Restricted Section Book Club discussion

Here's the full thread for The Knife of Never Letting Go discussion! Spoil away!

So, who else is up for a spoilery discussion? = ) I actually ended up listening to the audio book (which I found to be incredibly effective when it came to being able to distinguish between the thoughts that Todd was constantly hearing), so I'd be interested to hear how well this worked when reading straight from the book.
Also, Manchee.....What a decision to be made. = (

*gross sobbing* Manche!

What happened to Manchee almost made me cry...which is saying a lot, because I usually don't cry when reading books.

Also, I need the sequel. Now. The book ended on such a cliffhanger.

The way what Manche is still calling out to odd he whole time, and the fact that he just can't understand. So heart breaking = (

Since this was the first book in a trilogy I knew that all the loose ends weren't going to be tied up, but I was hoping that the characters would at least get a small it of respite after the showdown with Aaron finally happened (for the last time....), but nope. Time for people to get shot. :O

I fully cried when Manchee died. This book is so exhausting in the best way and I should have expected a horrible non-resolution at the end considering it's a trilogy but I was NOT READY for everything to still be so horrible. I'm on an island and I don't have the other two books with me and I'm so mad at myself right nowwwww. This trilogy better have the happiest ending.

Oh and to answer the question about distinguishing thoughts in the text book versus the audio book, they did a really good job of changing fonts and spacing and stuff to make it clear, it was really cool.

This is my favorite series of all time. As you can expect I loved this, the characters were all very unique and the main villain was so complex. The loss of Manchee also made me cry, not full-on-sob but tear streak on le face.

Also everyone needs to read the rest of this series like right now.

I did like Manchee but I was hoping that the "dog" was going to be more intelligent then the book portrayed. Yes I get that there are stupid dogs and they wouldnt be as intellegent as us - but I found Manchee to be so juvenille it got a little annoying. In the end though I did care for him and had a lump in my throat when he died.

A couple discussion questions:

1.Anyone else feel like the world was seriously underdeveloped? I saw that there was prequels and sequels etc but as the supposed first book it just seemed like so much was missing! I feel like there is a YA curse for underdeveloped fantasy worlds lately... It was so bad throughout the book that I actually forgot that it was supposed to be a different planet from Earth.

2. Spelling errors???? Seriously I get that the author was trying to depict his intelligence but unless he is reading something it is completely unneeded and a HUGE distraction. Whats your thoughts?

3. Unrealistic Characters? Ummm there is no way one would survive all of what happened naturally. Unless the world starts handing out superman powers later on in the series... I feel like the author did not want to create and add new villains throughout and so resurrected him a billion times.

4. Unrealistic travel? I get that this world is different and in general, like I mentioned before, suffered from underdevelopment but as someone who travels (specifically backpacking - cross country - mountain climbing type hiking) it just seemed so unrealistic. The "race" of the cat and mouse game was not consistent and thus annoyed me like no tomorrow!

Whats everyone's thoughts on these points??????

While I didn't hate this book, I don't enjoy it altogether either. It was a completely mediocre book. The plot tackled a great idea but the execution lacked the small details. I don't plan on finishing out the series.

I thought the book did better later in the novel in developing its dystopian society. I understand this to be as if the readers are discovering the world just as the sheltered Todd discovers. I don't mind being slightly in the dark with the society.

I cannot deal with the spelling errors. It was so distracting. Although I understand the difference in society that Ness portrayed, the spelling errors irked me. I always prefer not to read books with the grammar mistakes and spelling errors.

I completely agree with Mat -- the unrealistic characters and the unrealistic travel. All the villains continually to be resurrected, and the ending seemed like it finished in a neat little bow. The journey seemed to be told by a child where a world is perfect with second chances (mainly for antagonists) and almost unnaturally nickelodeon story.

The plot ran along pretty fast; in a way, it was a page-turner, which means I finished the book pretty quick. Again it was a mediocre book. It was action-packed, but the story had a shallow execution. I won't be continuing the trilogy.

Angie wrote: "While I didn't hate this book, I don't enjoy it altogether either. It was a completely mediocre book. The plot tackled a great idea but the execution lacked the small details. I don't plan on finis..."

Completely agree! Glad I'm not the only one!

I didn't reread this for the book club (as I've only just joined) but I read it a couple of years ago and loved the whole series. I agree there are problems in the plot (especially with the continually reappearing villains) but I really enjoyed it...and Manchee! =(

This book was a really quick read. Having almost the entire book as one long chase sequence made it fast-paced although exposition and world-building tended to suffer as a result. I like the main characters but the villains seemed too powerful and almost immortal in some cases.

The cliffhanger at the end of nearly every chapter really made it feel like a book aimed at younger readers. The quirks of spelling and grammar didn't bother me but they didn't really add much to the book either. I did like the way the Noise was shown in the text - that was very effective.

This didn't feel like the first book of a trilogy. It felt like the second half of book one plus a big chunk of book two. I enjoyed reading it though and will pick up the next book in the trilogy at some point. Hopefully that one has less of a breakneck pace and more time for filling in the details

I read this book a year and a half ago and finished the other two the next month. I absolutely loved this book as well as the other ones, which each one absolutely got better than the one before.
I feel like some of the negative criticism is unwarranted personally and I wish those who have negative feelings could allow for their suspension of disbelief more.

Becka wrote: "I read this book a year and a half ago and finished the other two the next month. I absolutely loved this book as well as the other ones, which each one absolutely got better than the one before.
..."

Im usually ok to increase my "suspension of disbelief" but I need to be given a reason to. The book really gave no reason to how the villains survived - they just did.

I totally agree about how it was emotionally exhausting. And speaking about Mat's fourth point about the traveling also bothers me because reading about Todd's journey was also exhausting! I mean I wouldn't be able to survive that much physical problems... Not to mention all the fights Todd and Viola had but despite all the hits in the head and the drugs and the punching and running they could still walk for hours with very little food and hardly any rest? I do agree that it's a little unrealistic.