The 100, Kass Morgan
In The 100, written by Kass Morgan, you read through the eyes of four teenagers: Clarke
Griffin, Bellamy Blake, Glass Sorenson and Wells Jaha. It is a true page turner with a lot of
science-fiction elements.
In this novel, it differs per chapter who the protagonist is. Firstly you read through the eyes of
Clarke Griffin. She was very suspicious of her surroundings when she first landed on Earth.
Everyone thought she was a bit annoying because she was overly worried about everything.
Later on, she was really hardworking and a true leader. She isn’t completely independent,
but matured a lot through the book. Secondly you have Bellamy Blake. In the beginning of
the book, Octavia is the one and only person that Bellamy cares about. But when he finds
out he is responsible for the murder of hundres of people, he changes his attitude. He
becomes more self-aware and discovers he cares about the rest of the people with him on
Earth. The third main character is Glass Sorenson. Glass didn’t change much throughout the
book. She is a privileged girl who cares deeply for Luke. She also has a very strong bond
with her mother. Lastly you read through the eyes of Wells Jaha. Firstly, Wells isn’t popular
among the other prisoners, but after he tries to maintain order and get people to get along,
he is being respected. Especially after he helps Jasper with his injuries, the group sees him
as a good, hard working person.
I think all the characters are convincing, because they seem like real people and you feel for
them. Throughout the novel you become very attached to the four main characters, Clarke
was my favorite character by far.
In this novel, there are a few places that keep coming back. In the beginning, the story takes
place in three different spaceships: Arcadia, Phoenix and Walden, this is 300 years after a
nuclear cataclysm made the Earth uninhabitable. After the hundred prisoners are being sent
to Earth, the main setting is in former North America. You still read a lot of flashbacks that
happened in the spaceships, which is relevant to the story since the flashbacks tell you how
it all started. It can sometimes be pretty hard to visualize, because I can’t imagine what an
uninhabitable Earth would look like.
The plot isn’t predictable at all. Because you keep switching protagonists, there are a lot of
cliffhangers throughout the book. In the beginning of the book you have no idea why for
example Clarke is part of the hundred prisoners, but further ahead in the book you finally find
out the whole backstory. There are also a lot of flashbacks which makes the plot more
original, because you can be clueless in the beginning, but after a while the pieces start to fit
together. I also find the changing narrative exciting, like I mentioned, it results in a lot of
cliffhangers which I personally find very interesting. What I also really liked about this novel
were the important themes. For example, a theme that comes back a lot, is suicide. Octavia,
who is Bellamy’s sister, tries to kill herself. She is being stopped just in time. I think that
suicide is an important theme and the author really tries to teach you about something that is
a serious matter even nowadays. The second important theme is equality. Eventhough the
decision of sending people to the unhabitable earth is morally wrong, discrimination isn’t a
thing anymore. Race, gender and sexuality don’t determine who you are as a human being.
There are a lot of female leaders in this novel and I think this is really important to let the
reader know that discrimination is not okay. Nowadays, gender inequality is still a big issue,
In The 100, written by Kass Morgan, you read through the eyes of four teenagers: Clarke
Griffin, Bellamy Blake, Glass Sorenson and Wells Jaha. It is a true page turner with a lot of
science-fiction elements.
In this novel, it differs per chapter who the protagonist is. Firstly you read through the eyes of
Clarke Griffin. She was very suspicious of her surroundings when she first landed on Earth.
Everyone thought she was a bit annoying because she was overly worried about everything.
Later on, she was really hardworking and a true leader. She isn’t completely independent,
but matured a lot through the book. Secondly you have Bellamy Blake. In the beginning of
the book, Octavia is the one and only person that Bellamy cares about. But when he finds
out he is responsible for the murder of hundres of people, he changes his attitude. He
becomes more self-aware and discovers he cares about the rest of the people with him on
Earth. The third main character is Glass Sorenson. Glass didn’t change much throughout the
book. She is a privileged girl who cares deeply for Luke. She also has a very strong bond
with her mother. Lastly you read through the eyes of Wells Jaha. Firstly, Wells isn’t popular
among the other prisoners, but after he tries to maintain order and get people to get along,
he is being respected. Especially after he helps Jasper with his injuries, the group sees him
as a good, hard working person.
I think all the characters are convincing, because they seem like real people and you feel for
them. Throughout the novel you become very attached to the four main characters, Clarke
was my favorite character by far.
In this novel, there are a few places that keep coming back. In the beginning, the story takes
place in three different spaceships: Arcadia, Phoenix and Walden, this is 300 years after a
nuclear cataclysm made the Earth uninhabitable. After the hundred prisoners are being sent
to Earth, the main setting is in former North America. You still read a lot of flashbacks that
happened in the spaceships, which is relevant to the story since the flashbacks tell you how
it all started. It can sometimes be pretty hard to visualize, because I can’t imagine what an
uninhabitable Earth would look like.
The plot isn’t predictable at all. Because you keep switching protagonists, there are a lot of
cliffhangers throughout the book. In the beginning of the book you have no idea why for
example Clarke is part of the hundred prisoners, but further ahead in the book you finally find
out the whole backstory. There are also a lot of flashbacks which makes the plot more
original, because you can be clueless in the beginning, but after a while the pieces start to fit
together. I also find the changing narrative exciting, like I mentioned, it results in a lot of
cliffhangers which I personally find very interesting. What I also really liked about this novel
were the important themes. For example, a theme that comes back a lot, is suicide. Octavia,
who is Bellamy’s sister, tries to kill herself. She is being stopped just in time. I think that
suicide is an important theme and the author really tries to teach you about something that is
a serious matter even nowadays. The second important theme is equality. Eventhough the
decision of sending people to the unhabitable earth is morally wrong, discrimination isn’t a
thing anymore. Race, gender and sexuality don’t determine who you are as a human being.
There are a lot of female leaders in this novel and I think this is really important to let the
reader know that discrimination is not okay. Nowadays, gender inequality is still a big issue,
