Flight into Fantasy

Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go: Chaos Walking, book 1
Author: Patrick Ness
Genre: YA science fiction/dystopia
Source: Bookshare! Finally!
Reason for Reading: There’s been so much hype about this book, and I knew, from the first time I’d heard of it, that I wanted to read it. But it wasn’t being made into an ebook, and it wasn’t being made into an ebook, and no matter how much whining I did, there was never an accessible version of the book. Then it showed up a couple of weeks ago on Bookshare, and as soon as I possibly could, I put aside everything I’d been reading and dove into it.

Synopsis:

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him — something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn’t she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd’s gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

My Thoughts: The best kind of books are the ones that provide an experience so visceral that you can’t help but feel that you’re a part of it. For me, this was one of those books. Todd came to life for me, and, whereas most of the time I find that I’m reading with a kind of detachment, observing rather than interacting with the text, Todd’s narration hooked me and never let me go. When he suffered, I suffered with him. When, about halfway through the book, he does something really stupid, I had to take a break for a few hours before I could pick it back up again, because I didn’t want Todd to be doing that. At the end, I was left frustrated–though in a good way–by the cliffhanger. How could there just be no more story? How am I going to know if Todd’s going to be all right? And now, of course, I am waiting with barely restrained patience for the second book to be made available.

I can’t talk a whole lot about the plot, because I don’t want to ruin it for you, but I will say that it moves along rapidly. I was never bored, and I was as surprised as Todd was by some of the things that happen.

As I mentioned, I loved Todd. Normally, I don’t really like books written in dialect, but I liked that this one was. Todd’s not a well-educated kid, and I liked that this was reflected in the way he spoke and the way he thought about things. Everything he wrote related to the world, and I never felt like there were infodumps just for the sake of the reader. This world is a chilling place, made even more chilling by how casual Todd is. He brings up the fact that the mayor of the town he’s from insisted all the books be burned, and then he moves on. I think that was the moment at which I decided I was in love.

Also, so much happens to Todd. In some ways, he really does become a man, and watching him on his journey, I felt like I’d made a friend. I hate how much suffering he goes through, and I know there’s more to come, but at the same time, I’m hoping he will emerge victorious.

The rest of the characters were quite vivid. Todd’s dog, Manchee, provided moments of comic relief, and was the most loyal friend anyone could want. The girl Todd meets, Viola, is strong and determined in her own way, though she does occasionally exhibit some damsel-in-distress behaviors that kind of irritated me. The villains are quite terrifying, but I never felt that they were the moustache-twirling, “Bwahaha look how eevil I am” sorts.

Final Thoughts: I know I’ve not said anything original in this review, but I did love this book. It is dark and gritty, with lots of violence and horrible things happening, and the cliffhanger at the end is positively evil. I highly, highly recommend it.

Grade: A

Other Thoughts