Name: Laura Kehoe's review of The List by Patricia Forde
Item: The List
Rating: 4
Author: Laura Kehoe

Patricia Forde

In the city of Ark, speech is constrained to five hundred sanctioned words. Speak outside the approved lexicon and face banishment. The exceptions are the Wordsmith and his apprentice Letta, the keepers and archivists of all language in their post-apocalyptic, neo-medieval world. On the death of her master, Letta is suddenly promoted to Wordsmith, charged with collecting and saving words. But when she uncovers a sinister plan to suppress language and rob Ark's citizens of their power of speech, she realizes that it's up to her to save not only words, but culture itself.

The List

Sheree Paskin

'You are the Wordsmith now. Are you ready for the challenge?' The city of Ark is the last safe place on Earth. To make sure humans avoid the mistakes of their past and are able to survive, everyone in Ark must speak List, a language of only 500 words. Everyone, that is, except Letta. As apprentice to the Wordsmith, Letta can read all the words that have ever existed. Words like freedom, music, and even pineapple tell her about a world she's never known. One day her master disappears and the leaders of Ark tell Letta she is the new Wordsmith and must shorten List to fewer and fewer words. When Letta meets a mysterious boy who somehow knows all the words that have been banned, she's faced with a dangerous choice: sit idly by and watch language slowly slip away or follow a stranger on a path to freedom ... or banishment.

Laura Kehoe

Originally posted on The Book Unicorn

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading The List. I’m a huge fan of dystopian books and the description sounded intriguing, but I was still not sure what to think. Well, I can now safely say that this book was so good! I might not have had many expectations going in, but even if I had, I’m guessing The List would have exceeded them.

Let’s talk about the plot first. I don’t want to go into too much detail and ruin anything for people, but this was such a unique story. As someone who’s read quite a few dystopian books, I honestly don’t think I’ve read anything quite like it. There were aspects of many different classic stories and the plot was a little predictable, but somehow it still felt like a new story. And as a lover of words, I found it to be especially powerful. This book may be short, but it certainly packs a punch.

And of course there’s the characters. I adored Letta. She has plenty of spirit, but she’s also struggling with her own beliefs and fears. I loved her development over the course of the story. It’s unfortunate that this was so short because I would have loved to see even more of her. I’m thinking there’s a sequel to this and I really hope that’s the case.

If you like dystopian books, I would highly recommend reading The List. I had a few difficulties getting into the story, mostly because of the dialogue in regards to some characters (if you read it, I think you’ll know exactly what I mean). But overall, I enjoyed this so much. It’s beautifully written and the story itself is a lot of fun. I don’t think you’ll regret checking this one out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Jabberwocky for providing this book in exchange for an honest review!

Bella Price

This book only gets 3 stars from me and thats because of how quickly events moved and how confusing it all was rolled into one book of around 300 pages.

It took awhile for this book to get into full swing like Marlo arrived for not even the first quarter and once he left I went into a bit of a reading slump and didn't know how anything could happen next. It was really confusing having it set in the future but using past time references and I wish it was explained a bit more along with we never really got to know Benjamin (Sorry if thats not his name I read this book months ago)

I started reading this book 2 years ago and I got about 30 pages in but I had to put it down because it was too confusing. I read it now and that was my review. It's way too messy and It's a book I enjoyed but probably won't pick it up again.

Jolie

I was actually very excited to read The List. Mainly because I really like reading, among other things, post-apocalyptic dystopia. I love reading what the author’s vision of what the world would be like after an apocalyptic event were to happen. And I really liked what I read in this book.

I think what I liked the most about it is that the author took real life events (climate change, global warming, polar ice caps melting….see below for links) wove such a wonderful story around them. I could totally get what John Noa was talking about when words were not enough to save the world. I 100% get it because I see the same similarities today. All talk, no action and one day, something similar will happen and people will be devastated….just like in the book.

But while the actions that John Noa took to make sure that words will no longer have the effect to hurt or persuade is wrong, I totally get where he was coming from. He was trying to prevent people from doing the same things that hurt their society in the first place. First by only allowing 500 words, then by keeping them semi-illiterate and then by taking away anything to do with music/art. In his screwed up way, he was trying to save them. But I do agree that his final solution was a bit over the top but in his mind, he was doing what he had to “to preserve humanity”.

Letta (and am I the only one to get the irony of her name) was a sweet, sweet girl who was kinda pushed into something bigger than her when she rescued Marlo and then hid him in her house. Just doing that set her on a path to realizing that John Noa was a very flawed man and that she was probably the only one that could stop his mad plan.

I admired her strength in accepting that what she has always known might not be the best way for people to live. I also admire her for knowing what John Noa was doing and what he was planning on doing was very wrong and having the courage to stop it. I do think that her talk with Benjamin before he died cemented those facts.

The secondary characters totally made the book, also. Finn, Leyla, Werber, Carver, the residents of Tintown, the residents of Ark, the woman who lived in the woods, Letta’s parents, Amelia….they kept the book going. They added a wonderful backdrop of how people adapted to this strange new world (especially the older people) and how hard it was to survive.

The end of the book was bittersweet because while it solved one problem, it didn’t solve all the others that this society had. I did think the last scenes between John Noa and Letta/and The Desecrators, Rebellion, Citizens/Garver’s were very sad. People died, people lived and, to be honest, nothing was really accomplished….other than disrupting the end game plan that John Noa had. So no one really won and it definitely wasn’t an HEA.

How many stars will I give The List: 4

Why: I enjoyed reading this book and thought that the lesson (change our ways before something bad happens) is definitely needed to be heard. While this book deals with some pretty heavy subjects, it is a book that I would definitely let my tween read this and hope she learns something from it.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age Range: Tween

Why: Mild violence

Links:

Global Warming: click here

Climate change: click here

Polar Ice Cap melting: Click here

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Grace Elizabeth

Caitlin Hooker

Rosie Yakob 

Bianca

Farenheit 451 meets The Giver in this gripping story about the power of words and the dangers of censorship In the city of Ark, speech is constrained to five hundred sanctioned words. Speak outside the approved lexicon and face banishment. The exceptions are the Wordsmith and his apprentice Letta, the keepers and archivists of all language in their post-apocalyptic, neo-medieval world.On the death of her master, Letta is suddenly promoted to Wordsmith, charged with collecting and saving words. But when she uncovers a sinister plan to suppress language and rob Ark's citizens of their power of speech, she realizes that it's up to her to save not only words, but culture itself.

Sheree Paskin &
The List by Patricia Forde

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