Malorie Blackman

Dominic Cooke

With echoes of Romeo and Juliet, Noughts & Crosses is an electrifying, bittersweet love story set in a society divided by racial bigotry and a world rocked by terrorism. Sephy (a Cross) is the daughter of the Deputy Prime Minister. Callum is the son of a Nought agitator. United by a shared sense of injustice as children, and separated by intolerance as they grow up, their desire to be together begins to eclipse all family loyalty - sparking a political crisis of unimaginable proportions. Premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company, Noughts & Crosses has been adapted for the stage by Dominic Cooke from Malorie Blackman's best-selling novels.

Noughts & Crosses

Two star-crossed lovers fight for a more just world in this searing novel with a critically-acclaimed BBC series adaptation now streaming on NBCUniversal’s Peacock platform! Sephy is a Cross: dark-skinned and beautiful, she lives a life of privilege and power. But she’s lonely, and she burns with injustice at the world she sees around her. Callum is a nought: pale-skinned and poor, he’s considered to be less than nothing, there to serve Crosses, but he dreams of a better life. They’ve been friends since they were children, and they both know that’s as far as it can ever go. Noughts and Crosses are fated to be bitter enemies—love is out of the question. Then—in spite of a world that is fiercely against them—these star-crossed lovers choose each other. But it comes at a price and as they prepare to protect themselves and their love, they realize that the cost will lead both of them into terrible danger…and will have shocking repercussions for generations to come.

** NOW A MAJOR NEW BBC TV SERIES - this edition contains an exclusive Q&A with lead actor Paterson Joseph** 'The Noughts & Crosses series are still my favourite books of all time and showed me just how amazing story-telling could be' - Stormzy 'Stop it! You're all behaving like animals! Worse than animals - like blankers!' Sephy is a Cross: dark-skinned and beautiful, she lives a life of privilege and power. But she's lonely, and burns with injustice at the world she sees around her. Callum is a nought: pale-skinned and poor, he's considered to be less than nothing - a blanker, there to serve Crosses - but he dreams of a better life. They've been friends since they were children, and they both know that's as far as it can ever go. Noughts and Crosses are fated to be bitter enemies - love is out of the question. Then - in spite of a world that is fiercely against them - these star-crossed lovers choose each other. But this is love story that will lead both of them into terrible danger . . . and which will have shocking repercussions for generations to come. Voted as one of the UK's best-loved books, Malorie Blackman's Noughts & Crosses is a seminal piece of YA fiction; a true modern classic. 'Unforgettable' Guardian 'The most original book I've ever read' Benjamin Zephaniah

Book 1

Violetta Pflug 

Sephy is a Cross - a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a nought - a 'colourless' member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses. The two have been friends since early childhood. But that's as far as it can go. Against a background of prejudice, distrust and mounting terrorist violence, a romance builds between Sephy and Callum - a romance that is to lead both of them into terrible danger . . .

Noughts and Crosses

No idea how this book is getting so many good reviews, there are so many questionable scenes and the writing is horrid

sharkie

The first few chapters I felt bored, but as it went on it got more and more exciting. The ending was heartbreaking. Loved this read and now onto the second one. Recommend age 12+ as they did have sex in one scene, but it’s quite mild. 

Jafe

Noughts & Crosses (Noughts & Crosses Trilogy)

Very interesting and thought provoking book loved it from start to finish! CHECK TWS!!

Liwia Drewnik

Zara Doulton

Everything about this book is incredibly well written - I adore it!

Light Melody

This is one of the books that got me into reading, i enjoyed reading this book so much that i finished it all in one day ^^

Jade Lee

Ughhhhh so gooood! So heartbreaking and so powerful

So happy I read it again as an adult, i would recommend this to everyone so people can understand and sympathise

