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237th out of 7,908 books
—
39,498 voters
How I Live Now
by
Meg Rosoff
“Every war has turning points and every person too.”
Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.
As power fails, and systems fai...more
Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.
As power fails, and systems fai...more
Paperback, 194 pages
Published
November 30th 2004
by Wendy Lamb Books
(first published January 1st 2004)
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Oct 24, 2010
Kat Kennedy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
kat-s-book-reviews,
should-have-been-bad
In all fairness, I had plenty of warning. I'd read Tatiana's review so I should have been well prepared.
Conventional wisdom states that when cousins get freaky, you're likely to end up with something like this:
No! No! Noooooooooooooooooo!
But nobody told Daisy and Edmond that. Nothing says true love like boinking your underage, nicotine addicted, telepathic first cousin while a war is going on.
This book was infinitely better when Daisy and Edmond weren't doing things against all the laws of God a...more
Conventional wisdom states that when cousins get freaky, you're likely to end up with something like this:
No! No! Noooooooooooooooooo!
But nobody told Daisy and Edmond that. Nothing says true love like boinking your underage, nicotine addicted, telepathic first cousin while a war is going on.
This book was infinitely better when Daisy and Edmond weren't doing things against all the laws of God a...more
how i live now has been called a modern-day Jane Eyre – which I can dig, had Bronte’s novel been set during a terrorist occupation and featured incestuous teenage romance. (St John Rivers doesn't count.) Fleeing a disinterested father, a wicked stepmother, and an eating disorder, 15-year-old Daisy moves to England to live with her cousins on a farm. Their idyllic adventures are interrupted by a war with an unnamed, unseen enemy, and the children are forced to go on the run as food, water, and ev...more
This book is one of my favorite books, if not the favorite. I love Rosoff's simplified writing, which has a massive effect on the book.
Another reviewer wrote how the story is not - which would be the obvious assumption - about the love between Daisy and Edmond. Instead it is about survival and how people come together in ways that no one would have seen coming if it wasn't for the strange circumstances. I agree.
I think I gasped out loud when I realized I was on the second last page of the book....more
Another reviewer wrote how the story is not - which would be the obvious assumption - about the love between Daisy and Edmond. Instead it is about survival and how people come together in ways that no one would have seen coming if it wasn't for the strange circumstances. I agree.
I think I gasped out loud when I realized I was on the second last page of the book....more
For me this seems a swirling together of four different books. Firstly a book of enormous lyricism and poetry – about people, about landscapes, about relationships and feelings. Secondly a book about a group of children having an adventure, with a journey being an important part of that adventure – it could have been penned by Enid Blyton in this respect. It evoked her world of childhood loyalty and that incredibly warm spirit of companionship. Thirdly it was a book about war, death, fear, loss...more
Jul 21, 2010
Jacob
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2010,
magical-realism
I really love this book, but I wouldn't recommend most people read the print book. This is a sad and brilliant and beautiful book but it's so much easier if you listen to the audiobook instead, because the author has a tendency to Capitalize Words Randomly and not use "quotation marks" when people are speaking so it's kind of hard to tell and then the sentences are really quite long. I liked the style when rereading but many, many people did not. So definitely choose the audiobook, since these,...more
in a sentence: A 15 year old is faced with starvation and desperation while discovering true love and family all at the same time.
Daisy is a teenage girl with an evil stepmother, a nonchalant father, and an eating disorder. After she is shipped off to live with her never before seen cousins in England, her journey begins. She (and the reader) encounter mystically intriguing characters with a lifestyle completely unlike her own. Much to her own surprise, she fits right in with them, and falls in...more
Daisy is a teenage girl with an evil stepmother, a nonchalant father, and an eating disorder. After she is shipped off to live with her never before seen cousins in England, her journey begins. She (and the reader) encounter mystically intriguing characters with a lifestyle completely unlike her own. Much to her own surprise, she fits right in with them, and falls in...more
At first I was hesitant to put this book in my CLW line up because it is not, actually, a book I love. However, after giving the matter some thought I've decided that even though I don't adore it, this novel does fit my basic "chick lit" guideline (strong female character in a book written by a female author) so it gets to stay.
