Thoughts on the Chaos Walking Trilogy

 

Right now, I'm reading Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking book 3) by Patrick Ness.  I'm having a hard time forming coherent thoughts about it.  There are so many emotions running through my head right now....sadness, hope, anger, confusion, heartbreak...I don't even know where to start, beyond that I'm tearing up right now just thinking about the books and the choices the characters are making, why they have to make them, and what I would do in their situations.

As I'm writing this, I haven't yet finished Monsters of Men, so I may be updating this later, but I had to get some thoughts down...

I picked up the books at the library because someone (I do forget who, I'm sorry if it was you) mentioned that they liked the series more than The Hunger Games.  Since I loved THG, I thought I'd pick up book one and see what it was about.

On the surface, you could say that THG series and Chaos Walking are the same:  dystopian, young protagonists facing very adult choices, fights to the death; but Chaos Walking just kicks it up a notch and really, in my mind, focuses on the outcomes of the choices that we make (good or bad).

I've never been in the military, I've lead a pretty comfortable life, yes my husband was in the Navy for the first few years of our relationship, but he was on shore duty, so I don't really have any experience in that worry about someone you love.  I don't really watch the news, its too sad.  But Chaos Walking, especially Monsters of Men has really hit home and touched me like no other book has.  It really made me think about choices we make, and having to live with them.  

Good people can make bad choices.  That doesn't make them bad people.  But they do have to live with the consequences.  Bad people can make good choices.  But that doesn't make them good.

I've cried more with this book than I think I ever have.  But, there is always hope....

Update:
I finished the series Sunday.  I even read the prequel, "The New World" (its a free download on amazon)

I had a lot of great twitter conversations about the series, and various aspects----is the Return a woman?  Would knowing that it was a woman have changed your feelings about it?  Can "good people" make bad choices.  There is talk of a #chaoschat, but I'll let you know...