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The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness The other day I had five novels from our library on my desk and I needed to chose which one to read next. So, I read the first paragraph of each book and The Knife of Never Letting Go was hands down the winner. What a great introduction to the main character, Todd, and his dog Manchee.
Todd is the only boy left in a village of men. There are no women or girls, and Todd is less than a month away from his thirteenth birthday, the age when all boys in the New World become men. What an unfriendly, hostile and Noisy world it is. Everyone in the village has Noise - even the animals. All thoughts and feelings are broadcast for everyone to hear, and there is nothing to be done about it. That's a lot of Noise. One day Todd and his dog go into the nearby swamp to pick apples and they comes across an area that reads to Todd as the opposite of noise. A spot that is almost loud in its silence, and Todd has to investigate. This begins a life-altering adventure as Todd discovers more about the New World and the repulsive secrets of his village. The Knife of Never Letting Go presents an incredibly unique plot that's both simple in its storytelling and layered in its depth. There are many moments of violence and aggression, moments of frustration and sadness, and many times I felt like this novel was a punch in the stomach (a sure sign of my involvement with the characters and plot). My only complaint is in the length of this book - I'm certain it could be as effective if it were 100 pages shorter. If action and confrontation are things you look for in a story line, this could be the novel for you. Excellent world-building and wonderful main characters.
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