Thank you so much to the publishers, Little Brown, for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
16-year-old Grace awakes one morning to find the sky leaden, the sun huge ball of ash, the clouds like threatening rubble, and reports of unexplained accidents occurring on roads and rail. These are the hallmarks of an apocalyptic movie, but it quickly becomes apparent that everything, to the rest of her family, seems normal; Grace is one of only a handful of people in the country who are seeing the world in shades of grey.
I always enjoy reading dystopian books but for some reason, rarely pick them up. I wanted to change that, so when I heard about Monochrome I wanted to read it immediately! The entire concept of this book is so interesting. Even just the idea of existing without seeing colour had me intrigued and got me thinking.
When Grace wakes up one morning to reports of unexplained accidents occurring on the roads and rail and the sun a huge ball of ash she is understandingly concerned. It seems like the start of the apocalypse for her, but it quickly becomes apparent that for the rest of the family, everything seems normal. Grace is one of a handful of people in the country who are now seeing the world in monochrome.
This book is incredibly fast-paced and is packed full of twists, turns and sinister moments to keep you intrigued. I would have loved a little bit more of a backstory into why people are losing their colour sight as that did feel a little rushed at first. After getting into the story a little more, I quickly forgot about this though and wanted to know what was going to happen next. Also, I enjoyed that this book is only told from Grace’s POV as it really helps the reader get inside her head throughout the story.
The characters in Monochrome are all incredibly interesting. Our main character Grace appears to be one of the first people to have lost her colour sight and then start to regain it. So, she feels it is her moral obligation to help science bring colour sight back for everyone. I loved how determined and thoughtful she is and the fact she constantly thinks of others before herself. The other characters we are introduced to are all well-rounded. The sinister characters are genuinely scary. Also, I enjoyed that there is a romance in this book but it doesn’t take over the rest of the story.
Jamie Costello has written an incredibly unique book that certainly got me thinking. A while after reading, I was still thinking about how losing your colour sight could affect things like your taste. I’ve definitely been looking at colours in things a little more since reading. I will certainly be picking up more books by Jamie Costello in the future.
Overall, Monochrome is a thought provoking book that I feel everyone should read! It is an excellent dystopian novel and will certainly get you thinking about how losing your colour sight changes everything. I would highly recommend it!
Loisreadsbooks 