Patrick Ness

Okay, okay, breathe, Mia, breathe.

Okay.

So many thoughts. So many feels. I'll be damned if I could coherently write them all down here in a clear and concise manner two minutes after reading that kick-in-the face ending. But I'd also be damned if I didn't try. So here goes:

All readers know that it is a very rare thing indeed when the sequel is even better than its predecessor. But it does happen, and The Ask and the Answer is, I believe, so much better than The Knife of Never Letting Go. (For show more those who haven't figured it out yet, this is the second book of the Chaos Walking Trilogy, The Knife of Never Letting Go being the first and Monsters of Men being the last. If you haven't read The Knife yet, you should get on it, because there are some very minor spoilers in this review that would ruin a few things for those who have not yet read the first. If you were as on the fence about it as I was, read on, because I promise this one is MUCH better.)

For me, what really made this book was the characters, so that's what I'm going to focus mainly on.

Todd: Oh, Todd. He hit some record lows in this book, but somehow he got back up. The dynamic between him and the Mayor is super fascinating, if utterly depressing on Todd's part. As you can see in my multiple progress updates, I really felt for Todd throughout this whole ordeal, but he made a few decisions that were questionable enough where I couldn't root for him for a while. Eventually I just gave up and let the book do what it does- totally engulf me- and I realized Todd's character does fluctuate much more in this book than in the last. You had me scared for a minute there, Todd! But he does come back somewhere around the middle and is more recognizable as the loyal Todd Hewitt we know from the first book.

Viola: Amazing. The dual narration of this book adds a whole new perspective to Viola, and I was pleasantly surprised at how awesome she actually is. Her fierceness, wit, and general badassery earned this book a spot on my "kickass heroines" shelf. Also, she and Todd are the best duo in YA science fiction.

Mayor Prentiss: Or should I say President Prentiss? It's the man we all know and f*cking hate: David Ruddy Prentiss. Yes, he's back, and with a vengeance, but he's definitely not your textbook antagonist:

Sure, the Mayor does all the things that villains do; he's cruel and cold and manipulative. But it's also undeniable that he's smart as a whip, and THAT'S what makes him so dangerous. He can find the very thing that will make you hold on and use it against you. He will have his henchmen beat you within an inch of death but just as they're about to deliver the final blow, he heals you. As Todd says, "He puts bandages on the people". He makes people trust him, makes the enemy seem so outlandish that joining him is the only logical choice. He keeps his friends close but his enemies closer. He's charming and brilliant in that sick, evil way of his, and it's nearly impossible to not hate him. AND to complete the image, he has a scary-ass horse and lives in an old cathedral. He is the prefect antagonist, psychotic and mad- and he knows it- but controlled. One of my top villains, hence the "best villains ever" shelf.

Davy Prentiss: The mayor's son, while absolutely a dunce in some points and a complete asshole in others, was a nice addition to this. I started out wanting to backhand him across the face, but eventually kind of wanted to hug him for being kind in his stupid way. By the end I genuinely liked his character: his lame jokes, his hopeless optimism, always trying to serve a father who won't notice him.

Mistress Coyle: The leader of the rebel group the Answer is a woman after my own heart. The fact alone that it's made up of mostly women is freaking awesome, but the fact that many of them are healers that fought in the Spackle War and know their way around a bomb is double awesome. Mistress Coyle started out as a bit of a prude in my opinion, but, like many other characters, I grew to like her.

THEN we find out more about her. We see how she uses Viola as an expendable pawn and, by the end of the book, I only hated the Mayor slightly more than I hated her.

Favourite Character: Weirdly enough, Mayor David Prentiss. Though it seems like I should hate him for all the shit he's put dear Todd and Viola through, I also love him. He's real and complex, a villain with so many dimensions that you can't simply classify him as just plain evil. He breaks the mold of the traditional antagonistic role in science fiction. First of all, the Mayor cannot be defeated easily. Second, he hides his evil under layers of cunning and charm and intelligence, keeping you just confused enough to wonder what his true intentions are, but knowing just enough for you to hate his guts.

