lizarodz
Written on Oct 9, 2017
Review and current giveaway (ends 10/22/17): Quite the Novel Idea
Review
Well, that was awesome! I LOVED The Forgetting and I LOVED The Knowing! Oh, you want details, do you? Okay, okay, here we go:
The Knowing starts almost 400 years after the ending of The Forgetting. I don’t want to spoil the first book for you, so read my review if you want to know more about it. Anyway, the Knowing are descendants of the city of Canaan that live underground and do not forget. Ever. It’s amazing, they have photographic memories, can tell time, temperature, take measurements, and do not forget, faces, words, or feelings. It’s a horrible way of living and the suicide rate it’s quite high. The Knowing Council is cruel and unforgiving; the rules very strict. The people from Outside serve the Knowing and do most things for them while receiving very little.
Samara is a physician by trade, but practices very little since the Knowing do not get sick. She befriends Nita, who lives on the Outside and they are like sisters. Sam starts going Outside and sharing knowledge with them, all things that are forbidden to do. Sam is good, gentle, has a need to help others, but she’s also tortured by her memories and cannot repressed them all the time as she should. I felt so bad for her. She’s looking for a cure for the Knowing, to make people forget.
Beck is an alien from Earth (think about that for a second 🙂 ) and together with Jill, he’s exploring and mapping the planet, part of an expedition. When they loose communication they happen to find the lost city of Canaan at the same time that the runaway Sam does. A lot of other events are taking place at the same time and has them and Jill running form the Council. They eventually find a common goal and of course, love.
I loved their relationship. It was fast, but not that fast since they didn’t trust each other at the beginning. They learn to love and support each other and what that means in a new planet with different cultures and levels of technology. Yay for diversity! Beck’s dad is Hispanic and his mom is Chinese and Sam seems to be from Hindu dependence (she has darker skin and big hazel eyes).
There is a big host of characters in the book. From Sam’s unloving parents, to her misguided prospective partner Reddix, Nita’s big family, including Grandpapa Cyrus. The characterization was so good.
The writing is amazing ans is the world building. We follow on what happened in The Forgetting with an incredible twist and just keeps getting more comboluted page by page. This is a sci-fi story with the feeling of a dystopian or even a fantasy mixed in. SO good!
Overall, I really enjoyed The Knowing, almost as much as I did the first book. The ending is similar to book one and it makes me wonder if we should expect more in the series. I wish there was more 🙂