"How I Live Now" is Meg Rosoff's first novel. It is a Printz Award winner (an award for excellence in young adult literature), the Branford Boase Award for a first novel,...more
"How I Live Now" is Meg Rosoff's first novel. It is a Printz Award winner (an award for excellence in young adult literature), the Branford Boase Award for a first novel,...more
YA. This is almost one of those staples of children's literature where the unwanted child gets sent off to live with strange relatives in the English countryside, then the cousins all have precious adventures together and learn a little something about family. It's almost like that, except a war breaks out and their precious adventures turn into gritty survivalism instead. Even in the middle of rations and artillery, our narrator has a kind of implicit eating disorder, and I still can't tell if...more
I started reading this book at the store, got to chapter 26, and realized it was the end of my lunch break. Today I got it from the library, finished it, and immediately started again.
Possibly this is all because of my general obsession with social history and behavior around/during particular contemporary wars, but still I think it's good enough to induce compulsion. I find the arc of the story quick, violent (literally/metaphorically), and extremely believable. The character development and in...more
Possibly this is all because of my general obsession with social history and behavior around/during particular contemporary wars, but still I think it's good enough to induce compulsion. I find the arc of the story quick, violent (literally/metaphorically), and extremely believable. The character development and in...more
The writing is superb, I immersed myself in the streaming consciousness of Daisy’s narration and breathed after 10 hours or so.
When Daisy described nature I could feel the touch and the smell of it, when Daisy described her auntie’s house I was right there, the food made me hungry, I rejoiced for her love and suffered for her loss.
Daisy is a sharp sarcastic new yorker whose only weapon against oblivion is food-deprivation, when she visits her cousins in England she senses that everything is diff...more
When Daisy described nature I could feel the touch and the smell of it, when Daisy described her auntie’s house I was right there, the food made me hungry, I rejoiced for her love and suffered for her loss.
Daisy is a sharp sarcastic new yorker whose only weapon against oblivion is food-deprivation, when she visits her cousins in England she senses that everything is diff...more
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff is a frakken amazing dystopian book. It won a Printz award in 2005. I found How I Live Now to be compelling and impossible to put down until the very end.
Read the rest of my review here
Read the rest of my review here
While the world wavers on the brink of war, struck by terrorist attacks and embargoes, Daisy's big concern is whether her stepmother is poisoning her food and how much she hates the unborn baby. Shipped off by her father to stay with cousins she's never met in England, she's not so far into herself that she doesn't notice something a bit odd about them.
Osbert, the eldest, seems fairly normal, being responsible for his siblings while their mother, Daisy's Aunt Penn, is away but really wanting to...more
Osbert, the eldest, seems fairly normal, being responsible for his siblings while their mother, Daisy's Aunt Penn, is away but really wanting to...more
I really loved this book. Daisy is a vivid, compelling narrator - she reminds me of Cassandra Mortmain from I Capture the Castle in some ways - indomitable will and dry wit and the ability to be clear-eyed even when it hurts or is at her own expense - and her story is heartbreaking and utterly engaging. I was in tears by the end. The writing is sharp and insightful and funny, and it carries the story forward inexorably, and I couldn't look away even when I was afraid of what was going to happen...more
Horrible. This book contained inappropriate content for the recommended 13 year old and up readers. An anorexic 15 year old has sex with her "cool", cigarette smoking cousin. This book is everything you wouldn't want your 13 year old reading about. On top of the disgusting content I found there to be really no plot and no real clear resolution or ending. The characters were strangers to me the entire time while reading. I found the whole story rather boring and pointless.
PLOT:3/20
CREATIVITY:3/2...more
PLOT:3/20
CREATIVITY:3/2...more
The world has gone insane.
Daisy arrives in England to get picked up at the airport by Edmund, who’s smoking a cigarette and can’t possibly be old enough to drive. But the adults . . . they’re the reason the world is insane. She’d far rather plunge into the psychic craziness that is Edmund and Piper and the rest of her cousins than try to figure out the War.
If they can just hide out in the sheep barn long enough, and bring enough chocolate, maybe the reality that explains why Daisy’s father has d...more
Daisy arrives in England to get picked up at the airport by Edmund, who’s smoking a cigarette and can’t possibly be old enough to drive. But the adults . . . they’re the reason the world is insane. She’d far rather plunge into the psychic craziness that is Edmund and Piper and the rest of her cousins than try to figure out the War.
