The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, #1) by Patrick Ness

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really don't know whether or not I liked this book...

I thought that the scenario where everyone is able to hear everyone's thoughts or 'noise' was interesting and new... A few of the situations are humorous and I broke out into a smile a few times.

It was difficult getting used to the broken English the first person narrative is written in. I also had a hard time with how important story details were spoon fed to me in small dribbles. I realize this is how Ben, our main character, is processing the information about his life... but I struggled with staying focused on the story.

Warning If You Click Show/Hide You Will See Spoilers !

It was also somewhat predictable. Ben's companion is a dog named Manchee, and we all know what happens to the dog... Why Why does the dog always have to be killed off ! I asked my husband this and he said I needed to watch the movie " A Boy and His Dog...", so I guess I will do that or even better yet read the book... A Boy and His Dog

Manchee was of course my favorite character. I felt let down by his brutal death, even though I knew it inevitable as soon as he was introduced to the story. Manchee's character brought a certain balance and kept the story somewhat light and enjoyable for me...

Manchee's death was just one of several emotional scenes in the story. The author did an excellent job conveying the character's feelings and plights. However, I felt frustrated with the notion put forth by Viola, that if Ben killed someone he would become "like them"... Not that I have ever killed anyone before...:) but I think that there were several instances where murder in self defense would have been understandable. I kept asking myself why Aaron was even still alive to kill Manchee in the first place...

Even though I have a few quips about this book I will continue the series.