Level: Adult
Recommended Age: 14+
Genres: Science fiction, Dystopian
Tags: Drama, Adoption, Family, Religion, War
Mature Content:

  - Mature language: Heavy swearing, including F bombs.

  - Mature violence: Physical attacks, details of abuse, torture, and murder.

  - Moderate sexuality: allusions to sex and over-sexualizing, along with examples of sexism.

“The Noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, a man is just chaos walking.”

Todd was born in the New World after his parents left Earth. Now he’s the only boy in a town of men and feels like everyone is watching him, waiting for his thirteenth birthday. When Todd meets Viola, a young girl and the sole survivor of a spaceship crash, the two teens must journey beyond the swamp and seek sanctuary outside of Prentisstown. Todd has only known his small town and what the mayor allowed to be taught there, along with the “noise” of the townsmen’s chaotic thoughts projected for everyone to hear. Viola is the first person Todd has met from somewhere else, and the first person he’s met who can keep her thoughts silent.

These two teenagers go on a journey they never expected and have to learn what kind of world they live in, and what kind of world they want to fight for.

Review:

“A knife is only as good as the one who wields it.”

This is a really interesting idea, and I enjoyed what the author did with it. Patrick Ness opened up about how he felt like social media was a way for people to shout their every thought to the world, and he wanted to use that concept in a novel. Sometimes it seems like people get so obsessed with social media, it’s like a diary to them. Absolutely every thought or idea they have gets posted, whether it’s relevant or not.

This is how the men in this series are when they land on this planet. People are leaving Earth because it’s so damaged from global warming and war, but they don’t realize that something on this planet is causing everyone to hear men’s thoughts. They can try to make their thoughts quiet, or focus on a song, but ultimately they have no privacy.

Some people deal with it by moving out to the country and getting away from people. Some men start very separated societies where the women are kept tucked away so the men don’t have to be embarrassed for their thoughts. And some men even blame women for being able to keep their minds private if they choose.

There’s even a point where Todd, who has grown up on this planet and doesn’t know anything else, accuses Viola of keeping secrets. Viola has grown up on a ship full of people from Earth who haven’t experienced this “germ” yet and she tells him she’s not secretive or weird, she’s normal. Todd and Viola have had such different upbringings, they don’t understand the other’s version of normal. It takes them a little bit to adjust to each other. Todd has to learn to actually watch and observe people, because he’s only been around men who project their thoughts uncontrollably. Todd slowly begins to understand that if you pay attention to what people say and the expressions that they make, you will have a better idea of who they are. He feels so amazing when he finally starts to understand Viola better and actually read her expressions. It’s so funny how that is such a superpower to him, but it just shows what a strange life he’s had up to this point.

There are some darker themes in this book. The way that humans treat the native creatures in the New World is extremely dehumanizing, and this book feels more like a wild west story than a futuristic one. Viola is horrified by the quality of life, knowing that her parents left Earth because it was violent and dangerous, which is exactly what the humans have turned this world into. There’s also some severe sexism in this book, with men resenting the women for being unaffected by the noise germ, even to the point of blaming them for it. The author holds a mirror up to some of the darkest parts of society and human nature, and twists it into a heart pounding adventure.

I loved Todd’s humor, the dog’s simple affection, and of course Viola’s scathing assessment of how thoroughly people have screwed up their chance to start over on this new planet. It’s a book about sacrifice and mistakes, shouldering your parent’s dreams after they’re gone, and learning how to grow up.