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The Other Side of Dawn (Tomorrow #7)

4.21 of 5 stars 4.21 · rating details · 5,704 ratings · 185 reviews

At last, the final episode of the gripping Tomorrow series by wildly popular Aussie author John Marsden has crossed the Pacific, and this concluding chapter in the lives of Ellie, Fi, Homer, Kevin, and Lee may be the most exciting one yet. Informed by Colonel Finley that the military is making a move that could be compared to the D-day attack of WWII, the outback teen guer...more

Paperback, 336 pages

Published February 1st 2007 by Scholastic Paperbacks (first published 1999)

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

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May 14, 2013 Jake Allwood rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. To be honest I have been reading the Tomorrow series for what feels like forever, because I have been reading other books in between. But that's how I feel the latter half of the series is. It is a let down on what could be something absolutely amazing.

I found it extremely hard to believe that Ryan would have flied out all the way just to tell them to continue what they were doing.

The first half of this book was quite intriguing but the second half was anything but. It was anticlimactic to say...more To be honest I have been reading the Tomorrow series for what feels like forever, because I have been reading other books in between. But that's how I feel the latter half of the series is. It is a let down on what could be something absolutely amazing.

I found it extremely hard to believe that Ryan would have flied out all the way just to tell them to continue what they were doing.

The first half of this book was quite intriguing but the second half was anything but. It was anticlimactic to say the bare minimum. Everything after the train explosion was boring. By then I was only reading to know the ending. I just wanted to finish the series and be done with it. But, there was one last thing I was looking forward to all through out the series. Something which I was sure would happen in this book... only it didn't. THERE WAS NO EPIC SHOWDOWN. She kind of just woke up and the war was over. Things like this would not happen overnight. So that just annoyed the heck out of me. Then of course there was the fact that there was no decision made. They just compromised and split Australia into two countries. I want my books to be decisive. Not somewhere in between.

Then of course there was the very end. Where all the friends, all the people you have come to really feel sympathetic with, they just leave. Lee, Fi and even Kevin just disappear. No. You cannot just do that, build up characters show us how they act and work just to send them somewhere else. You may as well have killed them, it would have been more damn decisive. Also the abruptness of the relationships was way over the edge. There was no reason really as to why they stopped they just did. Both couples. Fi and Homer who have been in love since before the war and Lee and Ellie who have been on and off but always secretly loving one another. And then you just break them off? That is not right.

I am aware of Marsden having wrote a follow up series called 'The Ellie Chronicles' but I honestly don't know if I will even bother touching them. (less)

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Apr 06, 2013 Rjmiller rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This review will contain Tomorrow series spoilers. And one for Harry Potter.

I'm not going to spend anytime on what's great about book. It has everything that fans of the Tomorrow series have come to expect and love. It's fast-paced. There are big action set-pieces. The themes of friendship, loyality, love are all still there. It's heart-breaking at times.

So instead, I'll go into some of the aspects I didn't like and why I rated it only 3 stars.

Gavin - I'll just say it, this was a terrible charac...more This review will contain Tomorrow series spoilers. And one for Harry Potter.

I'm not going to spend anytime on what's great about book. It has everything that fans of the Tomorrow series have come to expect and love. It's fast-paced. There are big action set-pieces. The themes of friendship, loyality, love are all still there. It's heart-breaking at times.

So instead, I'll go into some of the aspects I didn't like and why I rated it only 3 stars.

Gavin - I'll just say it, this was a terrible character. What was Mr Marsden thinking? I can buy a group of 16-17 year olds becoming guerillas. I can even buy them finding kids living on the street. What I can't buy is them towing a 10 year-old deaf kid around the bush with them while they blow stuff up. And the way he gets to stay with the group was absurd. Like none of them would notice that he didn't get on the helicopter or figure he would try to pull something? Now instead of focusing on four characters plus Kevin (sorry Kevin!) we've come to love over 10 years, we have to deal with a character that is just not likable.

The train sequence and the chase - These two set pieces were just convoluted, hard to follow, went on too long and at times, made not sense. Since this was the last book, I wished we had got something better.

