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221st out of 4,988 books
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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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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 w...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 w...more
view all 36 comments
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
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 Branfor...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 Branfor...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 deve...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 deve...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 se...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 se...more
Three words: read the audiobook. This is a sad and brilliant and beautiful book but it's so much easier if you read the audiobook 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 read the audiobook, since these, ah, quirks aren't as noticeable, especially since Kim Ma...more
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 reall...more
Osbert, the eldest, seems fairly normal, being responsible for his siblings while their mother, Daisy's Aunt Penn, is away but reall...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, a...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, a...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.
...more
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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 ...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 ...more
Liyrah
rated it
Recommends it for:
critical readers, mature readers, thoughtful readers
Shelves:
favorites
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
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 ...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 ...more
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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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 ele...more
I still have no idea was Rosoff was going for in this book. There are so many different ele...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...more
When the country is invaded, Daisy must travel through war-torn England with her...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 ...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 ...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 ou...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 ...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 ...more
Megan
rated it
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...more
This book is simply amazing. I absolutely adore the way Meg Rosoff writes; it makes you smile and nod in agreement, and you sort of feel relieved because this author is able to describe things that you didn't think COULD be - and also because it's told in a very simple way of which you get surprised of, because you didn't think such few words could could do it. One of the many glimpses of genius is of course the way of using capital letters in order to create some sort of different meaning in th...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...more
I was looking foward to reading this book, but I have to confess it was a bit of a disappointment. I was hoping for another post-apocalyptic teenage-survivor novel after finishing John Marsden's Tomorrow series, but Daisy is no Ellie. The writing style in the book is atrocious (it's meant to sound like you're listening to Daisy talking out loud - lots of sentence fragments and run-ons) and, while I got used to that eventually, I had a hard time swallowing the telepathic bond among the family me...more
So much more than cousin love. These kids are tough and smart and flawed. The narrator, Daisy, started off bordering on being a mildly annoying angsty teen, but she really pulled through as the war went on and she was fighting to survive and be reunited with the others. And the family was the sort of family that it seems appealing to be a part of, resourceful and tight without being suffocating. I want to forage for chestnuts and watercress. There are dreamy bits like that, but the book also dra...more
It usually takes me a little while to adjust to a book. There was none of that here. The voice and the feelings, I recognized them immediately and followed them without skepticism or any other baggage into I guess a parallel present that seemed a lot more real than most books I read (which is pretty impressive considering what’s happening in that parallel present). I’m still so stuck in the story that I keep catching myself feeling disoriented in my apartment, wondering vaguely what I’m doing he...more
Readable and pretty, though just a little too, hm -- precious is not quite the word. Let's just say that I shall henceforth approach books told in the first person by teenagers from New York City with caution, because they have a too-cool-for-you air which just seems a bit too made to appeal to teenagers. Though not any teenagers I ever knew or was -- just the idea people have of teenagers.
Still, quite good on English countryside and horrors of war, despite eccentric lack of punctuatio...more
Still, quite good on English countryside and horrors of war, despite eccentric lack of punctuatio...more
An end of the world dooms day story about fifteen year old Daisy who gets sent to England to live with her Aunt and cousins by her evil stepmother. When in England, a war breaks out and Daisy must learn how to survive without electricity, water, and regular food. The story is even more complex then that because on top of the war Daisy falls in love with her cousin and struggles with her eating disorder. There are some really sad and frightening moments in the book that give the reader a realisti...more
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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.
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“I don't get nearly enough credit in life for the things I manage not to say.”
—
95 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.”
—
60 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.”
