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A review by pageboi31
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This was a recommendation from one of my friends! I was a little nervous going in, only because most of the previous books they've had me read we differed from each other in terms of enjoyment, but I had a pretty good feeling about this one. My only regret is not getting to this book in time in July, where it would've been my top of the month!
I have lots of different feelings and thoughts about this book, all as disorganized as the Noise. The premise of this book is a classic one: a coming of age story for a boy as he runs away from everything he knows and is thrown into the world to figure it out on his own...but that's obviously putting it in the vaguest terms possible. Todd Hewitt is the last boy in a colony of men on New World, a distant planet from Earth. Everything on this planetbesides women , including the various wildlife and natives known as Spacks, have the Noise: a disease(?) that causes your thoughts to be heard aloud for others to hear.
I love the way the author used different typefaces for the Noise, and that first chapter in Prentisstown was very cool to read!
Todd as a protagonist was ok. I was worried the accent and frequent misspellings would get on my nerves, but luckily it was a nonissue. He reminds me of other teen boys trying to navigate their place in the world and becoming an adult, so his whininess didn't bother me too much; Plus, him and Viola go through A LOT. I love how their relationship struggles and grows over time, and how Todd learns to care about more than just himself and understands Viola, even if he can't hear her literal thoughts.
This book is incredibly bleak most of the time. I love how the author tried to have characters push this message of hope and the importance of hope, but those characters just die...and our protagonists are left struggling to survive the entire time.And don't get me started about how Todd and Viola finally get a moment to be happy and they get in a deadly scuffle with Aaron, barely walk away and then immediately Viola gets shot and Todd runs to Haven, only to find the town was taken over by Mayor Prentiss and he no longer has the Noise too!? WHAT!? . This book is a bittersweet, happiness-free zone...I wonder what teen me would've felt if I read it back when it first came out.
Whelp, that gut-wrenching cliffhanger means I definitely will be reading the next book! I hope the lore/history of New World and the first colonists is explained more. I can understand why these details are a little lackingconsidering Todd was not educated about these things and lied to, only having his Mom's book and other adults to fill in those gaps .
Also, I thought animal deaths in books were already bad, but MY GOSH adding the ability to talk makes them so much worse...RIP Manchee
I have lots of different feelings and thoughts about this book, all as disorganized as the Noise. The premise of this book is a classic one: a coming of age story for a boy as he runs away from everything he knows and is thrown into the world to figure it out on his own...but that's obviously putting it in the vaguest terms possible. Todd Hewitt is the last boy in a colony of men on New World, a distant planet from Earth. Everything on this planet
I love the way the author used different typefaces for the Noise, and that first chapter in Prentisstown was very cool to read!
Todd as a protagonist was ok. I was worried the accent and frequent misspellings would get on my nerves, but luckily it was a nonissue. He reminds me of other teen boys trying to navigate their place in the world and becoming an adult, so his whininess didn't bother me too much; Plus, him and Viola go through A LOT. I love how their relationship struggles and grows over time, and how Todd learns to care about more than just himself and understands Viola, even if he can't hear her literal thoughts.
This book is incredibly bleak most of the time. I love how the author tried to have characters push this message of hope and the importance of hope, but those characters just die...and our protagonists are left struggling to survive the entire time.
Whelp, that gut-wrenching cliffhanger means I definitely will be reading the next book! I hope the lore/history of New World and the first colonists is explained more. I can understand why these details are a little lacking