“Todd Hewitt is the last boy in Prentisstown.
But Prentisstown isn’t like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in a constant, overwhelming, never-ending Noise. There is no privacy. There are no secrets.
Or are there?
Just one month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd unexpectedly stumbles upon a spot of complete silence.
Which is impossible.
Prentisstown has been lying to him.And now he’s going to have to run…”
This is the blurb for The Knife of Never Letting Go, the first book in the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness. It is about a boy who lives in Prentisstown in New World. His only friends are his dog, Manchee and his adoptive parents, Ben and Cillian.
Upon making a discovery, he finds out everything he has ever known and believed in is a lie. And now that he knows the town’s secret, he has to leave.
This book is packed full of suspense, drama and emotion. The story is told brilliantly and ends on a huge cliffhanger. It is fast-paced and thrilling, and will keep you hanging on until the last word. This is the kind of book that you’ll stay up late to finish and will not be able to set down.
My favourite part about this book is the inclusion of Noise. Noise is basically a person’s thoughts, displayed in sound and pictures which can be seen and heard by anyone. Noise is written in the book as scrawls in different fonts, and some pages are completely filled with splatters of Noise.
It is a brilliant idea and really gives you an insight into different characters.
The book has won many different awards, including the BookTrust Teenage Prize and the Guardian award in 2008. In 2009 it was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
The next two books in the trilogy are The Ask and The Answer and Monsters of Men. I thoroughly enjoyed both books, but The Knife of Never Letting Go was definitely my favourite.
The book is for Young Adults, but personally I think anyone could read it and love it. So go ahead, pick it up and see what you think. Happy Reading!
