against the establishment. This is never truer than in Stewart’s ‘Days Like This’ – mostly because in this alternate world, adults are not saviours, they are the enemy. Stewart has created a chilling and villainous institution in the Central Governing Committee, and their greatest threat lies in their parent-soldiers who help to control and manipulate the children. It’s utterly spine-chilling and blood-curdling to read Lily’s parents, Pym and Megan, react to her teen rebellions and curb her mini mutiny.
Lily wanted to go back to the days when she and Daniel could run and play and climb trees, before her parents became strange, before the warming ate away at all the living things in their shrivelled-up world. Before the Wall.
I think many young Aussie readers will enjoy ‘Days Like This’ purely for the Australian setting. Dystopian books are nice, but clearly Aussie Dystopian books are better. And everything about ‘Days Like This’ is inherently linked to our culture and community – right down to the fact that Sydney was walled up when water became so precious that only the wealthy had access. Australia is currently in the double-digits of drought years, so even including this little tid-bit of background is an instant cultural understanding for readers.
‘Days Like This’ may seem all doom and gloom – but there are lighter moments. Fans of Dystopia like a little romance to break up the bleak, so they’ll be happy to know that Lily has a small love triangle between two boys from the other side of the wall, Kiernan and Luca. I don’t want to give anything away, but one is a bad boy and the other sweet, and the triangle will keep you on the edge of your seat.
I really, truly loved ‘Days Like This’ for a number of reasons. Alison Stewart has done an impressive job of making heroes out of her young protagonists; the kinds of characters you can cheer for and live their bravery vicariously. The novel is also a brilliant mesh of past histories, so that the Dystopia-setting feels like a culmination of this century’s worst political and societal mistakes – making the bleak setting all the more terrifying for its pseudo-reality. But, above all else, Stewart’s ‘Days Like This’ invokes chest-swelling, fist-pumping pride purely for being a true-blue Aussie YA Dystopian novel! Let’s just hope this it is the first of many.
The Wall was supposed to keep them safe, but all it has done is keep them in.
‘Days Like This’ is a new YA dystopian novel from Alison Stewart.
‘Days Like This’ was always going to be a show-stopping release. It was shortlisted for the 2010 Amazon/Penguin Breakthrough Novel Award and picked as one of three finalists in the young adult section. But more than that, this novel is a hotly anticipated addition to an ever-popular genre. . . Australian readers can rejoice – we have arrived! Finally, we have a dystopian novel to call our own! Not just that, but this dystopian is based in and around Sydney Harbor in a post-pharma state where aging adults have become the enemy and children are, literally, walled in.
‘Days Like This’ was impressive for a number of reasons, but the two big selling points for me was Stewart’s clever hark back to history, and her empowering of the young characters.
The novel's references and can be likened to a number of historical events. The Wall that has been erected around Sydney Harbour is reminiscent of the Berlin wall, erected in 1961 to segregate East and West Berlin. The Central Governing Committee’s Blacktrooper soldiers, who patrol the Sydney streets, are reminders of Hitler’s SS or Russia’s KGB, for their distinctive look and brutish behaviour. And when Lily ventures beyond her house and bands together with a group of other Wall-outsiders and child survivors, their underground network is akin to guerrilla war efforts – like the Vietnamese Viet Cong.
Alison Stewart never outright references these major historic events – but they’re impossible to miss and chilling in their reinvention on the page. Stewart has done a wonderful job of blending histories past mistakes to create a frighteningly controlled dystopic world.
At night Lily often woke in a sweat from a recurring dream in which all her memories were rubbed out and she was alone in a closed-up world. She had to work hard then to remember what outside even felt like.
Dystopia is a genre which inherently understands that young characters should be their own saviours and must empower themselves. Dystopia doesn’t often rely on adult characters to save the young people as the combination of societal explorations and thrilling adventures means that the young protagonists are at the helm of their destiny – urged to fight for themselves against the establishment. This is never truer than in Stewart’s ‘Days Like This’ – mostly because in this alternate world, adults are not saviours, they are the enemy. Stewart has created a chilling and villainous institution in the Central Governing Committee, and their greatest threat lies in their parent-soldiers who help to control and manipulate the children. It’s utterly spine-chilling and blood-curdling to read Lily’s parents, Pym and Megan, react to her teen rebellions and curb her mini mutiny.
Lily wanted to go back to the days when she and Daniel could run and play and climb trees, before her parents became strange, before the warming ate away at all the living things in their shrivelled-up world. Before the Wall.
I think many young Aussie readers will enjoy ‘Days Like This’ purely for the Australian setting. Dystopian books are nice, but clearly Aussie Dystopian books are better. And everything about ‘Days Like This’ is inherently linked to our culture and community – right down to the fact that Sydney was walled up when water became so precious that only the wealthy had access. Australia is currently in the double-digits of drought years, so even including this little tid-bit of background is an instant cultural understanding for readers.
‘Days Like This’ may seem all doom and gloom – but there are lighter moments. Fans of Dystopia like a little romance to break up the bleak, so they’ll be happy to know that Lily has a small love triangle between two boys from the other side of the wall, Kiernan and Luca. I don’t want to give anything away, but one is a bad boy and the other sweet, and the triangle will keep you on the edge of your seat.
I really, truly loved ‘Days Like This’ for a number of reasons. Alison Stewart has done an impressive job of making heroes out of her young protagonists; the kinds of characters you can cheer for and live their bravery vicariously. The novel is also a brilliant mesh of past histories, so that the Dystopia-setting feels like a culmination of this century’s worst political and societal mistakes – making the bleak setting all the more terrifying for its pseudo-reality. But, above all else, Stewart’s ‘Days Like This’ invokes chest-swelling, fist-pumping pride purely for being a true-blue Aussie YA Dystopian novel! Let’s just hope this it is the first of many.
August 8, 2017
Trigger warnings: violence, discussion of rape, graphic description of wounds, death of a sibling.
This was...yeah. Oof.
I've been wanting to read this book for YEARS after hearing that it was an Australian dystopian YA book. And the beginning was definitely promising. I mean, kids are kept captive in their houses and then disappear one by one, chased down by government soldiers? HELLA PROMISING.
But.
The writing was incredibly wooden. I didn't care about any of the characters. It dealt with serious issues in passing, and then without actually ADDRESSING those issues in any way, the issue would disappear off into the distance. There was no emotional connection anywhere. Like, the characters had no emotions about anything that was happening beyond occasional anger.
And the ending was so stupid that it made me want to set fire to things.
In summary: no.
This was...yeah. Oof.
I've been wanting to read this book for YEARS after hearing that it was an Australian dystopian YA book. And the beginning was definitely promising. I mean, kids are kept captive in their houses and then disappear one by one, chased down by government soldiers? HELLA PROMISING.
But.
The writing was incredibly wooden. I didn't care about any of the characters. It dealt with serious issues in passing, and then without actually ADDRESSING those issues in any way, the issue would disappear off into the distance. There was no emotional connection anywhere. Like, the characters had no emotions about anything that was happening beyond occasional anger.
And the ending was so stupid that it made me want to set fire to things.
In summary: no.
July 28, 2011
3.5/5
It is no mystery that the Dystopian genre is growing. Looking into a far changed society that has become otherworldly, I sometimes forget that these things happen supposedly on the other side of the world. Well this book happens to take place in Sydney!
Days Like This follows Lily, who has not stepped outside of her house since the Wall was built. The Warming has stripped the land bare; anyone living outside the priviledged area around Sydney is left in the barren wasteland to perish without the basic neccessities. Life at home has long turned sour, and when her twin brother Daniel disappears, Lily knows she has to escape at any cost.
