Monday, January 4, 2010

Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness



Book: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness


Genre: YA Science Fiction

Series: Book One in the Chaos Walking series

Rating: A

Read for: Fun

First line: The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say.

The first time I heard about this book was months ago when one of the librarians I work with sent out a review by email (which they do now and then... and let me just say, some of them really need to blog!) and she raved about it. So I put it on hold. In the meantime, the word started getting around the book blogs and all you people all started raving about it. But my hold never materialized (since I work at the library, if anyone gets in the hold line behind me, I get bumped... and bumped.... and bumped...) so I finally just bought the thing, and then finally got around to reading it over Christmas.

So, do I think it's worth all the hype and buzz? Yes! I do!

It's a very unique and different story from all the stuff lately out there. Except for the mind reading thing, it seems everyone is reading minds these days. But these guys can ALL read minds, and that becomes somewhat of a curse. Sort of like... chaos walking. :)

The city in which Todd grew up has a secret, and they don't want that secret getting out. When Todd reaches the age where he is about to learn the secret, his uncles, who want to protect him from this secret, send him off to escape. But the townsmen pursue him relentlessly.

Meanwhile, he comes across a girl, a creature he's not very familiar with, and she ends up running with him. Together, they face some pretty awful situations and become tougher and closer each time.

It was quite heart-wrenching, this story. I was prepared though, you all warned me. I have the next book here waiting, and I'm a little nervous for what's yet to come, but I must know what happens!

No, the bad grammar didn't bother me, and neither did the country/hick town dialect. In fact, I quite liked it. I felt it served its purpose by making us, the readers, be even that much more submerged in the story.

Bottom line: LOVED it!

Other reviews:

Things Mean A Lot
Stephanie's Confessions of a Book-a-holic
At Home With Books
Bart's Bookshelf
Persnickity Snark
Karin's Book Nook
.... and nearly every other blog I read.



Learn more about Patrick Ness here on his official site.

2 comments:

  1. Amen! It was so hard to put it down - sequel is pretty much just as action-packed. I struggled with the ending of this one, but feel like it fits with the rest of the story, in a sad kind of way.

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  2. I'm intrigued now....thanks for a tempting review. I think I'll frustrate my local librarians and put it on hold!! Thanks for a great plug for a new book!

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