Review by chaosstrolling - Monsters of Men

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chaosstrolling 's review for:

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

5.0

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I’m baffled that I had forgotten so much from my previous read, I basically only remembered the basic story beats, but that made this read an even better experience. I genuinely lost count of how many times I cried.

I would die for Wilf and Angharrad, but Ivan, Bradley, and Simone are all good characters. Ivan was frustrating but a good character to represent a very real type of people during wartime, losing him was not joyful. Bradley was exactly what I expected of the people of the convoy (most because I completely forgot what they were like). That fact made Simone’s approval of Coyle feel strange. It kinda felt like the two characters were there just to show opposing sides again. However, I do still think Coyle was an excellent anti-villain. I find it so fitting that she too was driven to suicide because of her dismay at failing to achieve her true goal.

Which leads me to David Prentiss. An EXCELLENT villain. I felt disgusted every time I had positive feelings for him, and that happened multiple times. His relationship and story with Todd is so unique and interesting. The Noise is an incredible concept and Prentiss embodies all that is bad and dangerous about it. He uses such a poetic ability for power until the brink of madness.

1017 (I hate calling him that now lol) is still my favorite character. His anger is simultaneously frustrating and understandable. He is the perfect choice for the new Sky. Someone with true understanding of the dangers of power and revenge. The Land in general is such a cool species. Not just their physical description but also how they communicate. It’s so beautiful.

I again did not care for the jealousy aspects either Lee, although they weren’t as prevalent here. However I also hated the lying between Todd and Viola. It was much more frustrating than enjoyable, even though it made the ending more impactful. Also the first kiss being on page 458 of the third book in a series is crazy lol

We lost two more animals in this book, and I’m surprised that Morpeth’s death affected me more than Acorn’s.

Content Warnings