I liked Lily as the protagonist. She loves her family, to the point where she will risk her life to save them. Her insanely strong will is so admirable. She does have her flaws - she is stubborn and can be irrational and clumsy, but that's what makes a great and likeable main character.
The people Lily meets are varied and bring a whole new dimension to the amount of damage and trauma the Community has brought them all.
The plot moves steadily, the mysteries surrounding the new world motivation enough for me to keep turning the pages.
There is a romance in the book, and while this book ends quite conclusively, if there does happen to be a sequel, I can tell there would be a love triangle. Lily has two guys of interest, though one guy cannot be trusted and so things are over before they even start.
Days Like This is a shocking tale of a corrupted society founded and coerced by greed, pride and vanity, and a girl whose familial loss brings her to a new world. The exploration of the future is always interesting, and Stewart's new book will get Aussie readers wondering, and edge-of-your-seat entertained to the end.
It is no mystery that the Dystopian genre is growing. Looking into a far changed society that has become otherworldly, I sometimes forget that these things happen supposedly on the other side of the world. Well this book happens to take place in Sydney!
Days Like This follows Lily, who has not stepped outside of her house since the Wall was built. The Warming has stripped the land bare; anyone living outside the priviledged area around Sydney is left in the barren wasteland to perish without the basic neccessities. Life at home has long turned sour, and when her twin brother Daniel disappears, Lily knows she has to escape at any cost.
I liked Lily as the protagonist. She loves her family, to the point where she will risk her life to save them. Her insanely strong will is so admirable. She does have her flaws - she is stubborn and can be irrational and clumsy, but that's what makes a great and likeable main character.
The people Lily meets are varied and bring a whole new dimension to the amount of damage and trauma the Community has brought them all.
The plot moves steadily, the mysteries surrounding the new world motivation enough for me to keep turning the pages.
There is a romance in the book, and while this book ends quite conclusively, if there does happen to be a sequel, I can tell there would be a love triangle. Lily has two guys of interest, though one guy cannot be trusted and so things are over before they even start.
Days Like This is a shocking tale of a corrupted society founded and coerced by greed, pride and vanity, and a girl whose familial loss brings her to a new world. The exploration of the future is always interesting, and Stewart's new book will get Aussie readers wondering, and edge-of-your-seat entertained to the end.
November 7, 2011
Since I read to the 100 page mark, I rated this book. The book does way too much telling, the logic behind the world building doesn't make much sense AND it was way too preachy. It was the preachiness that stopped me.
oh yeah... forgot to mention one of my other pet peeves came through this book.... the kids called their parents by their names not "mom" or "dad" (or whatever you would call them during that time/place). It felt so damn weird. I can understand in one aspect if they feel disconnected/fearful/suspicious of their parents not wanting to call them "mom"/"dad" but at least mention something about that. Telling us "they weren't worthy of being called mom and dad" would have helped me. This is just a personal rant.. you can ignore me now.
oh yeah... forgot to mention one of my other pet peeves came through this book.... the kids called their parents by their names not "mom" or "dad" (or whatever you would call them during that time/place). It felt so damn weird. I can understand in one aspect if they feel disconnected/fearful/suspicious of their parents not wanting to call them "mom"/"dad" but at least mention something about that. Telling us "they weren't worthy of being called mom and dad" would have helped me. This is just a personal rant.. you can ignore me now.
July 31, 2011
2.5 stars. (This book was a solid 2 star read for me, until the final third, when I found the story became much more engaging.)
This is a difficult review to write (and a difficult rating to give), because I wanted to love this book. So badly.
I think I went into this novel expecting some kind of awesome hybrid of ‘Tomorrow When the War Began’ and ‘How I Live Now’ – and perhaps I was basing this assumption entirely on the striking cover, which I love. Unfortunately, despite the captivating synopsis, ‘Days Like This’ fell somewhat short of my expectations.
Let me just say straight up that I really liked the premise of this novel. Stewart had an intriguing environmental set up for her dystopian Australia, and an interesting concept in the walled enclave of Sydney’s elite. Throw into the mix some genuinely creepy and disturbing ideas about aging, survival, reproduction and the value of beauty, and there was so much potential for this story to be completely compelling.
The reality was that, for me, it didn’t really deliver on any of the great ideas put forward. The set up and organisation of the future Sydney felt paper-thin and I just didn’t buy it. I’m willing to suspend belief in a lot of cases, but I couldn’t make myself here. As I read, I found myself distracted by some heavy-handed messages incorporated in the prose, and questioning the world building rather than being immersed in it. In addition, some plot points felt too convenient, too simple, to be truly believable. For example,
The prose was not particularly to my taste as it had a curiously wooden feel, which felt… distancing, rather than compelling. Even though the story deals with some heavy subject matter, there is a kind of sterility to the writing. Parts of the dialogue seemed strangely forced and stilted as well. I found myself chortling when a teenaged boy used the expression “for heaven’s sake”, which I don’t think was the intended reaction. Many of the interactions seemed like question and answer type scenarios to get chunks of information across to the reader, rather than opportunities to develop the characters and delve into their motivations.
The characterisation itself took more of a ‘telling’ approach, rather than showing - even the supposedly sinister Blacktroopers (terrible name) felt oddly like caricatures of “evil”. Further, at one point Lily, the protagonist, makes the observation of a male character being not only cute, but strong and capable. If this is purely a physical description – fine – but if it was intended to convey aspects of his personality, it didn’t really work, tossed in only a couple of pages and lines of dialogue after he is first introduced. In fact, if anyone in the story embodied the idea of being strong and capable, it was Ingie. That girl was a trooper! More successful was the portrayal Pym and Megan, whose warped personalities were distasteful from the outset.
Lily herself was a serviceable enough main character, but I didn’t feel particularly invested in her, despite her problems being serious and the stakes high. The antagonising and aggressive Sal was a much more interesting character than Lily, in my opinion.
As mentioned at the outset, I feel like the latter part of the book was the strongest. The tsunami scenes (I’m not spoiling here, you know this happens from the prologue) were intense and graphic, and felt much tighter than some of the earlier dramatic events. From Stewart’s description it was easy to visualise the walls of water sweeping into Sydney Harbour, the terror and devastation in its wake. I found myself caught up in the story at this point, whereas earlier I was pushing myself through it.
I’m ambivalent about the ending. I feel like I should have cared much more, like the impact should have been more forceful, that I was feeling what the characters were feeling. I can’t say that I did. It seemed a bit, “this happened” and “then this happened” and “then this person said..” and meanwhile I was thinking ’who is that person again? So while I was happy enough with the resolution, I was disappointed that I didn’t care about it more, and I wasn’t really a fan of the “moral of the story” type vibe to the conclusion.
I was excited about this book, and I’m sorry that I can’t rate it higher than I have. Even though the ideas and concepts were brilliant, I didn’t particularly care for the style in which they were executed. I have to say that this one missed the mark for me.
This is a difficult review to write (and a difficult rating to give), because I wanted to love this book. So badly.
I think I went into this novel expecting some kind of awesome hybrid of ‘Tomorrow When the War Began’ and ‘How I Live Now’ – and perhaps I was basing this assumption entirely on the striking cover, which I love. Unfortunately, despite the captivating synopsis, ‘Days Like This’ fell somewhat short of my expectations.
Let me just say straight up that I really liked the premise of this novel. Stewart had an intriguing environmental set up for her dystopian Australia, and an interesting concept in the walled enclave of Sydney’s elite. Throw into the mix some genuinely creepy and disturbing ideas about aging, survival, reproduction and the value of beauty, and there was so much potential for this story to be completely compelling.
