I’ve realised recently that I’m a very naughty blogger when it comes to actually reading the books I’ve won in other people’s giveaways. I was lucky enough to win a copy of The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness back in November from Cecelia at The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia and I’ve only just actually read it. How very bad of me! Anyway I’m so glad I’ve finally finished it because I had trouble putting it down.
As for the storyline, I’m going to be lazy and quote the back cover because otherwise I’ll probably give too many details away:
“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?”
The first two-thirds of this dystopian novel held me absolutely captivated. Turning out the light and getting some sleep was only possible after a long internal argument in which common sense eventually prevailed over my desire to keep reading. The plot twists were surprising, the characters likeable and the atmosphere tense. But when a certain character was killed off it left me really cold. I guess it kind of worked, maybe the author even thought it was necessary for the integrity of the storyline, but it made me really angry at the book and took away a lot of what I found charming about it. I still devoured the remainder of the book and really enjoyed it, but I lost a bit of my initially intense enthusiasm for it after that development. I kind of wish I could say more about this, but I can’t without spoiling it for others.
I felt the relationship between Todd and V was really interesting, I liked observing how they interacted with each other as a result of, or in spite of, their different backgrounds.
The dialogue includes some slang and some words written with accents, which is something I can find really annoying but Ness pulled it off here. The combination of this with Ness’ slightly stream of thought writing style style reminded me a bit of As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, but far less challenging and easier to enjoy (I’ve compared two books in a row to As I Lay Dying now… what the?). The tense, action-packed nature of the book reminded me of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and I would really recommend it to readers who have enjoyed that series. The becoming a man and finding out the truth aspect of the novel heavily draws on The Giver by Lois Lowry, a classic in young adult dystopian literature. And the hiding and fighting in wild terrain reminded of Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden. If you’ve liked any of these you’ll probably like The Knife of Never Letting Go.
I’ve already bought The Ask and the Answer, the third in the trilogy, so that I can read it when the mood strikes.
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The first part of the book sounds really good to me, as for killing a character off, I guess I´ll consider myself warned
I love dystopian fiction but I haven´t read any in YA, I need to change that. I wanted to try The Hunger Games but then there was a recommendation by Stephanie Meyer on the cover, that really out me off!
And your comparisons tell me that I really need to try Faulkner again
btw, I love the cover of the Colette book in your sidebar!
I think you’d enjoy The Knife of Never Letting Go. Ohhh you shouldn’t let that put you off about The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins’ book is very well written IMO, not in the Stephenie Meyer vein at all, though I enjoyed her books at the time. Really The Hunger Games has been marketed as YA but I think it could just as easily have been marketed as adult fiction. I think you’d really enjoy it.
I’ve only read As I Lay Dying and it was SO much work, but towards the end I realised that while it was hard I had enjoyed it and was glad to have read it.
Claudine at School arrived for me at the library today. I reserved it after reading Eva at A Striped Armchair’s thoughts on the Claudine series, I’m looking forward to reading it.
Haha, okay, then I´ll need to get my hands on a copy of The Hunger games. I was really all for it until I saw the Meyer quote, what were the publishers thinking?
I can´t even remember which Faulkner I read but somehow it stuck that he´s exhausting
Can´t wait to hear your thoughts on the Colette!
Interesting review! You have given a summary of the story and your thoughts on it, without giving anything away – that is wonderful! Nice to know that this is a trilogy. Will add this to my wish list. I haven’t read ‘The Hunger Games’ either. But am hoping to read volume 1 and 2 before ‘Mockingjay’ comes out.
The plot sounds familiar – I think I must have looked at this but decided not to read it. I hadn’t read any reviews of it though; I definitely want to read it now. I absolutely love Marsden’s Tomorrow series, and the Hunger Games are good too. Am trying to think if I’ve heard of As I Lay Dying… nope, can’t say I have. I’m intrigued though!
Nice review, Dominique! I also read the book recently and I agree your assessment. My post is here: http://leeswammes.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/the-knife-of-never-letting-go-by-patrick-ness/
I loved The Hunger Games and its sequel, and think they’re a little better than the Ness books.
So glad you read this one and liked it! I haven’t gone on to the second book yet because the reading experience drained me, but I plan to soon.
p.s. I’m bad at reading books I’ve won in contests too… *hides*
I’ve been meaning to get to this book.
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