Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

*Warning this post contains spoilers for the first and second books in the series, The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and The Answer*

Series: Chaos Walking Trilogy, #3

Publication:May 3rd 2010 by Walker Books Ltd

Goodreads description:
Three armies march on New Prentisstown, each one intent on destroying the others. Todd and Viola are caught in the middle, with no chance of escape. As the battles commence, how can they hope to stop the fighting? How can there ever be peace when they're so hopelessly outnumbered? And if war makes monsters of men, what terrible choices await?

My thoughts:
If you were disappointed with book 2 and aren't sure if you should continue with the series I'm here to say that you should. Patrick Ness really stepped up his game in Monsters of Men. I wasn't loving the series until this book. It's definitely my favourite book in the trilogy. 

Monsters of Men was full of action. The plot was fast paced and I couldn't put the book down. I think the short POVs in each chapter really sped up my reading. We never spent too long in someone's head which I really liked because I wasn't a fan of the newest POV added. Yes along with Todd and Viola we get another narrator. 

Ness' writing style has really grown on me. The multiple POVs were not confusing at all. Ness really made sure that each character had his/her own unique voice.

Aside from all the action going down Todd and Viola's relationship was my favourite aspect of the novel. The progression from friendship into a romance was perfectly paced, I loved it! Their relationship is how a YA romance storyline should be written! No instalove and no relationship drama it was so refreshing no to have a couple arguing or not communicating!

we get to learn a lot more about the Spackle in Monsters of Men which was very interesing. They were developed in a way I wasn't expecting which I liked.

The ending was full of OMG moments. I seriously could not put the book down. It was a very satisfying ending, if an emotional one!

My rating: 4 stars out of 5!

The Ask and The Answer by Patrick Ness

*This post contains spoilers for the first book in the series, The Knife of Never Letting Go*

Series: Chaos Walking,#2

Publication: May 4th 2009 by Walker Books Ltd

Goodreads description:
We were in the square, in the square where I'd run, holding her, carrying her, telling her to stay alive, stay alive till we got safe, till we got to Haven so I could save her - But there weren't no safety, no safety at all, there was just him and his men...

Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss. Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor's new order. But what secrets are hiding just outside of town? And where is Viola? Is she even still alive? And who are the mysterious Answer? And then, one day, the bombs begin to explode...

"The Ask and the Answer" is a tense, shocking and deeply moving novel of resistance under the most extreme pressure. This is the second title in the "Chaos Walking" trilogy.

My thoughts:

The Ask and The Answer was an alright sequel. I liked the first book but this one was just ‘meh’ for me. It did not blow me away but it left me curious enough to want to pick up the last book in the trilogy.

I had no problems with the characters. In fact, I have really grown to love a lot of them. Some of them have amazing character development going on in The Ask and The Answer; I am going to be a bit vague so I don’t spoil you; but one character who I was not expecting to like, was actually one of my favourite characters by the end of The Ask and The Answer. Hi arc was done excellently. 

My main problem was with the plot. The Ask and The Answer picks up right when The Knife of Never Letting go left off which was great and it had me hooked for a few chapters but then it lost me. There just did not seem to be much happening in this book compared to book 1 until the end. I don’t know if it was because of my mood, or what, when I read this but it just felt so slow until the last 30% saved it. Then there was so much action and twists and turns I could not put the book down.

The writing was solid. I was not as distracted by Todd’s grammar mistakes as I was in the first book. There is another POV added (I am not telling you who) but they use proper English so I found I preferred those chapters to Todd’s.

The Ask and The Answer is a civil war story, and I liked how Ness decided to use it to touch on how there is no clear ‘good guy’ or ‘bad guy’.

I don’t have much else to say. I have picked up the last book and will hopefully have a review up soon!

My rating: 3 stars out or 5.

(Sorry this is a day late- I usually post on Tuesdays but I've been super busy with college work!)

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

“Without a filter, a man is just chaos walking.”

Series: Chaos Walking, #1

Publication: May 5th 2008 by Walker.

Goodreads description:
Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.

But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?

My thoughts:
The Knife of Never Letting Go was my first Patrick Ness book. I've heard so many great things about his book I was so excited to give one a go and while I liked The Knife of Never Letting Go I didn't love it like I was expecting to.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing style. The story is told in the first person present tense from Todd's point of view. There was lots of misspelling and grammar mistakes, I know they were there for a purpose, to show that Todd can't read but it annoyed me a lot. And took about half the book for me to get used to it.

Since I wasn't a fan of the writing style it was mainly the plot that kept me reading. The plot was very engaging. The story was fast paced. I had lots of questions, many of which weren't answered but I assume will be in the next book. There was lots of twists and turns which I liked. I was surprised at times. 

The main character Todd's character development was done at a perfect pace. I found Todd to be a bit annoying for the first half of the book but I grew to like and care for his character. He goes through a lot of growth in the book so I'm excited to see where he goes in the next two books.

My favourite part of the story was Todd and Viola's friendship. There relationship was very gradual; it was developed at a lovely pace. I really liked reading their interactions with each other.

The story takes place on another planet and while there was some world building I would have liken a bit more in regards to what happened to earth that caused us to move to this planet.

The ending was crazy, when I finished I immediately picked up the second book, The Ask and The Answer. So if you want to marathon a series I'd recommend giving the Chaos Walking trilogy a read!

My rating: 3.5 stars out of 5