The 100 (The 100, #1) in What's the Name of That Book???

Apr 18, 2024 Magda rated it it was ok

Shelves: sci-fi, romance

There seems to be more of an emphasis on the relationships than the science fiction, so it is pretty fluffy. Definitely the first in a series as it ends on a cliffhanger. It almost seems like it was based on a TV series rather than the other way around. Even though the 17yo characters are exhausting emotionally (because they are 17), I still want to know what happens next. But, dang it, why not more details on the ship or returning to earth or even on archery? There is a lot going on, and the sp ...more

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Oct 27, 2013 Janet rated it did not like it

Shelves: science-fiction, yanovels, not-weird-enough

This book is a perfect fit for the CW network, where it is going to be aired. Attractive teenagers in life or death situations, obsessing about relationships and who kissed whom. They are remarkably unconcerned about being stranded on abandoned, radioactive Earth, with no survival skills, limited food, and no other supplies. But will Clarke get back together with good boy Wells? Or will her flirtation with bad boy Bellamy take center stage? This is far more important. After fifty pages I gave up ...more

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Jul 08, 2014 Kerry (The Roaming Librarian) O'Donnell rated it liked it

Shelves: ya-fiction, science-fiction

So, I have to admit to watching the TV show before reading the book, and its pretty clear from the get-go that there's a whole lot of differences between the two. They (the show) changed some characters, their actions, background, and motivations, but the entities are still similar enough that its hard for me to separate one from the other. To those who have watched the show, and are starting the book, be warned: this plot advances much, much slower than that of the show (if the book series is e So, I have to admit to watching the TV show before reading the book, and its pretty clear from the get-go that there's a whole lot of differences between the two. They (the show) changed some characters, their actions, background, and motivations, but the entities are still similar enough that its hard for me to separate one from the other. To those who have watched the show, and are starting the book, be warned: this plot advances much, much slower than that of the show (if the book series is even going to take the same journey). I'm really curious how much influence the author had on the writers and where the story goes.

In spite of the slower start in the book, I still enjoyed the idea and the basic plot. I liked the premise: these juvenile delinquents get sent to Earth in a dystopian future, and are basically used as governmental guinea pigs to see whether it's safe to return after nuclear war has devastated the planet. There were a couple characters that aren't in the show, and I had mixed feelings about them (namely, I didn't care as much about them as the characters on the ground). But it was an interesting way to get to see what happened to those left behind. You don't really see any of the governmental big wigs like you do on the TV show; instead of seeing them monitoring the kids progress, you're getting hearsay and flashbacks.

If I hadn't seen the show, and known what was going on and where the story was going, I might have been more frustrated with the slow advancement of the plot. Since that was not the case, I was able to focus on the details of the characters, and get a little more insight into their personal motivations. Here I'm talking specifically about Bellamy and Wells. On the show, their characters don't get as much attention, because we are mostly seeing things through Clarke's eyes. In the book, the story switches back and forth between them, Clarke, and the girl Glass who is still on the Ark. I found their perspectives to be quite interesting, in spite of the differences between the book and show. And I got to confirm some suspicions I have about relationships on the show and where they may or may not be heading. So that, at least, was pretty cool. It also makes me curious whether the show's writers will add in the characters of Glass and Luke to the new season, or whether they will pretend they don't exist.

To finish out, I have to admit, I found the ending quite abrupt. (Perhaps because I felt like the plot was so slow, and could have gone a lot further.) It seemed like the author was trying to have the story be really dramatic in its ending, but I've never been a big fan of cliffhangers ending the first book in a series. There should have been a little more of a wrap-up somehow. All-in-all, not a bad start, but hopefully the second book will work out some of these kinks in the system. ...more

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Apr 17, 2017 Kate rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: age-ya, 2017, audiobooks, sci-fi, dystopia

I actually decided to listen to this audiobook because it had the same narrator as The 5th Wave, and I had watched only the first episode of the TV series and thought I might want more background before watching further.

A hundred years ago, humans had to leave Earth, and have been living in space ever since. Because of limited food, oxygen and other supplies, people are only allowed to have one child, and anyone committing a crime is executed, unless they are a minor, in which case they are kept I actually decided to listen to this audiobook because it had the same narrator as The 5th Wave, and I had watched only the first episode of the TV series and thought I might want more background before watching further.

A hundred years ago, humans had to leave Earth, and have been living in space ever since. Because of limited food, oxygen and other supplies, people are only allowed to have one child, and anyone committing a crime is executed, unless they are a minor, in which case they are kept in the detention center until they are 18 and retried and always executed. Until now, when resources have become so critically low that the chancellor decides to send some humans to Earth to see if it can sustain human life again. The 100 teens in the detention center are sent down in order not to waste the precious lives of good citizens. If they die, it doesn't matter, because they would die anyway.

What follows reminded me a little of the TV series "Lost." Each of the teens has a backstory, and not all of them are really "criminals." There's Clarke, trained as a medic, who is angry at ex-boyfriend Wells, who is the son of the chancellor and committed a crime just so he could be with Wells. Then there's Bellamy, who attacked someone just to get on board the dropship so he could protect his little sister Octavia (in jail because she's an illegal second child). And then there's Glass, who escaped the dropship in the chaos of Bellamy's attack, and who is trying to find her ex-boyfriend Luke to explain what she did.

The audio format made it a little difficult to deal with the flashbacks that occurred each chapter, but eventually I got to figuring out when the narrative suddenly wasn't in the present tense of dealing with the Earth wilderness. Like "Lost," each character's motivation seemed to shift with each flashback. I felt like a little too much time was spent on Glass's story, as I couldn't really figure out why it was necessary if this was more about the 100 teens living on Earth, but the end helped it make a little bit of sense, if the lives of those still on the ship and those on the ground might collide someday. The characters weren't especially deep, and I can't say I really liked any of them, but this moved along quickly enough that I didn't mind. Generally it was a good filler while I wait for my hold on The Infinite Sea to be filled. I'll need to try watching the TV series again, although from what I recall there wasn't much similar. But I might not have been paying attention. ...more

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Jan 23, 2016 Laurie rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2016

I feel like even two stars might be generous. Basically, there was a huge nuclear war on earth and humans evacuated to spaceships orbiting the planet. 300 years later 100 juvenile delinquents are sent back to earth. There's a high number of troubled teenage romances, an unbelievable ability to survive on earth with no knowledge and little supplies, and a strange lack of action. I do not really recommend this, although it was a really quick read. ...more

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Oct 27, 2014 Bryan457 rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: juv-ya, science-fiction, post-apocalyptic, prison, romance, dystopia

A bit of science fiction,
A smidgin of wilderness survival,
Some "Lord of the Flies" type social anarchy and
A humongous dose of teenage relationship angst.
This is just the setup for the story. No resolution is reached. ...more

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Dec 03, 2013 Laura rated it did not like it

Shelves: mt-bookpile-2011-2015, old-reads

Another DNF for the year, this time because the book was too derivative and had too many points-of-view. I think I counted six main characters, about whom we learn too little to really care about any one because half of each chapter was taken up with backstory. It really reads as though this was never intended to be a book, that it was a novelization of a tv series. Oh, wait...

ARC provided by publisher.

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