Flying Kick-a-pow!

I am shocked. I am speechless. I don't even think I can do this book justice by writing this review. My first reaction is just to scream "OH MY EFFING GOD!!!" (only I don't say "effing"! heh heh … Well, if you've read the books you get the joke) … which is exactly what I said about fifty times after I finished reading it last night.Seriously, it isn't often that a book like this comes along. I don't think a book has left me feeling this shocked and amazed in years––not even the first two books, which also totally blew my mind.All right, well, let's get down to business. I should stop ranting and get to reviewing.So, Monsters of Men is the third book in Patrick Ness's amazingamazingamazing trilogy, Chaos Walking. As I already said, the first two books––The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and the Answer––absolutely blew me away, so I had very high expectations for the final chapter. Of course, when you have high expectations, you get nervous, too. I didn't know how on earth Ness was going to end this or what he was going to do with it … but I trusted him to write something incredible. And ohmygoodness he totally exceeded those very high expectations.Ha, so, funny story about this book. It came out in the UK in early May, and it is not scheduled to come out in the United States until late September. I was just about to explode with impatience, and I totally would have died if I'd had to wait that long. Fortunately someone told me about this website, The Book Depository, which allows you to order books from other countries with free shipping. (YESSSS!!!) So I ordered it and it came for me in the mail yesterday (after my last day of school, too! talk about the best day ever!) and I pretty much read it nonstop from 3:30 to 11:30. I even took it to my sister's middle-school graduation and read it standing up, because I could not bear to put it down. Teehee.So, anyway. The book. I do not even know where to begin. AL;KDFJSJF;SJKFD. Yeah, that's about all I have to say. Just kidding. But really, I'm trying to find the words to write this.Basically, these books are emotionally exhausting. I don't know how else to put it. You become so attached to Todd and Viola and you see them go through so much terrifying crap and it's just like … aaahhh … It gives you that total feeling of dread that eats away at the inside of your stomach, and your eyes are glued to the page and it's like "HOLY CRAP! What if one of them dies or both of them dies or AGGGH??!!! NO NO NO PATRICK NESS WOULDN'T DO THAT … Oh wait, he totally would. CRAP!" I was hardly breathing the whole time I was reading this. And at the end my heart was literally pounding because I was so shocked and so terrified and so devastated and so amazed and I had tears in my eyes and I was about to scream at the book and … GAH. Trust me, it takes a LOT for a book to affect me like this. Okay, I am hyperventilating all over again, just thinking about it. Moving on.So, Todd and Viola. Let's talk about them, because I love them like they were actual people. Firstly Todd … He has been our beloved narrator since book one––he's a sweetheart, he's funny, he's honest, he's confused, he's completely believable … And in Monsters of Men I loved him more than ever. He is definitely one of my favorite main characters of all time. I totally felt for him in this one, and it was heartbreaking to see how he gets caught up in the horrors of war … yet, his dedication to Viola keeps him from completely losing himself. (Awwww