The Knife of Never Letting Go (Reissue with bonus short story)

The Noise germ killed every woman in Todd's town and enabled the survivors to hear each other's thoughts. Todd's upcoming birthday and the rituals that follow will make him a man, but until then, his only companion is a dog that he never wanted in the first place. Todd stumbles across something he did not believe existed, a human girl. He quickly realizes that even though he can hear the thoughts of everyone in his settlement, secrets still exist. This one might cost Todd his life.

It took me a couple of chapters before Todd's dialect stopped bothering me. As his character developed, I couldn’t imagine the mostly illiterate boy speaking any other way. Each character in the book has a distinctive voice, but my favorite was Todd's dog, Manchee. It is a perfect representation of how I imagine a dog talking if they actually could. There is some violence in the book, but the overall meaning of the story justifies it. The novel fits in the young adult dystopian category, but the idea is fresh and original. I can't wait to start on the sequel.

From the back cover of The Knife of Never Letting Go:
Todd Hewitt is the last boy in Prentisstown. But Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in a constant, overwhelming, never-ending Noise. There is no privacy. There are no secrets. Or are there? Just one month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Tod unexpectedly stumbles upon a spot of complete silence. Which is impossible. Prentisstown has been lying to him. And now he's going to have to run....

Review:
Every now and then I read a book that makes me think I've been a tad too hasty in previously handing out 5 out of 5 stars. Every now and then I read a book that blows those other books out of the water. In this case, these three books make me wish I had a higher rating than 5/5 to give. These might be books for children, but any adult will be entranced and moved by this powerful story. If I talk too much about the content of these books I will give away too many details, and I feel that giving away too many details will take away some of the impact of reading the story, so instead I'm just going to talk about what I liked about them.

Patrick Ness is not only a great storyteller, he's a talented and meticulous writer. The arc of the overall story is perfectly divided among the three books. Each book's individual arc is also perfectly completed - the first and second books end with a major cliffhanger, and everything is cleverly resolved by the final book - but not so perfectly that it doesn't ring true. The plot is complex and the characters are multi-dimensional, they are fully developed, distinctive, their motivations are explored from all angles, so that, often as with real people, the reader is never quite sure just how they feel about them, it is just too complicated to say whether a person is 'good' or 'bad'. There is an overarching message to the story that is deeply explored - that it isn't whether you fall, it's how you pull yourself back up that is the measure of your value.

As well as the story itself, the language Patrick Ness uses is incredible. The speech is partially spelled phonetically, letting the reader understand the different accents of the characters. This is a technique that is not often applied with skill (with some exceptions, one of the best I know is Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting) but in this case it is done so clearly and consistently that I could hear the accents as I was reading. The different accents speak volumes about the nature of the society, and the society of the old world from which the people of New World come. The other language written brilliantly is the 'Noise' which is the thoughts of the men everyone can hear - not an easy concept to make believable, but it is done so well that it is never jarring and fits into the flow of the story well. And the animals have Noise which is one of my favourite things about the book, in my opinion Patrick Ness has captured the personality of the different species perfectly.

This is a beautiful series, multi-layered and incredibly moving. I'm sure this will prove over time to become a classic, it is certainly the best children's literature I have read in a long time and I thoroughly recommend reading it.

The Knife of Never Letting Go is, as protagonist Todd Hewwit might say, ruddy brillant. I think there are four basic reasons for this, and I'll do my best to explain those here without giving away spoilers.

#1) Todd Hewwit himself. It is RARE that I actually favor a lead character over all others; usally they pale compared to, say, the witty best friend or love interest, or even sometimes the clever villian. Todd is diffrent. He's very nearly illiterate, speaks in the country dialect that is all he knows from his life in New World, and makes a few bad, and at times heartbreaking decisions...and for all that, you cannot NOT like him. He is prehaps all the more enduring for those very reasons.

#2) The writing. I can't remember the last book I read in which the narration so perfectly reflected the narrator. I never once thought "A boy his age wouldn't really say or do that." This novel is tight, fast-paced, thoughtful. Here's a small example: "My feet are tired and sore. Hers must be, too. I've got blisters and aches and my heart hurts from all I miss and all thats gone. And hers does, too. But we run. Boy, do we run. Cuz maybe (shut up)--Just maybe (don't think it)--Maybe there really is hope at the end of the road."

#3) The Grit. This book is wonderfully gritty. Basically it's one long chase scene on a planet where (almost) everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts, and at all times trouble is either happening or about to happen. If you're a nail-biter you might want to wear gloves while reading, because the suspense is downright agonizing at certain points. These characters and their situations feel real. You cry for them when their worlds crumble and then cheer them on when they pick themselves up. The story goes to dark places and stays there, but in an endless string of YA fiction where authors are hesitant to even scratch their characters, let alone break a bone or two, this is refreshing and credible.

#4)Bigness. Unlike so, so many teen novels these days, The Knife is about much more than a boy/girl relationship. Yes, much of what Todd does is fueled by his devotion to someone, but the story is bigger than that one connection. Consequences are far reaching, and the choices of one boy end up effecting many.

If none of the above is compelling enough to make you read The Knife, I have a #5 reason for you: Manchee. Who is Manchee? Read the book. And just to warn you, the ending is a huge cliffhanger, so you might want to have the second one, The Ask and the Answer, close at hand.

Typically when we think of dystopias, we think of worlds ravaged by disease, totalitarian governments, or nuclear war. We don't think of a world in which men can all hear each other's thoughts, thoughts that are full of despair, hopelessness, bleak, etc. These thoughts are called Noise, as the overlapping of everyone's thoughts can only be described as such.

Todd Hewitt is only 30 days from becoming a "man." He lives in Prentisstown, so named for Mayor Prentiss. He reluctantly owns a dog, Manchee, who he can hear and who is constantly saying "Todd? Poo? Hunt? Todd?" One day, when wandering around with Manchee, Todd encounters a Quiet, and this sets off the rest of the book.

I had no idea what this book was about when I downloaded it from the library. I ended up reading it within 24 hours. I had first been intrigued by the idea of there being only men on the planet. Then I was intrigued by Todd's being able to hear his dog, whom I couldn't help adoring. Then I was further intrigued by the silence Todd encounters, for this ended up changing everything he had learned about his town and his upbringing.

Patrick Ness does a really good job making it clear who Todd is despite the things he'd learned his entire life. I loved all the characters in the book, including the ones you're supposed to hate.

If you've been hunting for a dystopia that is actually original, get this book, stat. It's a book about inherent goodness, as well as loyalty and love, in the face of pure madness.

"The Noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, a man is just chaos walking." Todd Hewitt, Chaos Walking: The Knife of Never Letting Go

Wow wow wow! You have to read this book. In fact, go ahead and buy the whole series or you'll just be angry and frustrated because this one ends in a frenzy inciting cliff-hanger! Todd is the last boy in Prentisstown, but he will join the ranks of men in less than a month's time. Prentisstown is not like anything we have ever seen. There are only men in this community on New Earth, a group of settlers that left old Earth with its violence and destruction to seek peace and a simpler way of life. Sadly, not long after the settlers landed, but before Todd was ever born, a war broke out among the settlers and the native Spackles. A virus was released that caused the men to hear Noise, or each other's thoughts...completely unfiltered! This same virus also killed the women, caused many of the men to die, decimated the settlers' animals and left the rest with the ability to also communicate with the men. Or so Todd has always be told, always believed. Now, however, a trip to the swamp to pick apples reveals an empty space in a world filled with Noise. It is in that space that Todd discovers a girl. She has no Noise and she is deeply frightened. Where did she come from? Why is the town's holy man Aaron after her and speaking of sacrifice? Why does Todd's family suddenly tell him he has to run, run, run? With only his dog and this strange girl for company, Todd does as he is told and as his life spirals out of control, as the very ground beneath his feet is shaken, he begins to discover the horrible truth about Prentisstown and what boys who are to become men must do. This is an excellent book for 8th grade and up. It does have some graphic violence, a few general references to sexual situations, and a bit of cursing but the lessons Todd learns and his growth process on his journey far outweigh those concerns for me and I'm generally much more conservative in content for youth.

Wow. I was not expecting such a morally complicated book in YA. What a pleasant surprise.
So the essential story is that Todd is the last boy in a town of men, on a planet where all the men can hear each other's thoughts, and those of animals. One day, he finds a girl crashed in the swamp, and all hell breaks loose. Todd and Viola spend much of the book running for the safety of Haven, the biggest town on the planet.
There are differences between a quest novel and a flight novel, but this one is a particularly complex and compelling flight novel. The protagonists are compelling, and the driving force is creepy, and the creepiness is evolutionary -- at first they are running for one reason, but as they learn more, they run harder and harder because the pursuing force just gets more scary as the kids learn more about them. The psychic nature of the pursuit also makes it impossible for them to just go to ground and hide. The construction of the story is tight.
I have seen other reviewers complain about the grammar/language of the narrator, but I didn't find it any more distracting than any other novel written in dialect. And I appreciated that it made it easier to hold Todd in our minds as both young and unlettered. I liked the narrative voice as consistent and reliable, while still lacking important information sometimes.
The thing I liked best about this story was the moral questions it raises about the Dark Side, and violence as a solution to thorny problems.
"Doing what's right should be easy.
It shouldn't be just another big mess like everything else."
Oh, Todd, we all think that sometimes. But it turns out that right and easy and bad and wrong and hard.
""I think maybe everybody falls." I say. "I think maybe we all do. And I think that's not the asking."
....
"I think the asking is whether we get back up again."">
Which is perhaps one of the best descriptions of grace I've seen in a while.
Read if: You like narratives of ethics and hope. You are a sucker for stories about difficult colony planets.
Skip if: You want all your YA to contain obvious romance. You are squeamish about violence.

My first thought when I put this book down was...

Are you kidding me?!

I now understand why one book blogger states that she is an "evangelist" for this book. This book, this.. amazing book, it had me in tears, it had me choked up, it had me laughing, it had me angry and it had me completely tied around it's figurative finger.

The Knife of Never Letting Go is one seriously intense book - do not pick it up until you have the time ready, because you will not want to put it down until you've turned the last page. And even then - you'll be wishing you did the smart thing and had the next book ready.

There is so much I love about this book. I loved Todd, his innocence, his struggle and his instinct for survival and protection in a world that did not foster one of those feelings. I loved Viola's intelligence and her empathy for Todd and for others. I loved how human she is, how, in spite of all the odds against her she still takes the time to grieve and to feel for her own losses but never lets it get in the way of what needs to be done.

And then there's Manchee. Manchee is Todd's dog, the dog he never wanted - and much like the famous dog of Disney fame, Manchee thinks a dog's joyous, loyal thoughts. Everything from Squirrel! to Ow, Todd? (the question mark killed me - it's so .. doggie), Manchee endears himself to the reader and .. man, I can't talk about him without crying. What kind of book does this to a reader?!

Most of all though, this book goes to show just how powerful writing in the first person can be. Because not only do we hear Todd's thoughts, but so does everyone else. The others surrounding him hear what we think is narrative, but it's really Todd's thoughts. We hear words how he says them, we hear his lack of education, we are there in his mind, dealing with the fear and the confusion and the never-ending run from everything that is evil.

This is a book I'll be recommending eagerly to every teenager in my life. Fantastic story, great characters and a style of writing I can only stand in awe of. Well done, Patrick Ness, well done.

This book came out about three years ago, and I have to admit that, although it intrigued me from the very start, I was totally hesitant to read it.

THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO by Patrick Ness (Candlewick, September 2008)

See, I'd read some reviews for the book that mentioned that although it was a great book, it was very sad. And I was kind of thinking I was not all about the sad part. I like happy things, or things so buried in the fantasy world that I can one hundred percent distance myself from what happens (think MOCKINGJAY). But the e-book recently went on sale for $1.99, and I snatched it up and gave it a try.

Was the book very good? It was fantastic. It was deep and the characters were real. I cared so much for them as they traveled across their world in search of safety. Was the book sad? Sure. But a lot of books are sad, but in this case, this is not a reason to avoid the book. It's sad because we care, but I also didn't feel the author's hand. Everything that happened was because of a reason, and all actions led to the culmination of the story.

As far as dystopians go, this one rises to the top of the pack. It is unique (you know, this is a science fiction book set on an alien world?). It is amazingly written. It is something that should definitely go on the to-be-read list. It's great for boys and girls alike, so for those looking for "guy reading," make sure to check it out. Yes, the content is definitely YA, so seventh grade and up. I'm happy I finally checked it out. Highly recommended.

Source of book: Purchased e-book in $1.99 sale

Sometimes life is not what it seems; most people would say often it is not what it seems or even what you expect. But for Todd Hewitt it is even more so. Todd is the last boy in Prentisstown. Todd was raised to believe that all women on the settlement planet had been destroyed by a germ from an alien species called the Spackle. That same germ allowed men's thoughts to be visible to others and for men to hear the thoughts of animals and for animals to speak. In thirty days Todd becomes a man, for on your thirteenth birthday on this frontier planet you become a man. But for now he is the last boy and it is lonely because after 13 years of 13 months you become a man and Todd cannot wait, but his world is about to be turned upside down.

Todd is out picking apples when he notices a spot of silence, a void in the noise he is accustomed to coming from everything. He tries to follow the noise and it moves away from him. Soon he loses track of the void in the noise and heads home. He tries to hide this secret as he passes through Prentisstown. When he gets home, his adoptive parents panic when they find out about it, and start gathering stuff to send him away. Bewildered, confused and feeling rejected he struggles against this plan, a plan they have obviously been preparing for a while. Soon he discovers the void in the noise is a girl, and he and the girl are running for their lives.

This book was a wild ride, and I cannot wait to read the rest of the series. From the minute I picked it up, I did not want to put it down. A few of the plot twists I figured out well before the story explicitly told us, but there were so many, and the way they were all woven together was thrilling to read. Of the over 300 books I read in 2010 this is one of the best; I just hope the rest of the series lives up to it.

There's something both tremendously frustrating and rewarding in reading THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO. The first in Patrick Ness's intense YA trilogy, it makes sense that the writer is chary with the big reveals, although the ones he does parcel out make me salivate to read more. It's a hell of a thought-provoking premise. In a strange settlement called Prentisstown, there are no women, they having been killed off years ago by a lethal type of germ. In this reclusive community Todd Hewitt is the very last child, some weeks shy of turning thirteen, some weeks shy of officially being regarded a man.

The germ also did something else. It rendered the men of Prentisstown able to hear one another's thoughts. All his life Todd Hewitt had endured this omnipresent backdrop of telepathic "Noise." Even the animals now have a voice. One day, out in the woods with his exasperating dog Manchee, Todd discovers an area marked with the absence of Noise, and a moving area at that. When he reports this to his alarmed adoptive parents, Todd is shocked when they order him to leave Prentisstown, to go on the run. Take away its bells and whistles, and THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO essentially breaks down into a chase adventure, a survival adventure. Because, suddenly, the entire population of Prentisstown - men Todd had known all his life - is furiously in pursuit.

You know what they say about the word "assume." From the opening chapter I assumed that this story takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting. In fact, it's several chapters in before you know for sure what specific literature genre to which this book belongs; I don't want to spoilerize things, so I'll stop right there. Todd Hewitt provides the first person narrative, and I wasn't sure at first how I felt about the way he tells his tale because his voice is very colloquial, the misspellings and grammatical snafus purposely inserted. But I got into the story enough that I got used to it. It's how Todd Hewitt talks, is all. Also, there were times when I had to keep telling myself that our protagonist is just a kid, confused and angry and very whiny. I am hoping he grows on me in the sequels, because there are moments here in which I found him really hard to like. Not everyone can be as fascinating as Katniss Everdeen.

Patrick Ness establishes such an intriguing world, and it's a bit frustrating that I can't give out more details but that'll just ruin things. I will say that that ambulatory spot of silence that imperiled Todd in the first place turns out to be a person, and this person soon becomes Todd and Manchee's travel companion. It's an arduous trek Todd embarks on, meagerly supplied, clinging to his hunting knife and his dead mother's journal (which he can barely read). When your very own thoughts betray your location, it's hard to find more than a temporary respite. Prentisstown keeps on coming, never mind that the most ardent tracker is a vile preacher who is so unstoppable he comes off as something like the Terminator. Thing is, this preacher man suffers so many horrible wounds that, by all rights, he should've died five times over. And if what motors this guy is simply unshakable faith instead of, say, futuristic robotics or mutation or the like, then I smell a whiff of internal inconsistency. It took me out of the story some. I mean, this guy has one side of his face torn out, his nose totally obliterated! I rolled my eyes and kept flippin' pages.

There are action sequences, but also spots in which the story comes to a halt. But don't let the slow passages dissuade you, this is still a gripping read and the rewards are worth it. No, Todd isn't my favorite character so far. That title falls to his faithful dog Manchee who is about as lovable a creature as you'll ever come across. Manchee stays true to his dog nature. Just because he's developed the ability to communicate with humans doesn't suddenly make him intelligent. His dialogue is informed by what he sees in front of him and what he wants or needs at that moment, whether it's his excitement at spying a squirrel or his need to poo. Manchee is awesome.

Patrick Ness's concept of group telepathy is so intriguing, and he goes on to explore its ramifications, and naturally some of these are very disturbing. To piggyback a review I read somewhere, it's sort of a metaphor, isn't it, for how invasive modern tech is nowadays, how cell phones and iPods and the world wide web have infiltrated our daily lives. An intrusive technological "noise." Just as the men of Prentisstown desperately strive to curb their basest, innermost thoughts with intentional natterings on the surface of their minds, in our modern era secrets and truths are often camouflaged in an avalanche of information download.

THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, at its best, is riveting and terrifying and heartwrenching. The cliffhanger ending makes me glad I'm only now picking this up. Because, by now, the entire trilogy is out there already. Not for me the interminable waiting or the teeth gnashing that goes with it. I was promised that the sequel shifts the story to another gear entirely. I can't wait to read it. As for this one, I'm rating it 3.5 out of 5 stars because, even if it was ultimately a fine read, I did labor thru several chapters. And Todd? Let Manchee poo.

