The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness

Read for: No other reason than being the sequel of a very good book, and finally being available in the library (and thus pipping Mr Beagle's book to my first of the year)!

Rarely does a sequel outdo its predecessor. Not necessarily because the writing is bad or the story less enjoyable. But because the feeling that the reader gets when reading the story for ths first time is incomparable...the original can rarely be replicated, and is even less likely to be bettered.

That being said, The Ask and The Answer does all that, and more. The Knife of Never Letting Go was an excellent first novel; full of original ideas, excellent storytelling and characters who it was easy to care about. Left on a cliffhanger ending (to say the least!), it was hard not to rush out and read the sequel to Knife straight away. Hard that is because the library copies had been reserved for what seemed like eternity, and I couldn't justify buying it when I already had so many books on my shelf. So I waited, and low and behold, The Ask and The Answer became available and was subsequently devoured in a matter of days.

Gripping is an understatement. Ness has the ability to take your average characters, your far-from-extraordinary plot and turn it into an absolutely riveting read. With one emotional rollercoaster after another and a corker of a plot twist at the end (I'm sure some readers saw it coming but I certainly didn't!), Ness deftly navigates the somewhat busy field of young adult fantasy and created something truly special. Suffice to say, if you enjoyed the Knife of Never Letting Go, I guarantee that you will love the sequel. Oh yes.

Characters developed throughout the first novel have been fully fleshed out in the sequel. Without giving too much away, our protagonists, Todd and Viola, have been dragged through the most dire of circumstances and find themselves in deadly peril from the first page. Having suffered the most tragic of personal losses, and running from one danger to another, Todd and Viola are forced to face the darkest of situations and worse, the darkness inside themselves. What they each are willing and capable of doing...and sacrificing. It is this that makes the book so enjoyable and so gripping, better than any suspense film that I have seen over the past years. The Ask and The Answer is dark, darker than I expected and far darker than the covers of either book suggest.

It is Ness' expert handling of his characters' plight and the truly devastating effects of their decisions that make the book stand out from its contemporaries, especially in a time where run-of-the-mill YA fantasies seem to be churned out by the dozen. Understated, powerful, heartfelt yet sharp as a knife, Ness' writing really delivers. My only complaint is that we are yet again left with a cliffhanger. And this time, I do not have the next installment readily available to read at my leisure. I guess I'll have to wait with the rest of you! Mr Ness, you have certainly set the bar very high.

I was slightly concerned that a childrens fantasy would not live up to the standard of my first reads of the past three years...I need not have worried. Cracking stuff.

Other blog reviews:
Becky's Book Reviews
Things mean a lot

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