If they can just hide out in the sheep barn long enough, and bring enough chocolate, maybe the reality that explains why Daisy’s father has d...more
Feb 03, 2011
Lauren
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
critical readers, mature readers, thoughtful readers
I spent a while considering how I would rate this book, but finally decided on a full 5/5 rating, and here's why:
It troubles me greatly that so many readers can't see past the unconventional relationship between our protagonist and her cousin, because it so wholly isn't what the book is about. That's the only real downfall of "How I live Now"--unfortunately, Meg Rosoff seemed to target her book towards an audience too immature to realize that this novel is a novel about SURVIVAL. It's a novel ab...more
It troubles me greatly that so many readers can't see past the unconventional relationship between our protagonist and her cousin, because it so wholly isn't what the book is about. That's the only real downfall of "How I live Now"--unfortunately, Meg Rosoff seemed to target her book towards an audience too immature to realize that this novel is a novel about SURVIVAL. It's a novel ab...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
When Daisy's father and stepmother (whom she dispises) are expecting a new baby, Daisy goes to stay with her astranged aunt and cousins in England. Her cousins seem to have extra sensory gifts, with which Daisy is intrigued but not surprised or troubled. Spending time alone when her aunt travels abroad, the cousins grow a quick bond and Daisy falls in love with Edmond, the oldest of the cousins. Their bond becomes tangible, almost a character in and of itself. When an unnamed force attacks Engla...more
general:
saoirse ronan is set to lead the indie drama how i live now, based on the novel by megan rosoff. directed by kevin macdonald (life in a day), the world war II tale follows a new york city teen named daisy (ronan) who heads to england to spend the summer with relatives. when bombs fall over london, daisy and a young girl named piper struggle to make it alone in the woods as they look for safety. [ article ]
movie vs. book [13. june 2012]
the screenplay, though quite different in many ways...more
I first heard about this book from a "dystopia/apocalyptic fiction" reading list for teens. That being said, the cover did not especially make me think the story would involve anything of that nature - it was all butterflies and doodles and happiness.
It took me a few pages to really get into the author's writing style - lots of run-on sentences and no quotation marks to separate out the dialogue. Once I did, the story sucked me in. I really had no idea what to expect, and the story took many une...more
It took me a few pages to really get into the author's writing style - lots of run-on sentences and no quotation marks to separate out the dialogue. Once I did, the story sucked me in. I really had no idea what to expect, and the story took many une...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
In this novel, teenager Daisy escapes her "evil" stepmother to live with her cousins in England; embarks on a semi-incestuous relationship with her cousin Edmond, with whom she shares some sort of psychic connection; and must fend for herself and protect her young cousin Piper when England is invaded by some unnamed foreign power. Plus she's got to confront her anorexia. Or something.
I still have no idea was Rosoff was going for in this book. There are so many different elements, but they seem m...more
I still have no idea was Rosoff was going for in this book. There are so many different elements, but they seem m...more
Fifteen-year-old Daisy, unhappy and anorexic, is bundled off to live with her aunt and cousins in rural England in this slightly-futuristic young adult novel. In a refreshing change of pace for the "unwanted-girl-is-sent-to-live-with-relatives" genre, Daisy's relations welcome and embrace her. They are a strange little group, and Daisy fits right in, sharing their psychic talents for one thing.
When the country is invaded, Daisy must travel through war-torn England with her younger cousin Piper...more
When the country is invaded, Daisy must travel through war-torn England with her younger cousin Piper...more
It's a 'teen fiction' but I think that kind of label sometimes does a disservice to some amazing literature that's out there. I'm in a book group and it's this months book. I picked it up today planning to skim read it ready for Wednesday but was so engrossed that I read the whole thing in about two hours.
