The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, #1) in Addicted to YA

Sep 04, 2014 alana rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-adult, dystopia, sci-fi, addicted-to-ya-2014-books, series-in-progress

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I read The Knife of Never Letting Go as an Addicted to YA Book of the Month in 2014. It was hard to get into the rhythm of the written dialect, and I was unsure how to process all the large "noise" fonts or the concept of noise in general. (Noise refers to the audible and visual projection of all males' thoughts which can then be heard/seen by all those around them.) With the whole swamp aspect, I thought we were i ...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Rachel rated it really liked it

In a month, Todd is going to become a man on the New World settlement in a town called Prentisstown, what he believes to be the only settlement on the New World. A virus existing in the New World killed all of the women, lets animals talk and makes it possible for the men to hear each other's thoughts, what they refer to as Noise. When Todd and his dog Manchee encounter a quiet space in the swamp surrounding their town, they're forced to leave and find out their New World holds more secrets than In a month, Todd is going to become a man on the New World settlement in a town called Prentisstown, what he believes to be the only settlement on the New World. A virus existing in the New World killed all of the women, lets animals talk and makes it possible for the men to hear each other's thoughts, what they refer to as Noise. When Todd and his dog Manchee encounter a quiet space in the swamp surrounding their town, they're forced to leave and find out their New World holds more secrets than they thought.

The book is written in first person present from Todd's perspective, and I can understand why some people find it hard to read. His dialect is broken and the spelling is incorrect. There are also quite a few sentences that extend for paragraphs using "and" over and over again. Yes, I agree, it took some time to get used to, but after the first few pages, didn't bother me. In fact I think it was necessary. Todd is ill-educated (books were outlawed in Prentisstown because education added to the Noise) and the style of writing makes you feel like you're really inside Todd's head.

I thought the world and concept was interesting, and liked that a high-level science fiction idea (colonizing other planets) was intermingled with country-living (they are farmers) and old school faith and religion. Todd and the other settlers were like the pilgrims who came here, to settle a new world free of religious persecution.

Once Todd leaves Prentisstown, the action is non-stop, which I found a little exhausting. Even in a thriller or adventure book there are always a few places in which the characters can breathe, rest and talk. Not so in The Knife. Todd was constantly being chased and the idea of him running for days, injured, without sleep or food seemed highly unrealistic.

At the end, I read Mr. Ness' bio and he said he got the idea for the book because of our current information highway. We text, we email, we have Facebook...we pretty much know everyone's secrets because they're on the Internet. He wanted to discover a world in which no secret was hidden. That being said, the book has secrets, quite a few of them. And somehow they remain hidden.

I found that also hard to believe considering thoughts float through the air on the wind. Certainly Todd would've picked up some information along the way. In fact, some information he learns, yet we as readers don't learn. It was if Mr. Ness was purposely trying to keep it from us which was frustrating and pulled me from the story. Thankfully, unlike other books, all secrets were revealed by the end. But I personally think some of them could've been divulged sooner.

As far as character development, I though Todd was extremely well thought out. He wasn't pure hero. He wasn't complete nuiscance. He was flawed. Overall, he was moral which was both redeeming and frustrating at times. He had a temper. He was curious and he was proud. He seemed like a regular teenage boy, but one we could like. I only wish we knew more what he looked like. I never got a clear picture of how any of the people in the book looked.

Will I read the next book in the series? Yes, but I need a little break. Something slower-paced and quiet to separate the two.

Will I read other books by Partick Ness? Yes? I know I gave this four stars. Four well-earned stars for originality, voice and character. It was also exhausting and long. I would definitely be curious about future novels. Another unique story would definitely sell me. ...more

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