#18 The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Todd Hewitt is the only boy left in a town filled with men on an otherwise abandoned alien planet. There were once women in Prentisstown,
but they were killed by the native race (called the “Spackle”), when Todd was just an infant. The remaining men were infected with a germ which caused even their most private thoughts to be heard as plainly as if they were spoken aloud. Todd knows that in just thirty short days, he will thirteen and considered a man. But before he can get to that day, he discovers something in the swamp that causes him to question everything he's ever known.
The Knife of Never Letting Go is the March selection for calico_reaction 's bookclub, and it's a novel that I've been meaning to read for a few years now. Like many young adult releases these days, it's a dystopia, although at first it doesn't really feel like one. Life in Prentisstown is almost void of any advanced technology. In fact the character's lives feels a little rustic in comparison to today's western lifestyle. I found this to be refreshing. The novel reads like a thriller/tale of survival, with plenty of twists, turns and intense moments. I don't want to give too much away about the story, but I do want to mention that it's quite dark for a young adult novel. Although there are plenty of young adult novels out there that explore dark themes, there are certain lines that most will not cross. The Knife of Never Letting Go waltzes right past one without looking back. It can also be a very sad novel. I found myself getting attached to certain characters early on, and was very sad when one of them died.
The Knife of Never Letting Go is a strong novel with great characters, but it also worth noting that it embraces some of my biggest pet peeves. One of those pet peeves is how characters seem to do a lot of standing around and talking, when they really need to be running forward (in a chase scene for example). There's just something about that that makes me want to tear out my hair, and this book does it frequently. Another pet peeve of mine is when so much tension is based on delayed information. An example of this is when characters stand around and talk about important information that must be revealed to a character but as there's “no time now,” we don't end up learning anything (although we do get a lengthy scene where people talk about how there's “no time now.” I'm sorry! It just drives me nuts). I've always felt that this was kind of a cheap way to build tension, and by the time you get to the big reveal at the end, you've pretty much already guessed what it is. The book also ends on a cliffhanger, which is not one of my pet peeves (in fact, I thought it was well done), but I know a lot of people dislike cliffhangers.
I'm not going to deny that I had a few issues with The Knife of Never Letting Go, but the majority of the time, I quite liked it. I experienced this book as an audiobook, narrated by Nick Podehl. It's been a long time since I've seen someone narrate an audiobook so passionately. I do hope that they got Podehl to narrate the rest of the series. I plan on reading the last two books in the trilogy, and will probably experience them both as audiobooks as well.
Rating: four stars
Length: the print version is 479 pages
Source: Lewiston Public Library
Similar Books: Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi ( my review), The Forests of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan ( my review), and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins ( my review)
Other books I've read by this author: This is my first.
Next up I will be reviewing Tortall and Other Lands by Tamora Pierce
xposted to temporaryworlds, bookish , and goodreads
but they were killed by the native race (called the “Spackle”), when Todd was just an infant. The remaining men were infected with a germ which caused even their most private thoughts to be heard as plainly as if they were spoken aloud. Todd knows that in just thirty short days, he will thirteen and considered a man. But before he can get to that day, he discovers something in the swamp that causes him to question everything he's ever known.
The Knife of Never Letting Go is the March selection for calico_reaction 's bookclub, and it's a novel that I've been meaning to read for a few years now. Like many young adult releases these days, it's a dystopia, although at first it doesn't really feel like one. Life in Prentisstown is almost void of any advanced technology. In fact the character's lives feels a little rustic in comparison to today's western lifestyle. I found this to be refreshing. The novel reads like a thriller/tale of survival, with plenty of twists, turns and intense moments. I don't want to give too much away about the story, but I do want to mention that it's quite dark for a young adult novel. Although there are plenty of young adult novels out there that explore dark themes, there are certain lines that most will not cross. The Knife of Never Letting Go waltzes right past one without looking back. It can also be a very sad novel. I found myself getting attached to certain characters early on, and was very sad when one of them died.
The Knife of Never Letting Go is a strong novel with great characters, but it also worth noting that it embraces some of my biggest pet peeves. One of those pet peeves is how characters seem to do a lot of standing around and talking, when they really need to be running forward (in a chase scene for example). There's just something about that that makes me want to tear out my hair, and this book does it frequently. Another pet peeve of mine is when so much tension is based on delayed information. An example of this is when characters stand around and talk about important information that must be revealed to a character but as there's “no time now,” we don't end up learning anything (although we do get a lengthy scene where people talk about how there's “no time now.” I'm sorry! It just drives me nuts). I've always felt that this was kind of a cheap way to build tension, and by the time you get to the big reveal at the end, you've pretty much already guessed what it is. The book also ends on a cliffhanger, which is not one of my pet peeves (in fact, I thought it was well done), but I know a lot of people dislike cliffhangers.
I'm not going to deny that I had a few issues with The Knife of Never Letting Go, but the majority of the time, I quite liked it. I experienced this book as an audiobook, narrated by Nick Podehl. It's been a long time since I've seen someone narrate an audiobook so passionately. I do hope that they got Podehl to narrate the rest of the series. I plan on reading the last two books in the trilogy, and will probably experience them both as audiobooks as well.
Rating: four stars
Length: the print version is 479 pages
Source: Lewiston Public Library
Similar Books: Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi ( my review), The Forests of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan ( my review), and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins ( my review)
Other books I've read by this author: This is my first.
Next up I will be reviewing Tortall and Other Lands by Tamora Pierce
xposted to temporaryworlds, bookish , and goodreads