Book Corner - Numbers

This gripping book by Rachel Ward is about a girl called Jem, when she looks into people's eyes she can see the dates that they will die.  She has stayed in the shadows her whole life but when she meets a boy called Spider and goes to London she finds her life exposed. 

I found out about this book around world book day when our teachers had to put up posters about their favorite book, this was the librarians and although she didn't sell it very well, I was looking for a book to read and a few of my friends were interested in it so I decided to order it. 

After the first day of reading this, I was hooked!  Jem is such a unique character and shows life with a completely new perspective which is really interesting, the book really explores all of the ideas about predicting the future and super-natural behavior  it also made me think about how we, as a society, judge other people we see in media.  The more you think about the idea of her power, the more mind-boggled you get, it's such a hard concept to get your head around but that is what makes it interesting and as you read on, you find that Jem is just starting to think about the consequences of her power too.  The style of writing is casual as Jem and Spider would speak which suits it, making it an easier read.  Unlike many books, I didn't feel that this one dragged on for too long in many places, I was constantly willing to pick this up.  As for the theme, it defiantly focuses on romance and Jem's many relationships with foster parents, her mum, and her peers but it certainly does have some action parts which makes it exciting.  As for the ending, I thought it was unpredictable (even though you know what will happen the whole way through the book) and it really was a cliffhanger.
Unfortunately, I did feel that this was just a pleasure read, usually I like to get something out of a book, but because I couldn't relate to Jem much it was difficult to apply anything to my own life.   

One of my friends is reading the book at the moment and she thinks it's great too!  She said that it was gripping and exciting. 

I don't know whether I will read the other two books in the series as I would like to try some other genera's that could be better.  I haven't yet ordered the next book but I think if I am ever stuck for something to read then I will come back to the series, but I am currently reading 'The Life of Pi' which I expect will take some time to finish as I am not really engaged in it so far.  

Have you read this book?  What do you think?  Would you read it?

Sorry there was no post yesterday but something strange happened to my blog posts (I know, I shouldn't be making excuses!).  Oh well, i'm sure you survived!

Em x