The reality was that, for me, it didn’t really deliver on any of the great ideas put forward. The set up and organisation of the future Sydney felt paper-thin and I just didn’t buy it. I’m willing to suspend belief in a lot of cases, but I couldn’t make myself here. As I read, I found myself distracted by some heavy-handed messages incorporated in the prose, and questioning the world building rather than being immersed in it. In addition, some plot points felt too convenient, too simple, to be truly believable. For example,
The prose was not particularly to my taste as it had a curiously wooden feel, which felt… distancing, rather than compelling. Even though the story deals with some heavy subject matter, there is a kind of sterility to the writing. Parts of the dialogue seemed strangely forced and stilted as well. I found myself chortling when a teenaged boy used the expression “for heaven’s sake”, which I don’t think was the intended reaction. Many of the interactions seemed like question and answer type scenarios to get chunks of information across to the reader, rather than opportunities to develop the characters and delve into their motivations.
The characterisation itself took more of a ‘telling’ approach, rather than showing - even the supposedly sinister Blacktroopers (terrible name) felt oddly like caricatures of “evil”. Further, at one point Lily, the protagonist, makes the observation of a male character being not only cute, but strong and capable. If this is purely a physical description – fine – but if it was intended to convey aspects of his personality, it didn’t really work, tossed in only a couple of pages and lines of dialogue after he is first introduced. In fact, if anyone in the story embodied the idea of being strong and capable, it was Ingie. That girl was a trooper! More successful was the portrayal Pym and Megan, whose warped personalities were distasteful from the outset.
Lily herself was a serviceable enough main character, but I didn’t feel particularly invested in her, despite her problems being serious and the stakes high. The antagonising and aggressive Sal was a much more interesting character than Lily, in my opinion.
As mentioned at the outset, I feel like the latter part of the book was the strongest. The tsunami scenes (I’m not spoiling here, you know this happens from the prologue) were intense and graphic, and felt much tighter than some of the earlier dramatic events. From Stewart’s description it was easy to visualise the walls of water sweeping into Sydney Harbour, the terror and devastation in its wake. I found myself caught up in the story at this point, whereas earlier I was pushing myself through it.
I’m ambivalent about the ending. I feel like I should have cared much more, like the impact should have been more forceful, that I was feeling what the characters were feeling. I can’t say that I did. It seemed a bit, “this happened” and “then this happened” and “then this person said..” and meanwhile I was thinking ’who is that person again? So while I was happy enough with the resolution, I was disappointed that I didn’t care about it more, and I wasn’t really a fan of the “moral of the story” type vibe to the conclusion.
I was excited about this book, and I’m sorry that I can’t rate it higher than I have. Even though the ideas and concepts were brilliant, I didn’t particularly care for the style in which they were executed. I have to say that this one missed the mark for me.
August 12, 2011
Favourite Quote: Lily felt a tiny shift in the air. The hairs on her arms stood up. The troopers were coming. She sprinted along the street, examining the Wall for some notch or hole to scurry into. There was nothing - just an endless smooth expanse. Black clouds writhed under the heavy sun as the morning closed on midday.
In one sentence: Fast paced read that has plenty of heart-stopping moments as it climbs to the climax.
Days Like This is a dystopia novel set in in Sydney. Where there is a water shortage due to global warming effects, the government has collapsed and the committee has taken over. They have built a wall to keep the poor and people who would question or fight back with the committee out. The streets are patrolled by the emotionless Blacktroopers. And the children are kept locked inside their homes.
I love the concept for Days Like This. Stewart did a great job of writing a believable and well built world. With all the damage we are doing to our planet, water shortage and extreme weather seems possible and completely scary. I also love the setting. Set in Sydney, I was able to picture it perfectly and it definitely felt Australian.
The plot is a constant thrill ride with danger around every corner. It is just go, go, go right until the end. Stewart's writing is easy to read but I lacked emotional connection with the story. I was entertained but not fully invested in what was happening unfortunately.
Lily is an engaging main character. I always like a character who doesn't give up, who isn't afraid to get amongst all the action but yet is still caring and kind towards others. Then we have Keiran who is just a genuine good guy. Brave, loyal and sweet. We also have a mixed bunch of secondary characters some likeable and some so not so much.
Romance has a very minor role and yet it felt a little out of place and awkward. Maybe the awkwardness had to do with Lily being locked inside her house for so many years and having no interactions with other teens. So possibly this is why it didn't feel natural especially towards Luca. It is has sort of a brief love triangle or rather a moment of confusion. Thankfully Lily's connection to Kieran felt more honest, just lacking spark.
Also Days Like This is a standalone. No cliffhanger and your questions answered. It is so nice to read a book and not be dying for book two.
Overall, despite my issues with Days Like These it is still a good read. It is a smart novel that gets you thinking about the future of the world while it takes you on action packed ride.
In one sentence: Fast paced read that has plenty of heart-stopping moments as it climbs to the climax.
Days Like This is a dystopia novel set in in Sydney. Where there is a water shortage due to global warming effects, the government has collapsed and the committee has taken over. They have built a wall to keep the poor and people who would question or fight back with the committee out. The streets are patrolled by the emotionless Blacktroopers. And the children are kept locked inside their homes.
I love the concept for Days Like This. Stewart did a great job of writing a believable and well built world. With all the damage we are doing to our planet, water shortage and extreme weather seems possible and completely scary. I also love the setting. Set in Sydney, I was able to picture it perfectly and it definitely felt Australian.
The plot is a constant thrill ride with danger around every corner. It is just go, go, go right until the end. Stewart's writing is easy to read but I lacked emotional connection with the story. I was entertained but not fully invested in what was happening unfortunately.
Lily is an engaging main character. I always like a character who doesn't give up, who isn't afraid to get amongst all the action but yet is still caring and kind towards others. Then we have Keiran who is just a genuine good guy. Brave, loyal and sweet. We also have a mixed bunch of secondary characters some likeable and some so not so much.
Romance has a very minor role and yet it felt a little out of place and awkward. Maybe the awkwardness had to do with Lily being locked inside her house for so many years and having no interactions with other teens. So possibly this is why it didn't feel natural especially towards Luca. It is has sort of a brief love triangle or rather a moment of confusion. Thankfully Lily's connection to Kieran felt more honest, just lacking spark.
Also Days Like This is a standalone. No cliffhanger and your questions answered. It is so nice to read a book and not be dying for book two.
Overall, despite my issues with Days Like These it is still a good read. It is a smart novel that gets you thinking about the future of the world while it takes you on action packed ride.
August 13, 2011
Thanks to the increasingly harsh effects the Warming has had on the environment, 12 years ago a Wall was built around Sydney Harbour to protect those living in privileged areas. When food and water is becoming scarce, it seems only the rich are entitled to a chance at survival. Those outside the Wall were left to defend themselves, while those within the Wall began a supposedly perfect life...
Twins Lily and Daniel, along with younger sister Alice, have been prisoners inside their own home for the last three years. They're not allowed outside or to converse with any of their neighbours, and all their schooling is done on a computer screen. Their only visitors include the slimy Max (or Maximilian as he likes to be called) and the terrifying Blacktroopers who come once every week to ensure they each take their pills. Pills said to ward off disease, but is that really what they do? Even worse, it seems everyday their parents are growing more and more distant. Hugs, kisses, signs of affection have become a thing of the past for Lily and Daniel - their once warm, loving parents have become self-absorbed, caring more about themselves and what they look like than their own children. They're slightly more favourable toward Alice, but the clear lack of love is disturbing.
