Review: Chaos Walking- Short Stories by Patrick Ness

Publication Date: May 16th 2013
Series Order: #2.5 - Read after The Ask and The Answer

[Goodreads ]  

Blurb:
The Wide, Wide Sea is set in the past, at a time before the Spackle War, and we get a first look at the fishing village on the sea where some very important things happen at the end of Monsters of Men.
The Wide, Wide Sea is set before the Chaos Walking series in a time before the division between man and spackle. 

I really enjoyed this novel. It provides a look at a world we only hear talk of but do not actually see within the series. The novel explores characters from bot sides - spackle and human. 

We see a young man bond with a spackle girl, their friendship and bond is something so completely new to the reader of this series as it is something we would never have seen or even considered before. 

I loved the character in this. Their vibrancy, closeness and relationship was so well written. I loved their unique ways of communicating and understanding each other. I would love to read more about the their story but unfortunately it was only a once off. 

I felt that this short story really packed a punch in its small size. Patrick Ness has endless ideas for this world. 


< Reviews of the other short stories to come here...stay tuned!>

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Pages-  215

SYNOPSIS:
The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming...
This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.It wants the truth


MY REVIEW:
I totally judged this book by its cover, which is beautiful by the way! I went into this book expecting it to be in  the horror, Halloween type of read. But actually I was taken on an emotional and hard hitting roller coaster. This book was 100% the opposite of what I thought I was going to be reading but I enjoyed it so much.
The characters of this novel were very realistic and I felt I could connect and become attached to the main character, Conor, very easily and quickly. I felt empathy towards him, from his home life to the bullying, I felt very connected to him.He Lashes out at anyone who trys to help him. It was very emotional reading about his character and all he is going through. His mom and her illness were very realistic, the side affects and treatments were not sugarcoated, which was a factor I enjoyed. Conors relationship with his Grandma and the development of their relationship was wonderfully written.
 I loved The Monster and the shift in the books tone with his arrival. The monster was a lot different than I had expected. His stories were very interesting and odd. I liked how I could relate the stories to Conors life. The stories were to help Conor realise his truth and I liked the reveal of the truth. I was not expecting what his truth was, but I did really enjoy the build up to the climax of the Truth. The Illustrations by Jim Kay are wonderful. The images are so captivating and beautiful...

I felt the book was written really well, the plot flowed and I felt I could dive into the books world and plot. Really enjoyed this book , although some parts were predictable.

RATING:  four and a half stars
* * *  * 1/2

The Knife Of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

The Knife Of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.

SYNOPSIS:

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:

To say that I loved the characters of this novel would be a HUGE understatement. I felt so connected to the characters of this novel. They were so realistic and I felt as if I was with them every step of their journey.

Todd hates the noise and you feel his disgust towards the noise.  He was a very realistic character, reacting as a normal person in his situation would be expected to react. He, very much like a typical boy, doesn't like to ask for help from others. His emotions were very vivid, his curiosity, anger, fear were all very realistic and vivid. He also shows his soft side towards Viola. His character development was really well written as the reader develops such a connection to him in the novel. I loved his relationship with Viola and felt that they added some great romantic conflict to the novel.

Viola was a character I really liked. She was sometimes stubborn and snarky, but I really enjoyed her character. I really liked seeing the soft side to her shining through in her relationship with Todd.

Manchee. He was adorable and totally a bad-ass pup. He was so protective of Todd and Viola and he was so caring and loving. I also enjoyed the idea of a talking dog as I think everyone sometimes wish to know what their pets are thinking about...or is that just me ?

The villains of this novel were just awesomely evil! Mayor Prentiss was really intimidating and evil. He was quite scary as the threat of him was evident throughout the novel. I thought it was quite frightening the idea of the town turning against Todd so suddenly also. 

The plot was super fast paced. To say that this book was gripping is an understatement. I was glued to the pages of this novel until I had finished. An aspect I enjoyed of the novel was the cliffhanger style chapters, where at the end of every chapter there was something exciting that made you want to continue reading ! The plot was action packed and very intriguing as the concept of a town without women and the voicing of with other peoples thoughts in your head was very interesting. I've never read a book similar to this, and I do mean this in a good way.
The writing style of this book was very different. If you have read this book, you'll know what I mean. If you haven't read this book and you're thinking of reading it, then definitely before you buy it or get it out of your library- read the first couple pages because some people are put off by this writing style. The writing style was very unique, I had definitely never read anything like this before. The dialogue was fresh and really helped us connect to the characters. The writing style really helped the book feel more authentic and definitely added to the world building and the characters. It did take some getting used to but, for me, it enhanced the book and pulled me into the story. Overall, a must read for fans of the dystopian, post-apocalyptic genre.

OVERALL RATING: 15/15
A five star book
* * * * *
(an instant favourite!)