Audiobook Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go Series: Chaos Walking #1 Written by: Patrick Ness Published: September 9, 2008 by Candlewick Press (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too.  With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World?  Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is

I hate so much being a black sheep. Especially in a case like this when I was really looking forward to the book and I know so many people who live this series. And there is nothing technically wrong with this book, it just wasn't for me.

One of the things I did like about this book was the world and setting. I haven't read a ton of Ness' books but the ones that I have read I enjoyed because of the way he played with the tropes, which is exactly what he did here. This wasn't your usual science fiction or your usual dystopian, but it was kind of both at the same time. There were so many interesting and engaging things to the world of New World that I liked. I really enjoyed exploring it and learning more.

I also enjoyed the plot development. This was a book full of action and adventure. There were so many surprises and twists and turns along the way that really kept me on the edge of my seat. I'm such a plot driven ready and I should have loved that about this book. And I did. I did. But a few of the twists were just things that I don't like. Things that are deal breakers for me. Despite really liking it I decided not to finish the series while I was still reading this book. It kind of clouded my feelings of this one and I kind of just wanted it to be over.

But I also don't think I really liked the characters of this book. This is definitely one of those books where many of the characters are not very likable. I usually like unlikable characters but for some reason here it made it hard for me to connect with them. Despite the fact that I do think Todd was an engaging character that it should have been easy to root for, and I did in some ways, I just didn't care what happened to him. I wanted to see him do things, I just didn't mind if they were positive or not. And that's not a very good thing when it comes to an MC. But I wouldn't be entirely honest to say I didn't like any characters because I did really like Manchee. He was amazing. But he was the only characters I really liked.

The one main thing that I did love about this book however was the audio. I decided to listen to the audiobook for this book because I really enjoy the narrator, Nick Poedhl. I'm glad I made that decision because it really worked as an audio. For one thing it's a book where "noise" or being able to hear people's thoughts is a part of the story. That translated really well in the audio format. Plus Nicj did a great job with all the characters and their accents. And it's an exciting and thrilling book which always translates well to audio. If you are interested in the series I would recommend the audio.

This was a good book, I should have liked it. But for very specific, very personal reasons I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. This is such a hard book to review. It wasn't a bad book. I liked a lot of elements. It was an exciting and interesting story, it just wasn't for me. If you want to know specifics hit me up on Twitter because no spoilers.

I give The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness 7.5 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. Just because I didn't enjoy this book doesn't mean you won't. I think this is the best example of that. I know a lot of people love this series so I probably would still recommend it, it just wasn't for me.

Have you read The Knife of Never Letting Go? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Book Review: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Title: A Monster Calls Written by: Patrick Ness Published: March 13, 2013 by Candlewick (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: An unflinching, darkly funny, and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor.   At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting-- he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

Reading a super beloved book by so many of your friends and fellow book nerds is always a hard thing. What if you thought it was alright but not worth the hype? What if you hate it and they disown you? What if you love it and you wish you had listened and read it sooner, you'll get the inevitable I told you so. Well guys, I'm happy to report that A Monster Calls lives up to the hype, it's amazing.

First of all, this is a really short read. It's not quite a graphic novel but also not really a full blown novel either. It's somewhere in between. Which honestly was perfect. As you may have seen yesterday, I am in a bit of a reading slump. So having something that I can devour because of it's length was perfect. Plus the art is absolutely amazing. It's dark and dramatic which added a lot of context and interest to the story. It broke things up a little bit and for someone like me who doesn't naturally visualize things in a book this was great.

But the real great thing about this book is the emotion behind it. Yeah, I cried. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I'm a big crier, I cry often. But I will say that there has been some cases where my hipster tendencies make it so that I don't cry because everyone else did. And yes, I knew how it was all going to end but it still hit emotionally. Patrick Ness did a great job of building up to the inevitable in a way that is impactful which not all authors can do. Not to mention the smaller more emotion moments along the way that got me in their own way.

I'm not sure I knew exactly what I was getting into with this book but what I found was definitely fantastic and engrossing. Because the great thing about this book is that it's surprisingly character driven and that's what makes this book so good emotionally and from a story persepctive. It's about darkness and pain. It's about dealing with those moments you don't want to deal with. It's about life and loss. It's about people and connection. It's about everything at the same time and that's what makes it so good.

Patrick Ness has definitely written an amazing and emotional read. It feels a lot like the middle grade coming of age novels that I love. That on top of the gorgeous writing and beautiful pictures made for an interesting and engaging read that I am glad I took the time to read. Yes, I do wish that I had read this sooner but better late than never.