It's written in a first person narrative and the narrator is a 15 year old annorexic from New York who's sent to live with her English cousins. That would probably be enough to put anyone off b...more
It's written in a first person narrative and the narrator is a 15 year old annorexic from New York who's sent to live with her English cousins. That would probably be enough to put anyone off b...more
Every once in a while, I like to read a book written for teens--to recapture that sense of youth and hopefulness mixed with aching torment--revisiting the emotions of first-loves and the horror of high-school. I think it is important for adults, especially parents, to identify with what teenagers today are reading and going through. Set in the very near future, the novel tells the story of a 15-year old American named Daisy who is sent to visit her cousins on a farm in Britain. A war breaks out...more
Daisy is sent from New York to live with relatives in England because her stepmother doesn't like her. Or something, that bit isn't important. What is important is how she interacts with these new-found relatives who live out in the country. Next thing you know, there's a war on and the only adult in the house is in a different country.
This is a story of survival in the face of horror, and tenacity. It's a story of how bonds are made and sustained. It's a 'young adult' book, which I usually take...more
This is a story of survival in the face of horror, and tenacity. It's a story of how bonds are made and sustained. It's a 'young adult' book, which I usually take...more
Jun 27, 2007
Megan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Not for the faint of heart
Shelves:
youngadultnovels,
adultfiction
This book is considered young adult, but I would not hesitate to shelve it as an adult book. It's a quick read and it is almost impossible to put down. Daisy is an american teen sent to live with extended family over in England. The time is present day, though it could be the future, and at the beginning of the book the ominous presence of war looms in the background. When Daisy reaches her cousins, I can't remember why their mother is away but she is, war breaks out and literally arrives in the...more
I am a big fan of YA fiction and this little book did not disappoint. I couldn´t sleep last night and reading this book did not help since once I started I had to finish it in one reading. As soon as I was done I wanted to read it again...Daisy´s coming of age tale was well written, captivating and engaging. The author did an excellent job of writing in the teen voice and capturing the horror of war. I am a big fan of apopylitic stories and survival tales, even though they feed my own paranoid a...more
Good. It still kind of annoys me when authors decide to forgo the usage of quotes when indicating speaking. But it worked okay in this one. Also, they kept doing Random Capital Words like this when something was meant to be emphasized. Like. It was a Very Big Deal. I don't know, that also annoys the crap out of me. Another thing. STOP MAKING ANOREXIA SEEM SEXY, YA AUTHORS. I don't understand the trend. Though in this book, the main chick pretty much gets over her "it's so cool to be skinny and b...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What? | 19 | 109 | Feb 21, 2013 06:23pm | |
| Addicted to YA: How I Live Now | 4 | 50 | Oct 03, 2012 10:11am | |
| Movie? | 2 | 28 | Apr 10, 2012 03:13pm | |
| Forever Young Adu...: YA Books being made into films | 1 | 35 | Dec 17, 2011 09:10am |
Meg Rosoff was born in Boston and had three or four careers in publishing and advertising before she moved to London in 1989, where she lives now with her husband and daughter. Formerly a Young Adult author, Meg has earned numerous prizes including the highest American and British honors for YA fiction: the Michael L. Printz Award and the Carnegie Medal.
More about Meg Rosoff...
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“I don't get nearly enough credit in life for the things I manage not to say.”
—
174 people liked it
“I was dying, of course, but then we all are. Every day, in perfect increments, I was dying of loss.
The only help for my condition, then as now, is that I refused to let go of what I loved. I wrote everything down, at first in choppy fragments; a sentence here, a few words there, it was the most I could handle at the time. Later I wrote more, my grief muffled but not eased by the passage of time.
When I go back over my writing now I can barely read it. The happiness is the worst. Some days I can't bring myself to remember. But I will not relinquish a single detail of the past. What remains of my life depends on what happened six years ago.
In my brain, in my limbs, in my dreams, it is still happening.”
—
81 people liked it
More quotes…
The only help for my condition, then as now, is that I refused to let go of what I loved. I wrote everything down, at first in choppy fragments; a sentence here, a few words there, it was the most I could handle at the time. Later I wrote more, my grief muffled but not eased by the passage of time.
When I go back over my writing now I can barely read it. The happiness is the worst. Some days I can't bring myself to remember. But I will not relinquish a single detail of the past. What remains of my life depends on what happened six years ago.
In my brain, in my limbs, in my dreams, it is still happening.”
May 03, 2012 12:33pm
Jan 12, 2013 02:01am