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Tomorrow #5

Burning For Revenge

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The action doesn't let up in the most explosive Tomorrow book yet -- another international bestseller from John Marsden.

The journey to Stratton isn't an easy trip, especially when the enemy's headquarters lie somewhere along the way. And that's exactly where Ellie and her friends unwittingly find themselves. With only five of them against hundreds of armed soldiers, escape seems like a suicide mission. But Stratton is where Ellie's grandmother lives, so the journey must be made -- even though the odds aren't good.
Ellie must summon all of her courage and guerrilla instincts to survive the latest high-stakes installment of the action-packed Tomorrow series.

261 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

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5327 people want to read

About the author

John Marsden

90 books1,955 followers
There is more than one author with this name in the database, see f.e. John Marsden.

John Marsden was an Australian writer and school principal. He wrote more than 40 books in his career and his books have been translated into many languages. He was especially known for his young adult novel Tomorrow, When the War Began, which began a series of seven books.
Marsden began writing for children while working as a teacher, and had his first book, So Much to Tell You, published in 1987. In 2006, he started an alternative school, Candlebark School, and reduced his writing to focus on teaching and running the school. In 2016, he opened the arts-focused secondary school, Alice Miller School. Both schools are in the Macedon Ranges.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 427 reviews
Profile Image for Ryan Buckby.
704 reviews92 followers
May 21, 2025
First read: June 27th 2010
Re-read: March 13th 2018, September 23rd 2020, June 16th 2022

Burning for Revenge is the fifth book in the tomorrow series and let me assure you the action and the explosions don't let up in this book. As always the book picks up right were it left off,The journey to Stratton isn't an easy trip, especially when the enemy's headquarters lie somewhere along the way. And that's exactly where Ellie and her friends unwittingly find themselves. With only five of them against hundreds of armed soldiers, escape seems like a suicide mission. But Stratton is where Ellie's grandmother lives, so the journey must be made, even though the odds aren't good. Ellie must summon all of her courage and guerrilla instincts to survive

I found this book was one of the most action packed books than any of the other ones of the series which i thought was excellent made the series so much more interesting and hard to put down. I was glad to see some characters starting to pop up more in the story than they had in the previous 4 books.


It was really one of those 'Oh my gosh' books in reference to Fi's favourite words
Profile Image for -Edamommie-.
396 reviews18 followers
May 3, 2012
What is it about Marsden's writing that has you believing a group of teens can save their country?? Blow up airplanes? Kill soldiers and go "bush" and have you feel every pain, tear, angry and happy( there were a few here and there)moment?! These are a Must read if you enjoy action packed, heroic, angsty books.. They stick with you.. Thinking about these Aussie teens like they are non fictional.. Thats Marsden..:)
Profile Image for Brooke.
469 reviews7 followers
August 5, 2011
I think I could read about 20 books in this series if they existed. Once again the kids pull off some guerrilla warfare with lots of great explosions and action. The relationships continue to develop and I was happy to see Kevin have a bit of a bigger role in this book since he tends to get sidelined a bit. It's great to see the characters evolving. I kept thinking about why I love this series so much and I decided that it's because of all the little back stories Ellie tells about the characters. It makes them, their relationships, interactions, and reactions believable. Loved it!
Profile Image for Ewa (humanizmowo).
584 reviews99 followers
July 27, 2021
O wiele lepsza część od pozostałych. Akcja była bardziej emocjonująca, stresowałam się tak samo jak bohaterzy. Końcówka zmiotła mnie z planszy.
Profile Image for Zoey .
301 reviews19 followers
September 21, 2015
Ellie, Homer & the others are back among the action in this the 5th book in The Tomorrow Series. After their failed attempts to hurt the enemy in the previous book, this time they are back with a bang (in more ways than one)
Action a plenty & the teens dealing with the psychological & emotional effects of the war & their relationships with each other, makes for another great instalment in this series.
Thanks to Mish for recommending I try the audio for this series, you were right; the narrator really does suit the voice of Ellie :)
Profile Image for Jenny.
2,029 reviews52 followers
November 11, 2010
The Tomorrow series continues in this 5th installment of Ellie and her friends trying to make it through the world.

There's very little dialogue in this book - most of it is action. I don't really mind, although I find that the dialogue helps continue to build the characters.

