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The Knife of Never Letting Go

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The Knife of Never Letting Go

By: Patrick Ness
Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
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About this listen

Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee - whose thoughts Todd can hear, too, whether he wants to or not - stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden - a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives. But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?

©2008 Patrick Ness (P)2011 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd Action & Adventure Difficult Situations Fiction Literature & Fiction Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Survival Stories Dystopian Survival

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Critic reviews

"Furiously paced, terrifying, exhilarating, and heartbreaking, The Knife of Never Letting Go is a book that haunts your imagination." ( Sunday Telegraph)
"A series opener as promising as it is provocative." ( The Horn Book)
All stars
Most relevant  
I’m not sure who the target audience of this book is. The way it’s written seems to be aimed at children, although it has some more adult themes (but I guess kids are more hardened than they were when I was young!). Anyway, it’s well written and brilliantly read, although I’m not rushing to get the next one in the series.

Really good but not for me

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Good to see YA sci-fi with a neurodiverse protagonist. Brilliant concept and an interesting use of linguistics. Would highly recommend anyone listening to this buys the book or at least has a look through it as the set out of the 'noise' is quite interesting.

Great

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Really enjoyed it at the start but I got frustrated at characters and their reasonings behind doing things (or not doing things).
Bit annoyed about the huge cliffhanger ending too. I feel like I need to listen to a few chapters of the next book to get an ending to this one.

Good but not great

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struggled to get into it at first.. but after 20 mins was hooked. story line was good, few predictable ideas for an adult listening, but perhaps fine for a YA.

great

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The mixing of all of the Noise in the book was almost unbearable in places and lasted too long. audio levels weren't always great either. Story was good but doesn't work as a standalone book, definitely need to keep going with the trilogy.

One of the worst audio mixes I've heard on audible

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Will always be one of my favourite books, as it was the first one I read growing up. The movie representation of this book doesn't even come close to the world that Patrick Ness created in the Chaos Walking Series

.

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Listened to the audiobook for this story 7 years after I first read the trilogy. The delivery of the reader for each and every character was brilliant and the story was so enthralling I found myself listening to it in every free minute I could squeeze it into. Todd's journey to realising what it means to be a man resonated as hard today as it did when I was a teenager.

Excellent

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I've been a huge fan of Ness since 2015, particularly the Chaos Walking trilogy. Bower delivers every line with the exact emotional impact I would read it with, hampered only by the limitations of needing to read at a sensible pace in sections that reflect panic.

everything down to his accent is accurate to what was needed to perfectly deliver a perfect novel in a new medium.

blows the American narrator out the water.

Perfect medley of delivery

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The story opens and draws you into an interesting world that, on closer inspection, is not quite what it originally seemed.I found it quite entertaining that the animals could 'talk' to people. This proved a great comic ongoing backdrop of Tods Dog telling him many things both important and irrelevant.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Knife of Never Letting Go?

The story twists and twists again. Then just as you think you have a good grip of it it shifts ever so slightly and your left galloping along another road.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I just love the dog urgently telling Tod that he needed something...'Pooh Tod, Pooh!" Sad I know but i found it ever so funny. The reader really helped deliver (?) it and does the dog so well. Provides a useful ongoing joke.The heard (?) of large animals munching grass saying 'Here' probably will not mean much to most but I think that the writer and the reader caught the mood of a possibility and provided a strong image that stayed with me. I enjoyed many different scenes from the book. Some I didn't enjoy but they were a part of the story and written/read so well that they were very uncomfortable to hear but were an important part of the story. Enjoy wouldn't be my choice of words for them it would be a darker a word I would need to use.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Its probably the one that will move everyone. But one that I won't mention here.. You will know it when you reach it.

Any additional comments?

looking forward to the next one in the series

a what if book

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one of my favourite series. I've read it 3 times and really appreciated the narrator in the audiobook. the "noise" could have been problematic but I think they did a tasteful job. good bit of emotive fantasy.

manchee is the best effing dog ever.

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