It’s been 20 years in the making but Endgame by Malorie Blackman is worth the wait

Malorie Blackman has released Endgame, the final book in the Noughts and Crosses series, 20 years after the release of the first book in the series.

The first Nought Prime Minister, Toney Durbridge, is about to go on trial for the murder of notorious ganglord, Dan Jeavons. Tobey insists he is being framed. There were ten seats at Dan’s dinner party the night he was killed and each guest had their own reasons for wishing him dead.

Sephy Hadley was one of the guests that night. Haunted by the idea that she didn’t do enough to stop the death of her first love, Callum McGregor, Sephy will not sit quietly and wait for accusations to fall on her now. She has her children to protect . . .

It’s time that actions speak louder than words. Time that the truth is uncovered. Time for the endgame.

Endgame…. we don’t actually really know where to begin with it. It’s everything we expected from Malorie and so much more.

20 years ago, Malorie Blackman‘s Noughts & Crosses, a story that charted the deeply forbidden romance between Sephy (a Cross) and Callum (a Nought) was published. Theirs was a love affair that has had repercussions for their families for generations.

It was a story like nobody had ever seen before, and the ending…. 20 years later we still haven’t really forgiven Malorie for it. But now reading the books as an adult we understand the ending because at 12 years old reading it. we didn’t. It was just heartbreaking to us.

But now with Endgame, we reach the powerful and moving conclusion of Sephy and Callum’s story. Again Malorie broke our hearts, but she made us smile too because, in the end, Sephy and Callum’s story could have ended no other way.

Any other way would have been doing both Sephy and Callum a huge injustice, and the world they inhabit has enough of that. But also shows the many different types of love you can have for people and how enduring true love can be.

Endgame is thought-provoking and very current in the subjects it discusses, like subsequent books in the series, it makes you think, it makes you feel and consider points of view you may never have before. It’s a must-read. And as a series Noughts and Crosses is one that will be on peoples bookshelves for many years to come.

You can get a copy here.

Let us know your thoughts on the final book in the Noughts and Crosses series on @tbhonest_uk!

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