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A review by ladytiara
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
4.0
The Knife of Never Letting Go is the first book in a dystopian trilogy set in a far-away space colony sometime in the future (the specifics of where and when are vague). Todd Hewitt is a few weeks away from becoming a man according to the rules of his town. He lives in Prentisstown, the only settlement of the colony that survived a war with the native inhabitants of the planet. The humans won the war, but at a heavy cost: the women all died from a virus that also infected the men with what they call Noise, the ability to hear the thoughts of everyone around them. It's a brutal world, and as Todd nears his birthday, he learns that everything he's been taught throughout his childhood may be a lie, he finds a girl (something he's never encountered in the flesh before) named Viola, and he goes on the run with Viola and his dog Manchee (who can "talk" to Todd; his barks are intelligible Noise).
The Knife of Never Letting Go is a fascinating book. A world in which you can hear everyone's thoughts is a scary one, and Ness does an excellent job of conveying just how difficult it is to live like this. The Noise is constant and loud and often horrible. Words are always spilling out, and Todd frequently hears disturbing things. When Todd encounters Viola, he can't hear her Noise, and the relationship they forge is severely hampered by this difference. Todd and Viola are both engaging characters, and they're two lost souls who are thrown into circumstances far beyond their control. I was completely caught up in their journey.
This is a gripping, intense, moving book. The suspense is constant, and Todd and Viola's journey is fraught with peril. The author's use of language is excellent. The characters speak English, but a slightly altered form, what might be in use in a remote place where the people don't have much formal education. The book uses different fonts to indicate Noise coming from other characters, and it's an effective device. The language isn't hard to read, but it's just different enough to emphasize how alien this world is.
The book just missed five stars for me. It's a great book, but the revelation of the big secret is something of a let-down. There's a lot of buildup, but it ends up being a bit predictable. I'm hoping there's something more to it that will be revealed in the subsequent books.
The Knife of Never Letting Go is a fascinating book. A world in which you can hear everyone's thoughts is a scary one, and Ness does an excellent job of conveying just how difficult it is to live like this. The Noise is constant and loud and often horrible. Words are always spilling out, and Todd frequently hears disturbing things. When Todd encounters Viola, he can't hear her Noise, and the relationship they forge is severely hampered by this difference. Todd and Viola are both engaging characters, and they're two lost souls who are thrown into circumstances far beyond their control. I was completely caught up in their journey.
This is a gripping, intense, moving book. The suspense is constant, and Todd and Viola's journey is fraught with peril. The author's use of language is excellent. The characters speak English, but a slightly altered form, what might be in use in a remote place where the people don't have much formal education. The book uses different fonts to indicate Noise coming from other characters, and it's an effective device. The language isn't hard to read, but it's just different enough to emphasize how alien this world is.
The book just missed five stars for me. It's a great book, but the revelation of the big secret is something of a let-down. There's a lot of buildup, but it ends up being a bit predictable. I'm hoping there's something more to it that will be revealed in the subsequent books.