Review: The Ask and The Answer by Patrick Ness

Publisher: Walker Books
Publication Date: May 2nd 2013
Source: Borrowed from library

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Blurb: 
We were in the square, in the square where I'd run, holding her, carrying her, telling her to stay alive, stay alive till we got safe, till we got to Haven so I could save her - But there weren't no safety, no safety at all, there was just him and his men...

Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss. Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor's new order. But what secrets are hiding just outside of town? And where is Viola? Is she even still alive? And who are the mysterious Answer? And then, one day, the bombs begin to explode...

So as you may know if you follow me on my Twitter or Instagram accounts, I recently re-read The Knife of Never Letting Go for the first time since I read it first six years ago! I loved the novel even more the second time around and finally had the motivation to continue with the series, and hopefully finish it this summer. Now after reading The Ask and The Answer I know that I immediately need the third book right now! 

The Ask and The Answer was not only the perfect sequel to what was an amazing introduction the the series, but also completely flipped the readers emotions and thoughts that they had gathered in the first book. In the sequel we encounter a completely new side to the story as Todd and Viola have now been captured by the Mayor and held captive. 


The characters were one of the best parts of the novel for me. Not only do we see characters from the first novel return, but the new characters introduced were completely captivating. One aspect I love about Patrick Ness's creation of this world, is the ambiguous nature of the characters. No character is completely good or evil, there are grey points toe very character and some break the barriers beyond evil itself. Some characters are so complexly written that often times I couldn't decide if they were doing something right or wrong or whose side they were on. 

Todd and Viola are such strong characters. I loved reading the dual point of view, whereas in the first novel we only had Todds point of view. In this novel it was so interesting to see how both protagonists have to act in order to survive so that they may protect each other. I loved reading about their relationship and friendship. It is so strong and they just want to protect each other. I also found it really great reading about each others actions from the others point of view also. 

The new characters really added to the story and their introduction brought more drama and excitement to the story. I really enjoyed reading about the Healers and the Mistresses there, especially Mistress Coyle who I am not sure what to think about! I also enjoyed reading about Mayor Ledger, the old mayor of Haven and his conversations with Todd. I also really enjoyed seeing Wilf again and reading about Lee and Viola's friendship. 

One of the biggest character developments I really enjoyed was in Mayor Prentiss and Davy Jr's characters. We finally get to see a more in depth exploration of the Mayors character, where as in TKONLG we just hear stories about him, we don't actually converse with him or see him actually do any evil acts. I also feel the biggest character arc was with Davy. Davy who we hated with such passion in the first novel, completely changed as we learned more about him. We got to see a younger side to him, delve deeper into his complicated, somewhat abusive, relationship with his father and his deep need for praise and acceptance. I felt myself growing to like him as his friendship with Todd grew and he began to change personality. 

The novel delves much deeper into societal division, racism, sexism, war and much more deeper violent themes than we had explored in the first novel. I really found the division of men from women and humans from Spackle to be incredibly interesting and also hard hitting. I found it so interesting to learn more about the Spackle finally and hope to learn more in the next novel. 
The novel also drives home the consequences and hardship of war / civil war. The novel makes great highlights of the lack of clarity of good vs bad people in war situations and the struggle people will of to to survive. 

Ness has somehow lived up to, and possibly exceeded, The Knife Of Never Letting Go - which I did not think possible. Patrick Ness has somehow create done of the most action packed, complex and riveting trilogy's. The plot was so completely gripping and I can not wait to get my hands on the third book as soon as I can! 

If you've read this book or series, comment below and lets talk!