The funny thing about why I keep reading these books isn't the suspense (I totally peeked at the end of this book so I knew what was coming) but it's the way that Marsden writes his action. These scenes are so compelling! The scene with the barn at the end just drew me in - doesn't matter where I am or how in the mood I am to read his books - I just get sucked in.

As soon as I get through the books that I have out from the library, I'm going into the 6th book!
Profile Image for Erin Watson.
101 reviews3 followers
February 28, 2016
Would have given this book 4 stars but Lee annoyed me so on principle I have taken off a star.
Profile Image for Brendan.
1,277 reviews53 followers
April 6, 2016
This ends things with a bang and the unfortunately situation where they cannot trust anyone outside the group. The book is slow burning this time around, at least they don't leave the country like they did a few novels back. They now understand that the fight is far from over and the revolution is only in the beginnings. I liked the character development a little better with this story, Leigh finally reveals something about himself that Ellie is shocked to discover. The book is a little formulaic though, I feel like we have covered similar ground in previous books, this is normally the case with a series running this long and this short in length. I'm eager to see how this one ends, the journey has been chaotic and to finally see the finale will be worth the read. Things are still going strong for the group hanging around Hell, the next chapter will dive into the betrayal of the last book, I won't be impressed if they don't. They have already shown some of the betrayal inside the prison but to how far it goes and the why is something I need covered in the next two books.

As teen novels go, this series is definitely up there with some of the better ones. It has a real threat and message to everyone.
Profile Image for K..
4,719 reviews1,136 followers
April 10, 2017
Plot summary: After the disappearance of the New Zealand troops in Darkness, Be My Friend, Ellie and her friends are back in Hell. But when they're informed that air support can't be spared to get them out, they decide that it's time to take action. After finding out what's been happening to their family and friends, they're all out for a little revenge.

Thoughts: The title of this book is enormously appropriate. Yes, they're all still emotionally traumatised by the war. But their desire to fight back has reappeared. And it's summer, so what better way to fight back than with fire! It's a theme throughout the book - there are explosions and action aplenty. The gang end up in the most dangerous situation yet, and are forced to confront their feelings about each other, the war, and themselves as individuals.
December 18, 2015
AWESOME

i loved the nitty gritty stuff - this book isnt nice, it doesnt cut back on the details because they make us uncomfortable. it gets right up in your face and makes you feel like your the main character going through this war just trying to survive and help get your country back. ellie, the main character isnt out there she totally believable with normal teenage flaws. actually its kind of creepy for an older male author to get it so right.

while im sure many parents wouldnt want there children to read this series because of the violence i highly recommend it - but i would put an age limit on it. no one under 15.
Profile Image for Emma Rossi.
Author 1 book23 followers
March 31, 2023
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

(Read via Audible)

I love the narrator, Suzi Dougherty, for this series. She does such a great job.

Another great book in the series. The last focused more on Ellie’s PTSD whereas I feel this one focused more on relationships within the group.
Profile Image for Kat V.
1,177 reviews8 followers
February 29, 2024
Still a good series but it’s kinda the same thing over and over now. Still good but not as good, but I’m going to stick it out because I want to know how it ends. 4 stars
Profile Image for Goska Majewska.
357 reviews6 followers
July 28, 2021
3,5. Już zaczyna być nudno... na tym tomie poprzestane czytanie.
Profile Image for Natalie.
834 reviews62 followers
August 16, 2018
3.75 / 5

After the end of Darkness, Be My Friend, Ellie and co. are hiding out in Wirrawee following their failed and dealing a little with the aftermath of their shootout. After a brief "discussion", the team decides to head out from their hideout and see if there's anything they can do to assist with the war effort, though seems to have lost it a bit and definitely isn't doing near as well as the others in the present climate (...and that's not to say the others are well-adjusted either, because they're definitely not).

After travelling the countryside for a bit, they come across an old junk yard and decide to have a bit of a look around and maybe see if there's anything useful, but after a group of trucks turns up out of nowhere (almost catching them in the process), they make the only decision they have and jump into the back of one of said trucks to hide, hoping that there might be some way for them to escape during the journey (y'know... without breaking their legs by jumping out of a moving vehicle and/or being run over by one of the other trucks in the convoy) but don't get the opportunity to do so before the trucks are parked in some weirdly large garage, and they are left alone. Lo and behold, where is it that they've ended up? Why, no other place but !

