Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go
Author: Patrick Ness
Release Date: May 5, 2008
Publisher: Walker
Pages: 478
My Rating: 5 stars

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Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.


But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?  - Goodreads

First thing's first, I want to make one thing very, very clear. I don't think the description gives much justice to the book; it only gives the tiniest bit of intrigue to the reader. I'm not saying I don't like it, but there is just so much more to this story that can not possibly be told in the blurb, and there are just so many unexpected aspects of this story, so it ends up barely giving a sliver of a glimpse into the awesomeness that is this book. That is why I want to do anything and everything in my power to get however few people that haven't read it to pick it up, and reviews and ratings are the way to go. (Although I know this came out quite a while ago, that is, after all, what got me to finally read it! *cough*) And however contradicting this may seem.. I think that when giving the run down of this book, just giving the info about the world (like in the blurb) is enough, because the action starts from the very first page and therefore it's a great thing that not a single bit of it is spoiled or given away. Just know, every second spent reading this book is worth it.

Truthfully, I loved everything about this book; the writing, the world, the plot, the characters, THE WHOLE ENCHILADA. It's hard to come up with the right words to explain why this should be a must-read. From what I can remember, I've never read a book with this type of writing (with all the intentional grammar and spelling mistakes), and I was a little intimidated by it, but it actually turned out to really set a certain mood to the entire story that I thought was a good addition. 

Another noticeably uncommon thing is the male narrator, Todd. Ness uses his writing in such a beautiful way to create an extremely vivid image of what is going on inside Todd's head and successfully broadcasting all of his raw emotions; his moments of panic, fear, sadness. I think the main characters develop in such a great way, always changing (just like real people do) and the connection you feel with them is unbelievable. Todd makes a great friend along the way, and their friendship is very give-take, which is also something that I LOVE. The relationships that blossom are only made more divine by the ugly, terrible circumstances that surround them.

Overall, The Knife of Never Letting Go is a book I would recommend to absolutely anyone, whether it be someone who isn't all that into reading, or someone who has read a million books and understands the beauty in words. Whether it be a guy or a girl, a young adult or not. It's action packed, full of twist and turns that you most likely won't seem coming, and moments that will have your heart shattering endlessly. Books like this remind me why it is I love to read so much, and only make me appreciate them more.

WARNING: There is a cliff hanger, so don't make the same mistake I just made, and have the second book ready to read unless you want all your emotions to erupt and splatter onto your bedroom walls. I shall go now, and scream into a pillow and/or slam my head into a wall.