Absolutely gripping from beginning to end. It's deeply unpleasant but doesn't flinch away from the atrocities of war, or the endless moral questions that inevitably rise out of following orders and searching for reason. Affiliations come and go, the goodness and the badness of certain people is revealed, and all with a sickening gut twisting feeling. Brilliant. Can't wait to go home and pick up book 3! ( )

Excellent Hunger Games read-alike. I can't put it down! Reading the third now... ( )

I was originally interested enough in part 1 that I bought part 2. In hindsight, though, it turns out I didn't like the first book that much. It was ok, but YA dystopia is not really my cup of tea and I don't see myself rereading book 1 and then starting this one now...

This is book 2 in the Chaos Walking trilogy, sequel to 'The Knife of Never Letting Go' which I had a few problems with. This volume is actually better in terms of plot as it deals with the situation once the nasty mayor from Todd's town makes himself President of the larger settlement, Haven, renaming it New Prentisstown after himself, and institutes a rule of terror. He starts off by arresting and torturing a few people, but gradually things escalate, and all women become 'the enemy'. However, he isn't the only villain, because the (mainly women) who form a resistance movement called the Answer, start off by bombing things at night or when they should otherwise be unoccupied, but a few soldiers are killed anyway, and gradually things escalate on their side also, as the new President's atrocities increase. The woman in charge of the Answer is in her own way just as ruthless as the President, and after Viola sees the President's evil at firsthand and is finally won over to the Answer, she is able to manipulate and use Viola without scruple.

The President has found a way to use 'Noise' (the uncontrolled telepathy inflicted on human males by a native virus) as a weapon, controlling those under him, including Todd. Initially Todd goes along with the duties he is given, because he believes Viola's life depends on it and is desperate to see her. Prentiss seems to be lining Todd up for greater things and preferring him to his own son, Davy, yet he is also capable of letting Todd be beaten and tortured on occasion. He constantly promises that people won't be harmed, then we see them being beaten/tortured/killed and it becomes obvious that this is with his full sanction.

Despite his best intentions, Todd finds himself drawn into inflicting cruelty on the captive natives, the Spackle, and then on human women, all the while telling himself that others would be more cruel to them, or trying to tell himself he feels nothing. Meanwhile, the lies and doublethink around both him and Viola escalate until it is impossible to tell if anyone is telling the truth. Although it is obvious that their friendship has deepened into love, both doubts the other at times, yet both are capable of acting against their own best judgment and accepting the evil which the other has committed, because of that love. And their love is also the thing which both Prentiss and the Answer's leader use to manipulate them.

The book deals with torture, genocide, scapegoating of racial groups, misogyny, and other dark themes. It doesn't do to get fond of any of the characters given the body count. As the story is unrelentingly grim, I've decided to have a rest between this and volume 3, although I might tackle the short story which I believe comes between the two. The unrelenting grim tone, and the escalation of one horror after another, means there is no light and shade in this story, and I do think it could do with some just to avoid exhausting the reader. For that reason, I've decided to award 3 stars as I can't say I 'really liked' the book. ( )

The only thing that really bothered me about this book is I though the two main characters made some predictably bad decisions just to move the story forward. Still a great book but not quite as captivating as the 1st one. ( )