I loved this book. It is a wonderful coming-of-age story, filled with danger, thrills, and a deep message of forgiveness and love. I didn't know what to expect when I started reading Todd's story. At first, the voice of his narration was kind of annoying to me, but I warmed up to it. By around half-way through the novel, I adored it.

The story takes place on an alien world where a human colony landed years ago. Todd was raised in what he believes is the last human town on the planet, a town where there are no living women, and everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts. This includes the thoughts of animals. (Todd's companion is his wonderful "talking" dog.) But not everything is as it seems, and Todd is forced to set out on an adventure that will challenge everything he has been taught about his world, and change him forever. It is the tale of a boy being forced to grow up, driven by mystery and thrilling action.

The characters of The Knife Of Never Letting Go are great. From our two young heroes (and the dog), to the twisted preacher Aaron, their relationships drive the story, and make the final act as meaningful and emotional of a climax as you could hope for in a novel. I totally fell in love with the story's protagonists, and my heart was pounding during the story's final pages.

I don't have many criticisms of the book, but I should warn you that it ends on a cliff-hanger. (Had the story wrapped up a couple pages earlier, it would have been perfect.) This does not affect my rating of the book, which is still amazing. Also, this book is the first in a trilogy, and in my opinion the sequels do not reach the same level of emotional power that this one has. (They are good books and worth reading to give you the rest of the story, but this one is the best of the series.)

The Knife Of Never Letting Go is a great science fiction adventure with a beautiful message. Highly recommended.

Todd Hewitt's the last boy in Prentice Town. In less than a month, he'll be a man. But, his life's not going to be precisely what you and I would imagine. There are no women in Prentice Town. According to what Todd's been told, once the settlers made planet fall on New World, all the men were infected with a virus that broadcast their thoughts for everyone to hear and even enabled the animals to converse. This virus was fatal to the women.

While exploring the swamp, Todd discovers quiet. There's a stillness in this noisy place he's never encountered. The source turns out to be a girl. At first mute, he discovers she's the sole survivor of a space ship crash.

He can't take her back to Prentice Town. He knows what a settlement of men would do to her. When he arrives back at the farm where he was raised by two men, they tell him to leave. They've already got a bag packed.

That's when Todd learns that there are other settlements on New World besides the one he lives in. He's chased by the town's preacher and an army of Prentice town's settlers trying to reach a place called Haven, where there's a cure for his condition and hopefully help for the girl.

I'd say I was turning pages, but the experience was more sitting in the livingroom sometimes breathless and teary as the narration unfolded. The audiobook's definitely not your mother's talking book. The narrator, Nick Podehl, gives a unique voice to each of the characters. His performance takes an excellent book and makes it an extraordinary performance.

Rebecca Kyle, January 2011

I really, really, REALLY enjoyed reading this book. A thriller at its finest, The Knife of Never Letting Go's plot is dark, mysterious, and action packed. Todd's transformation from a whiny, bored, and somewhat selfish boy is really well done. He is the kind of character that you start cheering for towards the middle of the book rather than right from the beginning, and Ness couldn't have done a better job with the narration. Narrated in first person, the gritty style of it reflects the bleak state of the world. Some words are spelled phonetically, extending the idea that Todd can't really read. He narrates like he hears, and often breaks the fourth wall to directly address the reader (usually to tell us to shut up our own Noise), bringing the reader into the story. In addition, the other characters' Noise is expressed with scratchy, overlapped writing, sometimes covering the whole page to describe the chaos. It made this book sort of like a picture book, and overall created a very unique reading experience.

Though I admit that the ending was somewhat depressing and unsatisfying, I can't lie and say that I didn't see it coming. After all, this is a dystopian novel, and nobody is allowed to be happy until the very end of the series (it's like writing law 101). The Knife of Never Letting Go leaves the reader with an awful cliffhanger, which is to be picked up as soon as book two begins. The good news is that readers will not have to wait a year to continue the series because the books are already out (thank gods). Regardless, it was an excellent novel, and one that I highly recommend to those who enjoy the genre.

Todd Hewitt lives in a world without silence. In Prentisstown, all the thoughts of every man and animals are projected loud and clear, without filter - called the Noise. Constant and deafening, the Noise is inescapable and full of every secret thought.

Todd has never known privacy in Prentisstown nor he has never met a woman. His own mother, along with all the other women, was killed during the war with an alien race called the Spackle. Now as the only boy left in Prentisstown, Todd is eagerly awaiting his 13th birthday - the one that will turn him officially into a man. A month before his birthday Todd and his faithful dog Manchee discover something that will change his entire life and will contradict every truth he ever believed in and leave him running for his very survival.

There are many different reasons why I practically devoured this book: first of all is Patrick Ness' completely unique writing style. From the compelling and stark chapter titles to the varying type fonts used to characterize the harsh pervasiveness of the Noise - it was all just so... new and utterly real. But the real ace in the hole has to be the characterizations in The Knife of Never Letting Go. I so loved Todd's interactions with each and every individual - I even went so far as to fall in love with his crazy dog, Manchee. The dog. In every exchange, you can practically chart Todd's progression into maturity on his flight from Prentisstown.

Talk about a book that will kill you with its utter, complete, blinding perfection. Which is the reason I shall now dub it as My Favorite Dystopian Read of 2010. Oh, I know it is only two weeks into January and I've got another 50 odd weeks of reading yet to come, but I cannot even begin to explain the sheer brilliance of this compelling book. After digesting this complex read, I'm more than confident that The Knife of Never Letting Go will remain on my best of lists. That is, unless The Ask and the Answer takes its place.

It's always a treat when a book this big is so fun that its pages seem to turn of their own accord. What puts the giddy-up in THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO? For one, relentless suspense. The entire book is one giant chase scene, and as our young hero, Todd Hewitt, his dog, Manchee, and his companion, Viola Eade, run for their lives, one is reminded of the bleak landscape in Cormac McCarthy's THE ROAD, where trouble is ALWAYS around the next bend or in the next abandoned house (you can count on it). Secondly, there's the book's pacing. It's loaded to the gunwales with rapid-clip one-sentence paragraphs. Bang-bang, another page gone. You might claim "gimmick," but I maintain it's the perfect technique to visually demonstrate the stream of consciousness of a character who is, let's face it, frightened for almost the entire narrative.

What's more, the premise of this dystopian gem makes it keenly interesting: on New World, all the men can hear each other's thoughts (called "noise") and animals can talk. Which brings us to a third reason the book is a speedy charm: Manchee. That's right. A dog. In his way, he steals the show, limited vocabulary and all, and as he runs around during the constant action scenes barking the obvious, he works his way into your heart.

With its settlers, its religious fanatics, and its oppressed and slaughtered native population (creatures called "the Spackle"), the novel showed similarities to American history and the Puritan inhabitation of the "New World" which led to the rapid decline of the American Indians. Whether author Patrick Ness had this in mind or not, the bizarre story of the settlers of New World works as its own unique creation. Yes, some of the scenes with the Rasputin figure, Aaron (a crazed preacher) might grow repetitive, but you're willing to forgive Ness this for the sheer creativity of the plot's slowly-revealed secrets. The question is, can Ness maintain the suspense through two more books of this size? I, for one, am willing to find out by reading Book Two. The first of a projected trilogy, THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO comes highly recommended. Rest assured that young reluctant readers will become readers, period, and that "the noise" you'll be hearing will be loud praise.

I've been wanting to read this book for awhile. I hate when I do this too because I always get myself pumped up for the book and I expect a lot from it. Then it turns out not to be able to live up to my expectations. This books wasn't one of those. It was by no means a let down. I was a little confused at the beginning. Not sure what was going on. It also intrigued me to keep going. I'm so glad I did. I never wanted to put this book down. My family is so glad to see that I've finally finished it and will no longer neglect them. (They don't know there is 2 more books in the series).
It's about Noise. Yes... Noise. And lots of it. It's about a colony of people who came from another planet looking for a better life. When they landed on this new planet they found they had been infected with Noise. You can here everything. People speaking, people thinking, animals speaking. The Noise never stops. It can drive someone/anyone insane. It infected everyone except the women didn't get infected as bad. They can hear the Noise but others can't hear them. This makes women dangerous to some and wise to others.
Todd is a young boy that was born on this planet. He experiences Noise just like everyone else but unlike the adults, he was born with Noise and never knew what it was like without it. He does like the quiet though and when he gets a chance to go out to the swamp for apples, he takes the chance. No one goes out there. There is still Noise from the wildlife (cause there is always Noise) but no more thoughts of men bombarding his brain. Once he out there though he notices a void of silence. Never had he heard silence before. Soon he'll discover what that means and his whole world will change.
I totally enjoyed this book. The short chapters almost always ending with cliff hangers kept me glued to the book. I look forward to reading book 2.

I have yet to read the final installment, but I can assure you that The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and the Answer are both incredible reads. Patrick Ness has written a thrilling and thought-provoking science fiction trilogy that, to paraphrase his wording, raises questions about the amount of information available to us today and the ways in which it is controlled. Todd is the only boy left in his small town on a planet far away from the original Earth. To become a man, Todd must undergo a kind of initiation ceremony, the details of which he is unaware. What's more, there are no women in this town, and all the men can hear each other's thoughts 24/7. Todd believes that the so-called "Noise" germ killed the women but only infected the men when they arrived on this planet. He has been brought up by two men he calls his uncles, and one day, soon before he is to become a man, they tell him to take run away to the next town and find other people, because the leader of the town has a very sinister objective in mind. On the way, he discovers a crash-landed spaceship...and a girl, still alive. Todd has never seen a girl before. He knows he cannot leave her behind. Furthermore, he cannot hear her thoughts at all...but she can hear his. For readers 14 and up (there is violence, but it is not gratuitous).

Patrick Ness's THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO is a very unusual science fiction novel. It takes place on an unknown planet called New World, which has been colonized by people from Earth (presumably, anyway - this is never spelled out) looking for a simpler, easier, more spiritual life. Something has happened, however, which enables every living thing on the planet to hear all the thoughts of every other living thing, so that the constant and chaotic "Noise" is ever-present. The story begins in Prentisstown, a colony at the edge of a great swamp, inhabited only by men. Todd, who narrates the story, is a month shy of his thirteenth birthday, the day on which he will officially become Prentisstown's last man. The plot of THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTER GO revolves around Todd's discovery of a young girl in the swamp and their race to find other settlements and warn them about a terrible threat from Prentisstown.

First, let me say that this novel is gripping from its first sentence. I really loved these characters. Todd and Viola are fascinating and real and completely engaging. Manchee, Todd's dog, is even more intriguing - partly because he can talk and partly because he is absolutely what I think a talking dog would be like! Manchee is a great character. Ness's style is also unique and compelling. There's no doubt this is a good read. I honestly didn't want to stop once I had started. So why the three stars?

First, the story itself doesn't live up to its potential. There's a big reveal that's hinted at for over 300 pages which, when you finally get to it, isn't either particularly surprising or particularly revealing. It honestly doesn't explain the motivations of the bad guys (who are mustache-twirling, evil, horrible, one-dimensional bad guys) or the purpose of the big chase that takes up most of the novel. Why did Todd's foster parents insist that he run away without a moment's notice? Why is Prentisstown so set on chasing Todd all across the planet? And how do the bad guys manage to keep popping up all over the place, no matter where Todd and Viola go?

Additionally, this is one of those books that ends with a total cliff-hanger, setting the reader up for book two in Ness's trilogy. There is no resolution here. In fact, there's not even an attempt at a resolution. Instead, the book just ends, right in the middle of a major conflict, leaving both Todd and Viola's fate completely up in the air. I have to admit that trilogies annoy me, but good ones also work as individual books. The reader needs to feel some sense of satisfaction at the end of the first book, even if she's excited to read the next one. That's not the case here. All I felt when I got to the final page was frustration.

My biggest problem with the book, however, is the lack of information as to how this particular world came to be. We know that the settlers originally came in space ships, which means the story must be set in the future. However, after twenty years living on New World, these people speak with a rural twang like early 19th century illiterate farmers. For example, in Todd's mother's journal (written when he was a baby), she begins to use the word "ain't" instead of "isn't," and she comments that there's "not much time for niceties." She also uses "yer" instead of "you," "cuz" instead of "because," and "fer" instead of "for." This is also the way the Todd speaks, and it's pretty much the way every character from all of the settlements speak (with the exception of Viola, that is). I just don't get how people who traveled to a new planet on a space ship begin to speak like uneducated hicks after a few years of terra-farming.

Finally, the religious framework of the book makes little sense. These people supposedly came to New World to escape the evils of Old World (Earth, I guess), and to "live in safety and peace with God as our guide and with love for our fellow man." Well, that didn't work too well, since violence, anger, and bitterness are everywhere in this novel. Ness may be suggesting that the chaos of the "Noise" is what drove everyone mad, which corrupted their plans for this spiritual oasis, but that's never clear.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, even though elements of the novel frustrated me. If you can get past the inconsistencies (and if you don't mind a literal cliff hanger at the end of 479 pages), then I do recommend this. Ness is definitely a skilled and interesting writer. And I will never forget Manchee - very cool dog, that one.

When you read The Knife of Never Letting Go, you’ll feel like you’re right there in the story with Todd and Viola, trying to figure out just exactly what’s going on. The way the story is written, you as the reader know no less or no more than the characters do and you’re left asking questions the entire way through.
The novel tracks a boy, Todd, through his life. He begins in Prentisstown, and there are all men and no women. But the thing is, they can all see and hear one another’s thoughts. There really isn’t such thing as privacy anymore. If you have a thought, it’s broadcasted to everyone. When Todd discovers a pit of absolute silence in the swamp, he follows it. And it’s a girl. Todd has never seen a girl before, and now he thinks that the rest of the town wants to get rid of him because he knows about her. But that’s not the case. Todd and his new friend are forced to leave and they don’t know why. The story tracks the two of them as they fend for themselves, meet new people, and try to survive on their own until they figure out what to do and how to do it. The story is filled with twists and turns and you’ll never be able to expect anything before it happens. There is adventure through the entire book and the reader will not get bored, and since it’s a trilogy, the ending leaves the reader needing to know what happens next.
The characters are unique and they seem very human. The way it’s told through Todd’s perspective, you can tell that he feels very human emotions just as you or I would. He feels doubt in himself, he feels like giving up sometimes, he feels anger, fear, sadness, love, remorse . . . everything that you might expect from a flawed human being. At times he is irrational and he uses it to combat lack of knowledge, because when he doesn’t know things he feels fear towards the unknown. As the story progresses, we see Todd’s character grow and progress. He begins to discover who he is and why he’s so important to the rest of the men in Prentisstown, and he learns the true history of what happened when they landed on this new world. As he learns new things, they change him and the way that he looks at his world and the people around him.
The imagery is so vivid as well. When Todd gets sick, his symptoms are described through his perspective and we, as the readers, begin to feel his sicknesses and his pains along with him. We are repulsed when he is. We want to give up when he does. And when his vision goes blurry, so does ours.
It’s a story about choices, and whether or not to do what other people want you to do, even if it means giving up who you are. In one section, Patrick Ness writes “But a knife ain't just a thing, is it? It's a choice, it's something you do. A knife says yes or no, cut or not, die or don't. A knife takes a decision out of your hand and puts it in the world and it never goes back again.” Throughout the entire story, we follow Todd’s decisions and we see them all lead to where he ends up.
If you like action, science fiction, twists and turns, unique characters and meaningful passages, then you absolutely must read this book. I absolutely loved it, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an exciting and fun yet meaningful and intellectually intriguing read.

I started out conflicted. The writing style was distracting. Everything is ajusta spellin like they are a talkin, an even tho I was justa plowin thru it, I was really, really annoyed.

I suppose this just goes to show how much I liked this book. I couldn't put it down despite the spelling.

Todd's voice is rambling and uneducated and immature, but authentic. And he gradually becomes likable over the course of the story. He's a different person at the end, demonstrated by this thoughts and actions. Especially with his dog, Manchee. And that's another thing, animals talk in sound bites. Again, another thing that started out a bit annoying but by the end added another dimension to animals as characters. Todd and Viola's ride through the herd that's thinking HERE is so comforting. And other things that happened to animals... it's heartbreaking.

There were moments of heart-warming cheer and profound sadness. And, most importantly, I was never quite sure where the story was going, and that gives Ness's book 5-stars. There were times I felt he tantalized the reader with too many unresolved mysteries, and I grew weary of waiting for them to be explained. I mean, it takes the entire book to find out how boys become men, what they did to the women, what's in the book. But, by the end, I had forgiven him.

The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger. And while I despise cliffhangers, there was some resolution with Aaron (the evil preacher that I would've like to have seen more depth) that left me with enough satisfaction to keep from whining about it. Go figure.

I'm eagerly reechun fer the secund book.

I found this book to be very well-written, Mr. Ness is able to put his readers completely into the head of Todd. At first I disliked Todd, because he was mean to his dog, but the more I read, the more I cared about Todd. I love how he has created his own dialect of the people of this world and keep it throughout the entire story. The world he's created around Todd is vivid and terrifying all at once.
The relationship Todd has with his dog Manchee, with Ben and Cillian, with Viola, were complex and believable all at once. I enjoyed how Todd came to love Manchee and I felt his pain when he lost him. His relationship with Viola kept me reading, I loved how they came together and grew closer and closer as the story unfolded.
Aaron, the antagonist of the story was the only weakness I see in this story. I never understood how he kept on coming after Todd and Viola. It was almost like he was a supernatural being the way he kept on appearing. I believe Mr. Ness should've had him ride a horse or have a vehicle or some kind of help to explain how he keeps on finding Todd and Viola. Or perhaps he could've been attacking Todd telepathically at some points in the journey perhaps? Because of Aaron's unexplained appearances I only gave this book four stars.
If you can suspend your disbelief in Aaron, as I had to do, this is worth reading. The ending is abrupt, but it is in keeping with the story. I was never expecting a happy candy in the sky ending, considering the horror these two children endure. Besides, I'm bored to death of happy endings and I was relieved to see some authors actually attempting to end a story unhappily. For that alone I tip my hat to you Mr. Ness.
I will read the second book; I just have to find out what happens next. I have already read the e-book exclusive prequel The New World and I loved it too. Mr. Ness is a talented writer and I am glad I read this book; I would recommend you buy this book along with the other two and the e-book prequel.

in a sentence or so: Todd is a mere month from ditching his status as the last boy to become a man in Prentisstown. little does he know, everything he's known - his entire life and history - has been a lie intended to cover up a horrible history that will cause him to run for his life.

