Review: How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Title: How I Live Now
Paperback, 194 pages
Author: Meg Rosoff
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Publication Date: April 11, 2006
Source: Library
Book Summary:
“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 fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way.
Review:
The narrative style of Meg Rosoff took some adjusting – Daisy (our main character) talks to us in a very thought based manner – it’s very fluid from her brain to what we’re reading, which is generally not how books are written. After I adapted to this style, I found myself enjoying it very much – even if there was less dialogue than usual because of it.
I think it would have been possible for me to enjoy How I Live Now more if I hadn’t read the Susan Beth Pfeffer series, which deals with a similar plot (mass Earth chaos and children learning to cope). I did enjoy both, but the Pfeffer books made me feel the distress a lot more than the Rosoff book did – perhaps because the setting was more closely related to my living situation. I’m actually sad that I am able to compare the two, because they were not written with that intention and I know that my thoughts of one are affecting the other.
I waited a little longer than usual to write the review for How I Live Now to separate it from all of the things I’ve discussed – and I like it now more that I’ve had time to reflect. I realize now that there was distress, but the subtle way that Rosoff wrote about it is a lot different than Pfeffer – and I don’t think either is better than the other; just different. The scene that really got me in Pfeffer’s books was the mother rushes the children to the store to buy all of the supplies they could – nothing like this happened in How I Live Now because the children were living in a different situation and were slightly away from the chaos for a little while.
The writing style of Meg Rosoff is what sold me overall, and I understand why it has been nominated and received awards. I encourage you to read this for the experience of a different narrator – and if you can do it leaving a large space between the Pfeffer book and this you’ll be better off.
Twitter: booksandwine
See, I am the opposite. I liked How I Live Now more than Life As We Knew It. I thought Daisy’s voice was more authentic than Miranda’s. Although, I did quite like Pfeffer’s books, I just connected more with Rosoff.
If I would have read them the other way around I definitely would have liked Rosoff better – I agree that the authenticity is excellent. This is a time I wish I could wipe a book’s impact clean from my memory for a few days so I could read one without it impacting the other.
I love Rosoff’s writing. I’ve never been disappointed by the prose of her books. HOW I LIVE NOW is the award-winner, but the others are good too.
I almost picked up another by her the other day, but I wasn’t sure if I would like it as much – you are kind of making me want to try it!