One morning, Lily wakes to find Daniel gone. Gone from the house they're never allowed to leave. Her parents won't tell her where he is or who's taken him, they offer no explanation or comfort. Not only is Lily frantic with worry over her twin brother, but she has a growing sense of unease that she's about to disappear next. Can she escape before she's taken? Can she find Daniel.... alive? Can she save both her brother and her sister before they're both swallowed up in the sick and horrific ways of The Committee?
Lily's devotion to her siblings really shines through prominently. She's finds refuge beyond the Wall, but all that's on her mind while she's there is going back to rescue Daniel and Alice. She'd never be able to live with herself if she gave up and left them behind. It was nice to see such strong family ties, especially when any such bond was lacking from their parents. Lily's incredibly stubborn and persistent, she won't take no for an answer. She's got a good heart though, not only for her siblings but for everyone around her and I think that really helps to fuel the bravery she demonstrates throughout the novel. Even if that does lead her to stupid decisions sometimes, you've still got to admire her character!
There is a small amount of romance, although not really evident until near the end of the novel, but that's not at all an issue because the main goal throughout the book is to escape, to rescue and to survive these dark and trying times.
Days Like This highlights some of the problems we already see in today's society in quite a shocking way. The Wall began as a divide between the rich and poor, only allowing those with money and status to thrive in a dying world. And it soon morphed into a twisted community where vanity is everything - the fear of growing old and the thirst for power will drive people to sickening acts to achieve what they want. No matter the cost. No matter the lives lost. With the influx of dystopian novels we see set in the US, it's refreshing to read something close to home. If not a little unsettling!
Twins Lily and Daniel, along with younger sister Alice, have been prisoners inside their own home for the last three years. They're not allowed outside or to converse with any of their neighbours, and all their schooling is done on a computer screen. Their only visitors include the slimy Max (or Maximilian as he likes to be called) and the terrifying Blacktroopers who come once every week to ensure they each take their pills. Pills said to ward off disease, but is that really what they do? Even worse, it seems everyday their parents are growing more and more distant. Hugs, kisses, signs of affection have become a thing of the past for Lily and Daniel - their once warm, loving parents have become self-absorbed, caring more about themselves and what they look like than their own children. They're slightly more favourable toward Alice, but the clear lack of love is disturbing.
One morning, Lily wakes to find Daniel gone. Gone from the house they're never allowed to leave. Her parents won't tell her where he is or who's taken him, they offer no explanation or comfort. Not only is Lily frantic with worry over her twin brother, but she has a growing sense of unease that she's about to disappear next. Can she escape before she's taken? Can she find Daniel.... alive? Can she save both her brother and her sister before they're both swallowed up in the sick and horrific ways of The Committee?
Lily's devotion to her siblings really shines through prominently. She's finds refuge beyond the Wall, but all that's on her mind while she's there is going back to rescue Daniel and Alice. She'd never be able to live with herself if she gave up and left them behind. It was nice to see such strong family ties, especially when any such bond was lacking from their parents. Lily's incredibly stubborn and persistent, she won't take no for an answer. She's got a good heart though, not only for her siblings but for everyone around her and I think that really helps to fuel the bravery she demonstrates throughout the novel. Even if that does lead her to stupid decisions sometimes, you've still got to admire her character!
There is a small amount of romance, although not really evident until near the end of the novel, but that's not at all an issue because the main goal throughout the book is to escape, to rescue and to survive these dark and trying times.
Days Like This highlights some of the problems we already see in today's society in quite a shocking way. The Wall began as a divide between the rich and poor, only allowing those with money and status to thrive in a dying world. And it soon morphed into a twisted community where vanity is everything - the fear of growing old and the thirst for power will drive people to sickening acts to achieve what they want. No matter the cost. No matter the lives lost. With the influx of dystopian novels we see set in the US, it's refreshing to read something close to home. If not a little unsettling!
November 25, 2014
CAN ANYONE SURVIVE DAYS LIKE THIS?
Days Like This by Alison Stewart
Published by Penguin Group, 2011
Reviewed by Tiffany Hong
Days Like This is an action-packed, thrilling, dystopian, Young Adult novel that has even been shortlisted for the 2010 Amazon/Penguin Breakthrough Novel Award and was chosen as 1 of 3 finalists in the Young Adult section. Alison's writing is quite easy to understand and her references to history and her inspiring and amazing characters make the book even more impressive.
Summary:
The story is set in future Sydney when the world is experiencing a major environmental crisis and Global Warming or 'the warming' as they called it, has caused the world to go into a Dark Age. Lily and her siblings are trapped inside their house and have not interacted with anyone outside their home for 3 years. Everything around Lily has changed ever since the Wall went up. The Wall that is supposed to keep them safe but actually keeps them in. The blacktroopers started coming, who were an army set up by the committee that carried out their dirty work and and started giving them tablets regularly. Even her parents were changing, somehow looking younger and their skin stretched and smooth. They seemed to lose their concern about their children. Lily watched through the bathroom window how the blacktroopers mercilessly beat up teenagers that look as if they were running for their life. Daniel, Lily's older brother had began getting terrible headaches and both of them started questioning what on Earth has happened to their old life and why they were being kept inside. Unlike Lily and Dan, Alice, their 12 year old little sister, seemed to think that nothing was suspicious and seemed to fully trust her parents. When Dan suddenly disappears without a sign just before his 17th birthday, Lily begins to become more and more agitated by what was happening around her. She knows she has to escape, and get away from here, get away further than the wall even if there was no one on the other side.
When she attempts to escape, she realises that the world she remembered is now gone and that the new world is much more worse than she could have ever imagined. As she escapes she is pursued by blacktroopers. The blacktroopers catch her and but she is suddenly saved by a group of teenagers around the same age as her who are from over the wall. Who are these people? Will she find Daniel? What will happen when she gets over the wall? The world that Lily now has to face is nothing like she ever thought.
My thoughts:
She has to escape.
But who else is out there?
And can anyone survive days like this?
I want to go back to the days when life made sense. The days before our parents became strange; before the warming ate away at all the living things in the world; before The Committee and their Blacktroopers. Before the Wall.
Lily is a prisoner in her own home. Forced to stay inside by The Committee and guarded by their increasingly distant parents, Lily and her brother Daniel are beginning to ask why. Then, when Daniel disappears just before his seventeenth birthday, Lily knows she is next.
When reading this book, I went through so many emotions that I can't even count them. I was sad, frustrated, angry, and shocked, but in other parts of it I was happy, satisfied, and pleased. But mainly I was in shock the whole time because the concept was so out of question and I never really thought about these kinds of things. There was some parts in the book that really surprised me and horrified me at the same time, but I knew that it was a crucial part of the story. To be honest, when I first started reading the book, I didn't really have a firm grip on it and I wasn't that interested in it. I was afraid that I chose the wrong book and that I might regret reading it after, but as I read more and more and got to the more gutsy part of the book I honestly couldn't put it down. I swear at one point my sister was prying it off me and I kept saying 'Just let me finish the chapter!'. The book really made me think, and I was always asking questions, why did that just happen, what does it mean, what's going to happen next? But in the end, everything tied together, and I think that although the main character went through so much, it really made her grow into a strong and determined person who I look up to. Alison created the perfect heroine and the story was very well paced, it wasn't rushed and even though there was so much to take in, it felt right. Alison spent many years writing this book and I believe that all her efforts have not gone to waste because I don't regret reading this book at all. This book really made me rethink what I value most, and I think that this book was very inspiring and I was quite satisfied at the end. I know that all my life everyone has told me to not judge a book by its cover and such but I couldn't help it. When I saw the cover I just loved it immediately even before reading the blurb (the blurb made me want to read it even more). I loved the colours the background, the silhouette of the characters, I just love the book cover, I would buy the book because the cover is so cool if I had the money. Also, the fact that it was based in Sydney made it even better and enjoyable because not many books are set in Australia, even though it is set when Sydney is in terrible circumstances. Overall, this book definitely deserves 5 stars because it was so amazing, I can't stop fangirling over it and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA, dystopian, futuristic, action, books with a touch of romance.