No discussion on just how F'd up these kids are:
- The whole discussion of just how much therapy these kids would need and how they'd be suffering from PTSD was barely mentioned. We got Ellie mentioning her therapist in New Zealand and she should call her and that was it. After what these kids went through, there should have been more said on how they were effected and the type of help they were getting.

The relationships.
- Ellie is still very close to Fi and Homer which is great but that's about the only thing.
- Lee is in Stratton and having a tough time. She doesn't love him (again) but they still talk and instead of Ellie being empathic, she sounds annoyed.
- Fi doesn't love Homer anymore. I hate the choice of words here. She may not be "in love" with Homer but after what they'd been through together, she'll always love him.
- The boys not having any contact (and Ellie not having contact with Kevin). This may have bothered me the most. Ellie, Homer, Fi, Kevin, and Lee are the only five people in the world that can understand what each has been through. They would need each other. We see it in real life today, vets helping other vets get past what they've experienced. Kevin, Lee and Homer may not be living together raising kids like on 'Full House', but I don't see them not staying in contact. They are the definition of a Band of Brothers.

The Ending
- This is YA fiction and there is nothing wrong with nice, tidy, and happy ending. The Harry Potter series proved that. While I hate "20 years later" epilogue, as a reader who grew to love Harry and his friends, it was great to see that they were all happy and involved in each others lives. There is absolutely no reason that Mr Marsden couldn't have give us the same thing. 10 years and 7 books. I feel I deserved better.

I saw no reason why Mr Marsden couldn't have just told us that Fi and Homer and Ellie and Lee weren't seeing each but were still close friends. That Kevin needed some time away so he went to New Zealand. That Ellie and Homer were still thick as thieves. How all five had a special bond that was formed in Hell (pun intended) and they will always be part of each others lives.(less)

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Jan 18, 2013 Luke Lane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: last-in-a-series, dystopias, young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. After the 6th entry in this series and knowing there was only one left, I was really worried about what the quality of the final entry would be. Luckily, there was no need to worry and it was back to the tense action, and guerrilla style warfare that layered the good books before it. Considering this is the final entry, I found the conclusion of the war and the relationships made during it pretty realistic, if a bit vague. I weirdly liked how everyone slightly drifted a part afterwards, without...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Rebecca Carroll rated it 3 of 5 stars

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Jul 29, 2012 Bronte rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Jul 06, 2012 Melbourne on my mind rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, australian, childhood-revisited, young-adult

Plot summary: It's been over a year since Ellie and her friends left on the camping trip that would ultimately save them from captivity in the war, but throwing them into the depths of guerilla warfare. In this, the final installment, they must fight like never before. The war is drawing to a lose, and with the delivery of a quantity of plastic explosives from the New Zealand armed forces, they're out to do what damage they can.

Thoughts: This is the conclusion to the series that dominated my te...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Tyler Nelson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Conclusion: It is incredibly difficult to write a review for a book that is a continuation in a series. How can I say much that is meaningful without giving too much away?!

The final book in the Tomorrow series (yes, I finally finished it XD), The Other Side Of Dawn follows the characters... ...I'll put a SPOILER WARNING thing here even though I don't think it's much of a spoiler--I think most people anticipate it upon picking up the first book and thinking about how it's going to end... ...into...more

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Aug 04, 2011 Nairabell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 5-star, read-in-2011, teen-ya-dystopian

It's been a little over a year since Ellie and her friends returned from their camping trip in Hell to find their country had been invaded and their families captured. The original group of eight has been reduced to five, and they've gained a group of rescued orphans. Now the New Zealand troops are preparing their final assault, and Ellie and her friends are about to be called into action for one final time.