After an initial bit of panic they decide to look around and see if they can get some supplies to hold up for a while, while they make a plan to do what it is that they tried to do in the last book... unfortunately they end up having to make up something on the fly when ... oops? ANYWAYS, . As with their previous plan against Cobbler's Bay, they seem to rather underestimate just how much damage they can do, and manage to... well do a LOT of damage, before making a very hasty exit while pursued by some rather pissed off enemy military personnel.

Our team manage to escape, and end up in Stratton, deciding to go and visit Ellie's grandma... or her house rather (she's definitely not there) and after an initial scare by a squatter that was NOT them, they manage to make a bit of a home for themselves and settle down a bit... though not before .

The end of this novel shows Lee being a dumb-ass and Ellie coming to the rescue before they are finally able to contact the Colonel again. Of course, now that the the Colonel offers to bring them "home" again (to New Zealand). But why would they leave? They're already home, and there's much work to do before the series can end ;D

ONTO BOOK #6.
Profile Image for Kat.
477 reviews184 followers
May 31, 2014
Picking up shortly after the conclusion of Darkness, Be My Friend, the teens find themselves back in Hell, feeling like they have been abandoned by the New Zealanders after their failed attempt to sabotage the local airport. Each is driven by their own feelings as to what they want to do next, but as a group they once again make a decision and stick to it.

After deciding that staying in Hell is not in the best interests of the group as a whole, they decide to make the trip to the nearest big city, Stratton, in hopes of making contact with their families, some of which are rumoured to be working in the nearby vicinity.

On a personal note, when reading these books I always come across more and more Australian slang words that I had completely forgotten about over the past few years, and I loved it (and even tried some out on friends and colleagues, with much hilarity and strange looks ensuing). I've always wondered how this comes across to readers who aren't Australian or haven't been exposed to the slang before, but this whole series definitely FEELS Australian, and I'm glad that hasn't faded away.

Ellie continues to feel conflicted about her feelings for Lee, and there's a quite grown-up perspective to how they behave with each other which reflects just how much the characters have matured and continue to do so.

Burning for Revenge is probably the most action packed book of the series so far - the group embarks on yet another act of sabotage, which is probably the most on-the-fly thing they have done so far - and they utilise both their old knowledge and bravery they have gained along the way. The final act of the book is also incredibly intense, and really shows the lengths that the characters go to to protect each other - and even forgive something they could never have moved on from in the past.

Burning for Revenge is the fifth installment of the Tomorrow series, and although the risk with such a long series is that the plot and characters can feel a bit similar, Marsden continues to up the ante both in terms of intensity and in how far the teens go to try and sabotage the enemy that has invaded Australia.
Profile Image for Nemo (The ☾Moonlight☾ Library).
724 reviews320 followers
December 3, 2015
This review was originally posted on The Moonlight Library 

After their failure to do anything successful in the last book, our intrepid teens decide it’s time to go out and fuck up the war effort some more. Completely by accident they find themselves inside the very airfield the missing Kiwi soldiers were planning to attack. Surrounded by enemies, will our heroes make it out alive, and can they cause some chaos while they do it?

Lee is completely unpredicatable in this book. Half the time he’s raging, or cool as a cucumber, or risking it all, or planning ahead. He’s all over the place as the stresses of war get to him. Kevin completely breaks down and is basically useless the entire book. And Fi and Ellie grow even closer, to totally and completely BFF.

This book contains all of the explosions and firestorms and chaos that was missing in the last book. Not only do our teen heroes manage to escape with their lives, but they royally fuck up the airfield. They escape Wirrawee down the river and end up in Stratton – the same place they were held prisoner and was bombed by the Kiwis in Book 3. Stratton’s quieter these days, ruled by fearless street kids and not many soldiers. Even then, it’s Lee who screws up and nearly gets everyone murdered by visiting his bit on the side. If it weren’t for Ellie keeping an eye on him and burning down a barn, he’d be dead. As it is, Ellie explores her feelings for him in this book. She also spends a lot of time thinking about Robyn, which I think is lovely, because I freaking loved Robyn.

With the extra danger, bigger explosions, and general chaos interspersed with character-building introspection and quieter moments demonstrating the normal life of an invaded country still at war, this is one of the better books in the series.
Profile Image for Lukas Anthony.
335 reviews353 followers
December 23, 2012
Another good entry in the series, although I'm happy there are only two more left as this was definitely the weakest book so far. Still strong, but minor annoyances from the previous books are beginning to grate a little.

