The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1)
by Patrick Ness
Young Adult
Meet Todd Hewitt, the last boy in Prentisstown, maybe the last boy in New World, it is only 30 days until he becomes a man. But a lot can happen in 30 days and in a world where no man's thoughts are private, where it all spills outs until it is just Noise, where lies and the truth are all muddled up Todd manages to find quiet, and the quiet reveals a massive secret, a secret the blows Todd's world apart and starts him on a journey with what he thought was an impossible companion into a world he didn't know existed.
Oh. My. Goodness. What a fantastic book! I had trouble putting this book down, it manages to draw you in and before you realize it 100 pages have gone by. One of the ways I was drawn in was through the unusual writing style, it is written in first person from Todd's POV but it was slightly different it was like Todd was speaking directly to you, it was really good, it had the spelling mistakes of a boy (although not so much the you couldn't read it of course) and the grammer and structure supported this, for example, if Todd got scared or annoyed or excited you could have a whole paragraph with no punctuation showing like someone is talking at you with no pause for breath. I really liked this as it got e very involved in the book and with Todd and his canine companion Manchee.
I also have to mention the story line and world the Patrick Ness has created. This was also something I enjoyed, the people in it are settlers from another world, which makes it seem like a sci fi but it really isn't, it is about the journey of a boy trying to become a man in a fairly primitive environment. Now, Noise, I loved this idea, all men have Noise, everyone can hear what they are thinking and they can hear what everyone else is thinking, so much so that with all the Noise from people's thoughts it all eventually become's meaningless...noise! It is hard to tell lies from the truth as men can lie to themselves and cover their lies with more Noise, it is such a great idea and I loved reading how Noise was used and explained in this book.
But this book was sad! I highly recommend carrying Kleenex round with you as at one point this book had me bawling my eyes out! I found this book interesting and entertaining a little bit thought provoking and sad and well worth the read. I can not wait to read teh second book and see what it going to happen next. It does not end well!
Favourite Quote
As long as I hold it as long as I use it, the knife lives, lives in order to take life, but it has to be commanded, it has to have me to tell it to kill, and it wants to, it wants to plunge and thrust and cut and stab and gouge, but I have to want it to as well, my will has to join with its will.
I'm the one who allows it and I'm the one responsible.
Oh. My. Goodness. What a fantastic book! I had trouble putting this book down, it manages to draw you in and before you realize it 100 pages have gone by. One of the ways I was drawn in was through the unusual writing style, it is written in first person from Todd's POV but it was slightly different it was like Todd was speaking directly to you, it was really good, it had the spelling mistakes of a boy (although not so much the you couldn't read it of course) and the grammer and structure supported this, for example, if Todd got scared or annoyed or excited you could have a whole paragraph with no punctuation showing like someone is talking at you with no pause for breath. I really liked this as it got e very involved in the book and with Todd and his canine companion Manchee.
I also have to mention the story line and world the Patrick Ness has created. This was also something I enjoyed, the people in it are settlers from another world, which makes it seem like a sci fi but it really isn't, it is about the journey of a boy trying to become a man in a fairly primitive environment. Now, Noise, I loved this idea, all men have Noise, everyone can hear what they are thinking and they can hear what everyone else is thinking, so much so that with all the Noise from people's thoughts it all eventually become's meaningless...noise! It is hard to tell lies from the truth as men can lie to themselves and cover their lies with more Noise, it is such a great idea and I loved reading how Noise was used and explained in this book.
But this book was sad! I highly recommend carrying Kleenex round with you as at one point this book had me bawling my eyes out! I found this book interesting and entertaining a little bit thought provoking and sad and well worth the read. I can not wait to read teh second book and see what it going to happen next. It does not end well!
Favourite Quote
As long as I hold it as long as I use it, the knife lives, lives in order to take life, but it has to be commanded, it has to have me to tell it to kill, and it wants to, it wants to plunge and thrust and cut and stab and gouge, but I have to want it to as well, my will has to join with its will.
I'm the one who allows it and I'm the one responsible.
Great review! I cannot wait to read this, I think it may have to be bumped up on my to be read pile. [:
ReplyDeleteErin @ Let's Evaluate
Great review chic!
ReplyDelete