Review: Num8ers

Num8ers by Rachel Ward

Series: Numbers # 1

Official Site

Description: Since her mother's death, fifteen-year-old Jem has kept a secret. When her eyes meet someone else's, a number pops into her head - the date on which they will die. Knowing that nothing lasts forever, Jem avoids relationships, but when she meets a boy called Spider, and they plan a day out together, her life takes a new twist and turn. Waiting for the London Eye, she sees everyone in the queue has the same number - something terrible is going to happen.

Review: I wanted to like this book so badly. The first 100 pages were really good, and I was definitely pulled in. I couldn't put it down and I wanted to know what the terrible was. (On the back of the book, the description says about the clock ticking down...her world is gonna blow up! or something along those lines) And I thought, Oh wow, maybe it's this whole conspiracy and everyone has the same numbers because the government is going to blow up the London Eye, which I think is like an amusement park. But Num8ers lacked everything that I wanted in the book.

Num8ers tells the story of Jem, who is an orphan and living under the care of a woman named Karen. The book is set in London, which I thought was a bonus because I really enjoy reading with London as my setting. Ever since she was young, she could see the date someone is going to die in their eyes. She avoids social contact, and obviously, eye contact. She's an outcast and goes to this school for bad kids, and along these bad kids is a boy named Spider. He's tall, bouncy, and can't sit still. Him and Jem start to hang out, and Spider sticks up for her, but Jem is hard as nails and does not want anyone's help. One day, they go to the London Eye, and Jem notices that everyone's number is the same. Weird. She starts to panic and grabs Spider, and together they run from the London Eye, exactly as it is about to blow up.

The police think that, by running away from the crime, they are the ones who blew it up. Actually it was a terrorist, and Jem actually had a conversation with him and thought he was jumpy, but the author doesn't linger on the terrorist. After, Jem and Spider set off on a 200+ page hiking trip all throughout London. Nothing happens. Ab-solute-ly nothing. I was very disappointed, I wanted more action. Like I said before, the book was perfect until the London Eye incident, and it went downhill from there.

However, not all was bad. I liked how the author ended the book, and set it up for the sequel. (I will not be reading the sequel, it doesn't appeal to me) I liked the characters a lot, especially Jem and Spider. I got used to them and I feel that the reason I had to read and keep going was to hear their story. I needed to know what happened to them.

But perhaps the numbers were a two-edges sword. What if I didn’t just have a hand in causing death- what if I could saves lives, too?

-Num8ers, Rachel Ward