After the failed bombing of the airbase in the last book, the gang find themselves in the 'unlucky' position of getting taken into the base while hiding in the back of a truck from some troops, suffice to say, craziness ensues. The attack on the base, is as always with this series, very tense and the action flows extremely well...with about a hundred pages dedicated to pure action.

Previous little annoyances are starting to rear their head though, a lot of what these kids do is based on luck, and it's getting to the point where they are seeming 'too' lucky for it to be believable, Lee's 'other woman' was also quite stupid, especially since it seems very out of character and hardly any page time was really dedicated to it. Also, annoying bloody orphans, which I'm told appear in the next book. Bad times.
Profile Image for Monic.
289 reviews13 followers
June 14, 2017
2.5/5

Never did like book!Lee (which is a shame since movie!Lee was kind of nice). He's pushy when it comes to Ellie and always got mad/made her feel bad when he didn't get his way.

I really have a problem with the way Marsden downplayed Ellie's rape and always described it as something she has "done" with the boy from Wellington, instead of something he did to her.
Profile Image for Vera Baetas.
415 reviews32 followers
November 4, 2022
So this book is nothing at all. I like the characters and the writing and that's my rating all about. This first part of the book it was a lot of action, but they took too long to get things done.
And then in that town nothing happen, besides Lee stupid mistake. He broke my heart.
The goal of this book was to stall.
Profile Image for Cherie.
1,343 reviews139 followers
May 27, 2016
Probably the most emotional story yet! Whew... The teens accidently find themselves right in the middle of the mission that failed in the last book. Kevin falls appart and the others have no choice but to drag him along right into the middle of the action.
Profile Image for Brie.
180 reviews
April 7, 2023
I feel so betrayed by lee... Also brave of them to stay there, if I got offered a ride out of the war I would've taken it no hesitation
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Aleksander.
241 reviews2 followers
August 11, 2024
PRZEKLNIJCIE MNIE I NAZWIJCIE OBELGĄ, BO BĘDZIE TO MILSZE, NIŻ PRZECZYTANIE TEJ KSIĄŻKI.

Zacznijmy od podstaw jak w szkole podstawowej - tytuł. Ta seria ogółem nie ma farta w ich kwestii. Pomijając, że zarówno oryginalne jak i polskie niekoniecznie są mocno związane z ich treścią, tak ich tłumaczenie jest absolutnie okropne.
"Tomorrow, when the war began" -> "Jutro. Nie ma już żadnych zasad"
"The dead of the night" -> "Jutro 2. W pułapce nocy"
"A killing frost" -> "Jutro 3. W objęciach chłodu"
"Darkness be my friend" -> "Jutro 4. Przyjaciele mroku"
"Burning for revenge" -> "Jutro 5. Gorączka" (tej to się jak na razie oberwało najbardziej)
O to, co mnie najbardziej boli w tym tłumaczeniu:
a) dodawanie cyferek przy poszczególnych częściach sprawia, że wygląda to jak plakat zapomnianego akcyjniaka
b) tytuły nabierają luźniejszej formy, nie oddają poważnego tonu samych powieści
c) tłumaczka (Anna Gralak) nie tłumaczy tytułów, a tworzy własne
d) piąty tom (nikt w nin nawet nie choruje, to miało miejsce w 2/3 części)

A z poważniejszych zarzutów, to ostatnie 100 stron tej książki koncertowo ją zarżnęło. Zaczęliśmy zbaczać w terytoria kiespkiego filmu dla młodzieży, a nie opowieści o wojnie i grupie nastoletnich partyzantów-amatorów. Czy my naprawdę musimy w tym momencie dyskutować o romantycznych relacjach między postaciami, które nawet nie są angażujące?

SPOILER Ellie z Fi oraz Homer z Lee mają tysiąckrotnie lepszą chemię nie Ellie z Lee i Homer z Fi kiedykolwiek. Ci drudzy chodzili ze sobą przez jakieś 50 stron pierwszego tomu, po czym zerwali, dlaczego nagle w obojgu odzywają się motyle w brzuchu? I skąd te nagłe emocjonalne zobowiązania, które Ellie odczuwa do Lee? Przecież oni zerwali. Naprawdę wolałbym, aby te 100 stron poświęcić dzieciom ze Stratton, a nie przypominaniu czytelnikom o tych miłostkach.

