maggiefan
Written on Feb 28, 2019
But I definitely liked this book more than the first one.
The riveting Chaos Walking trilogy by two-time Carnegie Medalist Patrick Ness, reissued with compelling new covers—and a bonus short story in each book.
“Grim and beautifully written. . . . Superb. . . . This is among the best YA science fiction novels of the year.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Reaching the end of their flight in The Knife of Never Letting Go, Todd and Viola did not find healing and hope in Haven. They found instead their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss, waiting to welcome them to New Prentisstown. There they are forced into separate lives: Todd to prison, and Viola to a house of healing where her wounds are treated. Soon Viola is swept into the ruthless activities of the Answer, while Todd faces impossible choices when forced to join the mayor’s oppressive new regime. In alternating narratives the two struggle to reconcile their own dubious actions with their deepest beliefs. Torn by confusion and compromise, suspicion and betrayal, can their trust in each other possibly survive?
- ISBN10 0763676179
- ISBN13 9780763676179
- Publish Date 22 July 2014 (first published 4 May 2009)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Candlewick Press,U.S.
- Edition 2nd ed.
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 560
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780763676179
Reviews
But I definitely liked this book more than the first one.
Kelly
Written on Mar 3, 2018
It's a Nessathon.
Bianca
Written on Feb 17, 2017
We are the choices we make. And have to make. We aren’t anything else.
— As brilliant as its predecessor, dealing with issues like tyranny, terrorism, utilitarian genocide and the nature of morality.
Stephanie
Written on Jul 30, 2014
nitzan_schwarz
Written on Feb 2, 2014
Amber
Written on Oct 21, 2013
So yes, the aliens. The Spackle absolutely broke my heart. I hate Tatum for not warning me, because she knows how I feel about these things (Spartacus has broken me). The Spackle have been oppressed since the war ended, first by the citizens of Haven who treated them as little more than slaves, and then under the rule of Mayor Prentiss, who went the whole hog and started tagging them like cattle and making them shit in a hole in the ground. These intelligent life forms were completely degraded, and it totally broke my heart. Not gonna lie, I'm crying while I write this. Their parts in The Ask and the Answer are the most prominent to me, and it's absolutely heartbreaking and tragic. Team Spackle FTW, everyone else can leave.
"We can fight," Davy says. "We proved that. And instead you got us babysitting animals that are already beat."
The Mayor considers us for a moment, tho I don't know how or when Davy turned him and me into an us. "If you think they're already beaten, David," he finally says, "then you know very little about the Spackle."
Todd drove me a little crazy in this book. I love him, I really do, but his decisions in The Ask and the Answer broke me. When his hope is taken away, he completely shuts off and forgets about fighting back. He becomes a drone for Mayor Prentiss, and it's awful to see. He does some sickening things, that would have made me hate him if I hadn't already read about him in The Knife of Never Letting Go. I'm looking forward to seeing more development from him in Monsters of Men (if I live through that book, which I doubt I will), because I have a feeling that he's going to rise up and become a great leader.
Viola, on the other hand, was pretty much flawless the entire way through. We get to see things from her point of view in this book, since she and Todd are separated for most of it. I spent most of the book fangirling over her, because she is so fucking strong and she faced so much, but she didn't give up. She also held onto her beliefs, and didn't let anyone or anything change that. Here, have some quotes.
"You haven't even seen me fight yet," I say, standing my ground. "I knocked down a bridge to stop an army. I put a knife through the neck of a crazy murderer. I saved the lives of others while you just ran around at night blowing them up."
As for the romance between Viola and Todd... Well, I can't say that I love it. It totally makes sense that they are clinging to each other and all that, but their relationship is just unhealthy. And also quite cheesy, but let's focus on the unhealthy part. They made some awful decisions because of one another, and I was sitting there wanting to shake them because it was so frustrating. But in a great way, because it provoked emotion from me. I mean, I get that they're very young, and they have no one else on this bloody planet, but STILL. I want them to just end up being best friends, if they both survive to the end of the series, because I think a strong platonic relationship usually works better. For me, anyway.
"Everyone here is someone's daughter," she says quietly. "Every soldier out there is someone's son. The only crime, the only crime is to take a life. There is nothing else."
"And that's why you don't fight," I say.
She turns to me sharply. "To live is to fight," she snaps. "To preserve life is to fight everything that man stands for."
"I won't tell you anything."
"But she betrayed you." The Mayor comes round the front again. "She tried to kill you."
And at that, Viola lifts her head.
She looks him right in the eye.
And says, "No, she tried to kill you."
He smiles. "You may have no choice."
"There's always a choice," Viola says by my side.
There are themes of anti-feminism and terrorism prevalent throughout this book, and Patrick Ness handles it all so well. He's so fucking talented. Of course, the bits that stuck out to me the most were the slavery, oppression, and genocide, but Ness packs so much into this book that it's bursting at the seams.
The ending completely destroyed me. WHAAAAT?!?!? I was hoping that something like that would happen, but I didn't think it actually would. As soon as I got to THE PART, I wanted to scream and cry and jump around my bedroom.
I cannot wait to read Monsters of Men, and I'm going to try desperately hard to read it this month. I don't know if it's going to happen, because I have so many review copies to read, but if not that I WILL be reading it in December. I adore this series, and I am almost ready to have my life ruined some more by Patrick Ness.
Chelsea
Written on Jul 31, 2013
I like how you see more characters in this book too. You see a lot of Todd and Viola of course but there’s also the mayor, his son and lots of brand new characters. Viola is always fighting, the whole book she never stops which makes her a great heroine. Then there’s Todd who i honestly thought was going to switch sides but he did ok in the end. They’re both such great characters. I also loved Lee because he was a much needed funny and happy character. It was a good addition t a pretty depressing book. Mayor Prentis is a crazy villain. He’s fantastic but completely evil at the same time. Not gonna lie I actually liked Davy. I felt really bad for him though. He just wanted his father’s praise.
This was a fantastic book. If you haven’t already read it. Do it now.
nannah
Written on Apr 15, 2012
Because the first book was driven, focused, a beautiful telling, but the second book is where Patrick Ness's genius absolutely leaps off the page and grabs you. All those plot twists, character arcs, the meticulous planning of events, they could only be thought up by a genius. I've decided. Ness is a genius. A masterful storyteller. He knows how leave readers dying for the next page, how to make his characters and relationships fester in one's mind until they have to pick the book back up again. He knows people, too. Real people, not just characters slapped on a page. These are real, breathing people with minds and personalities of their own as complex as people I know (heck, even more so). What would this character do in this situation? It seems as if most writers put down what THEY want the character to do to further the plot. What Ness does is listen to the character. These are all actions of the characters, not the writer. I rarely ever see this done well. Perfect, actually.
I can't praise this book highly enough. It made me feel every emotion, and not just feel it, suffer it. This book is TERRIBLY traumatic. I might have been screaming as I was reading it and freaking out those around me. The manipulation, the thought processes, they were all so traumatic because they were so believable and well-written.
I'd also like to point out the absolute flawlessness of Viola and Todd's relationship. It's not even something easily explained, because it, like the characters themselves, is complex and so, so very genuine.
Again, this man is a genius. A storytelling genius. I know I'm gushing, but I can't seem to stop. This trilogy gets inside my head and I can't think of anything else. One of my favorite books, hands down. I don't think I'll ever get over it.