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Thank you to Sourcebooks Jabberwocky and Netgalley for providing me a copy for review.
The List is a middle-grade dystopian novel set in the not-too-distant future where global warming has melted the ice caps in an event called The Melting. It follows Letta, the young apprentice wordsmith of Ark, the planned community of survivors which is ruled by John Noa and his Green Warriors
One of Letta’s jobs is to assist her master, Benjamin, in maintaining The List: an approved vocabulary of 500 words. Those not using List to communicate (aside from Letta, Benjamin, John Noa and his ruling class) are punished for infractions, and banished if they continue.
Banishment means being taken from Ark and left alone in the surrounding forest. Some people survive, some do not.
There is also Tintown outside Ark. These were people who arrived too late to be granted entrance into Ark, so they are forced to live outside and survive in any manner they can. Some scavenge and exchange their finding for favors from within Ark.
There’s also another group of people called Desecrators by those within Ark. They are looked down upon, considered evil and a threat to the way of life in Ark.
While Benjamin is away on a wordfinding mission (the wordsmith is in charge of gathering and recording words and their meanings from outside of Ark, determining whether they should be stored or a plea to John Noa should be made to have them added to List), Letta encounters a young boy, Marlo, who has been wounded by gavvers (Ark’s version of police/guards). Letta soon realizes Marlo is a Desecrator, but despite this, she risks her life to save his.
While Letta has always felt safe in Ark, in Marlo’s presence she begins to see how every aspect of life is controlled by Noa: vocabulary, food, water. the inability to choose one’s mate, the inability to have as many children as you like (each mated pair is allowed two: if you have a third child, it is taken away and given to a couple with one or none—having a fourth child means the entire family is banished). There is no art, no music.
Letta helps Marlo recover and contacts the Desecrators to come get him. Then Letta receives word that Benjamin died on his trip, and she is now the wordsmith and must carry on his work.
Aside from learning the man she has considered a father figure has died, there is something that doesn’t sit right with Letta, and as she begins questioning more and more the inner workings of Ark, she receives a note: BENJAMIN NOT DEAD.
Letta’s search for the truth leads her back to the Desecrators and uncovers a plot to rid Ark of all language, permanently. As wordsmith, Letta feels she cannot stand by and let this happen.
Her quest to foil Noa’s plan leads to revelations about her own forgotten past that changes everything she thought she knew about the world.
The characters are a strong point in the book. Letta is a likable protagonist. Secondary characters aren’t as well developed, but serve their purpose.
At times the story felt like a mishmash of other dystopians: The Giver, The Hunger Games, even a tiny bit of The Maze Runner. This felt more like an homage rather than a wannabe copycat retelling, but the similarities did very much lend an air of having read this all before.
If you are considering this for your middle-grade reader: be advised there are some descriptions of torture and death that might be an issue for some, based on maturity level.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I felt like the ending was setting up a potential sequel, and I would be interested enough to return to this world.
3 out of 5 stars.
The List is a middle-grade dystopian novel set in the not-too-distant future where global warming has melted the ice caps in an event called The Melting. It follows Letta, the young apprentice wordsmith of Ark, the planned community of survivors which is ruled by John Noa and his Green Warriors
One of Letta’s jobs is to assist her master, Benjamin, in maintaining The List: an approved vocabulary of 500 words. Those not using List to communicate (aside from Letta, Benjamin, John Noa and his ruling class) are punished for infractions, and banished if they continue.
Banishment means being taken from Ark and left alone in the surrounding forest. Some people survive, some do not.
There is also Tintown outside Ark. These were people who arrived too late to be granted entrance into Ark, so they are forced to live outside and survive in any manner they can. Some scavenge and exchange their finding for favors from within Ark.
There’s also another group of people called Desecrators by those within Ark. They are looked down upon, considered evil and a threat to the way of life in Ark.
While Benjamin is away on a wordfinding mission (the wordsmith is in charge of gathering and recording words and their meanings from outside of Ark, determining whether they should be stored or a plea to John Noa should be made to have them added to List), Letta encounters a young boy, Marlo, who has been wounded by gavvers (Ark’s version of police/guards). Letta soon realizes Marlo is a Desecrator, but despite this, she risks her life to save his.
While Letta has always felt safe in Ark, in Marlo’s presence she begins to see how every aspect of life is controlled by Noa: vocabulary, food, water. the inability to choose one’s mate, the inability to have as many children as you like (each mated pair is allowed two: if you have a third child, it is taken away and given to a couple with one or none—having a fourth child means the entire family is banished). There is no art, no music.
Letta helps Marlo recover and contacts the Desecrators to come get him. Then Letta receives word that Benjamin died on his trip, and she is now the wordsmith and must carry on his work.
Aside from learning the man she has considered a father figure has died, there is something that doesn’t sit right with Letta, and as she begins questioning more and more the inner workings of Ark, she receives a note: BENJAMIN NOT DEAD.
Letta’s search for the truth leads her back to the Desecrators and uncovers a plot to rid Ark of all language, permanently. As wordsmith, Letta feels she cannot stand by and let this happen.
Her quest to foil Noa’s plan leads to revelations about her own forgotten past that changes everything she thought she knew about the world.
The characters are a strong point in the book. Letta is a likable protagonist. Secondary characters aren’t as well developed, but serve their purpose.
At times the story felt like a mishmash of other dystopians: The Giver, The Hunger Games, even a tiny bit of The Maze Runner. This felt more like an homage rather than a wannabe copycat retelling, but the similarities did very much lend an air of having read this all before.
If you are considering this for your middle-grade reader: be advised there are some descriptions of torture and death that might be an issue for some, based on maturity level.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I felt like the ending was setting up a potential sequel, and I would be interested enough to return to this world.
3 out of 5 stars.