Todd's altnernate-reality type world is unlike our own in many ways. for one thing, there's Noise. Noise is best described as hearing others thoughts and seeing the images in others minds. this includes animals. which means Todd frequently hears the thoughts of his dog, Manchee...and those thoughts typically relate to pooping and eating. the worst part about the noise is that you can hear everyone's noise in the whole town all the time. also - no women in Todd's world. none. so when Todd stumbles upon a space of total silence while in the swamp that turns out to be a girl his own age, he knows that his life is going to change.

i'm going to try and give as much of a review as i can without revealing the plot or throwing out spoilers. so much of this book is about slowly peeling back layers of Todd's origins and the mysteries of Prentisstown. essentially, Todd and Viola (the source of the silence he finds in the swamp) are on the run from the down-right evil men of Prentisstown. Todd and Viola quickly discover that people from Prentisstown are not welcome anywhere, and that the men from Prentisstown are relentless in their chase of Todd and have no qualms killing, burning, and destroying whatever and whomever may come in their way.

again - to avoid spoilers - let me just say that this book rocked. the escape from the unknown through the unknown into the unknown was fascinating and absolutely frightening. Noise is emotive as well as a means of conversation, but is also expressed in colors, shapes, and feels almost tangible. this creates an intensity to the characters and overall emotional investment in the plot. at times gruesome, at times hopeful, this read is ALWAYS consuming.

this book was thrilling, mysterious, exciting, scary, sad, and intense. mostly, the main characters - Todd, Viola, and Manchee - are so easy to relate to and care about that i was hooked from the first page and committed to reading about their discoveries of themselves and the world around them. the writing is excellent, the plot is creative and unexpected, and (yes i admit it) i cried while reading it. read this book, you'll love it.

fave quote: "The word was true. It's an army. A whole army. There's a whole army coming after me and Viola." (210)

fix er up: this is by far the most outrageous and nail-biting cliffhanger ending i've EVER read! good thing the next book is out already! i'll be getting my hands on that asap!

I am a fan of dystopic fiction and The Knife of Never Letting Go is one of my favorite books from this genre. The plot was fast-paced and the book included a lot of action. There were a lot of funny moments, but also many sad ones.

The story takes place in New World, a planet similar to Earth. Here, everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an never-ending stream of Noise. The men and the animals are actually the only ones who have Noise.
Todd Hewitt is the youngest resident of Prentisstown, a town where there are no women left, all of them being killed in a war which took place years before the story starts. Just a month before his 13th birthday, the moment when he'll become a man, Todd meets Viola, a girl who crash-landed on New World with her parents. This is the moment when their adventure starts.

The story is told in the 1st person, from Todd's perspective. I really enjoyed his personality, his Noise and I thought it was very unique. Todd and Viola evolve throughout the entire series, the contrast between their characters at the beginning of this book and their characters at the end being very sharp.

This is one of those books that you can't put down once you pick it up.

The Knife of Never Letting Go is the first book in a dystopian trilogy set in a far-away space colony sometime in the future (the specifics of where and when are vague). Todd Hewitt is a few weeks away from becoming a man according to the rules of his town. He lives in Prentisstown, the only settlement of the colony that survived a war with the native inhabitants of the planet. The humans won the war, but at a heavy cost: the women all died from a virus that also infected the men with what they call Noise, the ability to hear the thoughts of everyone around them. It's a brutal world, and as Todd nears his birthday, he learns that everything he's been taught throughout his childhood may be a lie, he finds a girl (something he's never encountered in the flesh before) named Viola, and he goes on the run with Viola and his dog Manchee (who can "talk" to Todd; his barks are intelligible Noise).

The Knife of Never Letting Go is a fascinating book. A world in which you can hear everyone's thoughts is a scary one, and Ness does an excellent job of conveying just how difficult it is to live like this. The Noise is constant and loud and often horrible. Words are always spilling out, and Todd frequently hears disturbing things. When Todd encounters Viola, he can't hear her Noise, and the relationship they forge is severely hampered by this difference. Todd and Viola are both engaging characters, and they're two lost souls who are thrown into circumstances far beyond their control. I was completely caught up in their journey.

This is a gripping, intense, moving book. The suspense is constant, and Todd and Viola's journey is fraught with peril. The author's use of language is excellent. The characters speak English, but a slightly altered form, what might be in use in a remote place where the people don't have much formal education. The book uses different fonts to indicate Noise coming from other characters, and it's an effective device. The language isn't hard to read, but it's just different enough to emphasize how alien this world is.

The book just missed five stars for me. It's a great book, but the revelation of the big secret is something of a let-down. There's a lot of buildup, but it ends being a bit predictable. I'm hoping there's something more to it that will be revealed in the subsequent books.

Knives, violence, teenage boys and noise are some of my least favourite things so I thought I would hate this book. In fact I read 20 pages and then gave up thinking all I would gain from this book would be a headache from trying to decipher what on earth was going on with this miserable group of men and one boy in a shanty town who can hear each others thoughts and the thoughts of every living creature. The local dialect was also a whole world away from the language in books I usually read. 'Cuz, yer, thru, outta, ain't' etc grated a lot at first. Reading and understanding the noise requires a lot of concentration and suspension of disbelief.
Having never not finished a book before and loathe to write a review based on a few pages I tried again and I'm very glad I did. The book made sense and the plot progression was fabulous as our young male hero left Prentisstown. The dog also became less annoying and was given a meaty role. It is well worth reading although with the proviso there is a bit of blood and gore (although not gratutious and it's well done) and personally I would recommend it for 15+
You certainly get value for money from this book. At 479 pages it is thicker than the yellow pages.
The twists are key to this book. The setting changes and the history of the setting unfolds in a very original style. I can't really say more without giving the plot away and kind of like the film the 'Sixth Sense' it would spoil your enjoyment of the book if someone told you the twists.
There are a few points which make this book less than perfect and jarred with me a bit. One is which the fact that that everyone including animals can hear each other but they all speak in English, ok I thought the author is just translating the animals and it doesn't matter what 'language' they are speaking but then he starts doing wordplay on the dog sounding 'Thawd' for 'Todd' when he is carrying something in his mouth. Dr Dolittle this book certainly isn't but I also felt the animals (including the most intelligent ones)were dumbed down and simplified a bit.

Update:
The sequel 'the Ask and the Answer' is even better so your time invested in the series is well worth the effort. Fans of the series may also be interested to know there is also an online short prequel story about Viola, written by Patrick Ness. Please see the comments section for the link.

An interesting young adult sci-fi/fantasy about what it would be like to live on a world where everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts. It would be noisy. And pretty horrible.

The teenage protagonist, Todd, is the youngest person in his town...because all the women died shortly after his birth, supposedly from the same disease that made all the men's private inner lives blaringly public. But there is a dark secret surrounding these events. How is it possible for anything to be secret when he knows what everyone else is thinking all the time? Because "Men lie, and they lie to theirselves worst of all." This psychological insight, which the author explores in some depth, is one of the most interesting aspects of the story, which follows Todd's uncovering of this secret---culminating in a confrontation in a church behind a waterfall (which reminded me of the ice cathedral on the glacier in Ibsen's Brand).

There are some good characters here, though too many of them meet violent ends. The book is pretty brutal in general, even over the top, and the sadistic psychotic preacher just won't die!! Still, the story held my attention enough that I'm excited to read the sequel. The audio edition is very well done. Three and a half stars.

Todd Hewitt is the last boy in Prentisstown, the last settlement left on New World. Twenty years ago, a group of religious pilgrims arrived on New World, hoping to start over on this lush green planet, far away from the crowds, confusion, overwhelming hatred and ever-advancing technology that they believed was eating Old World alive. They sought a return to simpler times, this small group of like-minded believers alone on this new planet. But, they were not alone.

Soon after landing, the humans encountered an indigenous race which they dubbed `Spackle.' Though the humans tried to live peacefully with the Spackle, the aliens would have none of it. A war quickly erupted and the Spackle used terrifying germs as their weapons. One such germ gave all the power of speech to all of the animals. Annoying, but not threatening. Then the Spackle released the Noise germ. All of the women and half of the men were killed. Though the Spackle were utterly destroyed, Prentisstown was the only settlement to survive. It harbors only men and boys, each able to hear the constant Noise of each other's every thought. Now Todd is the only boy who has yet to grow to manhood and in one short month he will be a man, and there will be no boys left at all.

That is the history of New World as Todd knows it and he has never had reason to doubt it. Now, however, it seems that most of that history may have been little more than lies. One day, while out picking swamp apples with his faithful dog Manchee, Todd encounters a truly frightening thing - a hole in the Noise. That can only mean one thing, a creature who has no Noise, only quiet. A girl, in fact. When he returns home and tells the two men who have raised him about what he didn't hear, Todd sets in motion a chain of events that leaves him running from the only home he has ever known, and running for his life.

Beware: the ending is a cliff hanger that will have you waiting impatiently for the second book in the trilogy, The Ask and the Answer.

Oh, oh, oh, ok I have found the kind of YA I like and it has to do with freaky futures! This is what I should stick with when it comes to YA.

Todd lives in Prentisstown with his two guardians. All the women died after the aliens on teh planet released something that made the men hear everything. Every thought, and I mean every. Trees, dogs, flowers. There is a never ending noise. Todd lives in this, but then one day he finds something, a place of nothing. Soon he is running for his life, for in this book nothing is what it seems. I can't tell you anything more because this book sure hides its secrets well. But of course first they killed all the aliens, and Todd is the last boy since there are no women anymore. That I can tell.

I read this book and never put it down, I could not stop, because the way he writes. He guards those secrets well and in the end I just read faster and faster. I can't say anything more, but wow. I do like scary worlds. And I would not want to live on this planet.

This book has got some violence, not much, but some things did make me cringe. Just because it was YA, but then again it was not graphic, and it was needed to show the horror.

It is not sci-fi either, I learn they got there by ship, but it was religious people fleeing the old crowded planet, so now they are simple farmers. No technology at all.

It is also a strange book, sometimes he writes the noise, an entire page with nose. But it gives you an idea what it is like, and there are not many. I do like his style, and I can't wait to get my hands on book 2 because the end, again, he knows how to keep a girl on edge.

What can I say, if you liked the Hunger Games then I am sure you will like this one too. Anyone can read and and enjoy it. And it sure has some suspense, and the secrets, oh the secrets. For fans of dystopian like fiction, read this.

This will be one of the best books I have read this year. This sure did not disappoint me, Ness knows how to twist a tale.

I've never heard of Patrick Ness or "Chaos Walking" trilogy before. Luckily for me, "The Knife of Letting Go" was a November pick of one of my YA book groups.

"The Knife of Never Letting Go" is one of those "boy" books - there is a lot of action, there is a chase, a lot of mystery and very little sappy romance. The dystopian/sci-fi setting is exciting - an alien planet where people can hear each others thoughts. The protagonist - Todd - is a 12-year old boy on the brink of manhood in a town where are no women. One day Todd comes across something during his trip through a swamp that sets in motion a chain of events that makes Todd run for his life as fast as he can. This book is a fascinating journey to slowly uncover the secrets of Prentisstown. It is fast paces, it's in never dull, just as you fell the action is slowing down, something shocking happens again, another mystery is uncovered, and you keep following the story on the edge of your seat.

While I enjoyed the book immensely, there are some flaws. I think the main one is that the climax of the story, when most of the secrets are uncovered, comes a little too late. By the time you find out the reasons for Todd's chase, you already kind of have figured it all out on your own. Another thing, the book ends with a huge cliffhanger. While most of the questions raised in the book are answered, it ends with another set of questions. It's a perfect set up for us readers to crave to read the second book right away, but it is disheartening at the same time. I know I am ready to read second installment. I suspect the second book ends with a cliffhanger too and the third doesn't come out until next September...

P.S. Dog lovers, beware, have some Kleenex ready.

I'm not very tolerant of books written in a strong dialect -- especially if it's a voice meant to show a lack of education. Or "edukayshun", as the narrator of The Knife of Never Letting Go would say.

But only a few chapters into Patrick Ness' first volume of the Chaos Walking trilogy, it becomes quickly apparent that what Todd Hewitt has to say is much more important than the words he uses.

The story follows a boy in the days preceding his 13th birthday -- the day that he becomes a man in his settlement, Prentisstown. All of the men in Prentisstown can hear one another's thoughts as a result of the Noise germ, a weapon used by the hostile aliens that were defeated more than a generation ago. Unfortunately, the Noise germ also made all animals speak -- and killed all the women.

But this dark story has a darker backstory, and as Todd -- the last boy in his settlement -- approaches his most important birthday, events are put into motion that reveal a history of deceit and tragedy that still ripples through the community today.

If this review sounds deliberately vague -- it is. The Knife of Never Letting Go has many wonderful twists and turns, and I don't want to risk spoiling any of them. Ness is expert at unveiling details about his characters and the world they live in one morsel at a time, and letting the story unfold naturally. No synopsis paragraphs here. The author makes readers wait and see, and witness the events through Todd's disbelieving eyes.

Todd himself is an interesting character. He's caught on the cusp of adulthood, but innocent in many ways. His best friend is his (talking) dog Manchee, and their relationship is one of the most intriguing in the book. I thought a talking dog was going to be a silly device, but I was proved very wrong.

I think this would be an interesting read to share with an AP English class, science fiction/fantasy book club or other group of advanced readers. There is a lot of symbolism worth discussing -- the repeated use of the knife and its many meanings throughout the book has especially been gnawing at my mind. Overall, a wonderful read. I will look forward to picking up its sequel, The Ask and the Answer, very soon.

This book is fast-paced, but does lack some substance. The ending is, as one reviewer put, an "emotional sucker punch" and also hard to believe. It doesn't make sense, but I won't write more about it because I don't want to spoil anything. This book is violent, yes, but I've read worse- His Dark Materials comes to mind (brilliant series, by the way). The violence I can handle, for the most part, but the dog... anyway... I don't want to spoil it for anyone. The intentional misspellings and constant use of "yer" took awhile for me to get past, but the rapid pace of the book helped move things along. I am trying to figure out whether or not I am going to continue with this series. On the one hand, the story is so depressing, but on the other hand- I do want to know what is going to happen next. But I have to sit through two more?? I dread it. I still may end up reading it, though. I just can't seem to make up my mind!

Patrick Ness's The Knife of Never Letting Go is one that I've been wanting to read for a while, but for one reason or another just never could commit to. I'm glad I finally did, though. This book is written from the point of view of young Todd, an almost-man (according to Prentisstown's law), who is still fairly childlike in his thoughts. Education is not a huge deal in Prentisstown, and that lack of refinement is evident in the use of dialect by the author. Several people whose opinions I respect simply did not like this simplistic form of communication and the "dumbed down" language. I suppose I am just a bit more mellow about that. I just really -got- this book. Without the dialect, without the simplistic language, and without the repetition, it wouldn't be as obvious that Todd is, at his core, a very simple, honest thinker. I must admit that I did initially have a bit of trouble getting into the book. As I said, I'm a bit fickle about grammar, so getting passed the language was hard - but once I got into it, yep, definitely enjoyed the book!

"The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say. About anything."

Todd Hewitt is a twelve-year-old boy living in Prentisstown in the New World. The New World is a another planet that was settled years ago by people who wanted a simpler way of life. But when they reached the New World, they encountered an alien race known as the Spackle. And there was war. A war in which a germ was released that caused the "noise". This germ not only killed all the women in the New World, but most of the men. Only the men of Prentisstown are left. And they have the "Noise" disease. They can hear each others thoughts, or noise as its called. And although this sounds pretty cool in theory, being able to read eveyone's thoughts makes for a big jumbled mess most of the time. So many thoughts coming at you in all directions is enough to drive a person crazy. But this is the only world Todd has ever known.

Both his mother and father died during the war. Todd lives with friends of his mother's, Ben and Cillian, and his dog, Manchee. Prentisstown is the only settlement left from when the settlers arrived on the New World. But just 30 days before Todd's 13th birthday (the one that means he's a "Man"), something happens on his walk through the swamp. Something that causes him to go on the run from everyone and everything he has ever known. And, boy is his world turned upside down!

That's about all I can say about this book without giving away any part of the plot. And I think going in blind is the best possible way to read this book. Now...on to what *I* thought of it:

I had to give myself a day or two's time to let the story sink in before I could write this review. Is it at all possible to love a book and hate the same book all at once? Because if it is, that's how I feel about it! I know I read a couple of reviews that said this could possibly be a new favorite of all time. I'm not going to go that far. No way this book is going on the list past The Stand or To Kill a Mockingbird. I may change my mind when I'm done reading the Trilogy. But as a stand alone book, not a chance. I need closure in my life. I really HATE when a book leaves you with a huge cliff-hanger ending. And that is exactly what Ness does at the end of this one.

Reading The Knife of Never Letting Go is like riding on a roller coaster. It starts off at a real nice pace, then BAM! It kicks into high gear and doesn't stop until the final page. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. But there is no chance to catch your breath. It is so intense that you can almost feel your heart beating at times. It is an emotional read. It will absolutely tear at your heart-strings. And it is very violent and extremely graphic.

And there is another thing: I actually felt physically exhausted when I had finished reading this book. I can not remember the last time that happened to me. There is at least one scene in the book that left me so drained, I could barely get out of my chair. I felt like I had been kicked in the gut, my heart ripped from my chest and stomped on. I was so angry I wanted to throw the book out the door! And yet, I picked it up again and continued reading.