** SOON TO BE A MAJOR NEW BBC TV SERIES - this edition contains an exclusive Q&A with lead actor Paterson Joseph** 'The Noughts & Crosses series are still my favourite books of all time and showed me just how amazing story-telling could be' - Stormzy 'Stop it! You're all behaving like animals! Worse than animals - like blankers!' Sephy is a Cross: dark-skinned and beautiful, she lives a life of privilege and power. But she's lonely, and burns with injustice at the world she sees around her. Callum is a nought: pale-skinned and poor, he's considered to be less than nothing - a blanker, there to serve Crosses - but he dreams of a better life. They've been friends since they were children, and they both know that's as far as it can ever go. Noughts and Crosses are fated to be bitter enemies - love is out of the question. Then - in spite of a world that is fiercely against them - these star-crossed lovers choose each other. But this is love story that will lead both of them into terrible danger . . . and which will have shocking repercussions for generations to come. Voted as one of the UK's best-loved books, Malorie Blackman's Noughts & Crosses is a seminal piece of YA fiction; a true modern classic. 'Unforgettable' Guardian 'The most original book I've ever read' Benjamin Zephaniah

Flavia Louise

3.5 stars
I loved the first 100 pages of this and I know that the whole book would have gotten 5 stars from me had I first read it about 3 or 4 years ago. This way I liked it, I loved the concept, I enjoyed the actual story.

Becky

I finished reading this book with my Year 9 class today. This is the second time I’ve read it as I taught it last year too and I loved it just as much. The kids seem to really enjoy it and are always excited to read it. I think it’s a great show of the hardships that many people have to deal with purely for the colour of their skin and is the first dual narrative I ever read. I think it’s perfect for teens and adults and I have already bought the next one and promised my class I would tell them what happened!

I enjoyed it! However some bits were a bit slow and there wasn’t much going on. 
But the ending made me cry. 
I defo recommend. 

Inês Parada

Wow. Ok. I don't know how to talk about this book. 😶

What can I say? This book was one of the best books I have read so far. When I started this book I was not expecting THIS.

Malorie Blackman did an amazing job expressing how privilege and racism work in a society and how can affect your life, we really get to see how a world full of injustice is and why people who are oppressed get violent, who wouldn’t? the book is full of violence, bullying and other things but that's what gets you involved in the story! This was well constructed and there were so many plots and this I was not expecting, that makes the book amazing. 🤯

I loved the main characters, even though they made mistakes and some big ones I fell in love with them. 🥺 I fell in love with their relationship and how they didn't care about their skin color or what other people thought about them. They deserved everything for fighting till the end of the book.

In the middle of the story, I already knew this was going to be 5 stars and I was right. I cried during the book and when I got to the end I was sobbing so much I felt like I just died.😭

This is definitely going to stick with me for a long long time and that how I know it was amazing!

Definitely recommend this if you want to feel all kinds of emotions.

Harriet Moar-Smith

I've had this on my 'to read' pile since I was basically 12 and I think if I'd have read it as a young teen it would have been an easy 5 stars, now it just feels very young to me.

Tegneserie - graphic novel. Fortælling om forholdet mellem sorte (crosses) og hvide (noughts). De hvide stemples som kriminelle og urene. Venskab og kærlighed mellem sorte og hvide er tabu. Det gør livet besværligt for Sephy og Callum

Hannah

The original book was one of my favourites growing up and I'm so happy that this lived up to the original. The simple artwork was beautiful and the whole thing worked so well.

Toniy Knight

Honestly I really enjoyed it. There were parts where I couldn’t get into it (though that could be because of me and not the book). But at other points I couldn’t put it down. The plot brought up a lot of question’s and every time you thought one was about to be answered you just ended up with another one. Which really drew me in.


I’m going to give it a 4/5 as it is a good book but as I said a couple of parts didn’t really do it for me, and I could never really get into the relationship between Callum and Sephy.

Anna Agarwal

Ceyda karacan

I hate that sephy and Callum can't be together because of the colour of their skin and because of soicety and its racism, it totally sucks! but they're the cutest,ngl. I love how the places of white and black people have been changed but it still sucks about the discrimination /: but this series is one of my favs tbh and its just great you all should read it! the last 10 pages give me goosebumps and make me teary. I've redhead this book and it still hurts like crazy

Aagna Alaiya

The book as a whole is a real emotional rollercoaster. A book that keeps you on the edge of your seat to later be smacked in the face with the ending. So good!

