The Knife of Never Letting Go
Book 1 of the Chaos Walking trilogy. Prentisstown isn’t like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in a constant, overwhelming Noise. There is no privacy. There are no secrets. Then Todd Hewitt unexpectedly stumbles on a spot of complete silence. Which is impossible. And now he’s going to have to run… This new edition marks the 10th anniversary of the award-winning modern classic, soon to be a major motion picture starring Tom Holland…

‘The Knife of Never Letting Go’ by Patrick Ness is a dystopian science-fiction book about a boy named Todd who lives in a world where you can hear everyone’s thoughts in something called “Noise”. Todd is trying to uncover the secrets of his town and its mayor. If he is to succeed he must first forget everything he has ever known to be true. Will Todd dig up the truth or will he continue living in a world of lies?

‘The Knife of Never Letting Go’ is well written and impossible to put down! There’s a beautiful message about the value of friendship and it’s a story worth reading. There aren’t any particular areas the book lacks in, but there are some words that people may consider swear words and there are a few comments that can be considered offensive. The book also contains some mild violence.

On the other hand, Patrick Ness is a brilliant author and has used descriptive language to enhance the story. The plot is well thought out and extremely clever. The relationships are formed through a strong emotional connection the characters share, and Patrick Ness has done an excellent job creating that bond. “The Noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, a man is just chaos walking.” This is a popular quote that sums up the book rather well, and it is where the name for the Chaos Walking trilogy comes from. Overall, ‘The Knife of Never Letting Go’ is an extremely creative story that deserves a 5/5 star rating.

Review by Genazzano FCJ College student