Reviews

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

kat7890erina's review against another edition

5.0

Incredible.

The way that Ness captures the turmoil of teenagehood alongside the insidiousness of wartime propaganda and atrocities is just... incredible.

I can't recommend this series enough.

lilymor's review against another edition

4.0

Zero part of me expected this to become one of my favourite reads of the year so far. I was listening to it on audio, and I only listen to books on audio if I don’t love them enough to want to read them on paper. And to be fair, that was true for most of the book. 

But what pushed it into one of my favourites? 

Davy Prentiss. 

At some point, I realized the author was doing the thing where he was slowly making me like a character I never in a million years would have thought it possible to like. I fought it for a while … “You can’t do that, Davy was awful. You can’t just suddenly make him the good guy, the hero” … But it was so compelling that eventually my heart relented. 

And then I realized: He wasn’t making him the hero after all. Davy’s not a hero—he’s still just a fool. But he’s a human fool. With human needs for connection, love, approval, companionship… 

His decisions aren't motivated by moral integrity ... His decisions are motivated by the fact that he thinks he finally has a friend. 

And that was so much more real and so much better than the villain-turned-unlikely-hero arc I was expecting. 

I don't think I'll ever forgive Todd for being willing to shoot Davy. And I don't think I'll ever forgive Patrick Ness for actually shooting him. 

But boy, am I glad I got to experience Davy's beautiful, if brief, character arc.

There were things I didn't like about the book too. It got kind of annoying how the only thing Todd could think was "Viola, Viola, Viola, Viola." I also found the repeated "we're gonna escape from the Mayor! oops he's right there" tedious. 

But overall, I was surprised and impressed by how this book managed to win my heart.

natalie_margot's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

winter101's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

ameliedehauwere's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

ellie_klemm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

gingersquirrel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

sam_hartwig's review against another edition

4.0

Such an intense book. I didn't like this as much as the first, I think at times it was a little slow but it was still pretty amazing! I liked how we moved from Todd's point of view one chapter, to Viola's point of view the next. I like Viola as a character even more now that she has a voice.

I listened to this on Audiobook, like the first, and enjoyed it just as much. A couple of things I want to mention is that Mayor/President Prentiss is a horrible & completely vile man! He is almost up there with Hitler in my most hated of people. Also, there were so many times that I was thinking 'No Todd! This isn't you, what are you doing!?'

The second last chapter was amazing, switching back and forwards between Todd & Viola really built up the tension. I can't wait to read the last book to see how the war ends. Highly recommended series and author!

christine_ferguson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

klparmley's review against another edition

5.0

You should read The Knife of Never Letting Go first. This isn't a series of separate parts. It is sequential in the way the Lord of the Rings is sequential; one story in 3 volumes.

If you ever wondered how good people, kind people, found themselves participating in the evil of bad governments, this will show you the baby-step choices that lead to that hell.