Review Detail

4.7 2

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1)

Young Adult Fiction 542

Hooked me from the first sentence...

September 06, 2015

Overall rating

4.3

Plot

N/A

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Pace? Fast, but solid. The characters are in a hurry, but nothing seems rushed. Pretty much perfect.

Believable Characters? Yes. I mean, there’s some obvious weird stuff, but you’re reading a sci-fi book set on an alien planet. So you have to just accept some stuff is going to be different.

Insta-love or other annoying tropes? Nope. Thank goodness! There’s some pretty quick attraction, but insta-attraction is fine. Insta-love is NOT.

Info-dumps? Not really. You’re given information that you need, but not more than you want.

Does the author treat the reader as if they are intelligent? Definitely. This is definitely a book that caters to the older end of “young adult”.

Trigger Warnings? Not towards humans.

Is this part of a series? Yes. The Chaos Walking series.

Would I read more from this author? Definitely. Though I’m a bit afraid to read the second book in this series, because a sophmore slump would make me cry.

Good Points

Well, the thing that intrigued me about the book was actually the blurb on the back, from Frank Cottrell Boyce. He said it was “One of the best first sentences I’ve ever read and a book that lives up to it!” Well, after reading that, obviously I just HAD to turn to the first page, and read the first sentence. Then the second, the third, the first page. Then, only when I had finished the first page, did I look back up at the librarian who had offered up the book as one of her personal favorites, and whisper “I’ll take it!”

I wandered over, nose thoroughly stuck into book, and edged my way into a library chair (luckily it was empty). I sat without looking up, and continued to read quickly, and giggle. Soon the giggles, though, changed to a frown as I realized how really twisted of a situation the main character was in.

This is one of those books where if you can’t turn off your inner Grammar and Spelling Nazi…you aren’t going to be able to read it. Its written the way its written for a reason, but the horrible misspellings, the paragraph long run on sentences… It takes you a while to adjust and learn to accept them as part of the story.

Wow, this is one of those books that you can’t stop reading. I’d put it aside for a few minutes to get something done, and find myself drawn back into it. I’d say “I’m done reading for the night” and put it aside, only to pick it up again just minutes later.