The problem I think I had, which colored my reading of Double Cross, is that the third book in what was supposed to be a trilogy ended with threads woven in and it was a nice, natural close to a satisfying story. Here, the story was extended beyond its natural lifespan and it felt somewhat forced. It tales on tough topics like knife crime, drug addiction etc. which I think is important but the execution was terrible. Mild spoiler here but the drug addiction plotline was so poorly done and barely touched on, I didn’t feel any emotion at all it felt so shallow. I also don’t believe a teenage boy could’ve outsmarted several gangs but okay cool I guess he did.

I did enjoy the story but I feel it would have been better as a stand alone and not associated with the series.The book was still fantastic as Malorie creates an amazing story again while still providing character depth and generating interest for their well being.However,I would have loved to see more Sephy,Meggie and Callie. Dan – He’s not the biggest character in the story but he is one of the most significant. He’s a total tool. I felt that not even his redemption part was enough for me. He just didn’t seem sincere. I felt like he might’ve had his own reasons for doing what he did. But we’ll never know (hopefully. I don’t want to! I want to imagine. This is not a plea for a book 5.) He’s a shady guy, if I met him I’d cross the road. Or knee him where it hurts if he tried anything... and I think he would.Tobey wants a better life - for him and for Callie Rose. He wants nothing to do with the violent gangs that rule the world he lives in. But when he's offered the chance to earn some extra money, how much could it hurt to just this once say 'yes'? If this had been a stand alone novel I'd have given it four stars. I'm taking away a star because it's an unnecessary part of the series. Full review in the next few days. On the whole I'm glad I read it, and it wasn't a bad experience, more of a passive one as I relived previous times. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this fourth book in the Noughts + Crosses series as it’s not focused on the main families but on a friend of Callie’s. However I thoroughly enjoyed it and was kept gripped and entertained throughout, just as I was with the other books in the series. Double Cross is the final book in the Naughts and Crosses series and it is an amazing way to end it. The book is based on Toby who is friends with Callie and how revenge can make a person do things that they would never do otherwise. After Callie gets shot in the crossfire of two big gangs in their neighborhood Toby takes it upon himself to revenge her and try to take them down from the inside out.

Although the last 2 books to this series probably aren't my favourites, I feel that the conclusion to them was everything I wanted and definitely made me realise I was more connected to the characters than I thought. Just this once ...Please let me get away with it just this once ...Tobey wants a better life - for him and his girlfriend Callie Rose. He wants nothing to do with the gangs that rule the world he lives in. But when he's offered the chance to earn some money just for making a few 'deliveries', just this once, would it hurt to say 'yes'? One small decision can change everything ... Tobey wants a better life – for him and for Callie Rose. He wants nothing to do with the violent gangs that rule the world he lives in. But when he's offered the chance to earn some extra money, how much could it hurt to just this once say 'yes'? In 2008 Malorie received an OBE for her services to children's literature, and between 2013 and 2015 she was the Children's Laureate. Most recently, Malorie wrote for the Doctor Who series on BBC One, and the fifth novel in her Noughts & Crosses series, Crossfire, is published by Penguin Random House Children's. When I heard about this book coming out I went crazy. I looked everywhere for spoilers (something I am telling you NEVER DO), and all I found out was that it was going to involve drugs and gangs. I waited months for it to come out, and read it in two days (which involved my English teacher threatening to convincate it because I stayed up to midnight reading XD). And it didn't disappoint. It was as fantastic as all the rest.Callie Rose knows all about the danger of saying ‘yes’. She knows about terrible mistakes, and violence and family feuds, and the fierce divide between Noughts and Crosses. At the heart of this pacy novel is a young man struggling to flourish and do the right thing rather than simply survive in a world where "the harder life got . . . the more profit there was to be made". Tobey's deepening involvement with the two warring gangs and his attempts to play them off against each other cause him to bloody his hands. He watches himself becoming what he despises with a chilling awareness that is as exciting as it is poignant. Tobey wants a better life - for him and his girlfriend Callie Rose. He wants nothing to do with the gangs that rule the world he lives in. But when he's offered the chance to earn some money just for making a few 'deliveries', just this once, would it hurt to say 'yes'?

