The Knife of Never Letting Go
By Patrick Ness
Candlewick September 2008
479 pages
From the library
Todd Hewitt lives in Prentisstown with only other males. He is the last boy in town, at least until his upcoming birthday when he will officially be a man. Prentisstown is a unique place - everyone can hear each other's thoughts all of the time. When Todd and his dog Machee are out in the woods, he discovers a place of silence. How can this be? What does it mean? Todd's discovery will change his life and Prentisstown forever.
You may know that I'm not a big fan of many YA novels. I often have problems with pacing, character, and obnoxiously unrealistic romantic subplots. In this rare case, I sped through this book in a day and immediately hopped on the computer to request the sequel. I loved everything about this book - the originality of story, the realistic characters, and the beautiful relationships between them. People, I even have strong feelings about the dog in this book and I am 100% not a pet person.
Todd is an exceptionally well-written character. He strikes the perfect balance of being unsure and on his own for the first time as well as desperate to hold on to the confidence and bravado of a teenage boy. Each of the characters are written with care and you can't help but root for them as they try to discover the truth and stay one step ahead of the bad guys (who are oh-so-bad). Every time something happens to put them in danger or set them back, it's as discouraging and terrifying to the reader as it is for the characters.
One of the strongest themes in this book is the idea of morality and the truth. Todd has grown up knowing the story of what happened to his parents and to his community. But he learns that he has been lied to for years, despite the town's strict religious beliefs. This book could be described as a kind of morality tale, but Ness is so subtle in the crafting of it that you might not catch it. How do you choose to do right when it seems like you only have the option of bad or worse?
Dear YA, I take back all of the nasty things I said about you if you have more writers like Patrick Ness and more books like The Knife of Never Letting Go.
Todd is an exceptionally well-written character. He strikes the perfect balance of being unsure and on his own for the first time as well as desperate to hold on to the confidence and bravado of a teenage boy. Each of the characters are written with care and you can't help but root for them as they try to discover the truth and stay one step ahead of the bad guys (who are oh-so-bad). Every time something happens to put them in danger or set them back, it's as discouraging and terrifying to the reader as it is for the characters.
One of the strongest themes in this book is the idea of morality and the truth. Todd has grown up knowing the story of what happened to his parents and to his community. But he learns that he has been lied to for years, despite the town's strict religious beliefs. This book could be described as a kind of morality tale, but Ness is so subtle in the crafting of it that you might not catch it. How do you choose to do right when it seems like you only have the option of bad or worse?
Dear YA, I take back all of the nasty things I said about you if you have more writers like Patrick Ness and more books like The Knife of Never Letting Go.
Yay! I'm not a big YA'er either, but I loved this and the rest of the Chaos Walking series. Patrick Ness is a fantastic writer and I just wish there was more YA like this. Make sure to read A Monster Calls if you haven't already, but have all the tissues ready.
ReplyDeleteI just finished The Ask and The Answer and I will be requesting the third book today. Thanks for the tissue warning for A Monster Calls!
DeleteThere are few YA books that can grab me the way this one grabbed you :) Onto the wish list it goes!
ReplyDeleteYay! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. :)
DeleteYou nailed my thoughts on Todd completely! And I burned out on YA fiction after all the Twilight hoo-hah. Luckily, there are still authors like Ness who break the mold every time and really elevate YA to another level. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI picked this up for the readathon, thinking a YA novel would be a good choice. I didn't get to read it then, but I'm so glad I took a chance on this book and discovered a great author (and that not all YA is terrible...).
DeleteCongrats on the new baby, she is gorgeous. I loved the Chaos Walking series and want to listen to it on audio. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. :)
DeleteI have to order the third book in the series from the library - I keep forgetting! Listening to it on audio would be interesting. I wonder if it is narrated by the author or by someone else.
The story sounds really interesting and the cover is enigmatic. I'll look for this title.
ReplyDelete