Children's Book review

The Ask and the Answer

By Patrick Ness

Published by Walker Books

The Ask and The Answer immediately launches the reader back to the point at which The Knife of Never Letting Go reached its nightmarish end, with Todd and Viola at the mercy of Mayor Prentiss in the promised town of New Haven.

As Mayor Prentiss and his army inflict their terrifying regime on the people of the town, a resistance group The Ask, led by the healer Mistress Coyle plot a war that pitches man against woman.

Todd and Viola find themselves pulled into opposing idealisms, as the battle to gain power gathers pace before the anticipated arrival of the new settlers from Old World.

Themes of dictatorship, terrorism and privacy reign in Ness’s darker science fiction sequel, which loses nothing of the fast-paced, original narrative that made The Knife of Never Letting Go such a success. 

Reading age: 11+
Interest level: 13+