All of the things I've said sound really negative. And I don't mean it exactly like that. Those are a few of the reasons I said I hated this book. Some of the reasons I loved the book: the wonderful characters. Characters that were written so well, I could picture them vividly in my head. Characters that were so real to me I cried and screamed when something happened to them (and trust me, there is a LOT that happens). Protagonists so human that it's impossible not to completely empathize with them. A dog that could possibly be the greatest character ever written. (I now see why I could never be a cat person. Dogs are just too loyal and sweet!) And a villain that was so evil, it made me see red each time I even stumbled across his name.

There is also a fantastic story to go along with the great characters. It is dystopian in nature, which I love anyway. But the world Ness created is just incredible. The whole concept of the "noise" is unique. You would think it would be impossible to keep secrets in a world where everyone can read each others minds, but in fact, this world has MORE secrets than anywhere I know! And it's written in such a way that it is completely believable. Take this quote:
"Cuz knowledge is dangerous," he says, as serious as I've ever seen him and when I look into his Noise to see what he's hiding, it roars up and slaps me back.

But don't kid yourself. This is not a fun, light read. There is a stab-you-through-the-heart intensity that is hard to like. It is gritty and violent. And sometimes you are so overwhelmed with sadness that you physically ache. But if the sign of a good book is the fact that the author has made you feel something, then this is a great book because it engulfs you with FEELING. Even with the portions of the book that I hated, I'm still giving it a 100% 5 star rating. It was that good. Will it ever surpass my favorite books? Probably not. But I do reserve the right to revisit the topic when I complete the trilogy!

This book was recommended to me by a friend. If you enjoy a quick read involving futuristic fiction and you don't care too much about "why" and "how," this book may be for you. I enjoyed the futuristic premise--life on an earth-like planet where the population is afflicted by a noise germ that causes the male population to hear the endless thoughts and inner ramblings of one another. I found that the setting was not developed enough, and the plot was defined by incidents of violence and strange religious undercurrents, but not all that much else. The best thing and the worst thing about this book: Manchee! (You'll know what I mean.) Because of the cliffhanger ending, I did continue to the next volume, but half-way through #2 I lost interest. 2.5 stars.

I do have to say this though: I listened to this book on audio. Nick Podehl, the reader of the audio version, is absolutely fantastic. A very skilled, versatile, and expressive voice. His portrayal of Todd, and especially Todd's dog Manchee, was first class. 5 stars for him.

The Knife of Never Letting go is the first in a trilogy. The novel starts off following Todd Hewitt the last child in the town of Prentisstown because many years back a germ was released by an enemy that killed all the women. This germ also made all the men able to hear each others thoughts, known as noise. They are even able to hear the thoughts of all the animals. One day Todd stumbles upon an area where the noise goes silent and he is startled. Todd confides in one of the men that raised him about the strange occurrence and they tell him to run and never come back to Prentisstown.

As Todd runs the town's mayor and many of the inhabitants of Prentisstown try and follow Todd and bring him back. As Todd runs you learn about the strange world that Todd lives on, which is definitely not earth and you discover along with Todd that many of the stories he was told as he grew up were lies and there is something very sinister and strange about Prenstisstown.

The writing is sometimes had to read because Todd has never been educated so Ness writes how he imagines Todd would write it down, but the book is thrilling especially by the time you get to the end. Some of the chapters slow down but I promise the end of the novel is worth the pay off.

While the premise of this novel is good, I found the story line and world building lacking: This new planet is generations away from Earth, yet there are crocodiles, horses, cows, sheep, goats, turtles and dogs?!

The story itself was extremely dark and desolate, yet hardly believable (Why make sure you become extinct? Why kill the few survivrs?) and there were just too many instances of ALMOST finding out "the secret," only to be interrupted mid-sentence - this is a poorly executed attempt at building up suspense artificially, and I ultimately lost what  patience I had left with this book. The secret itself was predictable,  when it is finally unveiled, and why Todd is such a big deal was never conveyed to the reader in a satisfactory manner. The villains were completely over the top, like in a bad Arnold Schwarzenegger movie.

I don't like reading about powerless people being subjugated by monsters, and the role of women in the new world made me antsy, especially since the author didn't take a stance, which  kept me wondering whether this was a religiously motivated novel, portraying the author's beliefs. I find this problematic because it is a YA novel and it may convey a screwed up world view to younger readers. It would have also been good to add a "Religious Fundamentalism" warning to the book description. 

In retrospect, I wish I had not read this book, which, by the way, should get an award for the most horrible and unsatisfactory ending ever. I am listening to book 2 as an audiobook at the moment, only to see if it gets better, and this second book is so much worse already. 

Where are all the high ratings coming from?!

This is the best book I've read in a while. Ness is nothing short of a genius when it comes to characters and pacing. This is my favorite out of the trilogy and for good reason, and that is not to say the others weren't as good. Right off the first chapter, Ness introduces Todd and Manchee in a comedic but serious way, it perfectly sets the tone for the trilogy with its focus on relations between people and the humor in being human in between. I would write why the title is the way it is but I think it's better for you to find out yourself by reading it. The incorporation of symbolisms such as the Knife are so very important and give a much deeper meaning to the book, and the series, for those who really read for the intellectual stimulation. (Or it could go completely over your head and it would still be a great read). Overall, if you want a fictional read that's fast-paced, exciting, thrilling, comedic, deep, and heartfelt, the Chaos Walking trilogy is for you.

I have always been hesitant to delve into the world of books on CDs, but this one caught my eye and looked like it might be interesting. Of course with any book on CD it is only going to be as good as its reader, and Nick Podehl does a wonderful job bringing this story to life. There were moments when it did become a little monotonous like when Todd is crossing the plain in a wagon and Nick describes a strange alien herd of bisonesque creatures noise over and over again, but on the whole he does a wonderful job sucking the listner into this amazing world.

The author has done a superb job with creating a main character that really captures the emotions that come with transition from adolescence to teenage and manhood. Todd Hewitt alternates between despair and self-loathing to barely controlled rage at a world which seems completely out of his control and seemingly hopeless. This book reminded me of some of my own dark days around the same age, and I think that is the sign that an author has really created a character that will endure.

It is a vivid and engrossing story that is well done. I am looking foward to the next chapter in this story (which I assume will come), and I am going to read the book as well. I absolutely recommend this book on CD.

People with heart conditions should not read this book. The striking, and brutally fastpaced, action scenes can cause hyperventilation. One one hand, the emotional parts make the book far better then it would be, but it does wear on you, after awhile. Emotionally, and realistically. Todd Hewit, the main character, has his rabid enemies springing out from every bush, rock, and dark building. And you know remarkably little about his attackers. Aaron, the terminator preacher, who magically pops out of nowhere whenever the author is bored. Matthew, the nuts villager, who attacks Todd (with a machete, no less), for no clear reason. And,of course, the Prentissville Army, which chases after Todd for some, even more, amorphous reason.

Those are the weak points of the story. But, Todd, the hero, has a fine charcter development, along with his lovable talking mutt, Manchee. Viola, the second most prominent character, is a puzzling personality, whose temperment changes every chapter. The plot is a bit haphazard, and confusing, but the author, Ness, fills it in as best he can.

Patrick Ness is a fine writer, who makes you experience, walk, stumble, and nearly die, every step of the way. I couldn't stop reading.

This story by Patrick Ness revolves around the concept that all men's thoughts can be heard by everyone on New World (presumably Old World refers to Earth).

The main character is Todd Hewitt who grows up in a place called Prenticetown that he must escape. All the women in his town have died mysteriously and only men remain. Once he meets Viola, his life begins to change and he spends the rest of the book running from the men of Prenticetown and discovering why the rest of the planet hates his town and it's people.

The narrator for the audiobook does a very good job with the rustic, country accent of Todd and even with some of the female voices.

I found the voice of Todd's dog, Manchee to be particularly funny especially when the dog is asking to go poo or chasing squirrels.

I won't give away the ending of the book but I will say that it takes an annoyingly long time for Todd to learn the dark secrets of Prenticetown.

I listen to a lot of audiobooks for a long commute to work and this one kept me wanting more. I look forward to listening to the second book of this series.

So the story is good here. I'm fond of urban fantasy and dystopian type novels and read YA novels every once in a while for a change. They tend to be more angsty with less sex and violence which I guess is good (though I do tend to like more sex and violence LOL). The issue I had was the narrator because at times it just grated on my nerves to the point I'd have to switch off the CD's. It wasn't all the time - but when it happened it pulled me right out of the story as it kind of startled me - nails on a chalkboard thing.

The story itself was interesting - the concept is fairly unique and the characters were developed well. The world building is extensive and really lend an air of reality to what was happening. I didn't have a hard time following things or understanding the why's of what was happening. With that said there weren't too many surprises - which surprised me since I thought the concept so unlike other things I've read.

Overall the story is a 4 but the narration is a 2 so I settled on 3 since I am reviewing the audio CD version. I just didn't feel it fair to knock the story itself which was good - I'm going to pick up the remainder of the series.

"The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say. About anything."

This is the first sentence of the book. It's a somewhat strange start to a very strange book. Set in a world where men's thoughts are available for anyone to hear the main character, Todd, is in for a crazy adventure. He is sent away from the only village he's ever known to warn the rest of the planet about something he doesn't even know. He meets the first girl he's ever seen, blows things up, loses people he cares deeply about and learns a little bit about himself.

At first I thought this book was going to be long and boring. It took a while to get going and is written in such a hard dialect that I almost didn't give it the chance it deserved. But by the end I was hooked. Todd and his girl are both compelling characters, the villains are truly terrifying and the world both alien and familiar at the same time.

If you like science fiction, dystopia or coming of age epics then this may be the book for you. I'm not sure but I think it's young adult but I've never let that stop me in the past. I think it will appeal to both boys and girls and highly recommend it.

I had just finished reading "Across the Universe" by Beth Revis and, I have to say, this book was so ironic!!! It was a complete surprise how the books related. I didn't know what I was getting into. If you haven't read "Across the Universe" then you really should read it before you read this one because it will make you laugh! The two books just relate so well. It's like Across is book one and The Knife is Book 2! Anyway, on to the book.The first lines of the book are hilarious! I love the boy's dog. So, cute that I (spoiler alert) want one that can talk too! The fact that everyone can read everyone's thoughts is so sad. Nobody should have to hear what goes on with everyone else's thoughts as I'm sure everyone has some really aweful stuff they think about. I don't want to give up too much, but I will say this for those that might be concerned with the content...the book is very violent and gruesome. Other than that, it is still a good read. I highly recommend it to those that don't mind the violence. :)

this book was NOT good. maybe it was written for children. dumb ones who don't know how a story should progress. the point is the knife of never letting go was TERRIBLE. and it's ironic, because the idea was so good. it had so much potential, but it was poorly executed. the people who gave this book good reviews must be friends of the author or maybe they're just unfamiliar with quality writing. i could never recommend this one to anyone, not even a child. even they should understand the importance of courage and standing up to bullies.

This audiobook just was honored by the American Library Association as one of the best audiobooks for young people in 2010, and the honor is well deserved. It's a fascinating science fiction story set on New World, where Todd Hewitt will soon turn into a man. He lives in a town of all men (he's the last boy), and has been told that all the women settlers on the planet were killed by a mysterious Noise virus, which has left all the men--and animals--on the planet able to read each other's thoughts without speaking. But all is not what it seems, and soon Todd must flee the only home he has ever known to seek safety far away from his native Prenticetown. As the story unfolds, we slowly learn along with Todd what has really happened at Prenticetown--and why their men are pariahs on the rest of the planet. When Todd hears a mysterious silence (no NOISE), he discovers a young girl, Viola, whose ship has crashed in the swamp near his town, killing her parents. The two flee together, along with Todd's dog, on a can't-put-it-down harrowing adventure. Not to be missed. I can't wait to hear or read the sequels.

I don't even know where to begin with this book. Let me start by saying that when I first heard about it, I was undecided whether or not I would enjoy it but as I read a lot of reviews from other bloggers who read it, I was drawn in and I really wanted to check it out for myself. It took me so long to get my hands on this book. Every single time I went into my local book store, they would have book 2 and 3 but this one was ALWAYS sold out. About a month or so later, I was shopping for some new books when I finally seen a single copy sitting on a shelf. Obviously, I grabbed it immediately and decided to pick the entire trilogy up while I was there.

The beginning of the book was very slow and confusing. I literally had no idea what was going on or why Todd's grammar wasn't right. But after the first few chapters, you start to pick up and understand everything. In Prentisstown, boys don't go to school so Patrick Ness completely went for that and wrote the book as if he was Todd himself, obviously not being able to spell words correctly. It was extremely annoying at the start but once you get used to it, it didn't bother me. I just really hope the second writing style of the second book isn't too much like this one though.

So we find out that only men live in Prentisstown, and they can all heard each others thoughts in one huge wave of Noise. As the story goes, all of the women had been killed off when Aliens released a germ on the town, thus making all of the men left-over mind-readers basically. But then one day, Todd comes across a place that is complete silence which is impossible. Soon enough, the truth starts to come out about everything and Todd soon realizes that everything about Prentisstown and New World has been a lie.

Like I said in the beginning of this review, the story starts off slow but after the first few chapters, a lot starts to happen. There is so much adventure and the entire book is action packed right down the very last sentence. I loved how there were cliff-hangers EVERYWHERE in this book. I always had a hard time putting it down because I was just dying to know what happens next. The plot was brand new and refreshing, I've never heard another dystopian-apocalypse- esque book where people can hear everyone else's thoughts. It really was a fascinating read!

This book actually made me cry once. I had to actually put the book down because my heart broke at what I was reading. The characters were incredible and I definitely got way too attached to them, hence the crying. Todd kind of irked me at the start. I wasn't feeling any type of connection to him at all until he really is faced with challenged in his life. He proved to be an amazing person and he was always thinking of other people over himself, which was awesome so eventually, I warmed to him. Viola is brilliant! She's definitely one of my favourite female characters. Once again, she bothered me at the beginning but mainly because she was really strange and too quiet. When that was happening I was slightly confused but once again, she majorly grew on me.

My all time favourite character in this book was Manchee the dog. Oh my God. He is THE cutest animal in any story I have ever come across. And it's ten times better too because he can actually TALK. Yes, he can talk! It was so adorable how he always stood by Todd, through everything. And even the way he said Todd's name. Agh, I just love him so much! I'm would continue talking about this but I don't want to ruin anything on anyone who might decide to read the book so I'll leave it there.

Overall, this was a spectacular beginning to a (what I'm guessing is going to be an incredible) trilogy. It was packed with action and adventure and I never got bored once! I can't wait to read the second book, I'll definitely have to start it tonight! If you're looking for an awesome Dystopian book to read, I recommend this one.

After reading A Monster Calls back in October, I knew I wanted to get my hands on more novels by Patrick Ness. I had no idea what I was getting myself into! The Knife of Never Letting Go is a roller coaster ride with little chance to catch your breath. There were a few times I was actually physically tired because of what was going on in the story. Don't plan on reading this one for a few minutes before bed. You won't be able to put it down.
Easy comparisons to The Hunger Games and the Divergent series can be made, but Knife is a unique and creative dystopian novel with a bit more sci-fi than these others. It's gritty, dark, and intense, but holds just enough hope and optimism to keep the reader totally off-balance. The ending is a merciless cliffhanger, so I'm really glad I already own the rest of the series. You will not want to let go of this novel or the characters you meet.

A very original and fast-paced novel. The characters are all beautiful, believable, and in some way flawed and you grow to love them for this. For a YA book there is a noticeable lack of physical description regarding the main characters, which I saw as a positive rather than a negative as I am not keen on an over focus on appearance... it usually seems a bit shallow but perhaps there will be more of an emphasis upon this in the next books as the children grow older.

Another thing about this book which is striking is the violence. If ou scare easily and don't like tense chase scenes or the character you love being frequently subjected to some horrible injury/torture/illness or another then this is probably not the book for you. It is unapologetically gruesome for a book aimed at a young audience, which, personally I loved but then I like my books and films gritty and gruesome! I think it adds realism and suspense for the author to let teir characters be knocked around a bit, but there is definitely more of that here than in a lot of other YA fiction.

While I know several people who absolutely adored this book, and honestly thought I would as well, I just couldn't. I finally stopped about halfway through and gave up. I really do enjoy dystopian books, but what I really love is character relationships and a good story line this book - seemed to fall short on them. I couldn't quite get into the premise either, and the violence was over the top. Many other reviews out there are more descriptive on these fronts, but I had to throw my hat into the 'Nay' side. If you try the sample and aren't fully caught up by it, its probably best to pass. It doesn't change much or become different after that.

It tells the story of Todd, the last boy in Prentisstown, who will become a man on his 13th birthday. Prentisstown, though, is not your average town - everyone in the town is male and they can hear one another's thoughts (called "noise"). In a town like this, you'd think keeping a secret would be impossible.

But we soon find out that noise can lie and that Prentisstown has some very dark secrets. What really happened to the women of Prentisstown? What lies on the other side of the swamp? And why is it so important that Todd, just one boy, reaches his birthday and becomes a man? I think todd is a very solid character. There are times when he makes unfortunate decisions, but they always seem consistent in terms of his character, and the background from which he is coming. there is such an opportunity for growth in him, but you know, despite anything that may happen, he is trying to do the right thing, as he sees it; as he is learning what "the right thing" even is. He has such a desire to keep going on and I loved how there was so much emotion and feeling and the way that Manchee produced his emotions were great. The book was kinda dark, but that just added more and more detail and emotion. I would recommend this book to anyone and can't wait to see what happens in book 2.

This was my favorite book until I read the next book The Ask and the Answer and The Monster of men. Its about a boy who lives on another planet twenty years after a colonization and after a large war with the natives. He lives in a village of all men cause a desease whips out all the women... or does it? This disease also brodcast thought patterns in the form of a whit noise called the Noise.

It devolops into the boy running from the village after lening the truth with his dog manchee and a girl Viola. Leaving his fathers behind (no there not gay dont think like that its just like roommates) In the third book he fully develops a beautiful culture for the natives and a heart warming ending. Beutifuly writen flows and is a stay up all night and read kind of book. I will be writing more book reviews for this series out of respect for this work of art. Each book is better than the last.

