As the kids say, OMG!

Whoa, young adult dystopian literature! This series is even better than The Hunger Games, albeit much more intense, in depth, and emotionally distressing. In fact, while I have NEVER before in my whole life cried from reading a book, I teared up a bit near the end of the last book. Don’t let my intense description so far turn you off of this series. The books are probably some of the best I’ve ever read. Chaos Walking is the name of the series and the author is Patrick Ness. The three books are The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men.

 

I don’t really want to write too much about this series. Just that it is incredible. It’s basically on another planet in the future where there is a virus that causes all people to be able to hear each others’ thoughts. All of them. All the time. Except that women can hear thoughts but their thoughts can’t be heard.  The series is technically a young adult book, but I feel that its subject matter is much more adult. Or at least it allows for incredibly adult discussions of some very serious ‘what if?’ situations. Whoa, intense. Have I said that a few times already?

I’m Hungry for More!!!!

Two great things combined to create one awesome book. Young adult fiction + dystopian lit = The Hunger Games!!!!  Oh my god! What a good book. I decided recently to read this book before I even knew it was being made into a movie. I decided to read it purely because Lia recommended it (see the video in my post about Twilight). Now I cannot wait to see the film!

Lia was right, that IS a good book! After reading it, I could hardly wait to get the next one to read (Catching Fire is the second and Mockingjay is the third, which I am waiting to get now). Why is this book so amazing?, you might ask... Well, for me I really enjoy dystopian literature to begin with. I don’t know why, I just do. It’s nice to imagine alternate places and times which, while highly unlikely in my opinion, could exist.  I also really enjoy young adult fiction. It's often easy reading, very engaging and enthralling, and keeps you wanting more. In these respects, The Hunger Games does not disappoint. It is constant suspense –  I often stayed up too late so I could keep reading – and if I had just a whole day to spend reading I could have easily finished the book in one go. It definitely brought me away to another time and place – Panem, a futuristic and dystopic North America.

True, it is hard to imagine this future ever really occurring. I mean, seriously, no other countries would ever really allow America to kill kids and not allow its citizens to leave their particular district, right? Oh wait, let’s think for a minute about the world we actually do live in... I think there are some countries in which the citizens aren’t allowed free mobility to leave and some countries whose citizens we (as Americans) don’t really care about. But anyway, I really am not going into political or social commentary here. That’s not my thing at all. But it just makes me second guess the theory that this would NEVER happen...who knows what could come?...

*DISCLAIMER* The next paragraph reveals some important plot details. Don’t read this if you don’t want me to ruin anything for you.

This book definitely makes me want more. I want to know more about the war that caused Panem to be the way it is. I want to know more about the daily lives of the people in all the various districts. How they all handle the strict and cruel rule they are under. I want to be in the book (without actually dealing with any of the problems there, of course). And with regards to the second book, I want to know more about the various players in the rebellion. How they have planned the rebellion and the things they have done up til the end of the book. Of course, the reader is kept in the dark (so far) about these things in the same way Katniss is. That’s a good way of being able to put yourself in her place and be more easily drawn right into the book.

I cannot wait to read the last book, but then of course it will be over. And that is the sad part about reading books that really keep you captivated like that, that totally engross you until you’ve lost your grip on reality. Eventually you have to go back to the real world and let these characters and places go; you'll never really experience them. But still... Man I love books like this!