This review contains unavoidable spoilers for the first and second books in The Tomorrow Series but minimal spoilers on A Killing Frost so read at your discretion. Ready? Okay!It’s easy to think that there is no way Ellie and Co. can top the demolition of a bridge and the destruction of an entire city block, but never underestimate just how far the teens are willing to go and just how sick they are of sitting around looking at each other in Hell. Ellie and friends have been hiding out for weeks after their latest and greatest mission and are feeling a dangerous combination of stir crazy and powerless.Introducing When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong: Bored Teenaged Guerilla Edition. The group decides that they’ve been flying under the radar long enough and it’s time to really take a stand, to make an undeniable impact on the enemy forces......by blowing up a container ship and optimistically half of the harbor of the strategically placed and enemy controlled Cobbler’s Bay shipping port.Piece of cake right?Let's just say that merely googling my Ellie Survival Skill Lesson choice for this book would put me on a federal watch list. Instead of bulldozer driving lessons and toaster mechanics, think 100 lbs of fertilizer and a detonator. (Can't wait to see the keywords for our site's Google search visitors after typing that last sentence.) The planning behind their attack and the mechanics of the actual event were both fascinating and nerve-wracking to watch develop. The mixture of dread, adrenaline and resignation that Ellie experiences is so palpable that when it breaks the chaos that follows is even more overwhelming.It's not long before Ellie and friends realize that when you blow enough shit up, there are bound to be some consequences. Or as Dave Chapelle referred to in the links above, blowing up a container ship might be keeping it real but you know who is going to be keeping it real-er? The army of the container ship you just blew up.That was actually my favorite aspect of A Killing Frost: CONSEQUENCES. The enemy made the first attack and the next two and a half books have been the teens reacting to that attack. What happens when the gang is no longer in familiar territory? What happens when they meet the enemy on more even ground? What happens when the Empire Strikes Back? Awesomeness, that's what.Ellie and co. can hardly be described as teens anymore. They have left teenager worries and cares long behind and the tone of this installment is decidedly bleaker than it's predecessors. Official warning: just when you think there is a reprieve from the grimness, Marsden takes advantage of your temporary relief to punch through your ribcage, yank out your still beating heart and crush it in his fist. Wearing a chest plate should be a prerequisite for reading this book.I know I've been staying frustratingly vague in this review to minimize spoilers but so much of what happens to the group in this outing is stuff I've been eager to see happen from the very start. And that's not me being an a-hole, that's me being excited about cause and effect. Many of my concerns and questions about believability were finally addressed and the events of A Killing Frost were necessary to be able to continue to take the series seriously. In fact, I am sort of surprised that the series didn't end as a trilogy. I can't help but wonder how much the characters will be able to do in the situation they find themselves in at the end of the book. Ugh, I know. Can I be any more vague?Hopefully this clears things up a little: Rating 4/5 stars. This review originally appeared at Young Adult Anonymous.
"Lo único que podía hacer ahora era sobrevivir al instante siguiente, al minuto siguiente" Wow. Wow. Wow.Los dos libros anteriores los leí a principio del año pasado, pero no me había animado a leer este porque los que siguen todavía no están traducidos (aunque, tal vez los lea en inglés) y sentí que extrañaba a los personajes cuando lo comencé. Eso es algo muy bueno de la saga, les tomas mucho cariño a cada uno de los personajes que cuando volves a ellos sentís esa sensación de "estar en casa".Sí tengo que decir que la primera parte me gustó hasta ahí. ¿La razón? A los personajes se los veía contradictorios e irritables, por no mencionar que no había mucha interacción entre ellos (algo que extrañé mucho). Aunque si fue muy entendible y muy real que se noten las distintas fases en las que van pasando, porque sin duda acá fue cuando les calló la ficha de lo que están haciendo y de que sus vidas no van a volver a ser las mismas, terminen vivos después de la guerra o no.Me gustó que John nos dio los detalles justos, sin sobrepasarse, y enfocándose directamente en los aspectos técnicos y duros de la guerra. Aunque eso jugó en contra en algunas partes porque pasaban cosas tan rápido que por ahí me perdía y tenía que releer los últimos párrafos.La segunda mitad es cuando se vuelve cada vez más interesante. Y la última...sin duda ese plot twist fue algo que no vi venir, para nada, si pensé que algo parecido pasaría pero no de esa forma. Y bueno, el final es un típico final de estos libros: triste, difícil y prometedor. Aunque hay que sumarle a este que fue esperanzador.Sin duda tengo muchas ganas de leer los siguientes pronto, vamos a ver si los traducen o si me animo a leerlos en su idioma original. "Nos había mirado como si fuésemos de otro planeta. Por lo menos, eso no era cierto. No éramos seres de otro planeta. Éramos seres del Infierno, nada más" 2015 Reading Challenge: El título en español es "Mañana, muerte blanca"
What do You think about A Killing Frost (2006)?
Let me start out by saying, please please please read the other two books in the series before you pick up this one. THE KILLING FROST, also called The Third Day, The Frost in some places, is the third book in the Tomorrow Series. Ellie and her friends are in much the same position as they were at the end of the second book, but things change fast. THE KILLING FROST is packed with a lot of action for the characters of the book. One of the friends they lost track of in the earlier books is found again, the teens attempt and succeed at an attack much larger than anything they’ve tried in the past, some of their good luck runs out, and they suffer a devastating loss.As a reader, your heart will ache for the characters as they fight for survival in a land that has been taken away from them. With no one to trust and no where to go, they find it harder and harder to steer clear of the enemy. The invaders are closing in on all sides. Soon hiding won’t be possible.The ending of THE KILLING FROST will leave you scrambling for Book 4 in the Series, DARKNESS, BE MY FRIEND. Things promise to be very different for Ellie and her friends.
—Karin
I haven't been so excited about a series in I don't know how long. I REALLY love reading about Ellie and her friends as they battle the foreigners who have nearly taken over Australia. I especially like how Marsden keeps from giving an identity to the foreigners so we don't see them as Russian, Chinese, African whatever. Here Ellie and her friends perform an incredible task - rendering the port at Cobbler's Bay nearly impossible for the foreigners to continue to use. Unfortunately, a few weeks later they are caught and put in prison. Amazingly, they are not executed immediately. Ultimately they are brought before a panel of military officers who deliver their sentences. For Ellie and Homer it is death.So is this the end of the series? Fortunately or not, we know it isn't so it takes a lot of the suspense out of the question, do they get out and how?But you still feel the tension. Marsden keeps my attention so well that I don't skip parts of paragraphs or pages. I read every word.If you love YA fiction and haven't picked up this series, DO IT NOW!It's incredible.
—Linda
No, no, no, no... Ese final... ese epílogo... no.Después de seis meses, la guerra continúa, Ellie junto a sus amigos -Homer, Lee, Fi, y Robyn- deciden cometer nuevas hazañas contra la guerra.Me fascino. Estoy atónita con el capítulo y el epílogo de este libro... tengo una gran nostalgia porque los próximos libros no están traducidos, y tengo tantas preguntas, tantas dudas, tantas ganas de saber qué va a pasar con Ellie y los demás.(view spoiler)[La muerte de Robyn... no... no... no puedo. (hide spoiler)]
—Circe