He's also surrounded by a certain mystery- since Todd narrated the first book and Todd and Viola the second, we never know more than they do. So since the founding of Prentisstown and the Spackle War happened before Todd's lifetime, we don't know much about the Mayor's background or motives. The reader sees in him only what Todd and Viola see, and the fact that you never see what he does behind closed doors always keeps you guessing. Imagine a mix of President Snow, Professor Moriarty, Mustapha Mond, and every Disney villain. He has Snow's coldness and cruelty, Moriarty's smarts and cunning, Mond's manipulation of the public, and the classic Disney villains' outright evil. Yeah, that's Prentiss for ya.

Some Final Grievances: Manchee ;( RIP Little Buddy. Yes, I still miss Manchee, and his absence in this book (Poo, Todd? Poo? Todd? Good poo, Todd!) was noticeable. The only other thing that bothered me were the spelling deviancies in Todd's narration: while when it's him speaking or narrating he uses the same spelling and contractions as he did in the first book (conversayshun, confuzhun, etc.), when it's someone else talking, usually the Mayor, he uses the correct spelling and grammar. Is this supposed to represent the differences in their language patterns and, thus, their morals? Not sure.

Overall, this was a great read, if completely exhausting. The ending was awesome, and I can't wait to crack open the final book to the Chaos Walking Trilogy, Monsters of Men. Stay tuned for my review of that- as I'm sure there will be one- since if the second is better than the first, will the last be better than the second? IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE? I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Apologies for the long review (it was a long book with a lot of stuff in it) and for the scattering of thoughts. I try to write my reviews immediately after finishing a book so all my feelings and thoughts are still fresh in my mind, but maybe next time I'll wait a bit to try and sort them out.

Oh, and by the way, if you're reading this and you're a fan of Patrick Ness' work, I highly suggest you read A Monster Calls & More Than This, both by him and both fantastic. I've reviewed also both so pop on over there. show less

2020 might be a year of discovering awesome new books about dragons, since this is not the first new release I’ve come across this year that has been a fantastic read - must do some research and see if there are any other dragon books I should add to my list! Publishing trends or not, Burn was an excellent read and I shall be looking out for more from Patrick Ness. The story starts out simply, in a universe similar to ours during the 1950s, but in which dragons exist alongside humans in an show more uneasy truce. The story quickly escalates as we are introduced to a cast of characters attempting to cause or prevent a world war and total annihilation across multiple storylines. Usually this straightforward type of story is not my thing, but I was immediately drawn into the characters who are a wholly unique and diverse cast with well-developed and engaging personalities that easily draw us in to their backstories and motivations - regardless of whether we think they are “good” or “bad” characters, as life is not quite that simple. As the (potential) end of the world draws nearer the cast’s storylines converge and intersect in interesting ways, causing betrayals, discoveries, and ultimately an incredibly engaging climax and conclusion. I won’t give away the ending, because damn it’s a good twist, but let’s just say kudos to Ness for giving us an awesome story and ending with a revelation that keeps things open and gives us some food for thought. Afterall, maybe some people are just more purely dragon inside than others, and maybe others have different types of hidden magic! show less

This novel was an excellent story, but I'm so glad that I accidentally got the illustrated version from the library. Jim Kay's wonderfully chaotic ink drawings fit the mood and tone of the story so well that this should just be the copy of the book available everywhere. Unlike the illustrations Kay created for the Harry Potter series, those which accompany A Monster Calls are much darker, reflecting the anger and confusion felt by our protagonist, the themes about death, and ultimately show more accurately depicts the yew tree which inspires the monster which comes to question and test the young boy. The story reminds me quite a bit of David Almond's The Savage (also illustrated by avant garde artist Dave McKean), which treads roughshod over the adult themes underlying the story about childhood. These types of stories may not be for eveyrthing (or everyone's children, even though they are ostensibly being marketed as such), but the harsh and true stories that they tell are very much needed in the world. Children deal with tragedies and hardships as much as adults and having stories which mirror their experiences are crucial in continuing development. show less

“The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.”

When we were growing up, I think we all thought about monsters. The ones in the shadows and the ones under our bed. Conor is thirteen and no exception. One night, he spots one outside his bedroom window. This is no ordinary monster. It has a special purpose. Conor is having a very difficult time in his life. His mother, the light of his life, is suffering from a serious illness.
This is a deeply heartfelt story, dealing with grief show more and loss. How a boy, already dealing with adolescence, bullies at school and divorced parents, has to come to terms with even bigger issues. It’s a beautiful tale, with a refreshing lack of goopy sentimentality. I can not recommend it higher but please keep a tissue box nearby. Yes, you will need it. show less