Days Like This by Alison Stewart
Published by Penguin Group, 2011
Reviewed by Tiffany Hong
Days Like This is an action-packed, thrilling, dystopian, Young Adult novel that has even been shortlisted for the 2010 Amazon/Penguin Breakthrough Novel Award and was chosen as 1 of 3 finalists in the Young Adult section. Alison's writing is quite easy to understand and her references to history and her inspiring and amazing characters make the book even more impressive.
Summary:
The story is set in future Sydney when the world is experiencing a major environmental crisis and Global Warming or 'the warming' as they called it, has caused the world to go into a Dark Age. Lily and her siblings are trapped inside their house and have not interacted with anyone outside their home for 3 years. Everything around Lily has changed ever since the Wall went up. The Wall that is supposed to keep them safe but actually keeps them in. The blacktroopers started coming, who were an army set up by the committee that carried out their dirty work and and started giving them tablets regularly. Even her parents were changing, somehow looking younger and their skin stretched and smooth. They seemed to lose their concern about their children. Lily watched through the bathroom window how the blacktroopers mercilessly beat up teenagers that look as if they were running for their life. Daniel, Lily's older brother had began getting terrible headaches and both of them started questioning what on Earth has happened to their old life and why they were being kept inside. Unlike Lily and Dan, Alice, their 12 year old little sister, seemed to think that nothing was suspicious and seemed to fully trust her parents. When Dan suddenly disappears without a sign just before his 17th birthday, Lily begins to become more and more agitated by what was happening around her. She knows she has to escape, and get away from here, get away further than the wall even if there was no one on the other side.
When she attempts to escape, she realises that the world she remembered is now gone and that the new world is much more worse than she could have ever imagined. As she escapes she is pursued by blacktroopers. The blacktroopers catch her and but she is suddenly saved by a group of teenagers around the same age as her who are from over the wall. Who are these people? Will she find Daniel? What will happen when she gets over the wall? The world that Lily now has to face is nothing like she ever thought.
My thoughts:
She has to escape.
But who else is out there?
And can anyone survive days like this?
I want to go back to the days when life made sense. The days before our parents became strange; before the warming ate away at all the living things in the world; before The Committee and their Blacktroopers. Before the Wall.
Lily is a prisoner in her own home. Forced to stay inside by The Committee and guarded by their increasingly distant parents, Lily and her brother Daniel are beginning to ask why. Then, when Daniel disappears just before his seventeenth birthday, Lily knows she is next.
When reading this book, I went through so many emotions that I can't even count them. I was sad, frustrated, angry, and shocked, but in other parts of it I was happy, satisfied, and pleased. But mainly I was in shock the whole time because the concept was so out of question and I never really thought about these kinds of things. There was some parts in the book that really surprised me and horrified me at the same time, but I knew that it was a crucial part of the story. To be honest, when I first started reading the book, I didn't really have a firm grip on it and I wasn't that interested in it. I was afraid that I chose the wrong book and that I might regret reading it after, but as I read more and more and got to the more gutsy part of the book I honestly couldn't put it down. I swear at one point my sister was prying it off me and I kept saying 'Just let me finish the chapter!'. The book really made me think, and I was always asking questions, why did that just happen, what does it mean, what's going to happen next? But in the end, everything tied together, and I think that although the main character went through so much, it really made her grow into a strong and determined person who I look up to. Alison created the perfect heroine and the story was very well paced, it wasn't rushed and even though there was so much to take in, it felt right. Alison spent many years writing this book and I believe that all her efforts have not gone to waste because I don't regret reading this book at all. This book really made me rethink what I value most, and I think that this book was very inspiring and I was quite satisfied at the end. I know that all my life everyone has told me to not judge a book by its cover and such but I couldn't help it. When I saw the cover I just loved it immediately even before reading the blurb (the blurb made me want to read it even more). I loved the colours the background, the silhouette of the characters, I just love the book cover, I would buy the book because the cover is so cool if I had the money. Also, the fact that it was based in Sydney made it even better and enjoyable because not many books are set in Australia, even though it is set when Sydney is in terrible circumstances. Overall, this book definitely deserves 5 stars because it was so amazing, I can't stop fangirling over it and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA, dystopian, futuristic, action, books with a touch of romance.
July 6, 2014
Interesting to have a dystopian novel set in Australia. I would have liked some more background about why things became the way they are in the story; how long they have been like that for etc. It obviously isn't set too far in to the future due to some of the place references, but things seem to have hit the roof pretty quickly.
I do think that the ending
I do think that the ending
August 1, 2011
This one hooked me in completely at the beginning.. So many questions to answer!!
Loved this one.
Great read!
Loved this one.
Great read!
August 21, 2011
Review posted at
Amaterasu Reads
Futuristic Sydney is unlike anything anyone expects it to be. Because of Global Warming, The Wall has been built. Water levels have been rising, quakes happen, temperatures rise everyday and nothing's been the same in Lily's life ever since the Wall has been built by the Committee 12 years ago. Blacktroopers are everywhere and forcing people to take pills, her parents could care less of her, her twin brother's sick and she has never set foot out of the house in three years. All hell broke loose when her brother was taken, and Lily knew she will be taken next. Why? For what purpose? She had to find out and fast, before she disappears next, before her younger sister was taken too.
Welcome to the future. A horrible nightmare filled with teenagers being "harvested" and uncaring parents who'd do anything to defy the natural course of time. It's the evil face of science taking over this story. Vanity and cruelty go hand-in-hand in this scary tale. I think the tagline "As the world grows older, it's dangerous being young" pretty much sums up what this book is about. I was very horrified with lengths parents go through for their own selfish reasons and what the teenagers had to experience in turn. It was disgusting and even disturbing when I've read of what happened to Lily's younger sister Alice. Can people really be that selfish, to the point that they give away their own children for something unnatural?
Lily comes from a wealthy family, thus she's been living a sheltered life. All of that changed when she started questioning everything. The Committee, the pills, why her twin bother never seemed to get better. She comes off as a strong character at first, her love for her siblings evident all throughout the story. But Lily's persistence in rescuing her siblings came to a point where she became very irritating. That single-minded reason and purpose turned me off a little bit, but for all the horrors she had been through, unloved and suddenly alone, she's brave, though at times a bit impulsive and stubborn. It touched my heart that despite the tragedy that seem to constantly surrounds her, she found something worth living for when she crossed over that wall. I love how empowered the teens are in this book, although it's because of very grim circumstances.
I am so glad this book has a bit of romance in it, though very sparse and clearly it wasn't the intention of the book to be a romance novel, but it's a brief respite from what the book is really about, which was Lily breaking free of the fake life she's been confined to, and trying to get her family whole again, or at least those that matters to her. I got swept in too much emotions that I didn't care much how Kieran and Lily just seemed to be together. But I guess even in the midst of despair and devastation, that's when people see clearly how important love can be.
So many aspects in Days Like This can be seen even today. The great divide between the rich and the poor, the thirst for power and man's desire to never grow old, maybe to live forever, trying to deny themselves what was supposed to happen. We live and then we die, and if humans so much as try to disrupt that simple but natural truth, the consequences can be fatal. Man's tendency to be evil to get what one wants is depicted in this book in vivid, frightening detail. It's very unnerving, but I think that just gave this book so much appeal.
