the knife of never letting go book review

The ‘knife’ in the title has a looming presence as a protector and an item of fear for Todd throughout the story. Though the moment was filled with song, it felt like a silent pause in the narrative, a moment when at least one good experience is allowed to happen in a story about everything going wrong.

This book is filled with beautiful passages, but one of my favourites was definitely: “It’s like the song of a family where everything’s always all right, it’s a song of belonging that makes you belong just by hearing it, it’s a song that’ll always take care of you and never leave you.” I just adored this moment, the thought of a song of belonging that the characters so desperately needed made me tear up. And I really liked the chaotic ‘noise’ being represented on the page as blocks of crazy fonts – it really helped me visualise how overwhelming the noise would be. I loved the creative way that language was used to emphasize Todd’s lack of education without distracting from the experience of reading, a few words and expressions were deliberately incorrect throughout the book.

The launching point for the narrative is the question: ‘Is it possible to keep secrets when everything running through your mind can be heard by those around you?’ Overall I loved this book! Patrick Ness has crafted an interesting science fiction world on a distant planet a young boy lives in an isolated town where there are no women, no children younger than him, and every thought is broadcast out loud as ‘noise’.

The knife of never letting go book review