Synopsis from Goodreads:
Young people on the Midwich Estate don’t have much hope for their futures. Keisha has lived there her whole life, and has been working hard to escape it; others have just accepted their lot.
But change is coming…
One night everyone inside Midwich Tower falls mysteriously unconscious in one inexplicable ‘Nightout’. No one can explain what happened during those lost hours, but soon afterwards Keisha and three other girls find they’re pregnant – and the babies are growing at an alarming rate.
As the news spreads around the tower its residents turn against them and the situation spirals toward violence. Keisha’s life unravels as she realises that the pregnancy may not have just ruined her hopes for the future: she might be mother to the end of the world.
The Fallen Children is a story of violation, of judgment and of young people who must fight to defy what is expected of them.
My rating:
★★★★★(★)
Trust me, it deserves the extra star!
The cover is gorgeous, there’s 360 different colours to choose from and, if you’re lucky, a golden egg or two. You can find out about these here.
The Fallen Children is a retelling of Midwich Cuckoo by John Wyndham, I’m not familiar with this book, though I will definitely pick up a copy in the future. It’s set on a council estate and told through the perspective of Keisha, Maida, Siobhan, Morris and briefly one other person (I’m not going to spoil it for you). During the ‘nightout’ everyone in the tower block mysteriously falls asleep, the event is captured on Kiesha’s livestream, though everyone has signed out by that point. All we hear and see is her bedroom door creak open and her body pulled away from the camera. Four women in the block fall pregnant, three of them teenagers. No need to imagine how that goes down, especially when residents notice something is off, strange occurrences around them. Not to mention the escalated pregnancies, causing fear and hate amongst them, which only gets worse after the babies are born. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone so I will leave it there.
I don’t think anything I say will do this book the justice it deserves. It’s intriguing, brilliantly written and bold. I love the supernatural and eerie elements. it’s relevance to todays society, the realistic portrayal of teenagers and how they are treated. More than anything, I liked the character diversity and the fact there is also a strong parental presence, it makes a nice change and it was interesting to explore their different roles in the story and how they dealt with this chain of events in their own way. I thoroughly enjoyed the character development of the children, they’re creepy and fascinating in equal measure, particularly the boy and how he was influenced by those around him, or the lack of influence at times. I think he was my favourite character. Overall I found the story compelling, I couldn’t put it down from the moment I started it. Its fast paced and, by the end you’ll be on the edge of your seat. Days after finishing it, I’m still just as eager to know what happened to them after the book ended. I can’t recommend it enough, even if you’re not a huge fan of the supernatural. The Fallen Children is my favourite book of the year so far, it’s a must read!.
Buy from:
Waterstones Book Depository
Published by: Atom Books
Publication date: 4th May 2017
Pages: 352
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