(Image from Indiebound)

"Your noise reveals you. Reveals us all" (7).

No?

Okay, let's try a plot summary: The story opens with 12-year-old Todd Hewitt talking to his dog while he wanders the swamplands looking for fresh apples. Could be the opener to a Twain novel, right? Not exactly, because in this case, the mutt responds. Not out loud, but that doesn't matter. In Todd's world, every being emits Noise, a constant stream of internal dialogue audible to all other beings. In a place like this, there are no secrets. At least that's what Todd thinks. Until he catches a disturbing murmur running through the minds of Pretisstown's menfolk. It's indistinct, yet he knows it has something to do with his thirteenth birthday, an anniversary that is fast approaching. As the last child in town, he's been looking forward to the day he'll finally become a man, even if he's unsure exactly what that entails. Of this, however, he's sure: there's an anxious buzz to everyone's Noise. And it has something to do with him.

When Todd makes a strange discovery out in the swamps, everything changes. Suddenly, the men who have raised him are shoving Todd out the door, pushing a pre-filled rucksack onto his back, and screaming at him to run for his life. But there's nowhere to go. The planet's empty save for Prentisstown, at least that's what Todd's always been told. Except, as he's now discovering, everything he's been taught is a lie. There is no time for explanations - the only answers are buried in his mother's journal, a volume he didn't know existed (books were outlawed long ago by their prophet), one that's virtually useless anyway, since he can barely sound out written words. No, it's up to Todd to figure out all the mysteries of the world he thought he knew, while fleeing everything he's ever known.

What results is a desperate journey, a frantic search for truth. As Todd ventures out into the barren land, he'll learn everything the Noise won't tell him, terrible things he can barely stomach. And he'll run, as far and as fast as he can, which is never far or fast enough to leave behind the horrors of the past ...

The Knife of Never Letting Go is a difficult book to classify. It's dystopian, absolutely, but it's also an adventure, a survival story, a romance, all with a little sci fi twist. While elements of the novel are familiar, the tale as a whole is something unique. The prose might take a little getting used to (Todd's spotty booklearning is reflected in misspellings and redneck grammar), but it's so absolutely authentic that it's impossible not to get caught up in Todd's story. It's all so totally absorbing that I literally - literally - could not put the book down. Initially, I planned to start The Ask and the Answer the second I closed Knife, but the story's so intense I'm forcing myself to read something lighter first, just to make sure my heart doesn't pound its way right out of my chest. I need the ticker to stay put, at least 'til I find out what happens to Todd. After that, I can rest in peace knowing I've found a series that makes all those Bella/Edward knockoffs worth it. Chaos Walking. Read it.

(Readalikes: I can't think of anything really similar except, of course, for the other two books in the series)

Grade: A-

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (1 F-bomb), violence, and some sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love: Another library
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