Days Like This will shock you, scare you and most of all, make you reflect just how much a society can deteriorate and become as terrifying as Alison Stewart's first novel turned out to be. It's a novel that will bring you to an edge of your seat reading experience, bleak and dark and filled with doom, but it's one that you won't be able to put down until you reach the ending.
Futuristic Sydney is unlike anything anyone expects it to be. Because of Global Warming, The Wall has been built. Water levels have been rising, quakes happen, temperatures rise everyday and nothing's been the same in Lily's life ever since the Wall has been built by the Committee 12 years ago. Blacktroopers are everywhere and forcing people to take pills, her parents could care less of her, her twin brother's sick and she has never set foot out of the house in three years. All hell broke loose when her brother was taken, and Lily knew she will be taken next. Why? For what purpose? She had to find out and fast, before she disappears next, before her younger sister was taken too.
Welcome to the future. A horrible nightmare filled with teenagers being "harvested" and uncaring parents who'd do anything to defy the natural course of time. It's the evil face of science taking over this story. Vanity and cruelty go hand-in-hand in this scary tale. I think the tagline "As the world grows older, it's dangerous being young" pretty much sums up what this book is about. I was very horrified with lengths parents go through for their own selfish reasons and what the teenagers had to experience in turn. It was disgusting and even disturbing when I've read of what happened to Lily's younger sister Alice. Can people really be that selfish, to the point that they give away their own children for something unnatural?
Lily comes from a wealthy family, thus she's been living a sheltered life. All of that changed when she started questioning everything. The Committee, the pills, why her twin bother never seemed to get better. She comes off as a strong character at first, her love for her siblings evident all throughout the story. But Lily's persistence in rescuing her siblings came to a point where she became very irritating. That single-minded reason and purpose turned me off a little bit, but for all the horrors she had been through, unloved and suddenly alone, she's brave, though at times a bit impulsive and stubborn. It touched my heart that despite the tragedy that seem to constantly surrounds her, she found something worth living for when she crossed over that wall. I love how empowered the teens are in this book, although it's because of very grim circumstances.
I am so glad this book has a bit of romance in it, though very sparse and clearly it wasn't the intention of the book to be a romance novel, but it's a brief respite from what the book is really about, which was Lily breaking free of the fake life she's been confined to, and trying to get her family whole again, or at least those that matters to her. I got swept in too much emotions that I didn't care much how Kieran and Lily just seemed to be together. But I guess even in the midst of despair and devastation, that's when people see clearly how important love can be.
So many aspects in Days Like This can be seen even today. The great divide between the rich and the poor, the thirst for power and man's desire to never grow old, maybe to live forever, trying to deny themselves what was supposed to happen. We live and then we die, and if humans so much as try to disrupt that simple but natural truth, the consequences can be fatal. Man's tendency to be evil to get what one wants is depicted in this book in vivid, frightening detail. It's very unnerving, but I think that just gave this book so much appeal.
Days Like This will shock you, scare you and most of all, make you reflect just how much a society can deteriorate and become as terrifying as Alison Stewart's first novel turned out to be. It's a novel that will bring you to an edge of your seat reading experience, bleak and dark and filled with doom, but it's one that you won't be able to put down until you reach the ending.
August 17, 2011
What makes books more interesting for the readers is when it has a setting close to home. What made me want to read Days Like This was that it was set in Sydney, but a very different and changed Sydney than that which we know of today. No matter if it was set in Perth or some unknown shanty town in the country, I would have still been filled with excitement because it is set in Australia. Sure, there’s many contemporary books set down under, but not really much of dystopian, the current ‘thing’ growing in YA. We really haven’t had any dystopian story set here since John Marsden’s Tomorrow series. Alison Stewart gave us as Aussie readers a view into a damaging and corrupt society which could be a possibility for many of us in the future.
Days Like This is set in a dystopian Sydney where the Commitee controls. Rapid climate changes and disastrous natural disasters strike, immediately dumping those in the outer regions into poverty. Desperate people begin to seek refuge in the city, in need of food, water, shelter; the bare necessities. But the Committee cuts those without wealth and relations in order to successfully sustain its resources by using the Blacktrooper security force to build a wall around the city. Disobeying the Committee is not something you would want to do.
Lily, her twin brother Daniel and young sister Alice are lucky to live within the Wall. However, not all is what it seems. Their parents begin acting strangely and soon after, Daniel disappears before he turns seventeen. After the medications they are forced to take and the bracelets forced to wear to avoid them from escaping, Lily knows that something is wrong. That she could be next if she doesn’t escape. But she knows nothing about whats beyond the Wall where her answers lie. Surviving is all that it takes to find her brother and return for Alice too.
From the beginning I had a fondness for Lily. She exhibited traits which we find most endearing in a protagonist. Although stubborn and strong, she is benevolent to the point that she would risk her own life to not only save those she loves, such as her brother and sister, but rather those she had only just met. I loved this about her; a person for others. But at times it seemed like she was trying to always be ‘the hero’ than just being her ordinary self.
At times the plot is slow and steady but it isn’t until the last third that it takes a turn for the worst and packs an explosive punch. And yes I understand that this world is dealing with environmental issues and climate change and what not, and yes Alison wrote a thrilling, dramatic, intense, graphic tsunami scene, but what I found almost hard to believe from a ‘reality perspective’ is that the tsunami hit at the exact moment when Lily and co. were doing their ’thing’. Besides that, Alison’s description of these devastating scenes were easy to visualise. Walls of water towering over the city. Sydney Harbour being engulfed by water. The terror and devastation in its wake. I found myself caught up in the story just wanting the devastation to end. And then it subsided and I was finally relieved to breathe again.
Overall, Days Like This was a cunning new dystopian for Australian readers to devour, which packs a punch in all the right places. However, I don’t believe it needed the epilogue that it has as it felt cheesy after experiencing a whirlwind of a ride just beforehand. Without the epilogue, it would’ve left us craving for more and given us the chance to think what will happen next, rather than being force-fed an ending such as that. I wish I hadn’t read the epilogue and that is final.
Days Like This is set in a dystopian Sydney where the Commitee controls. Rapid climate changes and disastrous natural disasters strike, immediately dumping those in the outer regions into poverty. Desperate people begin to seek refuge in the city, in need of food, water, shelter; the bare necessities. But the Committee cuts those without wealth and relations in order to successfully sustain its resources by using the Blacktrooper security force to build a wall around the city. Disobeying the Committee is not something you would want to do.
Lily, her twin brother Daniel and young sister Alice are lucky to live within the Wall. However, not all is what it seems. Their parents begin acting strangely and soon after, Daniel disappears before he turns seventeen. After the medications they are forced to take and the bracelets forced to wear to avoid them from escaping, Lily knows that something is wrong. That she could be next if she doesn’t escape. But she knows nothing about whats beyond the Wall where her answers lie. Surviving is all that it takes to find her brother and return for Alice too.
From the beginning I had a fondness for Lily. She exhibited traits which we find most endearing in a protagonist. Although stubborn and strong, she is benevolent to the point that she would risk her own life to not only save those she loves, such as her brother and sister, but rather those she had only just met. I loved this about her; a person for others. But at times it seemed like she was trying to always be ‘the hero’ than just being her ordinary self.
At times the plot is slow and steady but it isn’t until the last third that it takes a turn for the worst and packs an explosive punch. And yes I understand that this world is dealing with environmental issues and climate change and what not, and yes Alison wrote a thrilling, dramatic, intense, graphic tsunami scene, but what I found almost hard to believe from a ‘reality perspective’ is that the tsunami hit at the exact moment when Lily and co. were doing their ’thing’. Besides that, Alison’s description of these devastating scenes were easy to visualise. Walls of water towering over the city. Sydney Harbour being engulfed by water. The terror and devastation in its wake. I found myself caught up in the story just wanting the devastation to end. And then it subsided and I was finally relieved to breathe again.
