The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, #1) in Reading Until Infinity

Aug 10, 2017 Candace rated it really liked it

In one months time twelve-year-old Todd Hewitt will become a man. He is the last boy in a town of men to reach manhood. There are no women because they were all killed off by the virus. That same virus allows the men to hear each other's thoughts, their "noise" so to speak. It also allows them to hear the animal voices as well.

When Todd comes across a patch of silence, he and his dog, Manchee, must check it out. What they discover is a girl named Viola Eade. Todd is forced to leave Prentisstown, In one months time twelve-year-old Todd Hewitt will become a man. He is the last boy in a town of men to reach manhood. There are no women because they were all killed off by the virus. That same virus allows the men to hear each other's thoughts, their "noise" so to speak. It also allows them to hear the animal voices as well.

When Todd comes across a patch of silence, he and his dog, Manchee, must check it out. What they discover is a girl named Viola Eade. Todd is forced to leave Prentisstown, the only town he has ever known exist, for another town beyond the swamp. On his way through the swamp Todd comes across Viola again. They team up against first Aaron, the preacher of Prentisstown, and next against the Prentisstown army pursuing them. Todd, Viola and Manchee run, run for their lives; run to survive.

Soon they'll discover that men lie, even in the depths of their noise. Not all secrets are revealed in men's thoughts. Nor do past or present truths reveal the full truth.

I struggled through most of this novel. The writing on the "noise" (thoughts of others) would give me a headache. I'm glad I kept reading. The book is well worth the struggle. The cliffhanger socker punched me. (I didn't know there was a second book at the time of my reading this YA novel.)

Todd and Viola were endearing characters. Throughout the journey, Todd is learning how to read Viola's silence. We witness the growing friendship through their struggles and disappointments. Through it all these characters learn how to hope.

Manchee, the dog, is a special character. Todd starts out not really wanting the dog to calling him a "ruddy good dog." Manchee's thoughts provide the humor in the story.

It takes a while for the plot to come to fruition. We learn the truth behind Prentisstown and the army's pursuit of Todd and Viola. We also learn why Aaron, the priest, is so persistent in his pursuit of the pair. (The man is a fanatic.) We learn why there really are no women in Prentisstown.

The world building is realistic. I believe one of the words used to describe this novel is dystopia. The others would be suspense and adventure. I recommend this book for those who like any or all of this type of story. There is adult language in this novel. ...more

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Jun 27, 2019 Audrey rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, 2019-books, post-apocalyptic, science-fiction

It’s hard to classify this one. It feels the most like a post-apocalyptic story, but that’s not exactly what it is. It’s Tom Sawyer meets Maze Runner with a dash of Hunger Games, at least in the feel of it.

It is expertly written. The world-building is great with important elements introduced naturally; no info-dumping. The pacing is solid, though the book is non-stop running from bad guys. It’s in first person present tense, which I hate, yet it didn’t bother me at all in this case. The author p ...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Noor The Shape-shifter rated it really liked it · review of another edition

What would you do if the thoughts and memories and plans of every single man in the world were inside your head?
What would you do if you knew that you'll never escape from your enemy who's after you 'cause he'll always know your next move?
What would you do if you saw a girl for the first time in your life?
What would you do if you lived in a place where there are two moons in the sky and 13 months in a year?

You don't know?

Then you gotta meet Todd Hewitt, and experience such an adventure with this ...more

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Jun 28, 2014 Tommy Hancock rated it it was amazing

Finished this last night, and, man, don't know if there's a single book that made me feel so hard in so many different directions. This is as close to crying as a book got me in years (view spoiler). I also did a lot of laughing. This book almost feels like a study on humanity, while remaining fun and exciting. I'd consider it a must read, be you a fan of the genre or not. Just read it. Seriously. This is special. Two more books to go, if my heart can take it.

Also, Man ...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Erin rated it it was amazing

I had a hard time once again getting into this book right away. But that was mainly because of the way it was written with the use of slang. Once I got used to it though I didn't even notice! I loved, this book, like I really did. I loved the plot and the characters so much and I'm very excited to pick up the second book! The only problem I had with this book was.....

**spoiler***
when Manchee died. Like, nope. Not okay with that. Not okay at all. ...more

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Aug 04, 2019 Audrey marked it as duplicates

*Goodreads Duplicate*

Review found here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ...more

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