Review: THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO

The Knife Of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Book 1 of the Chaos Walking series
Read by Humphrey Bower
Genre: middlegrade/YA fantasy
Format: paperback & audiobook

About 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?

Source: Info in the About The Knife Of Never Letting Go was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2118745.The_Knife_of_Never_Letting_Go on 08/04/2013.

Review:

I've heard about Patrick Ness but I've never really picked up his work because the premise didn't attract my interest. In fact it made me, a fantasy geek, shy away from it. Until the World Book Night organization gave me a copy. And this book got read.

I kind of find the story telling quality annoying. It has a middlegrade tone but the book is suppose to be YA since the main protagonist seems to be in the "13 years old" age range. OK so the protagonist is just a kid. 13 years old? Not sure since their month seems to be 13 months long instead of 12. Anyway, so a bit of stupidity could be expected as part of him being an adolescent kid and all. But it seems that Todd is not only stupid but his sense of self-preservation is a lot more stunted than everybody else's. A scary bad guy comes at you and you just stand there and let him take your knife away and let him beat the shit out of you. What kind of person just stands there? Todd obviously. For a YA and/or middlegrade book, The Knife Of Never Letting Go takes on dark adult themes like murder and letting a loved one die to save your own skin. Add this with the stupid protagonist. And I was a royally annoyed reader! This may be a good marketing technique. Probably ratchets the suspense up or whatever. But it only annoys me to hell and back. I had to stop reading before I spontaneously combust from annoyance! It was stop-start like that all through out the book. You can safely say that this book wasn't a quick read. But it wasn't all bad. The author knows how to tug on the emotional heartstrings of the readers and I think this is the most redeeming quality of this book. Plus the narration was clear and distinct. The world building is not intricate but beautiful none the less. However the thing which clinches this book as a goner for me is the cliffhanger ending. That's it! No more Patrick Ness books for me!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 2
Character development = 3
Story itself = 3
Ending = 3.5
World building = 3.5
Cover art = 2
Pace = 1 (paperback) / (audiobook: 12hrs and 32mins listening time)
Plot = 3
Narration = 3.5

Overall Rating: 2.5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Chaos Walking Series:


Thank you to the World Book Night organization for the free paperback copy of The Knife Of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness which in turn shall be passed on to someone else.

FTC Disclosure:
The paperback copy was received for free from the World Book Night organization. The audiobook format was purchased with private funds. No money received for this review.

World Book Night 2013

I gave away World Book Night (WBN) books at Pontypridd Library yesterday and it was a memorable experience! People welcomed the opportunity to read with a smile!! To give credit where credit is due, I think this is mostly due to the tireless efforts of our librarians! They told people about it and welcomed the opportunity to celebrate WBN! So a huge thank you to our librarians and to everybody who participated in the WBN celebration!!

What made it sad is me (I think). I haven't read my chosen book when I picked the title among the 20 WBN 2013 titles to choose from way back when (a month or so ago) I had to choose a book to give. And part of the "Giver agreement" was to read the book before the event. Which I did. So what happens if the Giver turns out that he/she didn't like the book? And that is exactly what happened to me!! So how can I give The Knife Of Never Letting Go to anybody?? And that was the main obstacle to this year's event. In the end I still have to give the books away, but there wasn't any of my enthusiasm of the last couple of years. I just try to keep in mind that not all people are the same. That even though the book is not for me, some might actually like it. Heck! Somebody at the WBN staff must have for this book to get picked! So I gave the book only to those who looked like they actually want to have it (except one) and wished them luck! Consequently I still have a few books left which I intend to donate to a hospital charity I know and can be picked by those who only actually wants the book enough to be willing to donate to the charity to have it. (That except one is a library employee so I feel less guilty about dumping The Knife Of Never Letting Go on him because if he didn't like it then he could just pass it on to someone else who wants to read a book in a library...)     This is also the book which is making me decide not to become a Giver next year. It has somehow leached my enthusiasm away. And that was how my World Book Night 2013 went. Did you celebrate WBN? If so, how was it?

World Book Night at Treorchy

Just got home from giving away World Book Night books at Treorchy Library. What a wonderful experience!! So unlike the last years' WBN where the reception of the books was "apprehensive". Today, people welcomed the opportunity to read with a smile!! I attribute this mostly to the wonderful enthusiasm of our librarian! She posted WBN posters and told people about it way in advance before the actual event. Then she provided teas and coffees. And there were four other WBN givers there and we got to chat a little bit. It was a very nice experience indeed!! So a huge thank you to our dear librarian, Angela and to everybody who came to participate in the WBN event at Treorchy library!!

Thank you to the Treorchy Library for hosting the World Book Night in our neck of woods!

World Book Night at Pontypridd Library

What is World Book Night?
On 5th of March 2011, a million books is given away across Britain and Ireland. The promotion will become the focus of a massive media onslaught from the launch in December, culminating in an evening of television programming, all night events, readings, book parties and nationwide celebration of the written word.

I gave away World Book Night copies of Northern Lights by Philip Pullman at Pontypridd Library this evening. There weren't that many people at the library despite it being pre-announced by the Library for days before the event. So I still have plenty of copies left. Maybe I'll stand in a corner tomorrow in a busy street in town and try to give these books away...

The experience had me thinking that it seems like not a lot of people read in South Wales. Maybe that is why the libraries are closing because not a lot of people are using them thus the politicians can use that to justify closing libraries and shifting funding somewhere else. ...And is simply giving away books a way of encouraging people to read? I chose Northern Lights by Philip Pullman because I love that trilogy and would like to share it with the world! but it seems that the world can't be bothered, really...

World Book Night

What is World Book Night?
On 5th of March 2011, a million books will be given away across Britain and Ireland. The promotion will become the focus of a massive media onslaught from the launch in December, culminating in an evening of television programming, all night events, readings, book parties and nationwide celebration of the written word.

I was one of the lucky ones who was selected to be a UK giver of the World Book Night celebrations!! I would be at Pontypridd Library from 4-4:30PM on the 5th of March 2011, giving away World Book Night copies of Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. So if you are in the area, come drop by and pick up your free copy of Northern Lights!!