The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness

Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness
Publisher: Walker
Series: Chaos Walking Trilogy (2, 3)
Service: Own
Release Date: 22/10/2008
Pages: 479
Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★★

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Todd Hewitt is the last boy in Prentisstown.

But Prentisstown isn't like any other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in a constant overwhelming, never-ending Noise. The 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...

Give us a few words...

This video contains spoilers. Do not watch if you have not read the book! The review below is spoiler free.

Why do you say that?

I was gifted More Than This by Patrick Ness by having never read any of his work, decided to read The Knife of Never Letting Go. 

It centres round the story of Todd Hewitt who lives in Prentisstown. This town is in the New World and its only inhabitants are men and boys. Through the story we learn this is due to a war that broke out early when they first settled there. Their enemies (Spackle) released a Noise germ that killed off all women and girls and left the boys, men and animals able to hear each other’s thoughts constantly.

I fell in love with this book from the first few chapters. When Todd encounters a break in the silence he struggles to hide it and push it away from his Noise leading to everything being set into motion.

Todd’s whole journey to find safety away from Prentisstown and his meeting with people along the way is both heart warming and heart breaking. Ness makes you feel so protective over Todd’s stubborn character and there are points in the book where you will want to yell at him for being so pig headed. His overall character development throughout the story is something I loved and look forward to seeing in the next book.

With the full range of character personalities showcasing stubborn, strong, power hungry and down right crazy I felt the mix was perfect. The whole book keeps you on edge in a number of ways. If you aren’t worried about who might catch them you are wondering about the truth behind Prentisstown. All questions are answered with a horrifying truth.

The end of this book broke my heart and I cannot wait to pick up the next one in the series. Ness has easily made his way into my top 5 favourite authors. I highly recommend you get involved in The Knife of Never Letting Go, book one of The Chaos Walking Trilogy.