List

by Patricia Forde

• ISBN10: 0606412301
• ISBN13: 9780606412308
• Publish Date: 5 June 2018 (first published 1 August 2017)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 13 September 2023
• Imprint: Turtleback Books
• Edition: Bound for Schools & Libraries ed.
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[KitsuneBae]

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This review first appeared on the Wayward Kitsune.

o alright, I don’t have to wax poetic what the story is all about. If you’re familiar with the story of Noah’s Ark then you have the basic premise of The List. Set some time in the future, Earth finally succumbed to Global Warming. The glaciers melted causing a massive flood that killed a lot of people. Fortunately, a radical environmentalist named John Noa had already anticipated the catastrophe and built an Ark. To cut the story short, John Noa and the rest of the survivors made a new world where technology was forbidden and speech regulated. Yes, you’ve read that right. Due to John Noa’s resentment and perverse obsession to protect Ark from another bout of Global Warming, he mandated that speech must be regulated. Because ya know, speech=freedom…freedom to manipulate…freedom to express…freedom to spread lies…etc. So a Wordsmith was appointed to release a List of words that every Ark citizen must use to communicate. Speaking/using words not included in the list would mean punishment.

In Ark, our heroine, Letta, was born. Despite being an orphan, her life is still pretty much easier compared to the other Ark dwellers. She was made apprentice to the Wordsmith, Benjamin, which means that she can speak words outside of the list without getting punished. Everything was working fine in Letta’s world when suddenly it turned upside down and found herself being hailed as the new Wordsmith.

Well, this was a good read although I’m still partial to the Giver. The premise alone is already intriguing from the get go. And I was highly interested as to how the author would handle such ambitious idea. Though there are still areas for improvement, I think that Patricia Forde did a good job in presenting a world where language is constrained. I especially enjoyed the dialogue where the conversationalists are speaking List. Grammar Nazis, beware!

I also liked the environmental message that the author was sending particularly that the target audience of this book is our youngsters. It never hurts to educate our young ones regarding environmental protection as early as possible. Cheers for that, Forde!

I was, however, quite turned off with the way the author is hinting a romance between Letta and Marlo because it’s not necessary. And I don’t even feel any chemistry between the two. And one more thing, that ending feels like a cop out.

All in all, if you enjoy middle-grade dystopia and still crazy about The Giver’s, then, The List is the perfect book for you.

[pamela]

This suffered from 'Divergent' Syndrome: An interesting concept that didn't really follow through with sustainable, believable reasons for its main plot device. Despite there being some interesting use of language and an important call for children to improve their vocabulary, the characters weren't interesting or deep enough to sustain my interest.

[chymerra]

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**