Confusing but Captivating

          These are the two words I would use to describe the novel The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. The first chapter starts you off with the story of this young man named Todd. Now Todd lives on a planet that is very different then Earth...this is where things started to confuse me. This planet has a lot of confusing aspects to it. One aspect is that he lives on a planet where everything a person is thinking is heard out loud. This is called the noise. The noise was plagued upon Prentisstown by the aliens that inhabited the planet and town before Todd's kind did  The residents of Prentisstown killed off all of the Spackles (the aliens). This curse, so to speak, is the living legacy that the Spacks left on the people of Prentisstown. There are also many other strange characteristics about this planet. One of them is that the planet is filled with only men. Now, Todd is the last male that is not over the age of thirteen which is when you can work and be respected as a man. So, Todd is all alone. Another confusing aspect about this setting is that cursing is forbidden and frowned upon. In the first two haters Todd gets slapped because of his cursing; he isn't even safe in his own mind. When I started this novel, these were some of the things that I was most confused by. I was not confused by the amount of information that is given in such a short time, I was confused on how all of this would be shaped into one congruent story  I have never read a book that set up such a unique and creative backdrop for this story. Part of the reason I kept reading (captivated) was because of the amount of creativity that went into this setting. The second word I used to describe how I felt when reading this novel was captivated. I admit that I thought that this book was a little weird at first, and I didn't know if I was going to like it that much. But, I kept reading and I have to admit I am hooked. The most captivating thing about this novel is the sheer creativity that Ness himself has put into this first book of his series. The characters, the plot, the setting, etc. are all so imaginative. He has made a whole fantasy world that he can add or change anything he wants. Also, I was so enthralled by the story even at the first time Todd finds and experiences silence. I am both excited and thrilled about my choosing this book because it keeps me on my feet because it is not based on Earth, so you never know what's coming next. This first novel in the Chaos Walking series is a fantastic read that keeps the reader's attention by being both confusing AND captivating.