Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking #3) by Patrick Ness 5/5 stars

Hey, guys!  I finished the Chaos Walking series.  It was amazing and makes me want to read every book that Patrick Ness has ever written.

Previous Books:
The Knife of Never Letting Go
The Ask and the Answer

The Cover:

The Cover:
It shows a world on fire as a result of the war going on.  The Noise lines the sides of the page, which I really like.  The title also links well with the book.  "War makes monsters of men"  A+ cover.

Official 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 Review:
Monsters of Men was a great conclusion to this series.  

One of the most remarkable things about this series is its character development.  You can see the changes in the characters brought about by their varying experiences, and this book showed the depth that these characteristic changes affected the characters.  Despite oftentimes being misguided, the characters of this series feel real and relatable.  I just wanted to wrap them up in a blanket and protect them from the dangers throughout this book.  And the danger was everywhere.  The plot gets far more intense and violent in Monsters of Men as war becomes inevitable.  

This book also contained elements of mind control which were super interesting both in format and storyline.  It really added to the book and doesn't feel artificial.  The mind control links with the character development in cool and new ways.  

There was also an added point of view from a Spackle.  The wording is entirely different since it is an alien being with a different construct of the world than the humans, so it took some getting used to.  But, it did help show all sides of the battle and humanize the enemy, which I thought was worthwhile.

Overall, I loved this book!  If you enjoyed the previous books in this series, you will enjoy Monsters of Men as well.  To be fair, it starts off a little slower than The Ask and the Answer, but it still started by hitting the ground running.  I'd definitely recommend this book as well as the entire series.

Phrase:
The Sky

If You Liked This Book, You May Also Like:
Books by Neal Shusterman

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The Ask and the Answer (Chaos Walking #2) by Patrick Ness 5/5 stars

Hey, guys!  A few weeks ago, I reviewed The Knife of Never Letting Go (review), the first book in this series.  It was amazing, if you haven't already read it.  The Ask and the Answer was possibly even better.  Wow.  This was a sequel that definitely deserved the first book.

The Cover:

The Cover:
I just love it.  The cover shows a giant A, the calling card of the mysterious terrorist group the Answer.  On the edges of the cover is the jumbled Noise of the phrase, "I am the Circle and the Circle is me."  The significance of that phrase becomes more and more obvious as the series goes on.  Really cool cover.  I'm a fan.  A+ cover

Official 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. 

My Review:
The Ask and the Answer picks up directly after The Knife of Never Go stopped in one of the most exciting starts of a book I've ever read.  And the excitement just keep coming.  The book was intense, full of almost nonstop action.  I loved it.  

A word of warning, in this book, the point of view shifts.  Instead of just being in Todd's perspective, Viola also has a point of view.  I usually condemn this kind of thing, but in The Ask and the Answer it actually worked for once.  

The characters became even more likable, the character development was all over the place (and it was amazing), and the internal drama was spot on.  As far as "internal drama" goes, it walks a thin line from being deep and interesting to being whinny and irritating.  Patrick Ness managed to keep his characters on the right side of that line.

I can honestly think of nothing else to say other than "Read this book.  Please."  It was fantastic.  
That being said, if you hated the first book (and I can't picture you would have), this book is pretty similar, at least as far as formatting goes.  Use your discretion.  

Phrase:
I AM THE CIRCLE AND THE CIRCLE IS ME.

If You Liked This Book, You May Also Like:
Books by Neal Shusterman

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The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1) by Patrick Ness 5/5 stars

Hey, guys! I just finished listening to the audiobook of The Knife of Never Letting Go.  I'd seen it referenced before and thought I'd give it a shot.  It was fantastic!  I'm so glad I read it!

The Cover:

This is a really cool cover.  Before I go too far into it, let's talk about the title.  It fits this book perfectly.  Todd's hunting knife is a huge part of this book, plus the title's symbolic.  The edges of the cover has various jumbled phrases, resembling the Noise (more on that later).  It works really well for this book.  Obviously a lot of thought was put into it! A+ cover

Official 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 Review:
I loved it.  It's definitely the best book-in-a-series that I've read in months.  Just wow.
That being said, look at the formatting before you read it.  Not often, but at certain points, Patrick Ness characterizes the Noise by having a jumble of unimportant phrases (like those of the edge of the cover) or different fonts.  If that worries you, check out the preview at Amazon before reading it.  It gives you a good feel for the style.  I thought it added to the book, but if that sort of thing bothers you...

I loved the characters.  They were not perfect in any way, but that's what made them neat.  The character development was the best thing about them though.  Todd completely changed as the book went on.  As much as I liked the protagonists, I will admit the villains were a bit undeveloped, though I think that's the whole point.

The plot was interesting and engaging.  There were plenty of mysteries to solve.  Some of them were predictable, others took me completely by surprise.  I didn't find myself becoming bored with the storyline at all.

The best part about this book was its writing style.  It was different and refreshing.  It was serious and funny and made me think.  The writing was really hooked me, and I could tell by only a few pages in that I'd love this book.

I'd recommend reading The Knife of Never Letting Go if you are up for something a bit weird but mostly great.

Audiobook Review (read by Nick Podehl):
Nick Podehl did a great job bringing life to this story.  The Knife of Never Letting Go works particularly well as an audiobook because of the style of the book, as well as the speech patterns (basically southern accent) of the narrator.  I really enjoyed it.  At the segments where I earlier mentioned the format, the audiobook talked over itself to give a really neat perspective of the Noise. Overall, one of my favorite audiobook interpretations.

Phrase:
Ow, Todd.

If You Liked This Book, You May Also Like:
Books by Neal Shusterman

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