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celiapowell's review against another edition
3.0
I thought there was no way I was going to get into this book after the first couple of pages, and it took me a while to get into the swing of Todd's narration - he's the last boy in Prentisstown, in a world where the women have all died, and all the men can hear each other's thoughts. However, people can still keep secrets, despite the Noise (as all those thoughts are called, clamouring away at your senses) and when Tood discovers that the men of Prentisstown have been keeping a secret from him, he's forced to leave.
I don't want to reveal too much about the plot, as you need to just get into the swing of things and go with it to enjoy the book. I did find the continued appearance of the villain a little much - the story did the, "we thought he was dead, but he's BACK" too often for my taste. There are some truly devastating losses in this novel, and no happy endings - in fact, it ends on such an utterly depressing cliffhanger that I would only read it if you have the sequel nearby to get into straight away.
I don't want to reveal too much about the plot, as you need to just get into the swing of things and go with it to enjoy the book. I did find the continued appearance of the villain a little much - the story did the, "we thought he was dead, but he's BACK" too often for my taste. There are some truly devastating losses in this novel, and no happy endings - in fact, it ends on such an utterly depressing cliffhanger that I would only read it if you have the sequel nearby to get into straight away.
allison_sirovy's review against another edition
4.0
Well, now I gotta read the second book in the trilogy. Yeesh. 😉
aradne's review against another edition
1.0
Oh, this book wasn't so bad. If it weren't for all the swearing and the reckless cliffhanger, it might have been a 3 star.
There were creative aspects of this book, life 'the noise', which is the public projection of all men's thoughts. It's an unfortunate aspect of life on New World, but people have learned to cope how they can.
I just wasn't dazzled, and I was let down by a few things, for instance the noise didn't follow rules, sometimes a person could hear every thought and use it against you, but when that wasn't in the author's best interest the noise seemed to work differently. (How was Aaron able to appear out of nowhere and drug Viola without anyone hearing his noise? He'd been tracking them for days!) (Aaron also seemed to be some sort of robot.)
There were creative aspects of this book, life 'the noise', which is the public projection of all men's thoughts. It's an unfortunate aspect of life on New World, but people have learned to cope how they can.
I just wasn't dazzled, and I was let down by a few things, for instance the noise didn't follow rules, sometimes a person could hear every thought and use it against you, but when that wasn't in the author's best interest the noise seemed to work differently. (How was Aaron able to appear out of nowhere and drug Viola without anyone hearing his noise? He'd been tracking them for days!) (Aaron also seemed to be some sort of robot.)
bjclark99's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars... It was just ok for me. I liked the main characters, the story was pretty ok as well. I guess my problem was the pace, it seemed to drag on a bit with too much descriptive content. How many trees were around, where the road ended and the river began, etc. I'm certain this story could have been told in 250 pages.
anushb's review against another edition
3.0
It started out great, but the rest of the 400 pages was just fodder.
maggersann's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This is a YA classic that I (somehow) missed back in the peak dystopian/ sci-fi era. An extremely engaging read- one that I know that freshly post-Hunger Games me would have gobbled up!
readeranavi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
cosy_armchair_reader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Actually loved this, loved the world building, loved the characters, loved the plot
Hated Aaron
Hated him so much
Why didn't he just die was my main thought while reading this.
The way this book was written was great but I wasn't a fan of Todd's narrative, I understand why it was written as though he was talking but it honestly sounds like he's an illiterate (which I know he is) but it got to the point where it was just flippin' annoying.
Hated Aaron
Hated him so much
Why didn't he just die was my main thought while reading this.
The way this book was written was great but I wasn't a fan of Todd's narrative, I understand why it was written as though he was talking but it honestly sounds like he's an illiterate (which I know he is) but it got to the point where it was just flippin' annoying.
hollylollypop31's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and War