The Other Side of Dawn

Despite some initial reservations, I've grown to love this series. This finale offers the same brilliant action and heartwarming personal stories as the other novels.

The seperation from the ferals was absolutely heartwrenching, and the group went out with a bang in their final contribution to the war.
However, I was completely disappointed by the ending.

I can see where Marsden was coming from- this was the end of a violent war, and a 'they lived happily ever after' would have been a bit unrealistic. But I think he represented Ellie as too fickle in the end. A girl that suddenly falls out of love with one friend (AGAIN!) and begins to have feelings for another (AGAIN!) (I really thought she was over that drama), and a girl that breaks show more a promise to a little girl... it just does not feel like the Ellie I admired throughout the series. And beyond that, the cruel splitting up of the group... I understand that their relationships would have a little tension now, but after everything they went through, it just seems bizzare.
And I suppose that somewhat naively, after how independent the group acted for so long, I did not envision them becoming obedient teenagers that follow the decisions of their parents (ie. Fi's move to the city). They just seemed too grown-up for that.

Anyway, this novel is as brilliant as its predecessors, and although I personally hate the ending, if I view it from a distance, I can understand and respect that Marsden's ending stays true to the cold, hard, reality. I think I just got too emotionally involved in the series.

PS. I totally knew that the rest of the group was alive! I was in complete denial when Ellie thought they were dead..it would have been too cruel.
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John Marsden's Tomorrow series is one of the best Australian young adult series ever written. It follows the experiences of a group of teenagers who go camping in a serene clearing called 'Hell' and return to find their homeland invaded, their beloved pets dead and their families held prisoner at the local showground. After the initial shock and fear, they decide that it wouldn't do just to sit tight and hope for the best - better to fight. With realistic action and the conflicting emotions that come from war (at one point Ellie wonders how many people it is OK to kill just to keep herself alive), this series will have you thinking about what you would do if you were in their shoes. The Tomorrow series is neither pro or anti war. It show more simply tells what happens and leaves the reader to judge. If you don't read this series you are missing out on something great. show less

The Other Side of Dawn by John Marsden is the seventh and final book in his Tomorrow Series. I’ve been reading this series slowly over the last few years and I am going to miss it, as I have become very attached to the characters but at the same time it was time to end the war and wrap the series up before it got to repetitive. Luckily, the author has published a trilogy that continues the story of the main character, Ellie.

The series has followed a group of Australian teenagers who became resistance fighters when their country was invaded while they were on a camping trip. It is now the final days of the war and the United Nations and other countries have come to Australia’s aid. This group has been asked to cause as much trouble show more as they can in order to disrupt the enemy and while causing an explosion at a fuel depot, Ellie becomes separated from the group. She must now move forward toward the end of the war alone, not knowing what happened to her friends.

I thought the author gave the series a realistic yet hopeful ending, things do not go back to the way they were. Many people have been killed and even more have been damaged. The war has brought changes and now Ellie must find her way in a new world. The Other Side of Dawn is the closing of a series about courage, friendship and survival. I now look forward to the trilogy that is about Ellie and her life after the war. show less

7 books. 7 books and I've completed the series.

and what a finale.

I'm still rocked a little. It's hard to believe it's done. I mean, war - the lands have been ravaged, houses destroyed, people/families killed. We've had to say goodbye to so many friends in these stories, so much heartbreak and murder. These kids have changed and have had to adapt.

it's crazy to see them at the end - knowing who they were when this series began. It's hard to believe there won't be another story....

but I'm okay with where I'm leaving Ellie for now.
I will read her other series, though. I just hope she's okay.

A good yarn, and for the most part believable. There were a few hunches I had along the way and I was pleased to have guessed some minor and major plot points, but Ellie's narrator voice was quite well done. A satisfying conclusion to an excellent series.

I finished this a week ago and have held off reviewing until now so I could be comfortable with rating. The more I reflect on the final book in this series the more I find myself dissapointed in what could have been.

The decision to seperate Ellie from her friends right up until the end really didn't give the readers a chance to properly say goodbye to anyone but Ellie. I can't help but think the majority of what happened in Book 7 could have easily replaced the rather uneventful and inconsequential Book 6. This would have left Book 7 free to really dig into the character relationships, the logistics of the ending of the war, and exploring what the further holds for all the characters. As it stands it didn't feel like justice was done show more to the relationships we have watched develop over the course of this 7 book series.

Despite the action pieces and world exploration in this book it somehow anticlimactic. Although I wonder if that was entirely unavoidable after many books of non stop action and suspense. show less

The conclusion to the first series about the war in Australia. It's every bit as horrifying as the worst parts of The Third Day, The Frost, but the 'worst parts' in this installment drag on for a lot longer. And Marsden managed to put in a couple of twists that really stirred me; with a chapter or two left I had one reaction to the book all worded in my head, just to have that expectation changed and changed again. But there's no forgetting one thing: war changes people.
I'm thinking the 'young adult' label on these books is slightly unsuitable, considering how gritty and plain horrifying they sometimes get, but at the same time I do think the whole series should be obligatory reading in high school because it's a lot more show more thought-provoking than some of the stuff I read then. show less