Num8ers

Author: Rachel Ward
Recommended Age: Young Adult
Publisher: The Chicken House
ISBN: 978-0545142991
Year Published: 2010
No. Pages: 336
Genre: Fantasy
Main Character Gender: Female
Read & Reviewed by: Taylor





“There are places where kids like me go. Sad kids, bad kids, bored kids and lonely kids. Kids that are different.”

Jem is different. Ever since she can remember, when she meets someone new, no matter whom, a number pops into her mind. That number is the date they will die. This creates an enormous amount of stress for Jem so she tries to avoid relationships. But when she meets Spider, she takes a chance.

While waiting to go on the London Eye ( a Ferris wheel), Jem notices that all the tourists flash the same number. Today's date. Jem, frightened for their lives, encourages Spider to flee the scene. Their escape from the scene makes them suspects in the subsequent bombing. On the run, will Jem be able to prove that she had nothing to do with the bombing and cheat death?

Rachel Ward used amazing cliffhangers to create major butterfly, stomach churning moments when I didn't know what was going to happen next. For example:
“Spider looked over the top of his nan's head, and I knew what he was thinking. We couldn't stick around waiting to be picked up. It was time to run.”
These suspenseful moments propelled me through this book as I was desperate to find out what happened next. So much so that I had difficulty putting this book down, and sped through it in just two days.

Ward wrote this novel in first person, from Jem's point of view, dragging me into Jem's mind and enabling me to experience her thoughts and feelings. This made the events and emotions realistic. I became the shy, moody and stubborn Jem. I became the girl desperate to save her friend. Ward was also able to weave humour through Spider's character by making him more careless and irresponsible and enabling him do quite a few stupid things resulting in my laughter. Although Spider is not as serious as Jem, he is loving and caring and is able to show Jem, as well as the reader, the value of friendship and love.

Some of the themes of this book are friendship, loss and racism. Ward tackles loss with Jem losing her mother to a drug overdose and having to move from foster home to foster home. Racism is witnessed through Spider, a black male often mistreated by society. Ward doesn’t knock you over the head with these themes. Rather, she weaves them expertly into the story.

Ward makes the novel interesting by setting it in every day life and adding a twist of fantasy by giving Jem the ability to see people’s death dates. Using this original, yet fantastical, idea refreshes what could have been a typical suspense novel. I soon forgot that Jem’s ability was unrealistic and accepted it as part of her character.

I rated this book a 10 out of 10 . I would recommend this book to anyone who loves action novels. It is an adrenaline ride. Readers should be aware that there is some harsh language and a frank sex scene.