Todd is the last boy left in Prentisstown, a town filled only with men. Prentisstown is on a different world, one settled after a war with the native inhabitants. This world contains the Noise, a collection of everyone's thoughts that are in earshot. One must guard their thoughts (which have colors, and intensities) carefully or else soon the whole town will know what you've found, done, or plan. Some have kept secrets from Todd, and his journey toward being a man takes on a far different turn than he expects. 
 I don't want to say too much about the plot, because this book will suck you in and you'll be flipping pages as fast as possible to have it all unfold for you. It's a stressful read, and it gripped me such that after finishing a chapter (most of which were perfectly timed mini-cliffhangers) and putting the book down for a while, I still yearned for it. I thought about it a lot. I can't wait to go to bed tonight and start on the second title. 
 I didn't give it a higher rating because the pacing became just too much. My bond with the characters wasn't affected, and neither was my desire to quickly FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. Still, whenever (view spoiler)[ something hopeful, positive, or just plain good occurs, something horrific, negative, or just plain bad was sure to follow. (hide spoiler)] Every single time. Then it ended on the mother of all cliffhangers. Oh, I am so glad I didn't read this after release; the wait for the sequel would've been painful.