Malorie Blackman

What a heartbreaking read this was. My heart bled for Sephy and Callum, two young people from opposite racial and social backgrounds who dared to be friends and gradually fall in love. Set in an alternate reality, the Noughts (the second-rate whites) were not allowed to intermingle with the Crosses (the dominating blacks. I loved how Blackman flipped history around and highlighted the absurdities of society, prejudice and racial hatred.

The story narrative switched between the two teenagers show more allowing the reader to understand their perspectives as they try to make sense of the world they live in. As the reader I felt their confusion, pain and anger, and shared their growing disillusionment. They showed that the power of love can mend bridges and change the world. Their romance was believable and so touching. Despite the pain, separation and heartache it caused, it remained strong and pure, right to the end. The last few pages were horrendous and just left me shattered. Even though I have read this book before, I was desperate for a different outcomes.

Beautifully and powerfully written, with complex characters and full of pain and love, "Noughts and Crosses" is a book that will resonate with me for a long time to come. show less

Noughts & Crosses follows Sephy and Callum, from childhood friendship through to the ways a racially polarised society repeatedly forces them apart.

The book generated huge contemporary discussion and still feels painfully relevant. By reversing racial hierarchies, placing Black society in the position of power while white citizens remain marginalised and treated as second class, it shifts familiar injustices into a perspective many younger readers may not otherwise encounter so directly. show more What lingers most are often the smaller details, from the absence of plasters for white skin tones to the anger and alienation that pull Callum and his brother toward extremism. It is very clearly a novel designed to provoke discussion, particularly for younger readers, and it remains uncomfortable in ways that still resonate.

At the same time, some elements feel tied to the era in which it was written. The central romance leans heavily into fairly traditional gender dynamics, and the pregnancy storyline felt more familiar and inevitable than surprising.

Still well worth reading, even if parts now feel predictable. A difficult book at times, but one that remains strikingly relevant. show less

The very brief chapters alternate between Sephy (a Cross) and Callum (a nought)’s perspectives as they attempt to sustain their friendship in a racially divided community. The twist, of course, is that Sephy is black and Callum is white: Blackman rewrites history by assuming that if African-American men had intruded into Caucasian territory in the same way that Caucasians intruded into African-American territory then the injustices meted out would have been identical to our current show more history.

The noughts in this tale have only recently been freed from slavery and are still treated as second class citizens. As Callum struggles to make something of himself in a hostile world, Sephy tries to find a way to reveal her own convictions, without hurting her friend. Reading both viewpoints allows you to realise how poisonous racism really is without feeling that you are being preached to.

Written simply in first person throughout, the story is convincing but increasingly horrifying as the author also suggests the powerful effect families have on their members. The quick paced narrative successfully suggests the turmoil omnipresent in society, even though the story itself takes place over several years. show less

"Brutal" is the word for "Naughts & Crosses." Even if you see where the story is headed (or perhaps especially if you do), it's grueling to watch the characters move inexorably towards their respective fates.

The story is set in a sort of alternate reality where dark-skinned people ("crosses") are the upper class and light-skinned people ("naughts") are the lower class. The naughts used to be the slaves of the crosses; now they're free, but their lives haven't improved much. And now the son show more of a naught and the daughter of a cross have dared to overturn social convention by falling in love.

The premise sounds like it could be cheesy, but the author actually pulls it off pretty well, largely because she makes every main character at least a little sympathetic. So even though you don't agree with the naughts who have turned terrorist and the crosses who are pulling the strings to maintain the status quo, you at least understand their motivations.

One of the advantages of a story like this where the history of race relations is turned on its head is that it allows the reader to examine the ways in which different races interact with a degree of impartiality, since this fictional world both is and isn't the same as our own.

I came away from this book determined to be a better person, which is a bigger effect than most books have on me. show less