The Knife of Never Letting Go: Patrick Ness

SUMMARY (Courtesy of goodreads.com)

Todd Hewitt is the last boy in Prentisstown. But Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in a constant, overwhelming, never-ending Noise. There is no privacy. There are no secrets.

Or are there?

Just one month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd unexpectedly stumbles upon a spot of complete silence.

Which is impossible.

Prentisstown has been lying to him.

And now he's going to have to run...

OPINION: 5 STARS

First and foremost, I loved the dialect this book was written in. The misspellings and the slang used definitely helps the reader to understand Todd, especially when he starts to meet people outside of the area he grew up in.

The world that has been set up is also an intriguing one, particularly since New World was on discovered and settled in an attempt to get out of the not so great Old World, much in the way the United States were settled and populated. Both good and bad things were discovered and the treatment and distrust of the natives also echoes plenty of times in our own history.

While it would seem that a book that covers only Todd’s escape and attempts to get to his final destination would be dragging and repetitive, this book was anything but. There were plenty events and people introduced and encounters and the reader was able to follow along with Todd as he discovered an unending list of things about the world he lived in that had always been hidden from him.

The initial rivalry between Viola and Todd also drew me in since it is the kind of thing that shows up in plenty of books yet their particular relationship and reasons for mistrust were vastly different. I also enjoyed the glimpse into Manchee’s mind and found that to be the most humorous and relieving parts of the book since it definitely rang true to dogs’ nature- no matter what, they find something to be happy and excited about and enjoy the little things in life.

Overall, this novel was a well done story set in an entirely different world than our own but still mirrored this one enough that it was easy for the reader to follow and understand.