"Was that all love did for you? Made you give up and give in? Left you open to pain and hurt?"
It was a bleak October and I had been in search of something that could satisfy my needs for a good, engaging book series. It was during that month that I found the Noughts & Crosses quartet lined up neatly on the shelves of my local library. Ah, to be young and in love. That was how I felt reading this series. Opening the front cover of the book revealed that I was the first to have borrowed the series, and I felt as though my reading experience was even more unique for it. I had been the first person to flip through these pages, and I had been the first person to be left hanging on each and every one of Malorie Blackman's words in those paperbacks.
The story line for these novels takes place over the course of 16-17 years. Readers are exposed to the reality of a young girl growing up and falling love along with all the harshness of the betrayals and pain that result from that love. The first book is not a light read, nor are any of the books in this series. As themes of racism and political corruption are introduced in Noughts & Crosses, you soon begin to realise that the dystopian setting in this novel is far darker than readers are led to believe. However, this book is not dark in the way of ghosts, demons or any other paranormal being. No, none of these books are fantasy by any means. This is real life. This is the world we live in. Malorie Blackman artfully explores the horrid truths of modern society and exposes them for what they are. Themes from this book can be seen in our everyday life, in the news and all over worldwide media. Noughts & Crosses emphasises what most people fail to see is wrong with society, and I commend Malorie Blackman for it. Even without the underlying morals, objectively, this is a fantastic first book in the series. The characters deal with their own personal struggles which is shown through the extensive use of dual and multiple point of views. I will forever remember the ending to this book, as it left me praying for the main characters, and hoping against hope that the next addition to the story would somehow resolve the end that left me hanging by a thread in Noughts & Crosses.
"When did we stop being people, being human?"
That's a good question. By the time readers reach the second book in this series, Knife Edge, they may be asking themselves this exact question. Whilst the first book sets up so many questions about modern society, this second addition to the series delves even further into the dark crevices of a corrupt way of thinking. Finally, we are able to get some further character development for Jude; Callum's older brother. Noughts & Crosses had written Jude as a malicious, selfish man who's clouded views of justice began affecting his judgement. Knife Edge proves every single one of these to be true of Jude, however, due to Malorie Blackman giving us an insight into Jude's mind and his way of thinking, we are also exposed to Jude's weaknesses and vulnerabilities. I was surprised as I was reading this book, half-tempted to call Jude a 'mama's boy'. The story hits us right where it hurts, once again proving Malorie Blackman's uncanny ability to take the aspects of human nature, and twist them in a way that can make us both love and hate a character at the same time.
"You have the same smile, the same shaped eyes, the same way of tilting your head to listen, the same stubborn streak, the same common sense. Lots of things about you and him are the same."
So much has happened since the first book by this point. The family tree has changed noticeably, both deaths and births have occurred and here we are, left with the remains of two of possibly the most tragic and heartfelt novels I have ever read. At the beginning of Checkmate, Callie Rose is already 16 years old. Along with that 16 years of knowledge, Callie Rose is shown to have a long standing grudge against her mother, Sephy. I'll be honest. For a majority of this book, I could barely stand Callie Rose. This was, of course, because I had grown so attached to Sephy over the course of the first two books. Throughout the course of this novel, Malorie Blackman sprinkles bits and pieces of Callie Rose's life prior to the dramatic series of events that open Checkmate. This does give us a bit of background information in terms of Callie Rose's grudge against Sephy, however, it did not allow me to fully sympathise with Callie Rose as a character until the very end of the book. Sephy, however, is shown trying to piece her life back together and the development of her romantic relationships after Callum's death. Every time I read one of Sephy's point of view chapters I was left just as much of an emotional mess that Sephy was in this book.
"I hadn't realized until this moment how loneliness could eat away at you so much that it actually hurt."
The thrilling conclusion to the highly acclaimed Noughts & Crosses quartet. A thrilling conclusion filled with lies, deceit and all the tragic drama you've come to love from this series? Check, check and check. With Checkmate bringing all the big questions sparked in the first two books to a close, I was pretty satisfied with this series being a trilogy. But then came the fourth book. Then came Double Cross. This novel was such a win for me. I could not have been happier to revisit characters such as Sephy and Jude in this epic conclusion to an epic tale. This time we are following Tobey; Callie Rose's adoring boyfriend; as he finds himself caught up in the dark and dangerous black market trade in an attempt to make enough money to buy his girlfriend a proper present. Tobey's development as a character can be seen so clearly throughout this book, him being a less prominent character in Checkmate, I was glad that we were finally able to see things from his point of view.
The drama is present, the conflict is palpable and the fans of this series finally get their happy ending.
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars
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