This is the seventh and final book in the incredible Tomorrow series (after Tomorrow Whe ...more

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Jun 28, 2010 Mr.G rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the seventh and final book of John Marsden's "Tomorrow When the War Began" series. Basically eight Australian teens go camping in the outback for a week and when they return, they discover that Australia has been invaded and subjugated by a foreign power and their parents have been locked away in detention camps. Throughout the series, the teens embark on a steadily increasing campaign of sabotage, resistance, and guerrilla war. The seventh book concluded the series pretty well. Without...more

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Jun 28, 2010 Joe rated it 3 of 5 stars

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Apr 02, 2011 Emily Ward rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, favorites, favorite-authors

This is the seventh and last book in the Tomorrow series by John Marsden. The series follows a group of Australian teens who go on a camping trip the same weekend their country is invaded. They do what they can to survive and thwart the plans of the enemy soldiers. In this book, Ellie Linton and her friends are put on a last mission while the New Zealand troops attack the enemies with all they have.

I liked Ellie's character development. A couple times she was in one on one battles and she knew s...more This is the seventh and last book in the Tomorrow series by John Marsden. The series follows a group of Australian teens who go on a camping trip the same weekend their country is invaded. They do what they can to survive and thwart the plans of the enemy soldiers. In this book, Ellie Linton and her friends are put on a last mission while the New Zealand troops attack the enemies with all they have.

I liked Ellie's character development. A couple times she was in one on one battles and she knew she'd have to kill to save herself. It's crazy because in the first book, she was wondering what was wrong or right, if she could do it, etc. A year and a half has passed, and she's come to the point where she realizes she has no choice. Not to stay she became ruthless or anything like that, she's just changed. At the same time, I think her internal monologues sometimes slow down the prose. She's always thinking back to the farm and stuff. I realize this is how people think in real life, but it was kind of a disjointed narrative.

I'm so sad that this series is over! I really loved it. This book I read in less than twenty-four hours even though I had it for a couple weeks from the library. I was expecting something a little more climatic, though, I felt like the second half was kind of a letdown. I think that's a cool thing about this series, though; he decides on realism instead of entertainment. War is uncontrollable and so is the violence that accompanies it. I also think it was kind of neat to see the prison camp because you can't deny that dehumanization happens in war. It's sad to think this is happening all over the world and has happened for years and years. It makes me think about why we value certain things and what we're willing to do for land and resources.

I'm going to check out the Ellie series, but I don't know whether to have low expectations or not. Not too many great reviews on Goodreads. I really like his writing, and everything goes so fast, so I probably will if the library has it.(less)

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May 03, 2013 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

This book harkens back to the first couple of books, with the Scooby Gang and their amazing sabotaging abilities... the kids get separated from one another... divided... and then a bunch of bad things happen. It just took soooooo long for the ending to come, that I started skimming again. And then there's a trope that I hate, kind of the "bad guy goes over a cliff, he must be dead" thing... (but did you see the body? no?), wherein certain people are presumed dead but anyone with a brain will kno...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Jeremiah rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've given this review 4 stars but that is taking into consideration the whole series. I adored these books! I love the perfect balance between action, romance and teen life. I have had the same emotional responses to these books as I did with Harry Potter and The Hinger Games, I would whole heartedly recommend the tomorrow series.

I did have some issues with the final book though, Books 1-5 couldn't have been better but 6 & especially 7 annoyed me.
After all that the reader has been through...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Leighton rated it 5 of 5 stars

Ok, I've finished the series and I would give it a clear 4.5 to 5 stars. Loved it, takes "Red Dawn" to a new level!!! The setting is great, the pace is fast enough to keep me hooked in, the characters are great. I loved it, in fact it's depressing to have finished :-(

Oh and keep away from the film, it doesn't do it justice!!! They should have made it in to a TV series.

How I review...
1 star - binned it before half way, please don't write anymore!!!
2 stars - finally binned it after really trying,...more

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Mar 23, 2012 Boots rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, science-fiction, post-apocalyptic, fiction, dystopia

So this is the seventh and final book in the Tomorrow series by John Marsden. To be honest I'm surprised this series isn't more popular than it is. It has everything it needs to be a huge hit, although I have to admit that it is missing vampires, thankfully.