Didn’t think I was going to like this book. First few pages I didn’t like it at all and then I was hooked. Had me riveted. So surprised as it’s really not my kind of book. It’s quite frightening really. No matter where humans land they manage to ruin it. Not sure if I’ll read the next one though. Only because it’s not a happy story.

The main thing I gained from reading The Knife of Never Letting Go? Knowledge of how it feels to read a single, more than 400 page chase scene.

Sure, there are additional elements to this story. There is a coming of age tale since the protagonist Todd will become a man in a month's time at the novel's beginning. It's a dystopia, complete with a deranged religious man, a tyrannical mayor, a gendered society, and a way of monitoring individuals' thoughts through Noise, a virus that publicizes the thoughts of every male in the New World. We've got some light sci-fi going on: humanoid aliens inhabit the planet and Viola, the secondary protagonist, has crashed her spaceship onto New World. There's even a minor mystery as Todd seeks to discover the true circumstances behind the disappearance of all women in Prentisstown and the reason why he is being hunted so feverishly after fleeing his town.

But despite all these components, The Knife of Never Letting Go boils down to one thing: a sprawling, epic chase scene. Which gets repetitive quickly. Very quickly.

Ness writes in first person from Todd's perspective, but he cheats with his narrative technique. When Todd finds out crucial answers to the mystery of Prentisstown, they are not shared with the reader. Nearly halfway through this novel, I still had zero answers to the questions that had been introduced in chapter one. To me, this is plainly bad storytelling. I like when authors keep certain secrets and twists guarded, but they have to give me something. Don't trick me into reading 90% of the book before revealing everything at once and then creating tons of new questions that, most likely, won't be answered until 90% through the sequel.

My next biggest complaint concerned the prose, which is full of improper grammar and spelling to emphasize Todd's lack of education. This technique can be employed splendidly (Lenny's voice in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men comes to mind), but with Todd, who is an annoying fourteen year old, it bothered me. It just sounded so juvenile. For example, Todd uses the term "effing" a lot and frequently follows it up by saying, "But I didn't say effing, I said the actual word..." and you can almost see the freaking winky face behind it. Ha. Ha. At times, the writing reminded me more of verse than prose, since it was written with many short, fragmented sentences indented as individual lines. This style further weakened the writing by rendering it even more simplistic and immature.

A stronger point is the development of themes and motifs, especially through the eponymous "knife" and its role in killing. During this grandiose chase scene, Ness asks: does killing change you? does a person ever have the right to take another person's life? These questions are compelling and relevant. 33 US states still offer death penalty as a sentence in cases of homicide. US soldiers go to war and daily kill individuals identified as threats. Is this okay? I love pondering over this philosophical question, but my god, in The Knife of Never Letting Go, I didn't care that Todd was suffering from existential qualms about killing two of the main villains chasing after him. It was vexatious and repetitive. It's one thing to read a nearly 500 page chase scene; it's another to have the same two chasers turn up again and again to serve as some featherweight obstacle that Todd and Viola will undoubtedly overcome by maiming them nearly mortally to prevent any further pursuit yet OF COURSE the chasers will somehow reappear yet again. Instead of wondering about the rightness and nature of killing, all I could think after like the fifth reappearance of these chasers was "KILL THEM TODD, KILL THEM." Put me out of my misery! There are also interesting parallels between the beliefs of some Prentisstown men and super hardcore evangelist Christian beliefs toward women, but this theme was mostly unexplored and lost in the muddle.

Basically, I didn't really enjoy The Knife of Never Letting Go because the parts I found most interesting--the question of killing, the mysteries of the Noise, New World, and Prentisstown, the curious state of women in this society--were ignored in favor of action. If a fast-paced book focused on a wild pursuit of two kids by crazy men sounds like something you might enjoy, then certainly read this book. But if you like your books that feature dystopic secrets and a lot of walking to a destination to pack some emotional resonance (à la Cormac McCarthy's The Road), you may find this novel disappointing.

So I started reading this book as a book club assignment for my English class and I automatically started to read it. By the end of the first day I was already half way done with an almost 500 page book. The plot of the story flows so smoothly and each chapter transitions into the next perfectly. With only six week to read this book, I finished the first week. Patrick Ness ends up throwing a curveball at the end of the book that makes you wonder why the hell Todd went through everything he went through in the first place. His prose is so expertly crafted and he demonstrates a wonderful talent for writing. Can't wait to read the whole trilogy.

The amazing thing about this book is how it makes you think about what it means to be a man. What is courage? How vital is the "killer instinct" to the idea of manhood. Todd is on the cusp of this discovery- one month from his 13 birthday- when everything he holds dear and familiar is taken from him. Thinking about all the rites of passage that occur in traditional societies, and the need to transform the "boy" into a warrior, this is a astute exploration of loss of innocence and being confronted with real decisions about violence and aggression.

Todd lives in a world where the thoughts of men are a NOISE that dominate everything, surprisingly, they cannot hear woman- and this leads to a variety of ways of coping. Some societies have turned to women to act as guides and leaders to cope with the noise. Others have used this to marginalise the women in their communities. The author deftly explores the feelings of his adolescent hero who resents and mistrusts the only girl he has ever met because her thoughts are not transparent to him- even though his are completely transparent to her. It's almost what every boy/man goes though as he grows up and the lessons and feelings that Todd has about it will no doubt strike a chord with anyone reading the book.

If we think of NOISE as representing the prevalence of media and the constant bombardment of all our thoughts, this is a book that starts being less about another world and more about the one we live in.

This is a great book for discussion, or just to think about on your own. Here is a hero who has the right balance of teen-angst "everything is a super-drag" and wanting to do the right thing while being utterly confused. The ending is a sledge-hammer- i hadn't realised that this was part one of a series and i confess i wanted to yell with frustration. Anxiously awaiting part 2.

Todd Hewitt lives in a town where no thought is secret, and even animals have the ability to speak. A byproduct of the war with the Spackle, the resident beings of this planet when the colonists touched down years ago, the constant presence of "noise" has driven most of the men crazy. Other aftereffects of the war, such as the annihilation of every other colony outside of Prentisstown and the death of every woman on the planet, has already put a strain on the minds of these men. Todd eagerly awaits his birthday--only one month away--when he will officially become a man...and something much more important than the last boy in Prentisstown.

While out picking swamp apples for one of his two guardians, Todd and his dog, Manchee, come across a strange, rare thing--a spot of silence in the constant noise. When he returns home to tell his caretakers about his discovery, they tell him he must leave town, immediately. Even odder is that they already have a bag packed for him, and will give Todd no explanation while they buy him time to run.

Todd and Manchee suddenly find themselves racing through the countryside with an army in pursuit. Every man in Prentisstown now seems to be after him, and Todd still does not know why. His only clue is a battered book that he cannot read, and the knowledge that everything he has ever known about his life in Prentisstown has been a lie. Finding aid in the most unexpected of places, Todd must now survive the wrath of an unforgiving world in order to find out the truth.

Now, I'm not the type to cry as I read the sad parts in books, or watch the sad parts in movies, but I have to admit that I actually shed a few tears over this story, since I'd grown so invested in these characters and their trials. With sneakily brilliant writing, this book will be one knife in your chest that will keep you anxious for the sequel.

This is one of those books that I have mixed feelings about. I struggled to read the awkward prose, but I mostly enjoyed the plot, which was so convoluted and twisted that you just can't help but keep turning pages to figure out was happens next.

Ness has created a fascinating futuristic New World - settlers from Earth (presumably) have moved to this new planet and made it their own. There are settlements all over the planet, a planet which was taken by force by the settlers from the resident aliens (called the Spackle).

Todd lives in one of these settlements, Prentisstown, which is a town full of only men. The men can all hear each others thoughts, which they call Noise. One of the big questions we have, right from the start, is what happened to all of the women?

In a month's time, Todd will "become a man." All boys "become men" at the age of 13 in Prentisstown and Todd is the last boy to "become a man." But before that can happen, Todd (and his dog, Manchee) come across something in the woods that starts unraveling everything Todd has ever known. He and Manchee must set off on a journey across the New World, running for their lives, all while trying to figure out how much of what Todd knows is truth and how many lies he has been force fed since he was a baby.

I can't say I mostly enjoyed reading about Todd's adventures. The tension was good, but there never felt like a lull in it. Todd was subject to bad thing after bad thing after bad thing up until the end where Ness leaves you with a huge cliffhanger of a bad thing. It was hard to feel hope for Todd's predicament.

Todd also was a difficult protagonist for me to like. He was very rude and stuck in his ways. He did eventually come around, but for most of the novel I was really annoyed with his behavior. He just wasn't a pleasant person to be inside of for nearly 500 pages.

One of the biggest issues I had with this novel was the prose. There are purposeful spelling and grammatical errors, most of which I could deal with... but they were sporadic. For example, everything ending in "tion" was spelled with "shun" instead. Like, information would be informayshun. It makes sense when considering Todd's lack of education, but Todd spelled plenty of other difficult words without issue.

Ness also has a habit of having Todd learn something, but keep it from the reader. For example, Todd would ask a question and get the answer from someone's Noise, but he wouldn't let us in on it. He would just get mad.

Ness also has a strange way of writing action scenes that I found difficult to follow. A typical one would look something like this:

I wait-
Davy pulls on the reins-
I dodge-
I wait-
"Effing horse!" Davy shouts-
He tries to jerk on the reins again-
The horse is twisting round one more time-
I wait-
The horse brings Davy round to me, careening him low in the saddle-
And there's my chance-

And so on for 3-4 pages.

It was an interesting way to write them, but I personally didn't like it.

I'm debating with myself as to whether or not I will finish the series. I'm curious to see what happens, but I am not feeling obsessively "OMG I NEED TO KNOW" about it at the moment and I have about a dozen library books sitting here waiting to be read that are looking far more appetizing to me at the moment. I may pick this series back up in a few weeks and see how I feel then.

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.

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

This book is one that you wont want to put down, Im not going to go into detail as most others already did. I was kinda upset as I got it for Christmas and then saw that it was only book one but started it anyways. Right from the start it grabbed me and I went on line and got the 2nd one and then the third. I finished the first 2 in 4 days and now Im stuck waiting for the last to come and it cant come soon enough.

As for the ones complaining about the ending .. it is not a stand alone! It has 2 more books to it! Again a must read!! Obviously as I never bothered doing a review here for anything and I read alot!

The Knife of Never Letting Go: Chaos Walking: Book One
The Ask and the Answer: Chaos Walking: Book Two
Monsters of Men: Chaos Walking: Book Three

I hate when reviewers compare books to such popular things they can never live up to the hype... and I'm going to start this off by saying this filled a void I thought would remain empty permanently after I finished The Hunger Games.

Now that's a lot of hype. But Ness doesn't fail to deliver- each book in this trilogy is better than the previous. I'm a huge dystopia nut (from 1984 to Delerium and everything in between) My favorite dystopias are those that point out potential futures if current problems aren't addressed- although I don't see this future as eerily prescient as I found Orwell's or Butler's, the issues pointed out by Ness are revealing- privacy during the cyber generation, misogyny/prejudice/genocide being the obvious choices- but the later sections on rebellion, leadership, and effective use of power seemed as able to stand up for classroom discussion as other classics like Brave New World or Lord of The Flies. (I'm an English teacher, so I know a book is speaking to me when I'm writing lesson plans in my head while I'm reading it- this did that!

Ness's writing is sparse, yet he his characterizations are dead on, and Todd's emotional maturation comes across vividly through his speech and thoughts. His depiction of "Noise" on the page was rather elementary- but I couldn't think of a better way to show it, and it is used only often enough to make the point, so even this I found effective in the end.

I read this entire trilogy on a vacation, and I have to admit I was very rude to my family the entire time because I was so engrossed in this. I enjoyed the books so much that I deliberately slowed down reading the last half of the 3rd so that it wouldn't end- I have no higher endorsement to make!

This is fascinating and twisted dystopia at its best. The premise, a 12yo boy, one month from his 13th birthday, and by law becoming a man, has "noise". All the men and animals do. And men are the only people left in the small town where he lives. Noise clutters the place, because it is all thoughts readable, hell, audible for all. One day on a walk in the swamp, he "hears" a blankness. No noise. He found a girl. The story is really about social attitudes about otherness, power, coming of age, and heart-stopping flights from danger into danger. Right up there for totally addicting reads with The Hunger Games, tho where Hunger Games poses an absolutely eerie worldscape for the protagonists, this is all about the creepiness of the heroes' internal struggles through very bad and difficult choices.

I normally don't listen to audiobooks, because I read so much faster than anyone could speak, and I don't commute or do anything else where an audiobook makes sense. But, I was really interested in this novel, and I was unable to get a Kindle version (at the time -- it's available now) so I settled for the 10 CD version.

The reader does an excellent job, and this story is particularly well suited to the audiobook format. The "noise" (telepathic mental chatter) which is a feature of the setting is portrayed as an occasional sound effect, which is really neat.

There are already plenty of excellent reviews both positive and negative about the story, so I won't get into that. If you're interested in the story and you like audiobooks, this is worth listening to.

The Knife of Never Letting Go
by Patrick Ness
Publisher:Candlewick
# of Pages: 479
Age Rating; +13
My Rating: 5 Stars
Where I got it: The Library

Synopsis:
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.
Review:
This book starts with one of the BEST sentence ever written in the whole world and here it is, "The First thing you find out when yer dog learn to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say. About anything.
Neat, right? it's not boring at all. And the sentence are full of misspelling, slang and paragraphs that just run on and on, but the author wrote it like that on purpose because this book is written from Todd view and he didn't have alot of schooling but all the more, it seem more real. The plot was different from other that I read instead of boy runs away, meets a girl and fall in love with her and stops all the bad guys with his dog and they love happily after, it's different from that and this book shows that boy and girl CAN meet and be friends!
All of the characters including the bad guys seem very real, I mean, Todd was just like any other boy. I am going to say it again but the whole book from the writing to the plot to the characters, it all seem very real.
Speaking of characters, we can't forget Manchee (The dog) or Viola. Manchee was so CUTE! And that part of the sentence on the top of my review was Manchee and Todd talking to each other. And Viola I really like too. If you really like or love reading dystopia books then you have to read this book and if you don't well, I think that you are missing out on it. It was amazing!
I give it 5 stars.

Enjoy! :D:D:D

It took me a surprisingly long time to finish this book. It was exciting, full of adventure, and enough mystery and thrill to keep my interest...just at a slow pace.
It might be a personal thing, but it tended to drag on in some chapters, and at times I would find myself wanting to do something else instead of read this book. I finally hunkered down and finished it tonight. Very good book; full of love and hope. It might just be that it wasn't my favorite during th is time in my life. I'm going to move on to a different genre for now and hopefully will come back to read the sequel someday and will be able to appreciate and love it even more.

FOr some reason this reminded me of The Maze Runner. It might have been how you had to discover the story as you went, but more likely the all-male community suddenly with a girl in the midst. I did really enjoy it, though. Not crazy about the cliffhanger ending, because I'm not all that motivated to revisit it before picking up the second one, and I think that either I am going to be a little lost in the start or there will be some redundancy. What could be ponderous parts are really lightened up by Manchee the dog.
I'm not sure of the recommended age group this was targeted to. I liked it a lot but will also be recommending it to my middle school nephew.

When the best character in the book doesn't say much, and is a dog, you know your main characters have issues.

Another YA, yet in the many new YA fiction written to just sell books, and hopefully, be made into a movie. That's what this book was doing. Boy meets girl, together, they face common threat, with a sci-fi twist thrown in to appear creative. Oh, and don't answer anything very much in one book, no no, you have to stretch the mundane to sell more books. 'Cause heavens forbid, a book that has a start and a proper finish doesn't make as much money. Oh and the sci-fi twist, BLAH! take the "noise" out of the book and it wouldn't have made any difference. It's the same run-of-the-mill stuff you find in current YA nowadays, but with telepathy instead of vampires and werewolves. But don't let it fool you, it's no H. G. Wells Sci Fi book, nor is it a Tolkienist fantasy. Instead it's just another teen-emo-book.

I found much of the book boring, uneventful, not very innovative, and the action to be tedious. The book never tackles any real philosophical issues that it raises, and the dialog sounded to me like excited ramblings that didn't actually go anywhere, except in a regurgitated mess, saying really nothing. Just have your characters runaround being chase by bad guys, and, all the while, have them whine as much as possible about how life isn't fair, just like what a spoiled kid would do if they don't get their way. Oh and make it as annoying as possible too, just like in one of those horror movies where Jason keeps rising from the dead, and you think to yourself: why don't you just chop him into a thousand pieces when you have him down and feed him to the birds, or why the big-breasted woman is running upstairs to call 911 instead of running out the front door of the house to get away from the axe wielding killer.

If you're looking for a good scifi/fantasy book with some depth, this is not the one to get.

This novel was billed to me as a dystopian novel. I'm not sure I agree with that. See, this story takes place on another planet. In my own personal definition of dystopia, things are still going on at Earth.

The first line of this novel is probably one of the best I've ever read. It sets up the story so beautifully, and immediately catches your interest:

The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say. About anything.

The Knife of Never Letting Go keeps a fast pace; however, initially I found it hard to get into. Much like The Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines, this book had a unique writing style. Whenever "noise" was mentioned, it was in a different type-face than the rest of the story. Todd doesn't know how to read, thus his language is poor and rudimentary. I spoke to one person who never did finish this book because she couldn't get past the fact that the dog spoke.

But, I stuck with it. And I'm very glad I did. About four or five chapters in, the book took an unexpected twist. Once that major twist happened, I got sucked in. Todd was an amazing character. He has the innocence of youth and a deep desire to do good. In many ways his upbringing has left him with some prejudice that he has to overcome. In his world, everyone knows what everyone is thinking. Patrick Ness makes you really appreciate the wonderful gift that is the solitude of our own thoughts.

This book ends in a cliffhanger that I was not pleased with. I am not a big fan of books that end in a way that there is no way the story resolves until a sequel comes along. With that said, at least all the other books are out, so I won't have a long wait for the rest of the series.

