The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Pages: 479.

How it was obtained: Susan got it for my birthday.

Time spent on the "to read" shelf: About a month.

Days spent reading it: 3 days.

Why I read it: I ran across a copy at a bookstore and thought the premise sounded interesting.

Brief review: Holy cow. After reading the first chapter I was hooked. A few more chapters in and the action begins and does not quit. Ever. I loved it. The premise of the book is simple, what if men's thoughts were broadcast out loud for everyone to hear? And that's what happens in this book. Prentisstown is filled with men (just men, no women) whose thoughts are out there for the world to see. It is a form of germ warfare that left the women dead and the men with unfiltered thoughts exposed to the world.  They call it "the Noise."

But there are secrets in Pretisstown, and as soon as Todd Hewitt begins to discover a few of these secrets his life changes dramatically and he is forced to flee Prentisstown. As far as the plot goes, that's all I am willing to divulge.

The Knife of Never Letting Go is full of incredible plot twists, revelations, and action. I could not put it down. Ness writes a captivating story that makes you want to press on just a little bit further every time you want to put the book down. I love that.

I would definitely recommend this book. It is marketed as a Young Adult book, but the violence (there is a lot of violence), occasional cursing (including one f-bomb, and many substitutes), and undercurrents of despair would keep me from recommending this outright to youth. Parents should be discerning. On the other hand the premise is very relevant to teens today.  The author thought about the idea of the "Noise" is based on the fact that information is becoming more and more prevalent.  With social media like facebook it is harder to keep information controlled.  It's just out there, noise.  What if we could not get away?  What if we could never unplug?  That thought of not unplugging is what makes the premise behind the plot so compelling. This book was definitely worth reading, and is one of my favorites so far this year. I highly recommend.

Favorite quote: "The Noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, a man is just chaos walking."

Stars: 5 out of 5.

Final Word: Non-stop.