This entire series was written in the first person by a female protagonist named Ellie. Her character developed well throughout the series but when it comes right down to it I didn't particularly like her. In fact she was my least favorite pa...more

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May 04, 2011 Mandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: alternate-history-possible-future

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 09, 2011 Sanna Holm rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 06, 2012 Mandi Perry rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm not going to go into detail about this book because I would hate to ruin it for others who have yet to read this series. But I will say this. This series is absolutely AMAZING. These books are powerful, emotional, exciting, heart wrenching, unbelievable, deadly, etc.. They are written for the young adult crowd but I personally they are too much for young minds to be able to absorb or even handle. My son's 7th grade class read the 1st book in their English class at school. That one I approve...more

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Feb 23, 2013 Hans rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Tomorrow series closes with a volume that makes several surprising choices. (view spoiler) Though it may not be what readers expect, it allows the story to explore things that could not be shown before and these things are some of the most gut-wrenching parts of the entire series.

Marsden closes the story quickly, b...more

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Dec 30, 2011 Maria M. Elmvang rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, 4-stars, dystopian, e-book, owned, ya

No joke, I literally sobbed my way through much of the second half of this book - much to my husbands bemusement and concern. For a minute there I was very worried that the series would end up with an open ending after all, but in the end John Marsden tied everything together very nicely.

Somehow the resolution of the war did offend my sense of justice though. I know it's probably a very realistic resolution though, so even if I don't like it much, I can understand why John Marsden didn't tie eve...more

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Aug 14, 2011 Brooke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: survival, ya, war

I thoroughly enjoyed this entire series. The last book was no exception. It provided resolution for the characters and their futures. I think Marsden gave the characters a good run and ended them appropriately rather than dragging the story out to make more sequels. The kids figure out a plan of attack and like in the rest of them improvisation is needed. This is where this book differs from the rest of them because they do not regroup and make it back to Hell. I won't say more without giving an...more

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Jun 20, 2012 Liontinx rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, read-in-english

Me ha encantado esta serie. La verdad es que el primer libro no me convención demasiado y cuando descubrí que eran 7 (y no 3 como yo pensaba) estuve a punto de abandonarla. Pero gracias al ebook y a lo baratos que están los libros en internet me los he leído los siete como churros. Es una saga preciosa y muy emocionante. Me ha encantado. Y en este caso, gracias a Dios, no me he llevado un fiasco con el último libro, como me ha ocurrido con muchas otras sagas maravillosas...

Aunque eso no quiere d...more

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Nov 07, 2010 Bailey rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 10, 2012 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really wanted to give this 5 stars but the level of action and anticipation just were not there compared to the last few books. Also there was a section in this book that irritated me but I won't say more in case you read it. I almost didn't want to read the end of it for fear that it would have a stupid horrible ending. It was not the ending I thought it would be but left you feeling good with it. The author wrapped it all up nicely and didn't make you feel like it was missing another book......more

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Sep 24, 2012 Sean Kennedy rated it 4 of 5 stars

The end of the Tomorrow series is interesting in the way that it doesn't exactly wrap up how you expected it to. Ellie is separated from the other characters for most of the book and it really allows her character to shine although you do miss her friends not being there. The end of the war is not the end of the book, a prologue strives for realism in showing the aftermath and how real life was not so easy to obtain once the plans for peace were signed.

I know there is a sequel trilogy but after...more

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Jun 09, 2013 Georgie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: aussie-ya, survival-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Oh *wow* A brilliant finale to the one of the best YA series I've ever read.
'The Other Side of Dawn' picks up right where the previous book left off. Ellie and her friends along with the feral kids, are waiting for a helicopter from New Zealand, carrying a special 'visitor' to arrive. The visitor is a soldier named Ryan from the NZ Army who has been sent to give the teenagers some explosives and other weapons as well as some training in using them so that they can carry out further guerrilla sty...more Oh *wow* A brilliant finale to the one of the best YA series I've ever read.
'The Other Side of Dawn' picks up right where the previous book left off. Ellie and her friends along with the feral kids, are waiting for a helicopter from New Zealand, carrying a special 'visitor' to arrive. The visitor is a soldier named Ryan from the NZ Army who has been sent to give the teenagers some explosives and other weapons as well as some training in using them so that they can carry out further guerrilla style attacks. Ellie and her friends agree to do it on condition that Ryan take the ferals back to NZ where they'll be safe. Ryan agrees, but Gavin, stubborn little bugger that he is, hides and manages to stay with Ellie and the others.

