Review – The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, Book 1) by Patrick Ness (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 512 pages
Publisher: Candlewick
Release Date: July 22, 2014
ISBN-13: 978-0763676186
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Chaos Walking series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

“Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him — something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn’t she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd’s gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.”

This book in the first book in the Chaos walking trilogy. I was absolutely sucked into the story right away. The pace is breakneck and the mystery behind Todd’s world is completely engaging making the book impossible to put down.

This is a fairly dark and vicious story but it never gets out of middle grade territory. It’s dark without being super gory or descriptive. I enjoyed the mystery behind Todd’s world and town and loved as things were slowly revealed. I enjoyed the characters, but wish some of the side characters had featured in the story more.

Much of the story focuses on how Todd wants to become a man and on how he uses the knife his “father” gave him. While this was an interesting theme, though it was a bit overdone.

I was slightly disappointed in the big reveal about Prentisstown. I guess my imagination came up with a more interesting story than what was revealed based on all the foreshadowing. The reveal was very predictable and not all that creative.

There is a lot of action here and that was well done. The book is written in a unique style that really immerses the reader in this world and in Todd’s thoughts. There are some very creative ideas in here around the idea of Noise. The plot does get a bit repetitive at times with the whole “run and chase thing” happening over and over.

Overall this was a very engaging and intriguing read. This book is very hard to put down and I devoured in just a couple sittings. I loved the world, the mystery, and the characters. However, I was a bit disappointed in the big reveal, the cliffhanger ending, and the constant “running away” theme.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge