The Knife of Never Letting Go

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?

Review: 

I read this book as a part of a school project but I have had my eye on it for quite a while. It's a futuristic, science fiction thriller with a male protagonist Todd escaping from Prentisstown. 

This book is 150% action. Frantic battle scenes and choices confront Todd during his journey of flight and he meets some peculiar people along the way too, Viola being one of them. Viola was one heck of an interesting character. With a torn past and new surroundings, Viola is both strong willed and quick witted, pairing her and Todd to be two great characters. Throughout the novel Viola and Todd grow stronger together through all of their experiences and develop to become stronger, resilient and tough. At first, Todd is hard to relate to and I couldn't quite connect with him but through circumstances Todd shines through to be an amazingly diligent character who I learnt to live through the series.

The pacing of this book was electric fast. Todd was always active, moving, petrified. His situation was so compelling and thrilling that the pages flipped themselves. I could not get over the jittery excitement of his journey that had me on the edge of my chair in suspense. Ness really knows how to build a climax...and then end in a cliffhanger.

World building is essential in Science Fiction/ Dystopian and this book builds it all up. We learn about the Spackle and the humans who invaded the planet and were greeted by war. However there are still millions of questions left hanging that leaves the reader to only wonder what action will pursue.

Another aspect of this novel that I enjoyed was the grittiness of it. It did not hide or over fluff any of the drama. It was blunt and realistic which made the story just more intense.
Thrilling and dotted with character development, The Knife of Never Letting Go is a suspense book like no other.

5 out of 5 stars.