I give A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness 9.5 out 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy. If you are late to the party on this one like me, waste no more time and get yourself a copy. The movie comes out in just a few weeks which means this is the perfect time to take in this story before that one. I absolutely loved it and I think you will too.

ARC Review: The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Title: The Rest of Us Just Live Here Author: Patrick Ness Published: October 6, 2015 by HarperTeen (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: What if you aren’t the Chosen One?  The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?  What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.  Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.  Even if your best friend is worshiped by mountain lions.  Award-winning writer Patrick Ness’s bold and irreverent novel powerfully reminds us that there are many different types of remarkable

**** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher at BEA in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ****

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I have never read any Patrick Ness books. I don't have a good excuse either. His books seem like they would be right up my alley and in fact a lot of them have been in my TB for a while now. And after reading The Rest of Us Just Live Here, I'm kicking myself even more because if the rest of his books are anything like this, I'm in for a real treat because The Rest of Us Just Live Here is a complex and captivating story.

There were some great themes that Patrick Ness addressed here which is one of the reasons this book that made the book both interesting and creative. The general concept is what if you aren't the chosen one. But throughout this book he peeled away the layers of what that meant. At the beginning it was just not being the hero of the story, the one to save the world. But as the book evolved so did that idea of being chosen. It became more about being needed and being loved. It was such an interesting and complex idea. At times the book was so raw in it's portrayal of not being a chosen one but then at other times it was played off as a position you don't really want to be in. I love books that can walk the line between serious and fun. It makes them so much more complex and interesting and that's exactly what Patrick Ness has done here.

One of the things that made the book so complex is that The Rest of Us Just Live Here is a hard to categorize by genre because it's a little bit of everything. It's also a really self-aware kind of book. At the outset the book seems like a parody on YA Paranormal Fantasy. A look at the supporting characters and extras in the genre but as the book develops it becomes so much more. Was it Magical Realism? Kind of. Was it just a straight up Paranormal Fantasy? A little bit. Was it a contemporary story? Sure. You could almost call it a retelling with the way it played with the tropes. But if you want to accurate describe this book it would be all these things at once. There were some magical elements both big and small advancing the plot along yes, but there was also a really great personal coming-of-age story. And you would think that this would make for a muddled kind of plot but it didn't. Things flowed in a cohesive and interesting way. Each chapter included a little blurb telling us how the book would have gone if our MC was the "indie kid" tasked with saving the world and then we got to see how that effected our actual characters. There was so much overlap in the two stories and the plot in general moved towards an exciting conclusion that had surprises and more action than I was expecting.

But things may have flowed so well despite the changes in genre because this was essentially a character-driven story. The real heart of this story was about Mickey and his personal struggle.  No, not the fact that some indie kid is fighting to save the world, his internal struggle as he prepares to leave school and cope with his anxiety. Patrick Ness dealt with Mickey's anxiety and OCD in such an empathetic way. He is the kind of character that you would probably see a lot in contemporary YA but putting him in a story involving supernatural elements added to the complexity and creativeness of the book. You could feel the challenges he was going through and you wanted him to overcome them in any way possible. So as the book develops and he changes and grows you are so invested in that part of the story. But Mickey was such an easy character to root for because despite all of what he was dealing with, he is more than just that struggle. He is also kind and loving and a great friend.

Speaking of his friends, I also really liked them too. Mickey's sister Mel who is in his friend group was dealing and coping with her own personal demons much like Mickey and they had a great relationship and supported each other. His friend and potential love interest Henna was interesting and likable but she didn't really jump off the page for me. Although that may have been because the romance was totally also a parody on typical romantic tropes which I loved. My favorite character was probably Jared who is Mickey's best friend and support system but is also more than meets the eye. He has some great character development and if we get a book from his perspective in the future I would be so very happy. Even Mickey's parents were around and despite the fact that they were not great and attentive parents it was refreshing to see them involved in their children's lives and they had pretty good character development too. With a lot of the characters it felt like Patrick Ness was playing with the traditional character tropes in a way that was both creative and captivating.

I wasn't sure what I was getting into with The Rest of Us Just Live Here but I really enjoyed it. It was a fast but complex story that combined lots of elements from traditional YA novels and played around with the tropes to make a unique and interesting story.

I give The Rest of Us Just Live Here 9 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy/Borrow. This is just such a unique story that I think fans of YA should check out. It's a little tongue in cheek and a lot complex with characters who are likable and complex and a plot that will have you wondering what is going to happen until the very end. It might not be the kind of book for everyone but if you are looking for something a little different then look no further.

Have you read The Rest of Us Just Live Here? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!