Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go
Author: Patrick Ness
Series: Chaos Walking, #1
Genres: Adventure, Dystopian, Sci-Fi, Young Adult
Publisher: Candlewick
Date Published: May 5th, 2008
Edition: Hardcover
Rating:
Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him — something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn’t she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd’s gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.
My Review:
The Knife of Never Letting Go is a tale about a boy named Todd who is trying to find his place within a world that’s a mixture of dystopian and sci-fi. It takes place in the future when humans have started traveling in groups to another habitable planet where settlements have been slowly established for the past twenty years or so (give or take, not sure on the number).
The strange thing about this new planet is that everyone can hear each other’s thoughts — including the thoughts of animals. Todd was born on the new planet (which we never really get a name for) so he’s known nothing else other than the constant Noise of those around him. But humans weren’t created to be constant mind readers with no barriers or defenses against those invading their thoughts, so wars and chaos is bound to erupt from such a change to our very nature.
Despite everyone’s thoughts being heard, some people have found a way to bury and hide their thoughts, and you’d be surprised how many secrets each and every inhabitant is able to keep within this world. Through events out of Todd’s control he finds himself running away from one thing and towards answers to questions he never knew he had. The Knife of Never Letting Go follows him, along with his dog Manchee and a mysterious girl he encounters along the way on this adventure.
In a world of dystopian books that can all start sounding alike, The Knife of Never Letting Go forges a new path in the genre that makes you think about the dangers of knowing too much and how dark human nature can really be at times. It’s a fast paced adventure ride that doesn’t come up for air, even when the end seems in sight.
I really enjoyed jumping into Todd’s world for a little while and while reading this book I felt like I was running away and towards something at the time time, right along with Todd. This is the first book in a trilogy though, and it appears it’s going to be a cliffhanger trilogy because this definitely left off with a doozy of a cliffhanger. So if you can’t stand a big cliffhanger, definitely have the next books on hand, I know I’ll be reading the second book in this series next month because I just can’t wait too long to see what happens next!
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