The Ask and the Answer: 2/3 (Chaos Walking)

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The book starts out just a little bit slow and doesn't really hit stride until chapter 16. The slow start is probably why I liked the first book just a little bit better. Towards the end there is a very long scene which goes on like William Shatner in Star Trek. Features a bonus short story, The Wide, Wide Sea. Introducing new characters and set before the events of The Ask and the Answer, it is a story of love and loyalty in a divided world. That, to me, sent the ending completely off the rails. I thought Viola forgave him too easily. I thought the psychology and explanation of him retaining his ability to feel things all through the horrors (when he turned his emotions OFF? I couldn't wrap my brain around that contradiction), the assertion that this somehow made him "innocent" where the others were monsters... that just didn't add up to me. One of the things I loved the most about this book was the dual narrative because we finally got to see things from Viola’s perspective. Her chapters are articulate, educated, compassionate and they confirmed my suspicions from the first book… she really is as cute as a button. Las acciones de nuestros protagonistas, Todd y Viola, se ven influenciadas no solo por sus propias convicciones si no por la situación en general, dándonos cuenta que realmente no puedes describir a alguien con las palabras “buena persona” o “mala persona” y que el resto de la gente y el ambiente en el que vivimos toman gran parte en nuestra toma de decisiones y nos llevan a traicionarnos a nosotros mismo la gran mayoría de las veces.

I just wrote an exhausting review of this novel, but Goodreads screwed me and lost the entire thing. Pissed does not even begin to cover what I feel right now. All of that brilliance, now lost to the cyberspace void forever. What do you mean what?" My voice is harder now. "Your new best friend. The man who shot me, Todd, and who you ride to work with laughing every morning." I’m so glad that Ness kept him as he was in the first book, because it would have been so easy to turn him into this huge, unrealistic macho guy. I love that Todd is real, he’s just a kid, he’s in a world that he doesn’t understand, he’s at a loss as to what to do… but he never complains. And I’m glad Ness kept this kind of… innocence about him, but also developed him and allowed him to grow as a character. I am loving the jaunty juxtaposition between deep lyrics and the upbeat tempo when it comes to Ness, aren’t I? I had pretty much the same opinion of all the characters at the start of the novel as I did at the end. And there is so much senseless death and destruction. The same about the plot too. We see something major happen in the beginning chapters and the book concludes with the groups still in much the same positions, and a few small victories for our protagonists. So ‘The Ask and the Answer’ left me frustrated because there didn’t feel like the characters or the story have changed or evolved much from start to finish – and this is one of the longer novels I’ve read of late. So much time invested for little return.But I can't figure out why. Both are series about dystopian futures staring young people trying to overthrow oppressive leaders. Both were published at the same time. Both sold film rights to Lions Gate Entertainment. Both are great. Otra gran cuestión es la división de sexos. Es algo que ya teníamos desde el otro libro pero aquí se refuerza bastante, lo fácil que es dividirnos por el simple hecho de ser hombres o mujeres. Y como nuestras diferencias la gran mayoría del tiempo si juegan en nuestra contra. Topics About Which I Know Nothing, a collection of ten short stories, showcases Ness’s talents differently again, illustrating his ‘creative, unpretentious and pleasingly bonkers’ imagination and reveling in ‘the preposterous, the weird and the downright daft’ (Lloyd Evans, The Daily Telegraph, 9 May 2004). What might seem a rather disparate collection is, argues Lezard, underpinned by Ness’s ‘substantial’ intelligence. With formats as varied as an academic paper, family letters and a newspaper report, he explores a no-less-varied range of themes, from what Evans calls his ‘distinctly edgy examination of paedophilia’ (‘The Way All Trends Do’) to the way in which ‘talent can be a poisoned chalice as well as a horn of plenty’ (‘The Gifted’). ‘Ness lays into conventions with the abandon of an incorrigible vandal,’ says Evans. ‘There are no taboos’. This book was completely and utterly unputdownable and, if possible, I loved it even more than the first. Ness gave the reader everything - every breadth of emotion, beautifully crafted writing, extensive and original world building, corporeal characterization, legions of plot, and action, action, action for days! He has already proven himself such a brilliant story-teller that I expected nothing less but was still blown away!

