The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness
Book 1 in the 'Chaos Walking' series. Followed by 'The Ask and the Answer.'
I knew of this book. I knew it had also been made into a not-very-well-received movie. I knew that it was set on a planet where all of the men uncontrollably broadcast their thoughts and the women had disappeared. I knew it was a Young Adult novel and part of a well-loved trilogy.
I didn't know it would be so gory and heavy.
There is a lot of death in The Knife of Letting Go, including much loved supporting characters, and even (keeping it a little vague to avoid spoiling too much) some characters that most books would avoid killing in order to keep the audience from disliking the narrative too much. The main character even has an arc where he is unable to kill people, and as a result, things keep getting worse. Considering this to be a weakness, he eventually pushes himself to kill - a horrific moment in the book that I felt sure would be revealed as a dream, because the idea that a protagonist could straight up murder someone felt unbelievable for a book that won a Children's Fiction Prize!
And yet, the book really goes there.
Todd Hewitt is the youngest boy living in Prentisstown, believing that all other human life on New World has been killed, including all women. Very soon he learns that this is not entirely true, and Todd ends up on the run with a young and seemingly-mute woman, accompanied by his talking dog, Manchee. Every animal on New World can also talk, and the book does get a little bit of humour out of this, particularly in the form of sheep who only say "Sheep" - they're not that smart.
The book is interesting, and the fact that Todd is unable to conceal his inner monologue does make for interesting moments when other characters will comment on the narration. Yet, as mentioned, it is also an incredibly dark book. Almost the entire narrative sees Todd, Manchee and Viola (the girl) being pursued by people who want nothing but death and destruction for them, and as the unstoppable forces behind them advance, various safe havens turn out not to be safe at all.
And - again, without getting into specifics - the ending doesn't resolve this situation as much as one may think. There is an ending, but also a cliffhanger that promises more of the same in Book 2.
To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm up for another book in this series if it turns out to continue the level of dread that hangs over this one. In some ways, it reminds me of Gone, which had a similarly surprising level of violence...
Well written, yes, but not light.
Completed 13 March 2026.
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