Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
(Chaos Walking #1)
Hardcover, 479 pages
Published September 9th 2008 by Candlewick (first published May 5th 2008)
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A dystopian thriller follows a boy and girl on the run from a town where all thoughts can be heard — and the passage to manhood embodies a horrible secret.

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.

I know it’s a bit late to say this now and I’m sorry if you already did but I suggest that you NOT read the synopsis. I didn’t really know much about this book when I started reading it and I think I enjoyed it more than if I would’ve read the synopsis. It gives away more than I like.

"Chaos walking" is definitely a way to describe this book. Todd lives in a world where everyone hears what everything is thinking, even down to the squirrels and crocodiles that want to eat them. Todd happens to find a quiet spot in the swamp and then is forced to run from his town. The men in this town are crazy. If you can handle getting used to seeing what everyone else is thinking then you will love this book.

I think this book had great world building and the author did a really good job incorporating the titles of the next two books and even the name of the trilogy into the book. I kind of liked it when I found the references.

This book is nonstop. Todd is told so many lies growing up that you learn everything as he does. There were moments when I thought everything was going to turn out ok for them but then something else would happen and it would be crazy again. The ending was definitely a cliff hanger and would drive me crazy if there wasn't a second book. There were definitely moments when my jaw was on the floor.

My favorite character in the entire book was the main character’s dog, Manchee! He was a great character. I found that he actually made me laugh a little. As much as I want to talk about it, I’m not going to spoil anything about him. He was a very good dog though.

Todd is a good main character. The entire book is written in his POV so some you have to get used to the writing a little bit. He say’s “ain’t” quite a lot and words like direction ("direkshyun") are spelled as if he is saying them.

I don’t want to spoil the other character so I’m going to leave that one out. I did think it was a good character though. Definitely added a lot to the book.

 Anyway I can’t wait to read the next one. I totally recommend you read it if you haven't. I’m so glad I bought all three books so I can read it as soon as I want to.

My Rating:

Have you read this book?? What are your thoughts on it?