If you're looking for answers, look elsewhere. The Answer is just the rebels made up of mostly women. The question, at least in my mind, is what causes men to turn into cattle, whether it's the mayor turning otherwise intelligent people into subservients or what really happened to all the others that are literally being kept in pens. ARGH I can’t even begin to fathom this subject. But… Ness is the master at making you question everything you’ve ever believed in. EVER. OK, maybe not. But…. The lines are blurred, man. They are blurred. OK, it’s no secret how much I love this series, so I’m not even going to pretend these low points are actually serious. These books just seem to be getting better and better and I am soooo excited for the final one. So, I’m scraping at the bottom of the barrel here… STOP WITH THE CLIFF HANGER, YOU’RE KILLING ME, NESS! And yeah ok, Angharrad was kind of cute… but she’s no Manchee *sniff* so, don't even try. See, clutching at straws here. I kind of wanted this to be higher than The Knife of Never Letting Go, which I also gave a 9, because Ness really pumped up his game (that’s not even an expression… see what this book does to me?!) with this one and it is a lot more complex and deeper than the first book. With the perspective of Viola, the subject matter, the ambiguous baddies, the journey of Todd, the unexpected friendships (which was soo heartbreaking) and THE ENDING, this book has a higher angst factor than the first. But it never goes into whiny mode, which is strange because I think Viola and Todd are the only two characters in YA fiction I would be OK with if they just had a whole chapter that they just whinged… because, seriously, they deserve it. I don’t want to give it a 10… because I’m guessing (and secretly hoping) that Monsters of Men will steal that title and rip out my heart. Don’t let me down, Ness.Unless LEE gets involved. Argh. My loyalties were stretched with this one because Viola turns into such a girl when she’s with him (“I laughed, too hard.”) I liked how this was much darker than book 1 and some of the scenes were graphic so beware, I don’t think it is a suitable book for younger children. I discovered lately that I really love darker reads just because they are more realistic, the real world is not sunshine and flowers! Because Todd believes Viola has joined Mistress Coyle’s cause and is lost to him, he serves Prentiss without questioning. It is not until Viola comes to try to rescue Todd from Prentiss that he realizes Viola has not changed. They come to the realization that neither Prentiss or Mistress Coyle is an ideal leader and that they must take things into their own hands. Usually, when I read dystopian YA of substance, I am full of emotions which propel me to inspiration, and I have no problems putting them down in a review. Usually most of those feelings are positive. And just as always, I try to balance my personal feelings with objective overview of the qualities of writing, plot, storytelling and so on... But sometimes, like right now, my emotions let me down and my objectivity starts failing... If you are still not sure then remember our ‘5 minute pledge’ that if you call and pay using your credit or debit card and you are not happy with your choice of reader or reading then if you hang up in the first 5 minutes then you will not be charged.

I loved getting a closer look at Davy Prentiss Jr,. In book 1, he depicted as being as awful as his father and in book 2 we get to see why that is. First he's raised by a sociopath, then he's cast in the role of forever trying and failing to achieve his father's love... And as the new president tries to keep his new government together, the more it becomes blatantly obvious that blood's got little to do with family. Prentiss has Todd interrogated so he can learn the name of the girl with whom Todd was found. He believes she could be helpful to him in making friends with the group of settlers headed for New Prentisstown. The girl in question is a member of the group. Todd finally gives in and tells Prentiss that his friend’s name is Viola. Meanwhile, Viola is recuperating from a gunshot wound at a house of healing. In exchange for her medical treatment, the head healer at that house asks Viola for information about the settler ships as well as any information Viola can glean from Prentiss about his plans. Everyone here is someone's daughter," she says quietly. "Every soldier out there is someone's son. The only crime, the only crime is to take a life. There is nothing else." The characters were even better than before. Not only do we get to hear from Viola's point of view (who is better than I could've hoped for) but all the characters are well developed and waaaay too realistic. I also developed some weird emotions for Davy Prentiss- seriously, right from the start. I just wanted to hug him though he was such an ass. But most of all, Todd. Sweet Todd. You scared me Todd. I got wrinkles from you Todd. DON'T DO THAT TO ME AGAIN TODD!Let me tell you about how I had my life ruined by aliens. The Knife of Never Letting Go was a great book. I loved it, and I've been recommending it like crazy. But The Ask and the Answer completely blows its predecessor out of the water. So much happens in such a (relatively) short book, it's a wonder people's heads don't explode while they're reading it. I loved it, and before writing this review I was going to just give it a 4 stars/Essential rating, but now I've decided to go with All Time Favourite. Because my life is ruined and I am crying. He read English Literature at the University of Southern California, and worked as a corporate writer at a cable company, before the publication of his first novel, The Crash of Hennington, in 2003. I am not going to write a real review for this one, because if it continues in the same vain, I will have to repeat myself when I finish the third and last book in the series. I am just frustrated... In addition, there are the same plot holes as in the first book. I still don't understand the "specialness" of Todd, there is still a lot of build-up and allusions to various secrets that end up being not that interesting or important. Make no mistakes, I hated Mayor Prentiss - President - Prentiss something fierce. I really did, from the beginning. Then, I never liked a lot this Mistress Coyle either. But these choices our characters must face? They're difficult. Harsh.