This review assumes that you have read all the previous books in the series, and thus will contain spoilers with regard to those stories. These are increasingly important books to be read by all – particularly in view of the current political climate and the ever more disturbing rise in the so-called ‘alt right’ / white supremacist groups in certain parts of the world. This book follows a character who is completely irrelevant in the rest of the books and his story was very uninteresting and didn't leave me with anything. Most of it is written through the eyes of Tobey and although we do get to hear Callie Rose at the very beginning and then at the end, it is brief. Sadly, we never hear from Sephy, which was a great disappointment. She was the original character and it would have been nice to find out how her life was turning out and if she was happy. I liked Tobey's character, but I didn't care about him as much as I had Sephy and Callum. There is also no alternating voices with each chapter, which I thought was a shame as the format had worked so well in the previous books.Callie Rose knows all about the danger of saying 'yes'. She knows about terrible mistakes, and violence and revenge, and the fierce divide between Noughts and Crosses. The ‘Noughts & Crosses’ series provides us with an explicit flip and twist on both the history and current political and cultural demographic of British society – where racial politics is turned on its head and power structures are completely reversed. Not my fave of the series, maybe bc there was no sephy POV. Callie rose isn't my favorite, but I might have liked it a bit more if we got more from her in this book. It was mostly Tobey. This is an original, intelligent, perceptive and though-provoking series of books – and whilst squarely aimed at the Young Adult market, it clearly transcends the restrictive boundaries of that genre. I’m just struggling to see how we went from Noughts and Crosses to this book - they kind of feel like three very separate books connected loosely by the original world. It’s so disjointed and jumpy and the actual full outline for the series makes next to no sense. It’s such a shame because the original premise so was stellar, I think as a standalone Noughts and Crosses with a bit more work could’ve been amazing.

To the narrator's alarm, Dan suggests he arms himself with a knife and the ensuing dialogue highlights escalation in weapon-carrying. The extract ends with an open-ended situation ideal for classroom speculation.Rebecca – I think she’s quite a random character to want to mention but she was actually one of the most likeable in the book in my opinion. She was the only character that didn’t feel like she had a dark secret or hidden intentions and I liked that. She didn’t deserve to be in the situation she was in. I wanted more for her. Why did you do that Malorie? Well, this is a hard one to review. Partly because I feel that this book is good and partly because I feel that being part of the ‘Noughts and Crosses’ series ruins it. I mean ruins because it didn’t have to be, this book could have stood up by itself and been counted. It didn’t need to be tagged on to a series, it’s so relevant to the youth of today and it hits hard. Putting it in an alternative reality is like taking something that’s meant to cause damage and wrapping it in bubble wrap. It needed to feel like it happens in our society for the simple reason that IT DOES. The premise is good, I mean once I’d got into the story I adored what was happening. It wasn’t a slow burner and once Tobey was drawn into the gangs I was hooked! The writing is perfect, it paints the scenes so well without adding words that don’t need to be there. I genuinely liked the story. One of Malorie’s best ideas! (That I’ve read anyway!) Tobey – Tobey is Callie-Rose’s childhood friend. He’s also our MC. This is the first time we’ve had his POV and at first I thought that he was more than a bit of a jerk. As much as he wants us to think that his actions are purely driven by events that happen to those around him, it’s a very selfish reason that means events snowball out of control in the first place. However I like that he tried to rectify his mistakes and that on the inside he was alright. Did I like him? I’m not entirely sure, I’m edging towards no to be honest. He did too little too late for me. He was incredibly realistic though, just the sort of person you can see getting caught up in the events of ‘Double Cross’.