Review of The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

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. Includes “The New World,” a short story by Patrick Ness.

I am an evangelist for The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. Seriously, you shouldn’t even be reading my review. You should be reading The Knife of Never Letting Go instead. The book starts off on an incredibly confusing note. You are just sort of tossed into Todd’s world. However, when this happens, don’t be discouraged, dear friend. Just trust the author. I am pretty sure for the most part, authors know what they are doing. Seriously, all will be explained and revealed.

The Knife of Never Letting go is definitely a new-to-me take on dystopia. First of all, we are in a world where your every thought is public. I mean how much would life suck if your thoughts weren’t private. You wouldn’t have any secrets. It would be hard to be polite, because people would definitely know you don’t like them. I know I couldn’t stand something like that. The crazy government scary dude in charge part, that is not new to me at all. However, it’s the premise that is unique.

Todd is a character whom I just want to hug. Life definitely deals Todd a bad card. He’s an orphan. He’s the youngest guy in Prentisstown, and has yet to go through his manhood rights. And of course, he is the hero of our tale, so you know, bad stuff will happen to Todd and he will grow and learn from it, because guys, that’s what happens to every main character, in pretty much every single book ever. Well, maybe that’s a bit of a broad sweeping untrue generalization, but chances are if it is a book I enjoyed, something bad has happened to the main character. Right, well I still just want to give Todd a hug.

Now, my absolute favorite part of the book was Manchee. As far as dogs go, I love them. And yes, Manchee was my favorite character of the book. He is exactly how I imagine a dog would talk. He says things the pups we have here would probably say if they could talk. SPOILERS PLEASE HIGHLIGHT TO READ:I pretty much lost my marbles when Manchee died. Seriously, I just got that bottom out stomach feeling. I was so sad. Like, I honest to God am almost scared to read the rest of the series because of Manchee’s death. I got so attached and you know how it is with those boy and his dog stories. And yes, I seriously am still grieving for Manchee, like I can’t even pick up my copy without feeling a little short of breath. Perhaps I am taking a YA fiction book a bit too seriously.

Now, that I have characters I liked out of the way, I want to talk about a character I could not stand. There’s this crazy character named Aaron. He is the bionic man, I swear to God. I honestly got frustrated and irritated and annoyed every time he showed up. He never ever died. He always brought trouble. I just, agh, dreaded him. You’ll see why when you read this book.

However, this is all tempered with a small thread of hope. Although, it seems like it’s consistently attempting to be extinguished, hope always remains, and I appreciate that. After all, it is such an important thing to hold on to. Here, let me show you this heart gripping quote:

“You’ve overcome obstacles and dangers and things that should’ve killed you. You’ve outrun an army and a madman and deadly illness and seen things most people will never see. How do you think you could possibly come this far if you didn’t have hope?” -pg. 376

and this

“….and I think how hope may be the thing that pulls you forward, may be the thing that keeps you going, but that it’s dangerous, too, that it’s painful and risky, that it’s making a dare to the world and when has the world let us win a dare?” pg. 423

Yeah, enough said on hope.

Back to things that annoy me. I keep pushing this book on my boyfriend to read, but he refuses to read it. How irritating right? When you could really bond with someone you love over a book, yet they refuse to take your suggestion. Maybe he needs a larger nudge, so perhaps you could comment here and say HEY TONY YOU NEED TO READ THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO.

Finally, I am dying to read The Ask And The Answer, however I am waiting for the PB to come out in August, because I like my series to have similar formats. I already have a copy of Monsters and Men to read, so yes, it really is eager waiting until August, and knowing myself I will probably break down and buy the hardback regardless.

Other Reviews:
I Was A Teenage Book Geek
Pepper Ink
Hey Lady, Whatcha Readin?

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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