She must run, or risk being brought in with no explanation except the numbers that only she sees. What Jem hadn’t counted on, however, was being painted as a suspect for the bombing that occurred that day. They escape right before the whole city blows up. Jem has no idea what’s going to happen, but she convinces Spider to run with her. This thinking comes in her way when Jem and Spider go to a town where everyone has the same date on their head- today’s date. This young adult series was written for ages 12-17, but can be enjoyed. Jem then vows that doing nothing will always be better than trying to change destiny. The Numbers series primarily falls into the Action Adventure and Science Fiction genres. They try following a person whose date is the day they see him, and ultimately lead him to his death. She finally decides to confide in Spider, a kid who goes to her school. The last time she tried, her mother screamed and called her insane. Every person she sees has a number floating above them, but she tells no one and does nothing. Jem holds all of this information inside. Inaction is better than action that leads to bad consequences, isn’t it?

And while it is understandable that the author would want to stay in character, the writing style of this book seems a little amateur, in that it is difficult to grasp a deeper meaning from the book because a lot of the character’s thoughts seem predictable and superfluous. This book is written is from a young girl’s perspective. A novel concept which is well-executed, this book promises to leave you on the edge of your seat.

In this book, the author weaves a terrifying tale of a girl who can see the date on which each person will die.

Numbers by rachel ward