How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
on November 30, 2004
Genres: Dystopia, Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 194
Format: Paperback
Source: Own Copy
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"Every war has turning points and every person too."
Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she's never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.
As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it's a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy's uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way.
A riveting and astonishing story.

Written in the first person perspective, How I live Now is told as if Daisy is recollecting her thoughts and opinions rather than through a robotic format. Told with limited information, so that the reader feels as confused and lost as Daisy and her cousins in a world at war, adding to the atmosphere of the book.

Once you get over Daisy’s and Edmund’s uncontroversial relationship – they are both under-age and cousins!- then this is a brilliant story of how two lovers are torn apart by war and how love can not only break a heart but also mend it. The major theme for this book is survival-ship.

When I initially read How I Live Now, I didn’t really like it. Daisy was annoying, I hated the relationship between her and Edmund, and the way the book was narrated was frustrating – I wanted more facts. But after several rereads over the years I have started to love this book, and if I was in Daisy’s place this narration would be my own view. The tiny details hidden because they are not important, it is about being with the people you love and protecting one another.

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