Julie Bessin

This book legit broke my soul. YOU HAVE BROKEN ME MALORIE. Wow, so many emotions. 

Will come back to this review when I finish collecting myself *wipes tears*

Which may be never? Way to pull a (view spoiler)[ Game of Thrones there (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

While in many this book read as a typical dystopian YA series, it was also so much more than that. 

This book (and likely the rest of the series) has so many important themes and messages, particularly about race and implementing change. It is easy to read in a YA-style of writing and yet it doesn't scare away from tackling some big issues and showing you the nitty-gritty.

A warning to potential readers that this book does contain content about suicide and violence such as death by hanging. The book does state that it not suitable for younger readers.

I will be continuing this series. While I haven't come across Malorie Blackman previously, I will be keeping an eye out for more of her work, including the rest of this series.

Tania Kalsi

THIS BOOK. NO. JUST NO. This shouldn't be a book BECAUSE IT IS TOO GOOD AND YOU JUST THINK ABOUT IT FOR DAYS AND DAYS TO COME. I WAS LITERALLY AND MENTALLY BROKEN BY THIS HEART-WRENCHING, DEPRESSING, SUSPENSEFUL AND EXCITING NOVEL. This book had beautifully written romance that you just fall in love with both Sephy and Callum that you never want them to separate, and death too which makes you cry and cry and CRY. I literally couldn't get myself to read the sequel to this book until the next few days since I was too sad that… (view spoiler)[WHY ON EARTH DID CALLUM HAVE TO DIE!!!????? HE WAS LIKE MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER AND I WAS CRYING ALL DAY AND NIGHT BECAUSE OF THIS. I HATE KAMAL HADLEY NOW. HATE HIM. (hide spoiler)]. 

This book is too addictive and so suspenseful and full of a gazillion twists and turns that make you sit on the edge of your chair as you read it. I love the world represented in this book - it basically represents our world before the early 20th Century, but the opposite way round (Crosses are the ruling group - who are black - and Noughts are rejected - who are white). The reason for all the deaths in the book is essentially due to prejudice towards Noughts and IT'S SO EMOTIONAL!!! Also, Sephy is an awesome character as she is a Cross and her dad is a discriminating deputy president, so you'll expect her to be awful as well. But no, Sephy - or her 'own kind' call her a 'blanker-lover' - loves everybody, Nought or Cross, and she is a perfect motif for justice and equality. I love all the range of characters portrayed in this moving book, and you absolutely MUST read the SEQUELS AS THEY ARE EQUALLY AS ADDICTIVE AND INCREDIBLY FAST-PACED!! (I still haven't recovered from the ending of this book though 😭)

Anooshay Abbasi

I don't have the words to describe how I am feeling after finishing this book.

Anyaconda

This was so incredibly intense and gripping! Can there ever be a happy ending for this?

Sophie Shrimpton

I remember loving this book as a kid. It makes sense - I loved political YA books, especially with a taste of revolution. I'm sure if I was rating it then it would have been at least four stars. It probably deserves that from another standpoint - it has a purpose, and it fulfils it well. However, I rate based on my subjective enjoyment at the time I read it, so it has to have this rating. 

I didn't learn anything, but that's hardly surprising given it was a children's book. I was concerned by some of the implicit ideas about love and relationships it communicated - while the cause of the violence was clear, I'm not sure it should have been justified or put on a pedestal when the book is directed at children who will not be looking at it with a critical eye. 

For a book about systemic racism it didn't focus too much on the systemic aspect. Sure, it shaped the entire fate of Callum, but in a sensationalist and exceptional way. It didn't grapple with every-day systemic oppression as well. But maybe that was necessary to have a gripping plot and not turn into a dusty historical narrative few people would read, let alone children

Some quotes:
"I didn't want to feel guilty for just being, but that's how he was beginning to make me feel."

"Our being here - it works from the Crosses' point of view, but what about our own? Because if this is all there is, we might as well be robots. We might as well not exist at all."

"I stopped struggling and waited to die"

"I'm not sure I share your faith in a society ruled by noughts," Jack tells me, thoughtfully. "People are people. We'll always find a way to mess up, doesn't matter who's in charge."

Noughts & Crosses

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