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The Knife of Never Letting Go
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The Knife of Never Letting 02/24-03/24
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Ok, so I'm listening to this one and the reader is pretty good. This is a very interesting world and set of characters, but definitely just an amalgamation of ideas already used by others. That doesn't bother me, because it's done creatively. This book is very much aimed at young boys who are hitting puberty and trying to grapple with what it means to be a man. The idea of women and womanhood is communicated strangely so far, and I'm interested to see how that evolves. I'm reserving judgement on that until the end of the book. That too can be seen as an aspect of growing into a man. Boys and men view women differently, and the transitional period can be messy (I'm thinking about all my high school and college relationships...angrily).
I finished today, and I must say I liked this book much more than I thought I would when I first started it.1. What was your initial impression when you started the book? Were you immediately drawn into the story, or did it take you a while? Did your opinion of the book change by the end? If so, why?
I was immediately sucked in, yes, but I was very frustrated by the characters. I became slightly less frustrated by them as I continued, but Todd remained annoying to me. The writing style was intense, and at times I wanted to throw my phone across the room while listening to it, but it aided in the feelings of suspense and urgency that I think are important for readers to experience as they read the book. I was also a bit annoyed by the way women were address in the beginning, but by the end it all made sense and I was ok with it. I liked this book much better by the end of it than I did first starting off.
2. Did the book intrigue, amuse, disturb, alienate, irritate, or frighten you, or did you have a different response to the book?
It definitely irritated me at times. Todd was such a pain in the ass throughout the book, and the writing style almost gave me a damn heart attack! This book is incredibly brutal and relentless in terms of violence and action, but that didn't disturb me that much. What DID disturb me was (view spoiler). Otherwise, the book did intrigue me on a grander level when considering how humans would colonize another planet and how we reacted when we colonized other "new worlds" such as America.
3. Did you find the characters convincing? Were they believable? Compelling? Did you consider them fully-developed or one-dimensional? Did they grow or change? Who were your favorite and least favorite characters (and why)?
My favorite character was seriously the dog. The kids, Viola and Todd, both kind of annoyed me. Todd was totally beleievable, however, and I did think he was fully developed, but Viola had a lot lacking. The villians were absolutely terrifying to me, especially Aaron, so I kind of liked them as well.
4. Was the plot well-developed? Was it believable? Did you feel manipulated along the way, or did the plot events unfold naturally or organically?
I thought the plot was good and advanced by interesting action. Some of it was predictable, and I guessed most of the twists before the big reveals at the end. I don't think it was trying to be very shocking, however, and instead wanted to focus on Todd's loss of innocence and development into a man. Because of that it was more about his reactions, not ours as readers.
5. Was the pacing of the story to your liking? Would you consider the story more plot-driven (events unfolding quickly) or character-driven (more time spent developing characters' inner lives), and did that style work?
The pacing is insane. Inctredibly fast-paced! You can tell that this book was written for pre-teen boys. There is so much action, it's kind of relentless. At times I struggled with this, but I think it absolutely worked for the story. Otherwise I'd be stuck with more of Todd's thoughts, and no one wants that haha
6. Did you expect the ending or were you surprised? Did you find the ending satisfying, or did you want it to end a different way?
I did guess the reveals at the end, and thought it was a solid ending. I won't say it was satisfying because it ended on a cliff-hanger to entice you to read book 2.
7. Based on this book, would you be interested in continuing the series (if applicable) and/or reading other books by the same author? Is there anything you'd like to ask the author after finishing their book?
Yes, definitely. I enjoyed listening to this, and I think I would like to listen to the other two books as well. Listen is the important detail here, because I think reading this serious would be incredibly difficult to handle. This book ended in such a crazy way that I feel compelled to move forward with the series.
Just one last note...part of listening to this book was that we got "treated" to the reader singing a song that Ben sang to Todd. This annoyed the hell out of me, and it is repeated a lot throughout the book. It's an annoying song and felt a bit contrived, and the guy had some serious pitch issues hahaha
Sorry, I tried to write a decent reply for this twice when it was still a current topic. Both times something went funky and I lost it. I gave up for a while. My feelings were similar to Jocelyn's on just about every prompt question. We also listened to the same version.It took me a while to get past the accent (just not my favorite), and the singing, dear lord, the singing.
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DISCUSSION REVIEW (copy and paste)
Coffee Club With a Reading Problem Monthly Book Questionnaire
Share what you thought about this month's book! Give as many details as you can!
1. What was your initial impression when you started the book? Were you immediately drawn into the story, or did it take you a while? Did your opinion of the book change by the end? If so, why?
2. Did the book intrigue, amuse, disturb, alienate, irritate, or frighten you, or did you have a different response to the book?
3. Did you find the characters convincing? Were they believable? Compelling? Did you consider them fully-developed or one-dimensional? Did they grow or change? Who were your favorite and least favorite characters (and why)?
4. Was the plot well-developed? Was it believable? Did you feel manipulated along the way, or did the plot events unfold naturally or organically?
5. Was the pacing of the story to your liking? Would you consider the story more plot-driven (events unfolding quickly) or character-driven (more time spent developing characters' inner lives), and did that style work?
6. Did you expect the ending or were you surprised? Did you find the ending satisfying, or did you want it to end a different way?
7. Based on this book, would you be interested in continuing the series (if applicable) and/or reading other books by the same author? Is there anything you'd like to ask the author after finishing their book?