Numbers

The book Numbers by Rachel Ward is nothing short of astounding. This book is the first of a series of three. I have yet to read the other two, but I plan on doing so in the future. Ward sucks you in to the book in just the first chapter by telling the audience that the main character Jem can see people’s “numbers”, in other words she can see when people are going to die. Jem lives in a foster home in the slums of London. One day, she meets spider and they become friends and take a day out to go see the London Eye. While they are there Jem realizes that everyone has the same number and it is today. Jem and Spider get wrapped up in the middle and need to find a way to escape the police without losing each other. The story line was well developed and easy to follow, giving this book an enticing plot that drew me in.
Numbers was a very easy read. There were never any parts where I was confused or had to go back and reread a section. The story flowed from beginning to end, which made it really enjoyable to read. What I really loved about this story was that even though it was fiction, the story between Jem and Spider was raw and real. It portrays teenagers that don’t live in North Scottsdale or somewhere “high-end” but who live a more rough life, the characters are believable. The story ends with the death of the two main characters Jem and Spider. So clearly the story does not have a happy ending that gives you a sense of closure. This book deals with important issues common to humanity. Many people are misunderstood because of where they live or how they portray themselves on the outside. Numbers dives deep into these characters lives revealing that people are beautiful no matter where they are from.

The one thing that I did not enjoy about this book was it was misleading. When I looked at the cover and read the synopsis I thought I was getting myself into an adventurous mystery involving a terrorist attack. What I read, was two chapters of introducing characters followed by a soft love story with hardly any action. However, this did not ruin the book for me and I would still recommend it to young adults/ teenagers who are looking for a worthy and easy read.