If you like science fiction, you will enjoy this book. Readers who like interesting typesetting and a visual aspect to their books also have a good chance of liking this book. I don't know that I would recommend this book to all readers. But, if you are feeling daring, definitely pick it up.

This story turned out to be an unexpected surprise. I found it quite thought provoking, especially for a YA book. Maybe I'm not giving the genre enough credit since I don't read much from it I can't say I have too much to compare it to. I really grew attached to some of the characters and was actually devastated when something happened to one of them in particular - no spoilers but there is a reason i took one star off because of this. I'm definitely moving in to the next book in the series as I'm now anxious to read what happens next

I have no idea of even where to begin to describe this book. It is a very different type of dystopian novel. Patrick Ness did a wonderful job of bringing the two main characters together and letting the reader learn about each of their stories along with them.

Todd lives in Prentisstown with Cillian and Ben. His father died from the sickness when he was just a young un and his mother died shortly thereafter. Cillian and Ben were friends of Todd's mother and promised to take good care of him. In Prentisstown, when boys turn the age of 13, they become a man. Todd has 30 days until he is a man. There are no women/girls in Prentisstown, they all caught the virus and died. Todd is the last boy to become a man.

The one major problem that Todd has with Prentisstown is the noise. The men can all read each other's thoughts, as well as the animals. Todd does not like the noise. One day when Todd and his dog Manchee are out picking apples, Todd hears silence. This is very unusual for him since all he has ever known is the Prentisstown men's noise. He gets scared and runs on home. Unfortunately, he cannot hide his noise and soon, the town's people know that he has heard silence. Soon, Ben and Cillian are sending him away, telling him he has to go and he will know what to do. Armed with a knife, his mother's journal, food and his dog, Todd is running away from the only life he has ever known. It does not take him long to find the silence again. That is when he finally meets a girl.....Viola.

This story is a truly fast paced adventure of a young girl, a young boy and his dog running literally for their lives. My favorite character is Manchee. He is hilarious and exactly what I expect my dogs are thinking.

I am so excited to read the next book, The Ask and The Answer.

So I've heard a bit of hype surrounding The Knife of Never Letting Go and, finding out that it was dystopian and science fiction, decided to finally read it. I'm really glad I can say the hype wasn't completely misleading, and that aside from a few minor things, I really enjoyed it.

The story takes place in the New World, although we're not told exactly where that is. The settlers came decades ago, and found that there was another species living on the planet, the Spackle. The settlers and the Spackle didn't get along and eventually this led to the war, and the Spackle releasing the Noise germ, which allowed the thoughts of all men to be heard by everyone else around them, and killed all the women. The settlers won the war, and the Spackle became extinct. This was all before Todd was born and later on lead him to believe that the Spackle were the cause of all the problems in the New World. The opening (above) instantly drew me in. The first line definitely sparks curiosity. In no time, we're into the chase. Todd and Viola, the mysterious girl from the swamp and the only girl he's ever seen, running for their lives, making their way across each settlement of the New World with the Prentisstown Army at their heels. The plot was really exciting, and fast-paced, and loaded with adventure that kept me reading.

I loved the way it was written; from Todd's point of view. It's simplistic, but not boring, and you can tell that Patrick Ness really put himself into the character's shoes and made it realistic. I think some readers might get caught up on the way he speaks, and his illiteracy, but it was easy for me to get past that just because the story was so great. Todd was an interesting character. Okay, so I wish he had a little more defiance and fight in him, but granted his situation of having the truth shielded from him all his whole life, his logic was plausible. Throughout the story, Todd deals with his own internal conflict of wanting so badly to go from being a boy to a man, but in Prentisstown that's the equivalent of becoming a killer. Todd and Viola's relationship was strained at first while they were getting used to each other; Todd adjusting to Viola's silence, and Viola adjusting to Todd's noise. But along the way they really learned to rely on and trust each other. And of course, I just have to mention Manchee. I've never been a fan of talking animals before, but he was written so well, and I think he added some playfulness and humor to the otherwise serious book.

Another thing I want to mention is the title. It ties into the book so well. All along their journey Todd had this knife that is essentially his key to becoming a man. It's always right there when he needs it up until the end of the book when he realizes killing does not make you a man. The violence of the men of Prentisstown and their hunger for power is evident. And Todd stands out in contrast because of his ability to rise above them all and their murderous hatred. I have to say, I was a little disappointed with the big twists or "the truth" of Prentisstown and the New World. To me it seemed a little anti-climactic and a tad predictable.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to other fellow science fiction or dystopian fiction lovers. And I'll be adding the next two books in the trilogy (The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men) to my never ending to-be-read shelf. In closing I'd just like to say after reading this, I definitely have a newfound appreciation for the privacy of my thoughts.

Reviewed at: [...].

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. This was a great read. I enjoyed reading about Todd, Manchee the dog and Viola. I was so sad when Manchee died.The first person point of view made this read more immediate and somehow urgent. Tod and Viola are barely in their teens and their emotions are expressed in a childlike way. We feel Todd's hurt, his joys and agonies. My only disappointment is that ending was incomplete as this is a series. I'll have to get the next book to find out what happens.

Did not download this book from kindle but got it as a gift.

I'd never heard of this author and am no thrilled about getting to read more.
This book is fast paced. Always want to read one more chapter.
Suspenseful, keeps you on your toes, and I love the dog!

Love, LOVE this series. I buy it for my friends/family from ages 15+ -- anyone who enjoys dystopian fiction, speculative fiction, and just ORIGINAL stories should give it a try. If you need a break from war dramafiction, zombies, monsters, and vampires, it's a really cool original idea.

I read a lot and there are few books that I lone to friends that I request be returned. and this is one of them.

Oh, Manchee. You are a ruddy good dog. At first I wasn’t sure if Todd deserved you. But Todd grew on me. As did his unique, 100% boy narration—once I got used to it. I might have lost interest in the story if it weren’t for the introduction of Viola. (I mean, I like men and all, but a world full of nothing but men? Not something I want to read about.) I thoroughly enjoyed the interactions between Viola and Todd—the gradual development of mutual trust and understanding. It was believable and satisfying. I really enjoyed the mix of Science Fiction and Dystopian. The world building is excellent. ( I would really like to spend some time in the sea of HERE.) I was intrigued by how the various settlements managed the Noise and their Noise-less counterparts.

Readers, do yourselves a favor. Whether or not you liked this book, read A MONSTER CALLS. I just can’t say enough about how amazing it is.

Really I've said the main thing I want to say in my title. I can't stand reading reviewers who complain about the book's cliffhanger ending when this is clearly the start of a trilogy, so the wises technique for an author to use to compel the reader to continue reading the trilogy is: write a cliffhanger ending. I did not feel cheated or misled. I felt compelled to go out and get the second book in the trilogy.

Just do that, and you'll be fine.

I will also say that this is a brilliant, inventive series with a strong narratorial voice and a very realistic, layered look at the costs and consequences of war. This book is set on another planet and could technically be categorized as science fiction, but the resonances with today's wars in the MIddle East are undeniable.

I also appreciate the author's look at what can go terribly wrong when a religious leadership uses misogyny to constrict the lives of a society's citizens, both male and female.

As usual these days, I'm finding much more interesting literature to read in the young adult section than anywhere else in the bookstore. This is an exciting addition to YA literature, and should be just as popular as The Hunger Games (maybe it will be)!

In theory, I liked the premise of The Knife of Never Letting Go: A boy comes of age in a dark world where all women are dead, and all men and animals can hear one another's thoughts. One day, the boy discovers a girl in the swamp near the village where he lives, and must immediately leave his town forever and find other towns.

This cool premise wasn't so well executed. Facts, etc, were laid out and the fictional world was explained, but it didn't have me feeling a certain way or drawing me in. There was almost no mood, which seems like a glaring omission, given that the action is supposed to be psychological. It's also distrating and distracting that the narrator frequently repeats sentence fragments several time before finishing the thought. I think this was supposed to show me how emotional the boy is and how he cares about things, but it was just annoying for me.

My other complaint is the same as every other reviewer here: the book ends on a cliff hanger. Nope, nope, nope - that's how chapters are supposed to end. This is kind of a long book. It could have ended at an ending. Of course, had I liked the book, I'd be up for reading the sequel, but as it is I don't care about the troubles for the main characters, so I'm not going to.

Overall, this is a skippable, forgettable book. I recommend moving on to a random book pick.

The writing is very good- but this story is way too dark for me. Even the ending is totally sad and disappointing. It is a trilogy, so it's possible it all ends well, but there is just too much darkness and not enough humor or let-up to make it enjoyable. It sort of reminded me of the poisonwood bible, but more dark with elements of sci-fy. As I told my husband about the plot, I decided I liked it even less after including all of the spoilers for him that I can't here. Not recommended, but maybe I am too shallow and like happy endings, good guys winning and all the rest.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book, but I reckon if I waited until tomorrow to review it I would maybe give it 4 stars. I have a feeling I will still be thinking about it for a while, and I do sorely want to know what happens next.

However, Todd Hewitt is not the best narrator, and not because of his lack of formal education, but because of how he leaves out ideas to drag out the story, and describes other things in too much detail.

Lots of angst and action in this book. It definitely held my attention, but I was a tad bit disappointed with the ending. However, that often happens when a book is part of a series. Unique plot with interesting characters. Definitely worth reading.

Let's just say up front that the dog is a great character, despite his limitations as a dog. The first few pages set me up to expect a much funnier book than it turned out to be. In fact, the tone became quite grim and elegiac at points. Ness gives us a world withno women, where everyone can hear each other's thoughts as well as those of animals, and of course, a girl appears. How society got to this place and what journeys the narrator and his dog must take--physically and psychologically are the heart of the story. I enjoyed the premise, and of course, the aliens. (What aliens? you may ask. I won't get into it, or I will spoil things) My one complaint, which isn't really a complaint so much as a source of incredulity, was The Character Who Refused to Die. This is only book one, so we shall see. After months, I found scenes from the book lingered in my mind, so I will return for book two. Recommended.

Warning may contain some spoilers

I was able to get this book through digital loan from my library. I enjoyed the beginning, one thing that bugged me was that I was able to predict the big reveal or at least get close enough that it didn't really matter. I felt like it could have been revealed sooner, like when the main character first knew and it wouldn't have made that much of a difference. The second part of the big reveal (what they had in mind for his coming of age) was a let down for me.

The two children frustrated me, their chemistry seemed very forced and almost random when they decided to become closer. It seemed like they were barely tolerating each other then BOOM! They are half in love with each other

With that said, despite being disappointed with the reveals, I think the idea of this world, and how the author portrayed the noise was very well thought out. I enjoyed the first half of the book very much, but with every turn of the page I felt like I was chasing the reveal, that soon became my only motivation for reading.

Also didn't like the cliffhanger ending.

THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO is one of my favorite books from the last few years. The concepts are so innovative and the presentation is so engaging, that I'm hard pressed to find a comparison in this genre. Perhaps Dashner's The Maze Runner series) comes closest in the level of fun, sophistication, and action.

The one element that some readers might not like is that the tale is told in dialect. I loved that part myself, but I do understand that others do not.

Violence
Dark tone

Lexile: 860L
AR quiz available

Pam T~
dystopia lover

The Knife of Never Letting Go is a spine-chilling, suspenseful adventure complete with crashed space ships, crocodiles, and a talking dog. 480 pages never went by so fast. I was expecting a philosophical read about morality or social commentary, but I ended up disappointed. While I thought The Knife of Never Letting Go touched upon many themes like women's rights, human interaction, privacy, collectivity, and violence--none of it was fleshed out enough, or made sense. However, I applaud Ness's innovative story telling, and his character development doesn't fail to impress: especially Todd's relationship with his dog, Manchee.

Are The Villains All Cyborgs?
Poor Todd is constantly being chased by hostile, evil men that don't seem to be capable of dying. The guy gets chomped on by crocodiles, thrown in a swamp to drown, and his nose bitten off by a dog--and he is STILL standing. WHAT IS THIS WITCHCRAFT? How this guy is human is beyond me. I expected to see electrical wires bursting from his wounds at any moment.

The Noise:
What makes The Knife of Never Letting Go special is how the concept of hearing everyone's thought's is handled. In Todd's world everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts through a deluge of sounds and imagery called The Noise. Even wild animals are not immune to The Noise germ, but women are. There is no such thing as silence, and all thoughts are privy to everyone else. There are no complete secrets. I would think that The Noise would make living easier, it would be "impossible" to lie, and make people more empathetic to each other. However, in the New World, The Noise has only created heartless, violent people. Perhaps knowing whatever everyone else is thinking only makes crazy people.

Todd
The 14 year old protagonist who starts off a naive, whiny kid who is forced to leave his home. He faces many conflicts. We see him transition from the clueless boy who refuses to admit that he can't read to a man who would travel miles after being stabbed to save his best friend. He also is conflicted about his willingness to kill. There are times I want Todd to stop being a coward and kill his enemies (or at least stab their legs so they can't come running once they've recuperated,) but at the same time I want him to retain his innocence, to be in control of his impulses. For some reason, he loses control out of the blue and ends up killing an alien. It was stupid, but at the same time I could see Todd desperately trying to prove that he could wield a knife.

I am annoyed that although the novel is in first person, Todd withholds secrets from the reader. I know it's for suspense purposes, but it is frustrating. Almost as jarring as the multiple cases where Todd tells the reader that he is swearing. Oh gosh, just swear already.

Manchee:
Todd's talking dog. Hands down the most adorable and lovable character. Despite Todd's dislike towards Manchee, he remains loyal. His natural curiosity and his love for Todd makes him the perfect best friend.

Viola Eade:
I don't get this chick. Maybe she was stunned into silence from her foreign surroundings, but the fact that she acts like a mute girl for much of the first part annoyed me. We knew she wasn't mute because she knew how to scream, but the fact that she refuses to communicate was frustrating. Despite seeming like dead weight in the beginning, Viola is resourceful, and much smarter than Todd. And because she is immune to the Noise, she can also lie.

Todd's Book
Before he leaves, Todd is given his mother's diary which was supposed to explain everything. It was frustrating to see the book being mentioned but practically NEVER read. What up with that?

The Logic of Prentisstown Does Make Any Sense
I hope it's not just be that keeps reading Prentisstown as Penistown? Which would actually make sense considering the whole town is made up of men.
On the other hand, I don't get the logic of these people at all. Where did their twisted beliefs come from? For a town with only 146 citizens, they seem to completely disregard human life in favor of violence. Are they trying to wipe out the human race?
It is later revealed that women, being immune to the Noise, were murdered because the men couldn't understand them. I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to kill their mothers, sisters, and wives. Which leads me to think Mayor Prentiss was cheated on by his wife and created all this chaos to extract revenge.

Religion:
The people of Prentisstown are supposedly devout Christians, but their actions convince me that they read the wrong Bible, the one that says it's okay to build an army to kill all your neighbors. I'm not sure if the novel is criticizing Christianity, or their religion is twisted by an evil dictator.

Pace:
The pace is the novel's strongest part, guaranteed to have your heart thumping but I also felt it was too fast at times. It felt Todd was just running a marathon, breezing through all these settlements without a second thought. As a result, I got the action but not enough back story. Honestly, the only answers we get are given by a random info-dump towards the end.
There is never a dull moment, which made devouring Todd's journey a pleasure. It was an absolute thrill ride. I only wish the scariest thing about his journey weren't the same bad guys showing up on rotation. Although I found much of the society nonsensical and the villains ridiculous, it was a a high energy read that always kept me on my toes.

Ever read a book that you found you weren't necessarily enjoying, but you had to keep reading because you wanted to know how things turned out? That was my experience with "The Knife of Never Letting Go." Still, the book is a worthwhile and thought-provoking read. How can you persevere when everything you've ever known is called into question? How can you learn to trust when you are inundated with betrayal and lies? The main character Todd is sympathetic and you'll want to know if he succeeds in his journey to understand what it means to become a man and to define manhood on his own terms.

I was looking for a good book to read when my daughter suggested the Chaos Walking series, starting with the Knife of Never Letting Go. Sure, I thought, I'll give your YA novels a shot if just to find out what you like. What a surprise I was in for!

From the first page, I was pulled into the world created by Ness. Intrigued by it, haunted by it, saddened by it and uplifted by it I've now finished the second book in the series, The Ask and the Answer, and I'm tempted to take a trip to the UK where one can purchase the final book in the series before it's available in the States.

Don't let the Young Adult category fool you. I'm an old adult and I was sitting on the edge of my seat from start to finish. A thoroughly captivating read.

This tale is one of a kind! There are so many books out there that mask another but this one has no rival. It is an original story.
Ness creates a main character who is as real as you or me and a world unlike one we could even imagine. His 1st person narritive it one of a kind. I enjoyed every step of this story until the cliff hanging end and it killed me to have to wait for the next to come out! It is a must read! The writing here is catchy and draws you into the character. The story is engaging and leaves you rooting for the main character. I can't say it any other way, I LOVED IT!

On a far-flung world newly settled by humanity, twelve-year-old Todd Hewitt of Prentisstown is a boy on the brink of becoming a man.

When settlers came to this world, they found it already inhabited by aliens known as the Spackle, and a war was waged against them to colonize the planet. Now, almost twenty years after the first settlers landed, the world is low-tech but free of the "spacks." However, they left behind them the "Noise germ," a chemical contaminant that causes all the men who come in contact with it to broadcast their thoughts for everyone's hearing--and kills all the infected women.

On the eve of his thirteenth birthday, Todd has never seen a woman. He was the last child born in the settlement before his mother succumbed to the Noise germ and died, and now he's the only boy left in the village of Prentisstown, all the others having turned thirteen and been proclaimed men. Now, with Todd's birthday approaching, the entire town is anxious, and Todd can hear it.

The men of the town are keeping something from him; although they can hear each other think, it's possible to learn techniques that allow one to control the information that others can hear. Ben and Cillian, his adoptive guardians and old friends of his parents, are both worried for him, though Todd doesn't know why.

