The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go
Author: Patrick Ness
Release Date: May 5th, 2008
Publisher: Walker Books
Pages: 496
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Age Group: Young Adult

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?

I love sci-fi and I love dystopia and when I first picked this book up I thought it would be like any other dystopian book I have read. And how wrong was I?

First, I don't like books about aliens and so I stay away from those types of books, but there was only one exception to the rule, and now this book has become the second. Even though there was a little alien stuff going on and hints of more alien stuff in the future books I can overlook it because of what the actual story itself is saying.

The main premise of the story revolves around Todd, who is considered a boy in his town and will soon become a man at the age of 13, but after a series of events Todd is forced to leave his home and with Viola travel through an unknown world and suddenly the secrets of his town are revealed as Todd realizes what the future of New World could hold.

Obviously I thought that they were still here, on our world, but that it was just way in the future where some weird viruses made people's thoughts known, which is not the case.

In fact there were so many surprises that my head was spinning. It was an adventure, one event after another. What bothered me, and I think it was also one of the author's main point, was the main character's naivete. Granted he had grown up in an enclosed town and there many secrets that were left from him, but instead of thinking rationally he had this annoying tendency to do stupid things, which made me want to jump him. I kept smacking myself on the book, because there were so many situations that could have been avoided if he put aside his stupid pride and actually listened to others.

But with the way it ended, and I have to say that this was another jaw-dropper cliff-hanger endings, I hope to watch some character growth in Todd. As well as Viola. She wasn't without her faults either. It was like the city people meet the rural farmers, with the city person thinking that they were smart and better. Yes, Viola was very smart, but at times I think she was a little detached and didn't understand the way of life too well.

Todd was reluctant to accept the way things are supposed to be and Viola was reluctant to accept the way things were. And somehow these two fit together perfectly.

Despite how frustrated I was throughout this book I am actually looking forward to the next book. Ness really puts the reader into Todd's mind and the reader can connect with him and I like that. This trilogy has potential!