“The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1)” by Patrick Ness
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopia
Source: Bought
Summary:
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 can’t tell you how good this book is. I’m going to do my best to keep this review as spoiler free as possible but that’s going to be super hard because of how spoiler-y the book is.
Want a book full of non-stop, make the reader tired action? Well this book is what you’re looking for. From about the 3rd chapter or so, the book takes off literally running and doesn’t stop. I’m serious about the ‘make the reader tired’ part! There’s SO much action. It’s amazing.
The animals in the book offer comic relief. Todd can hear their thoughts too. Everyone has imagined what animals would say if they could talk. Well turns out it’s not much really. My favorite are the sheep who just say “sheep. sheep.” (I imagine them bleating the word sheep.)
Don’t read this book if you hate cliffhangers. Every single chapter the author leaves you dropping your jaw. I didn’t know it was possible to get so mad and want to keep reading all at once. There were many times I had the urge to yell at my Kindle because of what was happening.
The only thing that bugged me about the book was the style. Todd isn’t really educated. You can tell that by the way he speaks. The author carries this through the whole book. Basically the book is written as Todd would speak or write it complete with bad grammar and spelling. It does set the tone of the book but it still annoys me when authors do that.
Rating 4.5/5
I need to get my hands on the sequel! You need to read this book ASAP.
The Cheap Reader 
I read this series shortly after finishing The Hunger Games (one of those, “What in the heck do I read now?” types of times). I really enjoyed the whole series – gives a new spin to the dystompian theme by using “the noise”! Will be interested to see how you feel about the other two books and then the series as a whole. I know a prequel (very short story) was released on the Nook for free – maybe the same for Kindle (title is The New World)??
I’m hoping to get to the rest of the books at some point. I definitely want to continue with the series.
YES! It is free for Kindle. Thank you so much for letting me know about it.
Greta review – I actually really loved the writing style – it gave me the feel for what Todd was like… (I have to laugh – without women around to teach him how to talk etc…. of course he would struggle….)
That is true. You do get to know him pretty well.
Yay, I’m so glad you loved it! But all the action does take your breath away, doesn’t it? I had to sit for a few minutes to catch my breath after each book in the series. I hope you have the next two on hand! It’s hard to wait for the next one after a cliffhanger like that!
Thank you for recommending it!
Oh yeah, the action does take your breath away. I don’t have the next ones but I think the library has them when I’m ready for it.
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I recently found this book in hardcover at my local secondhand book store for about $2; I was so excited I almost started jumping up and down in the middle of the shop. Thanks for your review, I’m really eager to read it now! I love fast-paced books full of cliffhangers! 🙂
Eeek. I’m so excited for you to read this book. The whole series are some of the best books I’ve ever read. I really hope you like it!
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