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celestemaniconereads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
mikaelajane's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
xanburne05's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
nicolejacobsen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
gordonk's review against another edition
5.0
The Knife to Todd is as this story is to me, never worth letting go! The idea is fascinating. A world where men have no secrets, or do they? Their thoughts are broadcast for all to hear but there is definitely something going on that Todd hasn't been informed about. Todd, himself cannot read, books have been outlawed and there is little to no education. As a result Todd's grammar is not perfect. Many of the descriptive words or place names used are spelt exactly as they sound. This gives the story a sense of realism and you really feel as though you are walking in Todd's shoes. I personally loved Todd's spelling of Sematary, that Stephen King reference did not escape my notice. There is a Stephen King feel to the story too. Very few authors have had me so emotionally invested. King and Ness are the best in the business in that department. I was hooked all the way through. I can't wait to see how Todd gets on in book two!
julzcash's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
slavicreader's review against another edition
Temporary DNF as I lost my library hold on the audiobook
trina_reads's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. The story line was great; interesting, suspenseful, and the ending was such a cliff-hanger, one of the better cliff-hangers I've read in a book that's a part of a series. One that makes you want to go out and buy the next book right away because you want to know what's happened. Most of the cliff-hangers in series these days are still fairly resolved, so there's no urgency like there is with this one.
I really wanted to rate this five stars, but I can't. I absolutely hated the terrible spelling in this book, and I know it was done on purpose. I know Todd, the main character, is a twelve year old kid on an alien planet and he doesn't really know how to read and write, but that could have just been indicated by his bad grammar and the speech that was obviously telling of New Worlders. I feel as if the author didn't need to make sure we knew that we were in a different place by spelling words "tho", "thru", "yer", and any time a word ended in "ation" or some similar sound, by using "ayshun". It really, really bugged me. I just couldn't stop thinking that if this is a book marketed at young readers (my copy says "Winner Guardian Children's Fiction Prize" at the top), what a terrible, terrible thing to make children think that this incorrect spelling is acceptable. I don't think it added anything to the story at all; the story, the characters, everything would have been just as good with proper spelling. I know that authors do their best to make sure we feel completely absorbed in to the setting of a story, but I felt like this was completely unnecessary, and it was really just annoying. This book is still great enough to receive a high rating and a lot of praise, but I felt like I couldn't rate it the full five stars I would have because of the spelling.
I really wanted to rate this five stars, but I can't. I absolutely hated the terrible spelling in this book, and I know it was done on purpose. I know Todd, the main character, is a twelve year old kid on an alien planet and he doesn't really know how to read and write, but that could have just been indicated by his bad grammar and the speech that was obviously telling of New Worlders. I feel as if the author didn't need to make sure we knew that we were in a different place by spelling words "tho", "thru", "yer", and any time a word ended in "ation" or some similar sound, by using "ayshun". It really, really bugged me. I just couldn't stop thinking that if this is a book marketed at young readers (my copy says "Winner Guardian Children's Fiction Prize" at the top), what a terrible, terrible thing to make children think that this incorrect spelling is acceptable. I don't think it added anything to the story at all; the story, the characters, everything would have been just as good with proper spelling. I know that authors do their best to make sure we feel completely absorbed in to the setting of a story, but I felt like this was completely unnecessary, and it was really just annoying. This book is still great enough to receive a high rating and a lot of praise, but I felt like I couldn't rate it the full five stars I would have because of the spelling.