Overall, Days Like This was a cunning new dystopian for Australian readers to devour, which packs a punch in all the right places. However, I don’t believe it needed the epilogue that it has as it felt cheesy after experiencing a whirlwind of a ride just beforehand. Without the epilogue, it would’ve left us craving for more and given us the chance to think what will happen next, rather than being force-fed an ending such as that. I wish I hadn’t read the epilogue and that is final.
September 10, 2011
Have you ever had a book in your hands that you want to rush reading but you can’t because you’re scared you'll miss a whole lot? Like you can't read fast enough? You just want to keep flipping to the next page because you just HAVE to know what happens next?
Or you just want to stop reading because you feel like you’re about to suffer a coronary?
Well, this book just about did me in.
Three words: Pulse pounding action.
While the world of the future lay in arid, ugly ruins, the community inside the wall lives in prosperity and beauty. The saying, Beauty is only skin deep, rings true - loud and clear in this book. If you find yourself outside the wall, however, you should count yourself lucky – especially if you’re at the ripe age of 13 to 17.
The utopian world built inside the wall only caters to adults; governed by a stronghold faction called The Committee and Blacktroopers, parents were forced, then drugged into giving up the lives of their children all for the sake of reversing the aging process. Can you say vanity?
What happens to the children are nothing short of unspeakable. You’re either harvested for the hormones produced in your pituitary glands or you become a breeder – forced to be impregnated at the age of 13.
I’m big on dystopian because of one reason. I love seeing humans struggle to make choices that will either lead them to survival or to their eventual demise. Days Like This is no different. Adults chose wrongly and became empty husks of their old self – unemotional beings whose dependency to the fountain of youth in a serum led them to give up their own children willingly. And some chose to live in a quasi-freedom outside the wall that enables them to flourish while being hunted all their lives. Tough choices.
This was the gruesome reality for Lily. Her twin brother Daniel just disappeared and had ended up in the harvesting facility, where she, herself had ended up for a brief tenure as well. And as far as she’s concerned, her parents were long gone despite being physically present. Her sister Alice was a candidate for breeding, an unforgiveable act especially in the hands of one leery character.
Coupled with straightforward writing and vivid imagery, Days Like This is relentless. Just when I thought Lily was home free, another obstacle would be thrown along her way. But she was defiant and courageous in her plight.
The possibility of this world ever happening was so believable - all thanks to Ms. Stewart’s credible writing.
The romance in this book is something that I could have gone without. I know, I know, this doesn’t sound like me. But I thought the Luca/Kieran thing was awkward. I guess I thought it was kind of funny how easy it was for Lily to accept the boys’ attention without her feeling, weirded out? After all, she’s been isolated for most of her life, held as a prisoner inside her home. Her reaction to the commune in the cave was more natural. That’s pretty much my only grievance with this book.
Other than that, I enjoyed reading this as much as one could enjoy a nightmarish possibility of the future. It had everything I look for in a good dystopian read – minus the romance element.
Or you just want to stop reading because you feel like you’re about to suffer a coronary?
Well, this book just about did me in.
Three words: Pulse pounding action.
While the world of the future lay in arid, ugly ruins, the community inside the wall lives in prosperity and beauty. The saying, Beauty is only skin deep, rings true - loud and clear in this book. If you find yourself outside the wall, however, you should count yourself lucky – especially if you’re at the ripe age of 13 to 17.
The utopian world built inside the wall only caters to adults; governed by a stronghold faction called The Committee and Blacktroopers, parents were forced, then drugged into giving up the lives of their children all for the sake of reversing the aging process. Can you say vanity?
What happens to the children are nothing short of unspeakable. You’re either harvested for the hormones produced in your pituitary glands or you become a breeder – forced to be impregnated at the age of 13.
I’m big on dystopian because of one reason. I love seeing humans struggle to make choices that will either lead them to survival or to their eventual demise. Days Like This is no different. Adults chose wrongly and became empty husks of their old self – unemotional beings whose dependency to the fountain of youth in a serum led them to give up their own children willingly. And some chose to live in a quasi-freedom outside the wall that enables them to flourish while being hunted all their lives. Tough choices.
This was the gruesome reality for Lily. Her twin brother Daniel just disappeared and had ended up in the harvesting facility, where she, herself had ended up for a brief tenure as well. And as far as she’s concerned, her parents were long gone despite being physically present. Her sister Alice was a candidate for breeding, an unforgiveable act especially in the hands of one leery character.
Coupled with straightforward writing and vivid imagery, Days Like This is relentless. Just when I thought Lily was home free, another obstacle would be thrown along her way. But she was defiant and courageous in her plight.
The possibility of this world ever happening was so believable - all thanks to Ms. Stewart’s credible writing.
The romance in this book is something that I could have gone without. I know, I know, this doesn’t sound like me. But I thought the Luca/Kieran thing was awkward. I guess I thought it was kind of funny how easy it was for Lily to accept the boys’ attention without her feeling, weirded out? After all, she’s been isolated for most of her life, held as a prisoner inside her home. Her reaction to the commune in the cave was more natural. That’s pretty much my only grievance with this book.
Other than that, I enjoyed reading this as much as one could enjoy a nightmarish possibility of the future. It had everything I look for in a good dystopian read – minus the romance element.
November 8, 2011
Days Like This is an exciting read but it's more than that. It skilfully presents an array of moral conundrums for the intelligent reader to negotiate and in the end, aren't books meant to encourage us to examine our own humanity?
These are questions I thought about after reading Days Like This: How much does addiction affect the way we behave? What should be done about our scarce resources and more importantly, who should be given access to these resources? Who should make these decisions?
We don't need the current social upheaval in the world to tell us that perhaps there are people in power who might not have the best interests of the majority at heart. And yet these are the people who make decisions not only about our lives but about our world.
Alison Stewart distils these kinds of people into the sinister Committee who selfishly uses its illgotten power for selfish advancement.
One of the book's strengths is that it is the least powerful in this dystopian society - the young people - who stand up and are counted. Lily is an empowering character who starts out initially brainwashed, like her siblings, but has the strength to question and challenge this weird society's norms.
Not that the other society created outside the Walls is all good; it isn't but at least there is an attempt to make a more fair and humane society, minus the selfishness, exploitation and cruelty that has evolved in the ironically highly politicised and sophisticated society within the Wall.
Big Kudos to Alison Stewart. I hope this book is read and thought about by many!
These are questions I thought about after reading Days Like This: How much does addiction affect the way we behave? What should be done about our scarce resources and more importantly, who should be given access to these resources? Who should make these decisions?
We don't need the current social upheaval in the world to tell us that perhaps there are people in power who might not have the best interests of the majority at heart. And yet these are the people who make decisions not only about our lives but about our world.
Alison Stewart distils these kinds of people into the sinister Committee who selfishly uses its illgotten power for selfish advancement.
One of the book's strengths is that it is the least powerful in this dystopian society - the young people - who stand up and are counted. Lily is an empowering character who starts out initially brainwashed, like her siblings, but has the strength to question and challenge this weird society's norms.
Not that the other society created outside the Walls is all good; it isn't but at least there is an attempt to make a more fair and humane society, minus the selfishness, exploitation and cruelty that has evolved in the ironically highly politicised and sophisticated society within the Wall.
Big Kudos to Alison Stewart. I hope this book is read and thought about by many!
October 9, 2011
Totally loved this book in so many ways. It's a wild ride for sure, fast paced but it's also skilfully written, not just an action driven extravaganza.
