A review by leonormsousa
Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

REPRESENTATION 
gay SC

QUOTES 
“Worst is the one who knows better and does nothing.” 
“You're never more alive than in battle. Never more dead after.” 
“Usually when a man calls a woman a bitch (…) it's because she's doing something right.” 
“What a sad thing men are. Can’t do nothing good without being so weak we have to mess it up. Can’t build something up without tearing it down.” 

THINGS I ENJOYED 
  • The exploration of the concepts of good and evil and everything in between and how they’re perceptions that can vary according to your perspective. Also the way Patrick Ness makes you have such contradictory feelings towards the “bad” characters.
  • The approach to war that covers both sides of the fight through multiple POVs. I usually don’t really like books about war, but this one was a clear exception!
  • The different writing styles for different POVs, that make us feel more “inside the skin” of the characters. I especially love the Spackle POV, which in this book, we see added to Todd’s and Viola’s.
  • The formatting on this book/series really adds on to the experience (different POVs have different fonts, as does the “noise” from different people).
  • The final resolution of the book and the series was so satisfactory.

THINGS I DIDN'T ENJOY
  • The book is a bit slow at points, and, in my opinion, didn’t need to be this long.

MY OPINION ON THE WHOLE SERIES
  • Great escalation throughout the series - from a personal adventure to a war between species.
  • The second book was definitely my least favourite, but the first and third definitely compensate for it!
  • Overall, an amazing YA dystopian series!
  • Be sure not to miss the novellas as well.
  • FINAL RATING: 4⭐

READ THE SERIES IF YOU ENJOY
  • Stories set on a different planet with new sapient species
  • Young protagonists in unfamiliar circumstances that are forced to grow and that fight to the end of the world to be together
  • Manipulative, intelligent and unscrupulous villains
  • Exploring different sides of the same conflict
  • Delving into the concept of evilness
  • Books without romance
  • Crying (:
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