The ASK and the ANSWER

In this sequel to The Knife Of Never Letting Go, our boy (MAN) hero, Todd is now trapped in New Prentisstown under the watchful eye of Mayor (errr… President) Prentiss. Having been separated from Viola, Todd is unsure whether she is dead or alive and he has no choice but to do as he is told until he can find a way to get some ANSWERS.
Meanwhile – Viola, in another part of town, has made connections with a powerful woman named Mistress Coyle, who is not about to accept this new President Prentiss at face value. Viola, under Mistress Coyles care, learns a few tricks of her own in taking care of herself as well as protecting others.
As Todd and Viola work hard to find each other, each silently ASKING where the other one stands now in this new world. Todd wonders if Viola still is working with him for a plan to escape, and Viola QUESTIONS Todd’s motives of working directly and seemingly happily under the Prentiss directive.
“ToDD”?
And that is about when the bombs start going off… buildings are mysteriously being blown apart … and then it really gets interesting.
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A week ago I reviewed The Knife of Never Letting Go with “SSQQUUEEESSSS” of excitement and soooo glad I had this next book in hand to hop right into it. Life happenings this past week may have slowed down my reading but this week I was able to spend some good quality time one on one with Todd and Viola.
The Ask and The Answer is not as light a read as The Knife Of Never Letting Go. This book has put our characters right in the heat of battle… once again told in Patrick Ness’s phenomenal style… we have alternating chapters from Todd and Viola’s perspectives.
There are so many things I want to rave about Patrick Ness’s writing style. It is creative. It is brilliant. It makes me want to hug the pages and say, “YES! This is how to write!” When words make me feel… I am sold out.
But more than that even, as I told a friend earlier today…. Patrick Ness finds no character indispensable. In a “take no prisoners” style, Patrick Ness brings characters to the books… and he takes them out.
Period.
No holes barred.
And I am left shocked and thinking, “Oh no.. he did not just do that….”
But he did.
And shocked, and confused….
I love it.
If The Knife Of Never Letting Go held me…. The Ask and The Answer stuck me to the wall.
I absolutely can not wait to leap into the pages of Monsters Of Men.
My opinion? If you liked Hunger Games… you will LOVE this series. If you LOVED Hunger Games…. The Chaos Walking series is about to blow you clean off the planet.