The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

BOOK REVIEW by Daniel O’Mahony

The Knife of Never Letting Go was written by Patrick Ness and published in 2008 to critical acclaim, and for good reason. In this book Patrick Ness explores many intricate ideas, including morality, adolescence, lies, toxic masculinity and hatred. This complex task is accomplished through the eyes of Todd.

Todd is a twelve year old boy living in Prentistown. In a world where all women are allegedly dead and everyone’s thoughts are open to the world through the Noise (the ability to hear everyone’s thoughts whether you want to or not). Everything is turned upside down when Todd discovers a “Hole in the Noise”.

The believability of the main characters is outstanding, (As weird as it might sound, Manchee is an exceedingly credible dog). The narrative is as thought-provoking as it is powerful and the intentional misspellings and unrepentant bad grammar, while annoying at first, adds depth and credibility to the main character. However, the villains can be a bit over the top at times and certain sections can feel slightly unnecessary.

Nevertheless , Patrick Ness more than makes up for all this with his dazzling writing style. I feel he thoroughly deserves the acclaim he has received  and I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in reading, Science Fiction and writing.