The Ask and the Answer: Book summary and reviews of The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

The Ask and the Answer Summary

Reaching the end of their tense and desperate flight in The Knife of Never Letting Go, Todd and Viola did not find healing and hope in Haven. They found instead their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss, waiting to welcome them to New Prentisstown. There they are forced into separate lives: Todd to prison, and Viola to a house of healing where her wounds are treated. Soon Viola is swept into the ruthless activities of the Answer, aimed at overthrowing the tyrannical government. Todd, meanwhile, faces impossible choices when forced to join the mayor’s oppressive new regime. In alternating narratives - Todd's gritty and volatile; Viola’s calmer but equally stubborn - the two struggle to reconcile their own dubious actions with their deepest beliefs. Torn by confusion and compromise, suspicion and betrayal, can their trust in each other possibly survive?

The Ask and the Answer Reviews

"This superb novel...uses a brilliant cast of well-developed characters and its singular setting and premise to present a provocative examination of the nature of evil and humanity. This is among the best YA science fiction novels of the year." - Publishers Weekly

"This is a stunning not-to-be-missed science fiction adventure set in an extraordinarily imagined world. Highly recommended." - Children's Literature

"Science fiction lovers will be looking for the next installment in this fast-paced and imaginative series." - School Library Journal

"Newbies will need the first volume to understand this one, and fans are given only a momentary respite as the author continues his tradition of cliffhanger endings." - Kirkus Reviews

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Rated of 5 by Jennna
Awesome!
Best book I ever read. By far.

Patrick Ness Author Biography

About me

I was born on an army base called Fort Belvoir, near Alexandria, Virginia. But I only stayed there for the first four months of my life and have never even been back to the East Coast of America. Since then, I've lived in Hawaii, Washington, California, and England.

I've only ever really wanted to be a writer. I studied English Literature at the University of Southern California, and when I graduated, I got a job as a corporate writer at a cable company in Los Angeles, writing manuals and speeches and once even an advertisement for the Gilroy, California Garlic Festival. I got my first story published in Genre magazine in 1997 and was working on my first novel when I moved to London in 1999. I've lived here ever since. I...

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