A review by faithtrustpixiedust
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

3.0

“War is a monster,” he says, almost to himself. “War is the devil. It starts and it consumes and it grows and grows and grows. [...] And otherwise normal men become monsters, too.”

I really don't know if I liked this or not. I was thoroughly surprised by it, let me tell you! It was NOTHING like I was expecting, but I can't say whether that is an entirely good thing or not. I'm going to attempt to explain myself.

The stream-of-consciousness writing was generally pretty good. It lent a lot of character to the story and gave a good insight into Todd's mind. I just wish that, sometimes, it was a little more straightforward. Fight scenes were nearly incomprehensible, almost entirely lacked all tension, and just generally left me confused.

The world felt...I don't even know to describe it--weird? Like, I was daydreaming, weird. Almost uncomfortably so. It had an anxiety to it that I'm not sure was intended. The extreme lack of landscape descriptions and constant internal dialogue contributed to the surreal, disassociated feeling. I found the concept really cool, I just wish the other inhabitants of the world held more presence in the story. A lot of people were introduced as if they were going to be important only to be quickly forgotten.

Also, the sheer determination of Aaron was unintentionally comical. The man just would not stop. I liked Mr. Prentiss tho. I might read the sequel solely for him.

I've found that I have a weird issue with Patrick Ness. Every one of his books that I've tried to read after I read (and LOVED) A Monster Calls has lowkey been a flop for me, and I can't figure out what it is. I know A Monster Calls wasn't his original idea, but he was the one who executed it, and I loved his execution of it, so it isn't his ability to write that is in question here.

Also, I will never forgive him for Manchee.