And then, with less than a month to go until Todd's thirteenth birthday, he stumbles across a secret that no boy is meant to know and all men have been forced to forget, a secret about the history of his world and the lies he's been told. Todd has no choice but to escape from the town he's called his home and the people who have been his parents, on the run from something more terrible than the alien Spackle, and more familiar.

The sheer intensity of the story Ness tells kept me reading straight through this book, despite its length and occasionally hefty prose. Todd's first-person, present-tense narration has an inexorable pull that places the reader within the context of the story and keeps you turning the pages. The plot is full of twists and turns, the world is immaculately and innovatively crafted, and the characters' pain and longing seeps from the pages.

My largest complaint with this book was the way in which it ended, without resolving some major issues that had been significant throughout the story. It is the first book in a series, so this sense of incompleteness may be slightly forgiven, but I felt like I'd spent the entire book hurtling forward into empty space only to be slammed at the last minute against a brick wall.

That said, I'd recommend THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO to anyone who enjoys dystopia or slightly darker fiction, and I know I can't wait to see what happens next!

Reviewed by: Candace Cunard

This novel is a teen science fiction novel about a boy named Todd and his dog named Manchee. In the town of Prentisstown where he lives there is a disease. This disease is like none other, it makes it so no one can ever have secrets because of the "Noise" everyones' everyday thoughts are revealed as if they were to say them alloud. When the disease struck through the city all of the women were killed off, or so Todd thought.

I very much enjoyed the book because of its fast moving plot and constant plot twists. It kept me on my toes, never knowing what to expect. From the beginning I fell in love with the characters. It is a tear jerking novel because of the deep connection to each of the characters.

I also agree with most of the other reviews due to the fact that I didn't love the ending as much as I loved the rest of the book, otherwise I would have given it 5 stars. I cannot wait to read the rest of the trilogy to see what happens next!

amazing book, so very very sad. 1st of 3. lots of death and very dark/deep for what they call "young adult reading." adults will enjoy thoroughly. alot covers the horror of having to kill someon, the morals behind it, and what it takes inside to do it - what has to die in you. I found it interesting how many twists the author put on the villain the mayor; he's very sneaky and can twists you psychologically, but the preacher cult man, wow creepy. reminds me of my insane ex. same name too. watch out for that preacher, he kills brutally. (SPOILER: if you can't handle death of animals, prepare yourself)

I have to admit that I didn't have very high expectations for another post-apocalyptic novel. There seems to be a slew of them lately, especially in the young adult category. But the premise did intrigue me. In a world where everyone's thoughts can be heard, including animals, there is no escaping the Noise. The main character, Todd Hewitt, is just coming of age in Prentisstown, at 12 years and 12 months (in this world, a year has 13 months), he is just on the brink of manhood. Unfortunately for Todd, he has no idea what this entails or what is to come.

I had a few problems with the story. I didn't care about Todd. It's difficult to get invested in a story if the main character has no character. He shows moments of strength and perseverance but most of the time, he just seems to complain. Not that he doesn't have reason to complain. His life quickly spins out of control and the stress of what he has to deal with, run from, and figure out would be enough to break anyone. And I understand that an interesting character is one that is flawed, but if it wasn't for another character, Viola, that accompanies him on his journey, I don't know if I would really care what happens to him.

And why has an educated population suddenly gone backwards when they arrived in a new place? From the way the people talk in Prentisstown, you would think that "surviving" means forgetting proper grammar and pronunciation. That just ain't right.

The biggest hole in the story seems to be the Noise. If everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts and even their dreams, how could Todd have not known the biggest secret of the town?

The action did keep me reading through the end. There are some heart-pounding moments. I found the audio book narrator annoying at times, with his depiction of Prentisstown folk as backwards hicks. When I got tired of his voice, I switched to reading the book. I was disappointed that the ending was so predictable.

In short, the story was interesting and pretty well written but I'm not sure if I will ever read the second in the series and I hesitate to recommend the first. If you ask me, it was just OK. There are other books that I would rather be reading.

I read this book in two days, which is tough to do as a working mom with two young kids. This book goes beyond the typical dystopian story that's been making the rounds for so long. The characters are engaging, the voice is unique, and things just keep getting worse for the characters. A great example of incredible storytelling and a book that you can't put down.

The Knife of Never Letting Go was a fast paced and gripping novel. It incorporated everything that I love in a dystopian novel. This is a story that allows the reader to escape reality and feel like you are in another world. It actually gets the reader involved at times and gets the heart beating. It makes the reader forget about life for a little while and join Todd Hewitt on his journey and adventure. It makes the reader become personal with the characters, especially with everyone's thoughts up in the air. As Todd is running from the men of Prentisstown, you feel like you are there with him encouraging him and supporting him. At times, you tend to get mad that he does not seem to hear you. I wonder why. Anyways, this novel creates a relationship between the reader and character. This is typically a rare thing to establish while one is reading a book of this nature. This book really was a page turning that allowed me to escape from life for a while and join Todd, Viola, and Manchee on a tough journey. Another reason that this book is so appealing is the establishment and silent conveying of modern and applicable issues. This book is based in a world that has been colonized by humans who were forced to leave their planet due to the fact that it has no longer been deemed suitable for all of the people to live. Therefore, the people migrate to this new planet to start a new civilization. This brings up the issue of colonization. When the people settled here, they basically decimated the native population. This is a parallel to what occurred with the colonization of the New World. This is along the same lines as the message that Avatar or similar stories convey. This book also addresses the role of women in society. In this story, Women are seen as the thinkers and leaders of the small towns. The men basically follow their orders and everything seems to work in harmony. The book seems to point toward the fact that women are the great equalizer and deserve same if not higher positions than men. This book also addresses a much broader and less obvious issue that is seen on a daily basis that is not always recognized. This issue is that of the human condition. Specifically the male condition. This book subconsciously gives the reader insight in the violent nature of the human race. Here is a perfect new world where everyone has a fresh start on a beautiful unpopulated planet, and all the men of Prentisstown wish to do is rule it. They go on a rampage and take down other settlements in order to do so, killing people in the process. Even in this Eden people still sin.

I am an adult, but read all genres, including a good amount of YA. Found this series in a "underrated" list of novels on Pinterest so thought I would give it a try. I enjoyed all three books very much. Good storyline, interesting and well developed characters. It's dystopian YA, with typical themes, but felt a bit different to me and I guess that's what I liked about it.

Despite being a difficult story, I am glad I read The Knife of Never Letting Go. It is a great novel full of action and danger and two main characters that grow and change as a result of what they go through. While it is YA, the tone is definitely bleaker than most. If you are looking for something different and something to really dig into that will keep your mind working long after the last page, I definitely recommend this book.

*9.5/10*

I really enjoyed this book. I was a bit wary at first because the concept of the NOISE didn't sit well with me, but the writing was so well done I felt like I could really feel what the NOISE sounded like. I also loved the various ways the animals communicated, that was done exactly as I imagined they would speak. I have recommended this to my son and plan to tell my mom about it. So I definitely feel it is a book of all ages. I am getting ready to start the second book, and I hope it is just as good!

In the vein of most chase stories, The Knife of Never Letting Go, is an intense story from start to finish. Told only from Todd's point of view, it shows a young man's journey across not only space, but away from the culture he was brought up in (only to find that everything he knew about life is wrong). The author does a good job of portraying teens in tough situations. I just wish the reader was privy to more of Todd's mother's journal, I so wanted to have more of that. I look forward to finishing out this series.

Summary
Life in Prentisstown is tough. Being the last settlement in the New World, and having lost all their women to the terrible Noise Virus, life can seem very isolated for the men (and one boy) who remain. Except for the fact that no one is ever really alone when everyone else can hear your every thought. Todd is the last boy left in Prentisstown, but less than a month remains until he will finally be a man. He believes things will be better once he can be counted among the men in town, but when he discovers a strange silent spot amongst the Noise in the swamp, suddenly everything Todd knows is thrown into question. His family sends him away, telling him to run for his life and never look back. Angry and confused, Todd has no choice but to flee the only life he believes exists. As he makes his way into the unknown, he discovers that everything he once thought to be true was a lie.

Review
The premise of The Knife of Never Letting Go is fantastic! The idea of being able to hear the thoughts of everyone around you is original and unique. There's plenty of non-stop action to keep the reader flipping pages. The characters are believable, well developed, and grow throughout the course of the novel. And once you get used to the strange grammar and horrific spelling, the dialogue is interesting. So really, it's got all the factors that make up a great book right? Right. Except that I hated it. I mean I read the whole book and have no complaints about the quality of the writing, but everything that happens to the characters throughout the course of the story is AWFUL. There might be one or two brief moments of happiness, but that's it. I almost stopped reading 2/3 of the way through because something so terrible happens that I didn't think I could take any more. I managed to soldier on, but there was definitely no happy reward for my efforts. And don't even get me started on that ending - or rather complete lack of an ending. I'm all for a well-done cliff-hanger, but this book just stops (at yet another horrible thing) about 10 pages short of an actual ending. I almost wonder if my digital copy was missing some bits it was so abrupt.

Verdict
If you're OK with a really dark and unhappy story, then The Knife of Never Letting Go is a great read. If you want to feel a little bit good while reading, then skip this one.

I actually almost gave up on this book after the first chapter as I found the way Todd spoke a bit irritating to start off with, however by the third chapter I was hooked and once you get into his style of speech the book flowed very well. I read quite a lot of YA fiction and this one really stood out as the story was so unusual. I am really looking forwards to the the second book. This is a book I would highly recommend both for adults and teens. If you are an adult and have avoided YA fiction give this one a go as you will soon forget that it is aimed at teenagers, the story is gritty and avoids the usual love struck hero/heroine concept of most YA fiction.

Forget YA, forget Sci Fi--this is one of my favorite series of all time, period. Wholly unique, richly imagined, and with layers upon layers of things to reflect upon, plus a great story line with compelling characters.

An intriguing concept, written in a unique style, there wasn't much humor, but what there was, was done well, not heavy handed. The pace move briskly and the main character's change and growth well done against Believably frightening and strong antagonists. Great world building.

If I had to rate this book as a stand alone book, I would probably give it 3 or 4 stars. However, it's not a stand alone book. I just finished reading the second book in the series and don't plan on reading the third. The second book is just more of the same thing over and over again. While this book was very exciting and kept me page turning, I had to force myself to get through the second book. It's the same conflicts over again, just different

So if you are a person who doesn't like to stop a book series in the middle, I would advise you not to start in the first place.

Also, I would caution that from what I've read, I would say the content of these books are a little mature for most high schoolers. It says grade 9 and up, but that usually refers to reading ability.

Meh. I don't normally finish books I'm not enjoying because, well...I'm not enjoying them, but I read through The Knife of Never Letting Go due to recommendations from a couple of co-workers. I listened to their opinions, I read the back of the book, I was intrigued.

I got bored with it and I think that was my main problem. No secrets begin to be revealed until your little more than halfway through the book. Are they shocking secrets? Yes. Are they disturbing secrets? Yes! But by that point I didn't care anymore. There is a big reveal that I was not expecting within the last thirty or so pages and I highly enjoyed it, but it didn't make up for the lack of excitement I felt. I can see the appeal, but I guess the book just wasn't for me, though I do love me some dystopia genre. It bothers me because I feel like I should have liked it! Honestly, who knows, maybe in a week or so my opinion will change and I'll love it. It's happened in the past (and I still can never explain why!). I'll let you know if it does.

I didn't hate it, it just, sometimes felt like a chore to read. I think I'm alone with this opinion (just like my indifference to Matched), so you can probably ignore me, at least until my next review where you have to listen to me again because I'm always right. ;)

Reviews are so subjective, aren't they?

This book is amazing. I loved every minute of it.
This book is about a boy who lives in Presstintown. His name is Todd. The town only consists of men, and Todd is the youngest of them all. Prentisstown is in a place called the New World, people from the old world came to settle down due to problems on their planet. In Prentisstown every man can read each others thoughts, even if they don't want to. It comes out in a thing called noise, which is very loud, and very irritating. A month before Todd becomes a man his two fathers Ben and Cillian make him runaway from Prentisstown, and go to a place called Farbranch. They send him with his mothers book and a sack full of food, clothes, his talking dog, Manchee, and Ben's hunting knife. On his way he finds a big hole of silence. This never occures because everything is filled with noise. It is like finding a circle from looking at all the pieces in the puzzle, it is like a hole.

This is a great book, and I know you will love it.

If Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials are supposed to be a darker Harry Potter, than Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking series is shaping up to be a darker His Dark Materials.

The book starts in Prentisstown, where all men's Noise (thoughts) can be heard by everyone, and there aren't any women. Todd, 30 days away from his 13th birthday, at which point he will become a man, has been told that the Noise came with the same germ from the native inhabitants of the planet that killed all the women. But one day Todd starts finding out that everything he's known about his town and his planet is not what he's been told.

Ness opts to reveal the secrets to the reader as they are revealed to Todd, a technique that can be frustrating, but mostly works well. Most of the secrets are revealed (we think) by the end of this first book in a projected trilogy, but there's still plenty of suspense as to what actually happens to our hero and whether good will triumph over evil.

Male settlers of a distant planet who came with a religious mission brainwash their children to buy into an exceptionalist creed: their village is the only one on the planet, the natives are less than human, all the women in the village were killed by a virus deliberately released by the natives. Through the course of the book, the 13-year-old protagonist, Todd, learns that practically everything he learned from the grownups is false, and that charismatic leadership bent on domination combined with religious fundamentalism is a poisonous brew that can only lead to evil. Some of this doesn't completely add up: the virus that ostensibly killed the women also allows men to hear one another's thoughts, yet Todd in his 13 years never got even a glimpse of the truth? Nevertheless, a compelling first entry in a planned series. The level of violence in the book leads me to recommend this only for 12 and up.

My favorite aspect of the book was the characters. I found them all very necessary, even the mean guys. You wanted the battle to play out. I have to say that Manchee, his dog and Viola. This style of writing takes awhile to get into and I also had trouble focusing on the audiobook as well. I originally picked up the audiobook and found it jumping all over the place and hard to follow, so I picked up a copy of the book and figured out it's written that way. I attempted the audiobook again and found that I really did enjoy the story from both aspects, written and word.

So if you looking for a differnt kind of tale, with lots of action, loss and heartache told from a boys perspective check this one out!

I really did not like this book. That said, I finished it, which is saying a lot because I rarely finish books I don't like. The writing is excellent. The author has a true gift for developing characters and putting together a story that is compelling. So Todd lives on this horrible planet where everyone can hear men's thoughts (and animals too). The story is basically Todd's quest to escape his horrible town and find salvation. The quest is like Sisyphus pushing the boulder, and the reader can feel each step of Todd's agony. A series of people and events try to prevent Todd from his quest. He endures an endless number of physical injuries that are described in great detail. It was too much for me and read as overly sadomasochistic. The details of Todd's story are released painfully slow so for most of the book we have no idea why Todd is on this quest--and he doesn't either. As many others have complained, the ending is frustrating. I'll admit it. I like happy endings, but I also love a good dystopian novel so I can handle some pretty sad endings. But there's sad and there's horribly, gut-wrenching depressing. If you're looking for some intriguing YA dystopian novels, I would skip this series and check out the "Hunger Games" series, "Feed" and "The Diary of Pelly D." These highlight some of the same messages as this book without leaving you feeling like you barely survived jumping off a cliff.

I have (had) the audio book version and was looking forward to the story seeing as how it had good reviews. I stopped the story once about half way through because the main character was getting on my nerves.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! Todd comes across as a whiny, self absorbed, ignorant, stubborn person and not very likable at all. He never learns from his mistakes. Ever. The "secret" everyone in the book seems obliged to hold from Todd about him becoming a man is silly and one of the main causes of all his problems and what befalls the townspeople wherever he goes. Why no one bothers to explain anything to Todd is the real mystery to myself. It would have saved so many people from dying but hey I guess that isn't how the story went huh? The author's writing style isn't all that great either. He goes on and on about a scene when he could have shortened it by several paragraphs. Having to listen to an audio book without the option to skip over an extended boring scene is awful.
After another day I resumed where I left off but the the real reason I quit again and have no further interest in the story or any of Mr Ness' books for that matter is (MAJOR SPOILER HERE!!!!!) he lets' Todd's talking dog get maimed several times in the story and finally killed in a most horrible way. Mr Ness needs to learn that you don't go about offing the ONLY interesting and likable character in the whole book and expect readers to want to continue. Todd's dog was funny, brave and honorable and having him murdered like this put me off the whole story. To be honest Todd should drown in the river and save those that want to continue reading this drivel the trouble. NOT recommended for young readers or for anyone. It's a horribly depressing story beset with morons.

I picked this up on a whim, without any information about the book or author. It is an incredibly unique take on dystopian society. But what really makes this an enjoyable listen is the narration. This was not an easy book to narrate! Trust me, and if I say more it will give away a really good part of the book. I listen to audible books constantly and this one should be up for an award, I think.

I did my best to leave my personal preferences aside in my review. I hope I don't fail too miserably in that task. Now, I don't need a story that's all unicorns and ice cream and rainbows but this was just too dark for my personal taste.

This is a tightly crafted story, well-paced and well-voiced. If it was perfect I would give it 5 stars, but the perfect story doesn't exist and never will so it gets 4 stars.

The story itself is a version of the Quest: Run from bad guys who are chasing you and get to safety, overcoming obstacles along the way. Pretty basic stuff.

I did wonder though, how did Todd NOT see the truth about Prentisstown when he was able to see so much else in the men's Noise? Is the reader to draw the conclusion that it was due to Todd's innocence? Or that it's hard to find the truth among so much information? This wasn't clear to me.

Todd's voice is so real. Ack! What am I writing? Todd is so real: How he changes from seeing Viola as "it" to "the girl" to "her" to "Viola"; how he tries to steel himself to act---haven't we ALL lied to ourself the way Todd lies to himself; his anger at the world and his willingness to do anything to help Viola.

I absolutely ADORED Manchee ("Poo, Todd."). I could just picture him bouncing around, back and forth between Todd and whatever he wanted to show Todd, just so happy to be with Todd.

