Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Title:  The Knife of Never Letting Go
Author: Patrick Ness
Genre: YA
Page Number: 496
Synopsis: Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.


My Review:  When I first starting reading this I wasn't too sure if I would like it or if I was even going to be able to get past the first chapter. It instantly reminded me of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which I had to read last year in English and I know it's a classic but I didn't like it. I liked listening to it, since we would read along with the audiotape, but I just couldn't get into it. Which is why I had a huge hestitation when I started it. But, since I had already started I had to finish. And it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

So, I had just read A Monster Calls by Patrick so my expections were set high for him. And I'll have to give it to him. It was actually very refreshing and original. Although I kept thinking about Huckleberry throughout the reading and still do.

That being said, I really enjoyed the book. The writing was really good. And I liked the suspense and the whole plot itself. I think it was a very original idea and it got me thinking a lot, how crazy would it be if we could hear everything someone was saying ALL THE TIME?
At one point, I didn't want to read it at night, though it took me two days to read it, because I kept picturing the Spackle and they freak me out!

But, overall it was a very good book. I'm on the 2nd one and I can't wait for the 3rd. Thank you, Max who recommended this book to me!

My Rating: 4/5- Could have been 5/5 but it reminded me too much of Huckleberry Finn and it was a bit slow at first.