They manage to carry out a significant attack on a service station the enemy uses for fuelling up tanks and such, but are separated in the immediate aftermath of the attack, and Ellie is captured. The rest of the book follows Ellie and she struggles to survive and keep her identity hidden from the enemy. The war is beginning to wind down, so while the soldiers can't just shoot her, she is sentenced to lengthy imprisonment, and life in the prison camp she ends up in is pretty brutal. She has to find a way to survive, look for a way to escape, and be reunited with her friends and her family.

The final part of the story deals with the war ending. The whole country ends up being divided between the invaders and the Australians. Ellie, in some incredibly heart wrenching scenes, is reunited with her mother, father, and finally her friends. But it's not back to normal by any stretch of the imagination, with everyone struggling to deal with what happened during the war. Ellie especially is still physically and emotionally recovering from everything she's seen and done. The book and series ends with Ellie and the others beginning to find their own cautious ways to move on. Gavin ends up living with Ellie and her parents, which is a very nice touch. The final paragraph is a brilliantly fitting ending to the book and the series as a whole, with Ellie vowing to embrace and experience life to the full with everything it brings.

Marsden has also written a trilogy named 'The Ellie Chronicles' which deal with Ellie's life after the end of 'The Other Side of Dawn', so I'm really looking forward to starting on those.

What a great series of books. Ellie is one of my absolute favourite fictional characters, as are Homer, Lee, Fi, Kevin and Gavin.(less)

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Mar 21, 2010 Aprille rated it 5 of 5 stars

John Marsden's last book in the incredible Tomorrow series was amazing. It gripped me from page one and kept me enthralled until the very last page. It made me a bit sad to close it at the end, because it meant that I had finished an excellent series, and will be a long time until I will find another one that is just as well written.
Ellie is one of the best written characters I have come across in a long time. Her emotions were wonderfully portrayed, she was 3D, not 2D like some characters you...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Jared Bryson rated it 5 of 5 stars

The final book in the series. After the many stories and plot lines of the previous 6 books.... the continual ups and downs of attacks, capture, rescue, escape, repeat... it's a tough job to wrap up the series in an exciting, satisfactory, and, yet, realistic way. Marsden does it.

This was the best book in the series. This series was a great story - from start to finish. The characters deepened with each passing chapter and the excitement rose and fell at a satisfactory rate. I haven't been this...more

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Nov 11, 2012 Leah (Jane Speare) rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a first...I've read this entire seven-book series all in one year. It's the longest series I've stuck to, besides Max Ride and Harry Potter. And it's just as worthy and awesome! I wish it didn't have to end.

These books have been a great cure to "so many books, what should I pick up for a relaxing read in between?" Now that may sound weird considering these are war books and not a bit relaxing, but over the past year, I've become so attached to Ellie and her friends, reading the next on...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Bron rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: australian, australian-author, war, teen

The Other Side of Dawn, the final in the Tomorrow series starts off really well, we see our favourite pack of teenagers ready for action, and watch them set off to create havoc for the foreigners. However, Ellie is separated from the others, and at this point the story begins to crawl, dealing with Ellies feelings and emotions, and all the discomforts she finds herself in.

The anti climax continues through to the end of the story, with a very unexciting ending to the war and the information Elli...more

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About John Marsden

His first book, So Much To Tell You, was published in 1987. This was followed by Take My Word For It, a half-sequel written from the point of view of another character. His landmark Tomorrow series is recognized as the most popular book series for young adults ever written in Australia. The first book of this series, Tomorrow When The War Began, has been reprinted 26 times in Australia. The first...more

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“Never cry over anything that can't cry over you” — 34 people liked it

“This is the most complicated relationship since Romeo and Juliet," she complained. "You're
both hopeless. I mean, what is the big problem? You love him. He adores you. You get together and live happily ever after. Any
questions? No, of course not. That'll be ten dollars, thank you.” — 9 people liked it

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The Other Side of Dawn (Tomorrow #7)

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