Wild Things: YA Grown-Up discussion

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

What a terrific book! I don't give 5 stars easily, but this one earned it. And I don't even like dystopic fiction, as a rule. This one was a 5-er all the way through. In hindsight, it reminds me a lot of The Book Thief in terms of the spectrum of emotions Ness runs you through, and also the distinctiveness of the style.

There's quite a bit of violence in this book. Personally, I didn't think it was overdone, but at times toward the end, it was a bit graphic. When people are trying to survive, I don't see how you can avoid cursing, but what I liked is he mostly used "effing" instead of the f-word.

You're right inside the main character's head, as is everyone else, because everyone in this story can hear everyone else's thoughts, including the animals, which is where it really gets interesting, poignant, and funny too.

I thought there were some great lessons for kids in here too. Friendship, family, what it means to love someone, including pets, what religion really should be about rather than the train wreck it can become when it becomes distorted in an insane person's mind, what a person would or could be capable of when pushed beyond the norm, there's tons of stuff here.

I loved this book, I highly recommend it.

I loved it too, and for the same reasons. Todd is just a great character, flawed but likeable. And Manchee is a ruddy good dog. (Maybe even an effing good dog!)

Are you going to read the next one soon?

Sigh. Just thinking about this book makes me sad. I wish I could read it all over again for the first time.

He is an effing good dog! Exactly. Not sure about the second one right away tho. I think I need a little break from the non-stop action. I'm not used to all that heart-pounding excitement in my reading! I usually prefer Victorian classics lol.

Did you read the rest of them too April?

So, what grade do you think this book is appropriate for? I couldn't decide while reading it. The violence is quite extreme, but I love the concept and story.

Most reviews don't put a grade/age except for school library journal which says 9th and up...

Gosh, that's a tough question. Kieran read it in 7th grade, and I felt like he was prepared for it. It is pretty violent (Aaron especially) but sadly, violence isn't such a big deal for younger kids anymore. I felt like he had a stronger response to the death of that certain character than any of the beat 'em up stuff.

I'd say mature middle school and up...

(But I'm the mom who tries to shelter a bit from sexy stuff, so I guess everyone has their own idea of appropriateness)

Yeah I was always more inclined to shelter from the sex stuff too. I'd agree w mature middle school. There are some really good lessons to offset the violence that I think Tweens and Teens would find useful.