Thoughtful readers will see that there are many layers here, moral issues like the consequences of inaction on global warming, what to do about our dwindling natural resources, the powerlessness of young people, greed, corruption, and a perverse desire for immortality that's also reflected in today's society. Go dystopia!
And it's like it was written for today as people protest around the world about unequal wealth. It's fantastic to read a YA book that's gripping but also has much deeper issues and deals so well with important themes of exploitation and alienation.
Lily is a courageous, also compassionate character easy to relate to, fabulous role model.
Please read this book.
Thoughtful readers will see that there are many layers here, moral issues like the consequences of inaction on global warming, what to do about our dwindling natural resources, the powerlessness of young people, greed, corruption, and a perverse desire for immortality that's also reflected in today's society. Go dystopia!
And it's like it was written for today as people protest around the world about unequal wealth. It's fantastic to read a YA book that's gripping but also has much deeper issues and deals so well with important themes of exploitation and alienation.
Lily is a courageous, also compassionate character easy to relate to, fabulous role model.
Please read this book.
September 11, 2011
Days Like This took me a bit longer to get into. However once I was in, it was equally rewarding. The problem (on of the few) was that there are so many big issues to explore in a dystopian society that standalone books don’t often get to explore everything they introduce as fully as they could. It is actually an excellent book, and I wish that I could have spent more time with the characters and really nutted out the whys of this intriguing society. As with Legend it is the characters that make the book interesting and offer the most surprises and their motivations add to the complexity of the story.
Read full review at http://athousandwordsfestival.com.au/...
Read full review at http://athousandwordsfestival.com.au/...
September 3, 2011
Days Like This was an exciting fast-paced page-turner. I couldn't wait to find out what would happen to Lily next so was glued to the pages till the end, unlike a lot of adventure books I've read where the pace is poor and I don't feel the need to race to the end at all. I liked the author's style of writing too - tight, descriptive and engaging the reader in the characters and story. This Australian book is aimed at young adults but will appeal to all ages because my family and I, who are past young adult stage, all loved it!!
September 3, 2011
A truly thought provoking book. I really would like to recommend this one. It's a fast paced story with Lily as a quite feisty heroine; but there are other empowered characters as well like Kieran. I love dystopia and I really like it that this one is set in Sydney, Australia because so much has been set in the US. Don't be put off by bleak themes because these are things we should be looking at anyway like global warming and the emphasis on staying young forever, also the battles between rich and poor, and young and old. There's hope there and that's the point.
October 25, 2014
Thank you to Penguin Books Australia for this review copy!
Probably the third dystopian I had ever read, Days Like This was quite startlingly different from the other two (Matched and The Giver)- it was harsher, in it's ways, more violent and totally spun me up into it's tale; I wasn't sure what I thought about it for some time, whilst I read, but gradually I started to love it, started to become a part of the story, and now I remember it fondly (and yearn for a reread) as one of my favourites.
Probably the third dystopian I had ever read, Days Like This was quite startlingly different from the other two (Matched and The Giver)- it was harsher, in it's ways, more violent and totally spun me up into it's tale; I wasn't sure what I thought about it for some time, whilst I read, but gradually I started to love it, started to become a part of the story, and now I remember it fondly (and yearn for a reread) as one of my favourites.
March 26, 2012
Even though this book is aimed at the Young Adult age group, I loved it.
It was a quick read, as the suspense kept me going. A frightening tale, all the more so as it is potentially not that unrealistic.
So many of the issues that face us were entertwined into the tale -- global warming, obsession with youth, racism, possibly some reference to apartheid.
The Sydney setting was both appealing and scary for me, being a Sydneysider myself.
I highly recommend this thought-provoking and beautifully written book.
It was a quick read, as the suspense kept me going. A frightening tale, all the more so as it is potentially not that unrealistic.
So many of the issues that face us were entertwined into the tale -- global warming, obsession with youth, racism, possibly some reference to apartheid.
The Sydney setting was both appealing and scary for me, being a Sydneysider myself.
I highly recommend this thought-provoking and beautifully written book.
August 6, 2011
DAYS LIKE THIS is a wonderful tale about a corrupt world, one that is being constantly surrounded with greed and vanity. With a strong female character bringing this shocking new world to life, Stewart's new book will get Aussie readers and even international ones on the edge of their seats!
Full review: http://talesoftheinnerbookfanatic.blo...
Full review: http://talesoftheinnerbookfanatic.blo...
March 7, 2012
While I can't say this was my favorite dystopian ever, it was up there. From the minute I started this book it sucked me in and I was hooked.
The story dealt with issues of addiction, our treatment of the earth, and societies obsession with youth and beauty. There was plenty of suspense, action, and interesting characters too.
Overall I give this a 4.5/5 and I always round up! I will definately read more from this author.
The story dealt with issues of addiction, our treatment of the earth, and societies obsession with youth and beauty. There was plenty of suspense, action, and interesting characters too.
Overall I give this a 4.5/5 and I always round up! I will definately read more from this author.
September 28, 2011
this book is short, simple yet moving and i have a lot of ways to describe how great this novel is...
when i found out it was set in australia, sydney... i got excited... but as i read it, it made me wonder if in the future our government will b like the government in the novel... even though there r ups n downs, good always rules out evil...
@ the end, its a happily ever after... very sweet...
<
when i found out it was set in australia, sydney... i got excited... but as i read it, it made me wonder if in the future our government will b like the government in the novel... even though there r ups n downs, good always rules out evil...
@ the end, its a happily ever after... very sweet...
<
August 28, 2014
5 Stars, hands down!!!
This was a very creepy look at a future world where The Commitee dictates the lives of its residents who live inside "The Wall." And it's not a pretty picture, at all. You needs to check this out!
A HUGE THANK YOU to author Alison Stewart for sending me a copy of her book after I was having trouble getting it myself! I was so intrigued by the description, that I had to have it...and I'm so glad I had a chance to read some of her work!
This was a very creepy look at a future world where The Commitee dictates the lives of its residents who live inside "The Wall." And it's not a pretty picture, at all. You needs to check this out!
A HUGE THANK YOU to author Alison Stewart for sending me a copy of her book after I was having trouble getting it myself! I was so intrigued by the description, that I had to have it...and I'm so glad I had a chance to read some of her work!
September 4, 2011
In A Nutshell:
Stewart has cleverly woven together the hot topic of global warming with the escalating obsession of looking young and beautiful forever. A fast paced novel for dystopian fans.
For my full review, please visit my blog:
http://www.thetalescompendium.com/201...
Stewart has cleverly woven together the hot topic of global warming with the escalating obsession of looking young and beautiful forever. A fast paced novel for dystopian fans.
For my full review, please visit my blog:
http://www.thetalescompendium.com/201...
September 7, 2011
A YA dystopian novel set in Sydney? Yes please!!! The first bit of this story was a but slow, and some of the action was a bit too Matthew Rielly, but overall this was a gripping, thought provoking story. Plus, it's a stand alone - so rare these days!!
I found the main character very likable, and she doesn't run around constantly making bad choices like so many other YA heroines.
I found the main character very likable, and she doesn't run around constantly making bad choices like so many other YA heroines.
August 4, 2011
I loved this book. It made me think and it had some scary premises. Aussie dystopia - excellent! Sequel please???? Ending very "open ended"
August 22, 2011
Exciting read, loved every page!
August 30, 2021
Read the first 80 pages which were entirely meh, and the last 1 which was totally ooof.
Read
August 9, 2022
Trigger & Content Warnings
Rape discussed
Physical injuries
Death of a sibling
Rape discussed
Physical injuries
Death of a sibling
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews