The Knife of Never Letting Go Book Review
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness is a very well written novel. The book is based on the concept of the human race moving to a new planet where everyone could hear each other's thoughts. This was a mind boggling concept.Even without the whole concept of hearing each other's thoughts, this book would be amazing, but add that in and you have a completely new and unique world to dive into and explore. This world includes the town, characters, and mysterious feeling that's created throughout the entire novel.
The beginning of this novel starts out with a boy in a town called “Prentisstown.” The story progresses along as it introduces many characters who will only be important to the beginning of the novel. The story picks up very quickly starting at the point where Todd, the main character, finds a break in the noise that is created from peoples' thoughts, the reason for this is revealed later in the novel. I personally felt that the story picked up too fast. I would have liked to soak up more of the background and thoughts of the residents and places in Prentisstown. Of course many of the facts you originally learn in the beginning of the novel are challenged later into the storyline, so that may have been why the author kept the beginning so short.
The characters in this novel will really are so well developed. There's Todd and Viola, the two main characters, who will squabble and fight with each other throughout the novel; Manchee, Todd's dog, who tends to bring some comic relief to the novel; Ben, Todd's stepfather; and the many other characters who are introduced into each new town. I will not name these people as they don't stay in the story for more than a chapter or two. Todd is a stubborn character who at first is unsure whether or not he can trust Viola when he first meets her, but he is soon forced to trust her and her judgment when they both end up running away from the same threat. Viola is very quiet at the beginning of the story and eventually begins talking more and more throughout the novel. As you progress through the story, a sense of romance begins to form between these two. Ben is a very important character. He isn't around for very many parts of the story but the things he does make up for him not actually having many things to say or do.
Throughout the entirety of the novel, the author kept a certain sense of mystery. I was always unsure of what was happening. There were many parts of the story that had me questioning whether or not the main character was really going to make it, but the end of the book leaves many questions to be answered in the sequel of this trilogy. The end is very tense and suspenseful and will leave you begging for more from the book.
Although this novel has a start that does not let you indulge yourself into the characters background much, it is still one of my favorite reads of all time. The characters just grab you and don't let go and the author wrote the book in such a way that you just can't help but read more. I love this story so much, and I would recommend it to anyone who can handle the suspense and drama.
