The 100 Trilogy (Review)

I know that there are three separate books with almost separate storylines but as I read them immediately after one another it made more sense for me to group them together. For those who haven't read the previous novel(s) to the one I discuss, there may be some spoilers...or, depending on how you look at it.

Having fallen completely and totally in love with TV series, I expected nothing less than to do the exact same thing with the book series. I wasn't wrong but I was surprised by how much they changed the storyline for the TV series.

For starters, the main character of Clarke's mum was dead. She was 'floated' at the same time as Clarke's dad. Abigail Griffin is one of the main characters in the show and a key character for all the going-on's on The Arc. She seemed in control of everything; she was fundamental in how the ship was run and keeping society alive. Not only in her role as a doctor but in the council, she gave people someone to rely on and trust.  She was the constant of a rotating home...but in reality the author never wrote her that way. In the book, she broke the rules and she was out. Simple as that. There was no compassionate circumstances which let her off and hence no one was on the lookout for Clarke.

Well there was one person: Wells. He betrayed Clarke back on the Arc and to protect and prevent her from getting floated on her 18th birthday, took drastic action to make sure the council had to send 'The 100' earlier. These are criminals who have broken the rules before their 18th birthday so have been sent to a detention facility to await retrial on their birthday.

It's an interesting read because it is written from 4 different characters point of view. 3 on Earth are Clarke, Bellamy and Wells; 1 left on the ship is Glass. Glass is my favourite character in this series, and yet she isn't a character in the TV series. Glass' story is so romantic and even though she has done bad things and lied, I can't help but love her more with every sentence. I ended up skipping to her chapters to finish her story first.

The first book, 'The 100' focus' on the adolescents being sent to Earth in a desperate, final attempt to see if the Earth is safe for humans to recolonise. After radiation poisoning, a few lucky people were allowed on a ship to orbit in space. Over generations, the population has reached crisis level despite the strict rules preventing more than one child to be born per couple.

As the 100 quickly adapt to survive, power because the main struggle as a strong leader is required to battle against those who were left on the planet. While above, the last of the oxygen causes drastic action to be taken by the elites of society, who cut off the air supply to those poorer.

'The 100: Day 21' sees Wells try to take power in order to keep everyone safe. Bellamy is distraught after his sister is kidnapped and Clarke does her best to stay civil. As she finds a new society 'The Grounders' she struggles to believe they didn't kill her friends and discovers the truth of her parents and life on the ground had 2 groups of Grounders.

Glass climbs through air-vents to be reunited with her true love and then finds a way to let the poor through. From there on, it's a battle of strength to be one of the few on the last remaining drop-ships to Earth, or be left suffocating in space.

'The 100: Homecoming' begins as the drop-ships crash land mere miles from the 10's base camp. While the 100 try to help the new settlers find shelter and provide a way to survive, their new found friends must hide in the forest to prevent the guards from killing them at first site.

Wells has fallen for a Grounder and Clarke has fallen for Bellamy, who shot the leader in order to come with the 100, where his sister was. He has to hide from the guards to prevent getting killed himself.

Glass escapes with her love to protect him from being forced to fulfil his guard duties but do they have the means to survive in this new world by themselves? When Bellamy is caught and tortured, Wells and Clarke hatch an escape plan to free him. Luckily the nice grounders provide shelter and then fight to protect them. 

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