The Knife of Never Letting Go

Ness, P. (2008). The knife of never letting go. Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press. 

This novel represents a town that is possibly meant to be a Utopian Society, but perhaps is more on the dystopia side. The setting is Prentisstown and it happens to be a strange little town where no women exist. It is surrounded by noise and everything is done outloud. Todd comes across silence and as a result of this he, for the first time in his life, meets a girl, Viola. Girls were forbidden and he is somehow forced to leave Prentisstown. It is all strange and a series of stranger events take place. Truths are revealed and it turns out that Prentisstown is not the nice town that it appears to be at firsts. Women are killed off and it pretty much known as an unfriendly place. Viola and Todd run away and face a series of events that lead to their separation but Todd does not give up and tries his best to reunite with her again. They undergo a series of obstacles and are able to reach their new destination. Destination that will be home to a new beginning. The question is whether this new beginning will be much more different than what they experienced before.

Personally, I did not find this book appealing. It also reminded me of The Giver in a sort of dysfunctional way. Except of course, Prentisstown's method of control wasn't too effective. I honestly can't pinpoint the exact reason for which this one is not one of my faves, maybe it's the crazy idea of them killing off the women and the crazy idea of the noise...I don't know. I just did not care much for it.

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