Music, art (like paintings), free choice of a partner - all of it is forbidden. And he has an apprentice, young Letta, the protagonist. The person charged with preserving language (= keeping a lid on it) and composing the list with allowed words, is called Wordsmith. In this city, language is restricted because words are deceiving and therefore evil according to the city's creator/leader, Noa (yeah, the names aren't very creative). One man saw it coming and built an eco-friendly city called Ark. Floods and other natural catastrophes have brought mankind to near extinction, there is no real technology. Global warming is not a myth and has led to the polar ice caps melting. The story is set in the far future as we gather from some memories and tales of some of the older people. Why? Because on one hand, the plot is very predictable, while on the other, the story itself and how it was written is quite beautiful and I was deeply touched by some of the people and what happened to them. Thanks to NetGalley and the author for letting me read this one early! Oh, and the fact that you only get 500 words to use is a cool idea, but whew boy is it hard to read. I just love the books it draws inspiration from, but felt this one didn't come anywhere close to being what it could have been. I've found plenty of great reviews out there. So if dystopian is your thing, gives this a shot later this year. I would go through an entire chapter sometimes and find my mind wandering off, and then I would snap back into it and realize I hadn't missed much. Like I said, there was some good stuff here that just needed someone to come along and breathe more life into it. The story of Noah's Ark is there, I mean with the same name and all, and there is this rebuilding and starting a new world after crazy events.
Hey, and it was cool how things sort of mirror our own world. Even at the beginning when the first bit of intrigue occurs and Marlo shows up unexpectedly and you're trying to figure out who he is and all that. I think the concept is good, just not enough there to make me care. The thought of a world controlled by language and what words must be used was interesting, but it played out more ridiculous on the book. I was definitely drawn to the idea of the book and the world it described. This just never took off for me for some reason. A little bit of The Giver with some Fahrenheit 451 maybe some 1984 and then some elements of any other dystopian novel. This just felt like a mashup of a lot of classic dystopian novels rolled up into one, but it never really got close to the level of any of the books it was trying to be. I read many reviews that reinforced my belief that I could REALLY love this novel, so I plan to pick it up again in the physical format ASAP.įrom what I've retained of the story, I would *definitely* recommend despite my choice to discontinue reading it at the moment, but I would not listen to the audio version. There were so many themes I adored and the concept truly stole my heart. That said, I SERIOUSLY enjoyed what I read of this book and am completely intent on rereading it in a physical format. (Life has also been very chaotic at the moment so that also created bad timing for a tricky audiobook.) I feel I'd be doing a real disservice to this book by pushing to finish and giving a mediocre rating/review that was heavily influenced by factors other than the content of the story.
#Generic listbook full#
I tried restarting the novel once and restarting chapters multiple times, but I could not grasp the full scope of the story. The audiobook narrator isn't bad, but the story in the audio format did not fit with me. Ultimately, I made a bad choice to listen to the audiobook with this novel. I really thought I had the potential to LOVE this book, but it was just okay! I wish the story had more development in almost all aspects (characterization, environmentalist themes, plot) and the ending felt rushed and unfinished. Though I adored the writing and structure of the world, the plot and characters ended up being a letdown.
I have reread & completed The List and am settling on a rating of 3 stars.
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