"Jutro 5. Gorączka", czy jak ja wolę to nazywać "Jutro, kiedy nauczyłem się nienawidzić Lee". Ten człowiek upadł tak nisko, jak on mnie denerwował w tym tomie. Intencjonalnie, więc nie jest to błąd ze strony Marsdena, ale wciąż. Chociaż te jego nocne eskapady są kompletnie bezsensowne. SPOILER Bo naprawdę człowiek nienawidzący tych najeźdźców najbardziej z tej grupki przyjaciół zawiązałby romans z jedną z nich? Plus początek tego romansu to też cudo - typiara wyszła pływać w stawie nago, zaczęła tonąć i jej krzyki przypadkiem usłyszał zbierający w pobliżu grzyby Lee, a po uratowaniu jej zakochali się i zaczęli widzieć się co noc. Toż to absurd jakiś jest, w poprzednich częściach ci najeźdźcy nawet po angielsku nie mówili.

Brzmię pewnie bardzo negatywnie, ale ta książka nie jest taka zła. Jest, jak na razie, najsłabszą z serii i dlatego podchodzę do niej tak emocjonalnie, ale poza tym jest całkiem przyzwoita. Ba, pierwsze 160 stron jest tym "Jutrem", które lubię - planowanie, ukrywanie się, improwizacja, dobre sceny operacji okołowojskowych. Szkoda, że drugą część trafił szlag. 3,5/5 z zaokrągleniem do 3.
Profile Image for Antonella.
566 reviews92 followers
October 9, 2018

"I had thought there was no hope. I had thought there was no solution. I thought death was the only option. Now I realised that by our own determination we'd made things happen. We'd found answers where there were none. I promised myself to remember this lesson forever."




Creo que este libro es un poco similar al anterior: es un poco de relleno, y las cosas que pasaron no lograron sorprenderme del todo. A pesar de eso, creo que hubo más acción que en el anterior.
Mi problema, otra vez, es que hay mucho individualismo dentro de nuestro grupo de amigos, y me hubiera gustado que a pesar de todo lo que pasaron puedan resolver sus diferencias, por suerte al final se fue arreglando un poco eso.
Las revelaciones fueron bastante meh, no me aportaron mucho, aunque tengo que admitir que el final me dejó bastante intrigada.

"I began to think the damage to our country, to us even, went so deep now that it would never fully be repaired. I realised the worst damage wasn't the bombed buildings, the burnt-out cars, the shattered windows. It wasn't even the neglected farms and the holes in the fences and the crops gone to seed. It was the damage deep inside us."


215 reviews1 follower
November 1, 2020
En av de mest actionspäckade böckerna i serien. Men även om jag uppskattar spänningen är det förändringen som Ellie genomgår i boken som är det som mest stannar kvar hos mig efter läsningen. Dels hopplösheten som börjar rota sig i henne - att hon inte längre hoppas på att överleva kriget, vilket får både henne och de andra att ta större risker - men också hur alla fem drar sig in i sig själva och slutar prata med varandra. Det känns trovärdigt och samtidigt väldigt sorgligt.
Profile Image for Magda.
284 reviews2 followers
May 27, 2024
3,4 ⭐
199/200 strona - Lee, to było MEGA CHAMSKIE. Lubiłam cię.
Ten tom nie wciągnął mnie zbytnio. Jasne, była akcja, ale wydaje mi się, że ta seria już mi się trochę nudzi. Z drugiej strony nie chce robić dużych przerw między częściami, bo później mogę już nie wrócić, jak to było za pierwszym razem.
Profile Image for Svenja.
1,047 reviews64 followers
February 13, 2017
Ich finde diese Reihe wirklich super, aber so langsam sollte es mal ein Ende geben. Elli und ihre Freunde erleben immer wieder Neues und stiften weiterhin Unruhe, aber man ist so ein bisschen müde von den Abenteuern geworden.

Trotzdem ist die Entwicklung der Protagonisten großartig ausgearbeitet!
Profile Image for Rylee Creed.
35 reviews
June 18, 2024
One of two books in the series that I gave 5 stars, the other being The Third Day. Although I spent most of the book more irritated at Lee than even Ellie, this book felt so raw and real. Marsden have Ellie such a strong voice as the narrator that I feel every joy and every pain along with her.
Profile Image for Hannah.
93 reviews
January 16, 2025
6/10 - Notable improvement from the last ones imo… and finally something unexpected happened! I really am over the the narrator and her voices/accents for the characters, but maybe I just love to hate the series at this point 😭 also Fi is giving major Elaine from ACOTAR vibes, give the girl some kind of personality pls.
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