My first book in the Tomorrow series for almost a year, as I've been trying to hunt down the second book that combines books 5-6-7. (The first one obviously contained numbers 1-4). I never meant it to take this long, but when I finally started it was as if I had never left Australia in the midst of their war.

As I've said a number of times before, I really liked this series. I'm a fan of dystopian stories and even if it is debatable that this is completely dystopian rather than war, I still like to think about this books as one of the first YA Dystopian novels, some sort of role model for all the rebelling (mostly) strong femaly characters to come.

After their failure to do anything successful in the last book, our intrepid teens decide it’s time to go out and fuck up the war effort some more. Completely by accident they find themselves inside the very airfield the missing Kiwi soldiers were planning to attack. Surrounded by enemies, will our heroes make it out alive, and can they cause some chaos while they do it?

Lee is completely unpredicatable in this book. Half the time he’s raging, or cool as a cucumber, or risking it all, or planning ahead. He’s all over the place as the stresses of war get to him. Kevin completely breaks down and is basically useless the entire book. And Fi and Ellie grow even closer, to totally and completely BFF.

This book contains all of the explosions and firestorms and chaos that was missing in the last book. Not only do our teen heroes manage to escape with their lives, but they royally fuck up the airfield. They escape Wirrawee down the river and end up in Stratton – the same place they were held prisoner and was bombed by the Kiwis in Book 3. Stratton’s quieter these days, ruled by fearless street kids and not many soldiers. Even then, it’s Lee who screws up and nearly gets everyone murdered by visiting his bit on the side. If it weren’t for Ellie keeping an eye on him and burning down a barn, he’d be dead. As it is, Ellie explores her feelings for him in this book. She also spends a lot of time thinking about Robyn, which I think is lovely, because I freaking loved Robyn.

With the extra danger, bigger explosions, and general chaos interspersed with character-building introspection and quieter moments demonstrating the normal life of an invaded country still at war, this is one of the better books in the series.

As with the others, a lot of fun, a lot of action and teenage angst. I like the premise for these books, but it's a bit repetitive. However, they keep you reading and it feels a bit more real and dark than some other YA books.

My favourite female character is definitely Ellie Linton from John Marsden's Tomorrow, When the War Began series.  I just love those books and have read them upwards of ten times each (always in order, so if I have a craving for Ellie then I have to read the whole series, not just an individual book from the series).  This series is another that I haven't read for ages and so haven't reviewed any of them because it's not fair to do a half-hearted review of such a fantastic series.  I think Marsden really captured some (not all) of the emotions teenagers would feel during such a traumatic time as the shock invasion of your country.  I wasn't so comfortable with his idea of teenage love and sex, but I am a bit prejudiced against any sex involving a teenage girl written by a middle aged man, it always weirds me out.

Stranded in their home country of Australia, Ellie, Homer, Lee, Kevin, and Fi struggle to find a way to make a difference in the war. With no sign of the Kiwi soldiers, they know they are on their own once again. With security tightening around the area, it is more difficult than ever to move around the occupied areas.

When an amazing opportunity falls into their laps, they can't ignore it - no matter how dangerous. Knowing they might not make it out alive - Ellie and her friends set out to hurt the invading army and give New Zealand the upper-hand in the battle.

BURNING FOR REVENGE takes Ellie's story to the 10th degree. Things explode, people are killed, and relationships change. Ellie is forced to examine her feelings about what has been happening during the war - how much she's changed, how much her friends have changed, and what they are willing to do to survive.