Limited space requires limited numbers. The year is 2059. Noa Blake is
just another normal 15 year-old. Except in The Territory normal isn’t
normal. The richest children have a node on the back of their necks and
can download information and bypass the need to study. In a flooded
world of dwindling resources, Noa and the other ‘Norms’ have their work
cut out to even compete. And competing is everything – because anybody
who fails the TAA exam at 15 will be shipped off to the disease-ridden
Wetlands, which means a life of misery, if not certain death. But how to
focus when your heart is being torn in two directions at once?
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It's 2059 and a lot of what used to be land is now under water. Noa Blake is a normal teenager who's living in The Territory. Only the smartest people are allowed to live there. Rich children can download information into their brains and don't have to study. There isn't enough space for everyone to stay on land and one exam will determine the future of every teenager. If they pass they can stay and if they fail they have to go, they will be sent to the Wetlands where mosquitoes are causing horrible diseases. The people there are being left to survive without any of the modern resources of The Territory.
It's a competitive world and Noa is worrying about the exam. She's studying as much as she can, because she doesn't want to fail it. At school those who have the nodes are looking down on the students who are normal and have to study. Until Noa meets one of them who isn't like that. They instantly become very close, only Noa already has a best friend, someone who isn't willing to give her up. Noa isn't just a student, she's also a regular teenager who should be allowed to live a normal life. Unfortunately life is far from normal.
The Territory is a scary world to live in. Inequality is making things difficult. Noa has a chance, she might pass the exam. Other normal teenagers aren't that lucky, they already know what their destiny will be. Noa cares for her friends, but she also has her faults. The Territory comes with many rules. There's no reading for fun, hardly any music, etc. The world has become a colder and harder place. Not everyone is going that way though and Noa and her friends are struggling to survive in a world that becomes more and more insensitive.
Noa is a regular teenage girl. She isn't perfect and she makes mistakes. She might pass the exam because she's really smart. She's even smarter than most of the students who have the nodes to upload information. There's so much pressure, if she doesn't pass the exams her parents have to go with her to the Wetlands and she's dreading it. Studying is her main focus, but like every girl her age there are distractions. Falling in love for the first time can be confusing, especially when you have to choose between two guys.
I love the world Sarah Govett has created. I like her version of what would happen if water claims the land. The Territory is such a good book. The pressure is slowly building when the exam date is coming closer. Because of this I couldn't stop reading. The Territory is a great page-turner and the ending is really good an unexpected. This is a fabulous first book and I can't wait to read more.
Enter the giveaway to win a paperback copy of The Territory.
I will contact the winner on twitter or via email. If I don't get a
reply within 60 hours the prize will go to someone else. All of my
giveaways are international.
I think 2059 is going to be much the same as we are now in a lot of ways. I think we will still be working hard to destroy our planet and will have successfully eradicated many of our natural flora and fauna but we will have made some leaps forward technologically
ReplyDeleteI think in 2059, people will have even less moral values than today! I think we will lose a lot of bookworms out there and I feel so sorry! :(
ReplyDeleteI hope and pray that in 2059 nothing changes. I like things the way they are.
ReplyDeletewellim old. in 70s, we thought there would be flying cars NOW so have noo clue to even guesssing but, flying cars ?!
ReplyDeleteFuels will run out, thus industry is doomed. And human race should go to extinction.
ReplyDeleteI hope we will attain world peace by then! People will only use renewable energy!
ReplyDeleteless freedom, more of us will be healthier but life will be far less interesting
ReplyDeletemore technology
ReplyDeleteNot much nature and a lot of technology :( unfortunately
ReplyDeleteMaybe people will have computer chips in their heads!
ReplyDeleteWell, because I might be dead by that time...it will be boring! :) Tbh, if the now has a lot of people dependent to technologies what more that 2059 year. People can't live without technology. I'm not sure of what that day would be like, but there's one thing I'm sure of, I don't want to be alive until that day came.
ReplyDeletePretty sure the internet will be completely mobile with headsets and the wealth gap will be impossible to leap, slavery will have returned, and most people will be miserable x :) Cheerful thought, eh?
ReplyDeleteThinking about our situation today, I think we will be more superficial, caring only about external appearance and what we look like on social media, and there will be a lot of technology which will enable us to sitting all day without having to lift a finger!
ReplyDeleteCarolina M on rafflecopter
I think there will be a lot less green with a lot more technology
ReplyDeleteI have seen back to the future, reckon there maybe a hoover board or two.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to now but with even more reliance on technology, with Western countries more green & sustainable, and an even wider divide between rich & poor countries.
ReplyDeletelots of bad fashion and music lol
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I do not have much faith, I think it will be worse :D the ones that have not much probably will have even less, but there always be someone to help them, I hope :) The rest, technology will be everywhere!
ReplyDeleteLoads more technology advanced things probably no NHS LOL
ReplyDeleteMegan @ reading away the days
I am confident that in 2059 the world would be positively changed: pollutions would be reduced and alternative energies discovered. I would love if by then world's hunger would be defeated!
ReplyDeleteBy 2059 there will be technology to do way too many things for us. I think people will have forgotten the value and satisfaction of hard work and reliance on yourself. I hope I'm wrong!
ReplyDeleteCINDY B on rafflecopter
things get stranger by the year so i can't even imagine!!! oh, and the technology that will probably be accessible - could be good or bad
ReplyDeleteI can't even imagine what the year 2059 will be like. I would imagine the insensitivity to and of others would be great. I think the crimes would be horrific in number. That's all I can imagine and all I want to imagine.
ReplyDeleteGosh, I don't know. On one hand it's scary with global warming & the changes in the environment. On the other hand the advances in technology and all things that make life easier could make it to be very nice. At least I'm hoping for my grandson's sake. :)
ReplyDeleteRobots!! Lol
ReplyDeletei think the country will be very poor and alot more famine x
ReplyDeleteTechnology will control everything
ReplyDeleteJade
I think it will be really scary I'll be over 100 by then scarier still
ReplyDeleteHopefully we will be on our way to finding alternative fuels, and technology won't have taken over the world
ReplyDeleteI think 2059 will be very technologically advanced in many ways, but probably not so different from now overall (weren't we all meant to be driving round in space ships by now :-))
ReplyDeleteits scary to think about hopefully there wont be more wars
ReplyDeleteI think we will have a lot of lazy people.
ReplyDeleteHoepfully we wouldnt have ruined the planet or gone to war with everyone!
ReplyDelete