The Ask and the Answer: 2/3 (Chaos Walking)

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I think Todd and Viola would both have come out of this a lot more damaged than they seem to be. I get that they love each other; I get that he's trying to say something about how powerful love is (I suspect Davy Prentiss is able to do good in the end because he loves Todd, even though it's never spelled out exactly). Yes, love is powerful. But hurt is also powerful, and I can't quite accept that they're able to forgive each other and be quite that unshakeably bonded after all that they've been through. While it had some weaknesses, the first book in this series, The Knife of Never Letting Go, won me over by telling an original story with some interesting themes, and keeping the level of tension high. In it, Ness imagined a planet colony of religious settlers that had come to start over with a low-tech life. But, oh, by the way, there was a war with the native aliens, all the women are dead, and everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts, all the time. The main character, Todd Hewitt, begins to realize that he wasn’t told the whole truth, and ends up fleeing the dark designs of his town's leaders, several enemies hot on his trail.

Many people are now having telephone psychic readings but many people have asked “Can a telephone psychic reading be as accurate as a face to face reading?” Haven sollte Todds und Violas sicherer Hafen sein. Doch ihre letzte Hoffnung wurde zu einem Gefängnis. Mayor Prentiss kam ihnen zuvor und übernahm die Stadt mithilfe seiner Armee. Sofort beginnt er, neue Regeln zu diktieren. Seiner Ansicht nach muss New World revolutioniert werden; die Menschen müssten sich auf das besinnen, was sie wirklich sind. Dazu trennt er nicht nur sofort Todd und Viola, nein, er unterteilt auch die Bewohner Havens in Männer und Frauen und isoliert sie voneinander. Außerdem hält er das Heilmittel für den Noise, das in Haven erfunden wurde, unter Verschluss. Aus Angst, dass Prentiss Viola etwas antun könnte, erklärt sich Todd bereit für ihn zu arbeiten. Er würde alles tun, um sie zu beschützen.Yeah," I yell, my voice getting louder to match his. "Three months of defending you to people who'd only be too happy to call you enemy, Todd. Three months of wondering why the hell you're working so hard for the Mayor and how he knew to go right for the ocean the day after we spoke." He winces, but I keep going, thrusting out my arm and pulling up on the sleeve. "Three months wondering why you put these on women!"

Is it okay to sacrifice one innocent person for the greater good? How about a thousand? Is terrorism a crime or a fight for freedom? The answers you think you have now may not be so easily applied when reading the book. It may make you question all that you've ever believed in.

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There are several things you can discover from having a phone reading, the first is clarity. If a situation has been clouding over you for some time it helps to sometimes get a fresh perspective and a neutral view over your situation. This book added a lot of depth to Todd without being too overwhelming and I think the situations Todd is placed in (in true Nessian form… CRAZY ONES) allow Ness to blur the lines of what actually is evil, which is one of the major themes of this series. And it is this whole study of moral ambiguity that I find so fascinating about this series and that makes it stand so far apart from a lot of YA series that I have read for a while. She turns to me sharply. "To live is to fight," she snaps. "To preserve life is to fight everything that man stands for."" Through Viola, we meet the healers, and a new character by the name of Mistress Coyle. Mistress Coyle tries to develop a relationship with Viola, asking her questions about the new settlers coming in, and pumping for information about the invading army, and trying to get Viola to understand that the decision to surrender was not a unanimous one. Unfortunately for Viola, it takes her too long to figure out Mistress Coyle isn't the beacon of hope she promises to be. I really wanted to love ‘The Ask and the Answer.’ I really did. It has all the trappings of a story that completely takes me over, but it didn’t execute it well enough for me to sing it’s praises. It was a struggle to read and put a stain on my experience for the world of Todd and Viola. Plus I still have a Manchee hangover…