And the part with the creatures that sang "here" was just beautiful. I desperately wanted Wilf to come by and cart ME through the herd so I could hear them sing.

The dialogue was just right. Not a wasted or incorrect word.

I would encourage others to read this book just for Ness's writing and story crafting. At the very least, read the opening lines. They're good ones.

Word of advice to parents: Depending on the age and maturity level of your kids you might need to pre-read this one. Violent acts don't appear on every page, but they still might be too much for some kids.

The first time I read this book was at my school, I would be in the libary looking for a book, and would pass this book tons of times, but i would never pick it up. Until i finally thought i should give this book a chance, when i checked out and started reading i was amused from the very first sentence. Todd and Viola are running from the Mayor, who wants Todd as his soldier for the war he is going to bring, but with the help of Viola, Todd has hope he is going to make it to a the city Haven, were its supposed safe. Todd is a loving, strong and caring character, he is a character that will capture the hearts of readers. He's unforgetable. Viola is also an unforgetable chararcter she sticks up for what she beleives in, and she sticks with Todd through everything. In the end friendship is everything for Todd and Viola, but they find out that thier problems have just begun, and they will do anything to make New World safe again.

This was the best book I have ever read and I am so looking forward to reading the second one as well. It continuously keeps you on the edge of your seat, and it was just great. I am a teenager and don't really prefer to read, It took me about 7 months just to read "Breaking Dawn" from the Twilight series, because I'm just not that entertained by books. But, this was a totally different experience! I finished this book in a week and a half, I never wanted to put it down! This book is unbelievable, and I would recommend it to anyone!

because I fell head over heels in like with The Hunger Games Trilogy- my first YA/dystopia/fantasy read ever. My next purchase in the genre was a disappointment, but I'm glad I didn't end my search there. I enjoyed Ness's clever trilogy. His writing is pithy, at times funny and he develops character relationships that are stunningly, achingly real. I highly recommend.

I bought this book because I had won the second book in the series (The Ask and the Answer) from a website.
At first, the language is annoying, because there are intentional grammatical errors. After getting into the novel though, they started to become less of an annoyance and more of a good thing: They added a dialect that made the characters more real.
Besides that, the plot of the book is very interesting and original.
Todd lives on a different planet that was colonized by humans. However, once they got there, everyone can hear each other's thoughts, which they call noise. In Todd's little town, all the women have died and Todd is the last to grow up to be a man (age 13). But, Todd discovers something that may change his world forever....
AHHH this book was really good and I VERY much recommend it.
And I know the book is a cliffhanger, but that just sets you up for The Ask and the Answer, which picks up where The Knife of Never Letting Go left off.

Original take on a colonization story. Less original take on the coming of age theme, but that does not mean it wasn't well done. Very good character development. Good use of human psychology.The use of language was excellent and the prose seemed to truly reflect the inner workings of a young man's mind, without being a stream of consciousness.

I own the book and I can't get to it at the moment but, I'm half way through it & I'd like to finish the book. the store Kindle is trying to get me to buy it and all I want to do is finish reading it. I used to sit in my truck at the park and ride it to my Schnauzer, Harley. I miss him & would like to finish reading it on his behalf.

I absolutely loved this book! I almost put it down because the writing style takes some getting used to. But if you can get through about the first twenty pages, you will be used to the way young Todd talks and thinks. I think hearing the thoughts of others is a great basis for a story in itself, but then to have it set on another planet is brilliant. Todd Hewitt isn't at first glance the ideal protagonist, but he grows on us, just like Manchee (that ruddy good dog!) grows on him. The Knife is a fast-paced, thrilling, ride that will leave you hungry for its sequel. If you have boys who are reluctant readers, give them this book. My son has never read a book this long before, but he devoured every word of Todd and Viola's whirlwhind adventure. Patrick Ness is a talented author and after reading this entire series, I can't wait to see where he takes us next.

This book tries and fails to achieve what Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small series accomplishes masterfully. Thin characters, weak plot, and a non-ending that’s really just a cheap plug for a sequel. Don’t waste your time on this one.

First and foremost, I don't review products...ever! But I had to at least put a little something after reading this book. I was so impressed and intrigued at the way this book stirred my emotions. My feelings bounced around through sadness, joy, fear, and also a bit of animosity which I really don't find in books that often. I left saddened and shocked by the end but interestingly enough i left wanting more! This is probably the first book I'd ever consider reading again. If you are looking for a series to dive into dont pass up on chaos walking! You won't be disappointed

Side note: I wouldn't recommend this book for children under the age of 13. It does get extremely dark at various points. If you are a parent I would recommend reading the book first before letting your child read it, just for precaution.

Loved this book. One of the best I believe I have read. I'll try not give too many plot spoilers away. The way the author writes keeps you reading, very fast paced, hard to put the book down. I fell in love with the characters. Both Todd and Viola. The New World is believable and creates an excellent backdrop from Todd's adventure. It has sad and gritty parts. I was crying like a baby during one part (you'll know which when you get there). This is a book I want my kids to read when they are old enough. And just wait until the next books it just keeps getting better. Read it. Don't miss out.

A tour de force for Patrick Ness. This book will barely give you a moment to catch your breath. Todd just one month shy of the birthday which will make him officially a man discovers a secret near the town where he lives. Secrets are hard to keep, as everyone can hear what everyone else is thinking. Todd must run. And while running he learns the all to adult lessons - decision making, sacrifice, loss, compassion, responsibility for one's actions and maybe worst of all, potential loss of hope. You will put the book down wishing for more right away.

Mr. Ness is a great story teller, and writes with a great love of the language, compassion and depth. A book for all ages. This english edition with it's nifty cover is superb. Read this book and watch the name Patrick Ness, you will be hearing it often.

My least favorite of the three books, that being said this book was impossible to put down.

Manchee was a loveable character.

Still so many unclear questions.. How can Aaron live with half a face?

It took me a while to get invested, there are a lot of things to get used to in New World, but once I did I flew through this book. I can't wait to read the next book because this one ends on a cliff hanger. A good read, reminded me of Hunger Games and Maze Runner.

This is a story of an escape. From the beginning you do not know why or where or when, but you keep running, filled with pain and unknowing terror. With each siege you barely escape, only to flee again.

The Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness, is one of better books I have read in the past years. Its intriguing plot mixed with unconventional writing style make it a book that is hard to put down. The way that thoughts and dialogue are presented is through the eyes of the main character Todd and how he perceives it. The sometimes "word mash" on the page show what exactly he is thinking or hearing at that certain time. With Noise being such an important motif and factor in this book, different font and size indicate special words that contribute to conversation or just extra characterization. This book's intense action packed plot makes it hard for anyone to put down once one starts to read. All in all, this book was a great read from start to finish and I would recommend it to everyone.

Everyone here has basically reviewed the book, so I thought I would tell everyone how much my 13 year old daughter enjoyed this story. It's very unique and it's hard to put down. I found myself reading it at the dentist office when my daughter went in to have her braces off - boy, was I glad her visit took an hour. I even read it when I went to a meeting. I couldn't put the book down. The ending does leave you mad because you want more...........that's how good it is.

Wonderfully creative story with fully fleshed characters. Just be aware that this is the first book in a trilogy and you will have to - and will WANT to - read the next two books. What a ride! I had the audio version and the voices were so well done I will look for this narrator (Nick Podehl) for other things. Now I have to go get the next one!!

Pretty crazy! I couldn't imagine hearing everyone's thoughts (no secrets there) including the animals (which, was quite amusing I must add). Definitely edge of your seat stuff and unique charaters...looking forward to reading the sequel

I have seen reviews of this book that bash it for the illiteracy of the character. While at first I found this to be quite a distraction, it is part of what makes the character Todd Hewitt that much more realistic. Todd has been raised under some very unique circumstances. This book was well worth the read. It takes some dedication to get through the first little bit of world building, but it picks up quickly on one of the most heart wrenching journeys I have ever read.

A sad book full of hope but leads to disappointment. I couldn't even imagine a world without women; it reminds me how much women are needed. Leaving the old world to a new world but with the same problems.

This book got me back into listening to audio-books. The narrator really draws you in, and the plot is captivating, making it hard to stop listening to the story. Especially when you listen to it on your way to work.

I really love the themes played in this book...it's like the old man trying to understand women conundrum taken to the while next level. It's Sci Fi but very character driven. Can't wait to read the rest of the books in the series.

I'll associate this book with the Hunger Games Series, suspenseful, fast and yet dismally haunting. If you can stomach a darker dystopian society type novel that has a measure of violence and moderate swearing but that is fresh and fast in it's ideas and storyline then you will enjoy this book. Sadly the first chapter is filled with the main character a 13 yr old boy named Todd, taking the Lord's name in vain. That ends abruptly after the first chapter but the rest of the book has Todd saying "effing" (spelled just like that). So if you can handle his slang then you'll have little problems with the language.

I thought that I was lucky because I found this book in the young adult section of the bookstore completely ignorant of its storyline. It was not what I was expecting and I believe going into to this novel not even having read the back cover of the book made the story all that more intriguing. It kept me completely suspended and wanting to figure out what exactly was happening. By the time I had gotten in that far I was hooked. The book reads quickly and is filled with an odyssey type feel. The main character Todd is well developed and you get a love for his innocence and even his ignorance. I found that the strength in the author's writing is his ability to help you empathize with his characters.

In the back of my copy is a quote by Patrick Ness regarding this book. I wish I had read it prior to reading the story. I like the insight it gives into "the Noise" in his novel. "Information is absolutely everywhere today-texts and e-mails and messaging-so much it feels like you can't get away from it. I began to wonder what it would be like in a town where you really couldn't get away. How could you keep hold of whom you are? What price would you be willing to pay to save yourself?" Patrick Ness.

No doubt it was meant to be a trilogy so prepare your time for a couple more books.

im not a huge fan a HUGE books. when i saw this book had a 12 year old as the main character, i put it down. but later on forced myself to read it all and finished it in about a day and a half. i absolutely LOVE THIS SERIES. it has action, tons of emotions that you can feel throughout the book and you fall in love with so many characters. this book really touched my heart.

Yes, the ending was a great one. Total cliffhanger which makes me want to read the next book RIGHT NOW. But for whatever reason, I couldn't get into the book as much as I wanted to. I think this is a situation of, "it's not you, it's me" because there is nothing in particular that was WRONG with the book, I just felt the pacing was off and I couldn't get into it.

And Aaron? When he kept coming back, I couldn't help but roll my eyes and say, "Really? Won't this guy die already???" This bothered me.

A well written book with an interesting and original premise, that I just couldn't get into.

Normally, I can't stand books written with this much local dialect(my brain just sees it as misspellings), but after a little while the story had captured me so deeply that I no longer noticed.

This story had twist after twist after twist and kept me spellbound all the way through.

Now to get my hands on the next in the series.

I was skeptical about this audiobook based on the description. I was so pleasantly surprised how entertaining and original the story was. It's geared towards young adult but I thoroughly enjoyed it. My teenage daughter is listening to it now and so far she said she likes it, too.

I'm 60 and I loved this book, this series. I'm awed at the way he used print type to express concepts, create a feeling. If my dog could talk I picture exactly the kind of dialogue in this book. Great treatment of gender issues, morality but mostly it was a unique visiting into a constellation of an alternative mind.

Yes, I started reading it and couldn't stop. Just finished it, my eyes hurt and my mind is full of 'noise'! I wonder if they will be making a movie out of this book?

The book is suspenseful and wonderful. I got mad a Todd at the beginning but towards the end I could understand the point. Some people find the ending disappointing but it just makes me more interested to read book two.

Don't miss this book!

Really interesting, keeps you on the edge of your seat because the author does not give anything away too early. Ending is like a punch in the gut, but at least there is book #2 coming out in September. I can't wait to find out what happens with Todd and Viola.

If you liked Hunger Games or Uglies, then you'll def like this book!

This book progresses at a nice pace. Characters are well developed and it provides a vivid portrait of the world. It kept bugging me, though, why it took the main character so long to read the one piece of information he had. Even now we're not fully sure of what the mysterious book contains...but we can hope...

One of the best books I've read in a long time. I admit that from the description and title it looks a little weird, I passed it up the first few times someone showed it to me... but I'm glad I eventually picked it up. The characters are incredible (especially in the later books of the series), the plot is original, and it has the rare balance of pacing and action that very few books have. It's probably best for teens and adults because I don't think kids would understand the issues brought up in it. The book by itself is fantastic and the series is even better.

I loved everything about this book! I loved the story, the characters, the writing, the setting, etc. I think the concept was unique and Patrick Ness is a brilliant writer. Highly recommended for anyone!

This book is incredible. Unique, creative and raw. Raw to the point where I cried. This book was the first book I've ever cried over. I didn't cry over Mockingjay, the Divergent series, nothing. And this book, this book made me cry. Which to me means a lot. The characters are heart wrenching, the plot is a roller coaster, and the world is one I'll never let go of. Can't wait to read the rest of the books!

This book grabbed me from the first page and didn't let me go until the breathtaking last page... I am a huge fan! The unusual style was jarring for a few pages, but it was definitely the way to go. I can't wait to read the other two books in the trilogy.

The point is that it's so, so, so utterly human and beautiful at times that I could hardly stand it. The suspense, too, of course-- after I had made it about halfway through the book I couldn't put it down because every single chapter seemed to end on a cliffhanger (not excluding the last chapter, although fortunately all three books are out now so it isn't such a problem).

The protagonist, Todd, misspells things everywhere and although in the beginning it is easy to perceive him as an idiot, he is brilliant. Even though his circumstances are so different from anything I've ever experienced, I found it easy to relate to him because of the way that Ness weaves words together-- it is so raw and so unique and so bare-boned. And so perfect.

The Knife of Never Letting Go is fantastic. Read it.

I'm a teen librarian, and this book has been on my "to read" list for quite some time. I finally got around to it, and wasn't dissapointed in the slightest! The writing is excellent, the plot is original, and the teen protagonists are real and relatable. Almost any teen who enjoys sci fi will find this book worthwhile. (Adults, too! I'm 24, my boyfriend's 26, and we both loved it.) Be warned, the ending is one hell of a cliffhanger, but the sequel's coming out in September so just hold tight!

I loved the first half of this book. Original setting, interesting characters, just the right amount of humor interwoven into a dystopian tale. The second half loses the story arc a bit and you keep waiting for more evolution from the plot. I know the author was trying to set up for the second novel, but it felt really obvious and I got a little frustrated with the second half. Still, overall it was very good and very interesting. I will probably read the sequel.

This was a fantastic follow up to The Maze Runner! I totally enjoyed it and am eagerly anticipating the next book. I found it really similar to the Hunger Games trilogy in spirit which I loved. Great read!

Let me be succinct. I found nothing in this book to like other than Manchee, who apart from one alien is the only likable character. By the midpoint, I hated Todd Hewitt and routed for anyone or anything to kill him.

For the longest time, I thought the story had no direction, that there would never be an explanation of the pointless, relentless, and wholly unbelievable pursuit of the protagonist Todd by evil men who can't be killed. I was wrong. Ness does get around to providing what to his mind must be justification for the violence, indeed for the story itself. And Ness's point is so stupid I couldn't help feeling robbed. There is nothing I can imagine that would get me read another book in this series.

Todd lives in Prentisstown, a dystopian nightmare where all women are dead and everyone can hear each other's thoughts (known as noise). As the only "boy", the youngest in the restless and violent town, Todd's only real companion is his (talking) dog, Manchee. When he discovers a girl in the swamp one day, his caretakers tell him he's in danger and he has to make a run for it.

As thus begins book one of the Chaos Walking trilogy. It's best to go into the book knowing only as much as Todd knows (which is surprisingly little considering no one's thoughts are private), so I won't go into spoilers here. Suffice to say that leaving Prentisstown considerably expands Todd's worldview and understanding. Todd is an intriguing character, a real innocent, with a voice that matches his lack of education.

The ideas here are very creative, especially in regards to the noise. It's interesting to see what animals have to say (not much of interest actually) and how differently the various settlements Todd encounters on his journey have dealt with the problem of broadcasting their every thought.

I cruised through this thinking the whole time that it's an A-/B+ book - until I hit the ending. The narrative is dark, but the ending is even darker and though it works on an intellectual level, it's an emotional sucker punch - a cliffhanger that makes you think the book must be missing some pages.

The premise and supporting characters are great, however the POV characters is very unlikable. Much of that is due to his upbringing but it's just not fun constantly annoyed with his decisions and the way he treats people.

Great world-building, and the plot moved fast enough to stay interesting but not so fast that it skipped over important details. I also liked that the story wasn't full of happy coincidences, deus ex machina, etc. It annoys me when there are too many convenient coincidences in a story.

There are no real words to describe this book except chaotic. This book takes you from one impossible scenario to the next. There are so many times you will find yourself asking if Todd, Viola, and Manchee will make it. It is an entertaining read; sad at parts and violent at others but manageable. I would not recommend for young readers.

Todd is on the doorstep of manhood and running for his life. He will be faced with tough decisions, along with the consequents of his actions and the collapse of all that seems reasonable much to soon in his young life.

Guard your heart - it will swell with compassion, it will be broken and it will pound with excitement and anticipation when you are done.

Patrick Ness is a first rate storyteller with a vivid imagination and he is a powerful literary talent that deserves paying attention to. For readers of all ages, this non-stop thriller will take you places you've never dreamed possible.

This book and its series are amazing. Its hard for me to get into books now a days but the chaos walking series is the best book I read in ages I can't put down the book for even a second. I say keep writing stories Patrick Ness your books are great .

I get the author's approach, but I think two-thirds of the book was unnecessary. Having to deal with a clueless hero for almost the entire book puts a damper on it. The boy is unable to draw good conclusions, and the book is written in first person with misspellings, slang, etc as he thinks and speaks. His slow (and I do mean slow) realization about his society is draining since he's the only one who doesn't get the obvious. The plot is based on shock value as he endures the most bizarre situations, one coming at him nonstop. The entire book feels like a one sided monologue and at times, I threw the book down because it was too annoying. Only at the very end did I appreciate the boy's efforts, but I endured too much frustration to make up for it.