The Ask and the Answer: Chaos Walking Book Two

Title: The Ask and the Answer

Author: Patrick Ness
Illustrator: Lynne Condellon and John Picacio

Genre: Science Fiction

Age: 14+
Pages:  519 (paperback)
Publisher: Candlewick Press

 

        Thomas and Viola did not expect what was waiting for them in Haven. The notorious murderer might have won, but Viola and Thomas will keep fighting. As the days grow old Thomas doesn't even know if Viola is alive or where she is. The hardest part of being taken away from everyone you trust is not knowing who to believe. As desperation and hopelessness rise, a group of women band together to form the Answer, a terrorist group build to fight off the president. So who do you trust, a manipulative treacherous murderer, or a terrorist and greedy criminal. In a world where thoughts, feelings, and desire are always present, there's no escape for Thomas and Viola.

        The sequel to The Knife of Never Letting Go really flowed well. The story line seemed to continue and bring us farther into New World. The novel is well written taking away the fact that the style is very original and feels very real, the first person writing style is well thought out. Since we only see what the characters see, as readers, we can only hope to figure out what is really going on. Some characters can be very misleading. They all lie and most of them are down right crazy. Which ones are telling the truth? Is it all a lie? These questions popped into my head numerous amounts of times.

        The Ask and the Answer started with something different compared to book one. The points of views change between Viola and Todd. Since the characters are separated this was a very good idea and I always liked a female protagonist rather then a male. The point of views change frequently! This is great because I hate really long chapters, but in this novel you barely read 3 pages before it changes to Todd's point of View or Viola's.     

        The antagonists in this novel are quite solid. They are the typical evil masterminds but the Mayor is so complex and devious! It seems like he knows everything and plays mind games with everyone. He's very manipulative and he can seem to be a good guy, but of course it's always an act. The antagonist is just out right genius. That's one more reason to hate on him!

        The pace was disappointing. I was used to book one's fast pace nonstop action where book two seemed to go on dreadfully slow. I believe Patrick Ness wanted to reduce the pace in order to bring some loose strings together as well as create some suspense and deception. I can agree that it did work. Many questions were answered and Mr. Ness did succeed in creating a suspenseful chapter or two, but it did not substitute for the lack of fast pace action!

Rating: 4/5



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