Series: Chaos Walking #1
Author: Patrick Ness
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.-Goodreads
Review: I absolutely loved A Monster Calls (loved loved loved, cannot recommend that book enough) so I was really expecting to love this. The world itself is interesting here-humans have gone to a new planet and find that the men can hear each other's thoughts (this includes animals as well). Clearly, this makes life difficult. The main protagonist is Todd, the youngest boy in town who is a month away from being 'a man.' His life changes quickly when he finds himself on the run with his loyal dog and a young girl.
This book is narrated from Todd's point of view and written without proper punctuation or spelling. It was incredibly annoying at first but I did get used to it. While I like the 'idea' of this book, the execution didn't work for me. The villains were one dimensional and so over-the top ridiculously evil (for example, Brother Aaron). There was no nuance and the 'reasoning' for their behavior was frankly stupid. The 'big reveal' about Prentisstown was clear very early on in the story. This book was also so repetitive, I feel like at least 100+ pages could have been edited out.
Overall-I didn't enjoy this read but I did enjoy Manchee the dog, which earns this 1 extra star.
Grade: 2/5
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