I enjoyed reading this book, it was written with an interesting premise - limit the words people can use and punish them for using words that were not on the word list! 
The story begins by describing a scavenger who found an object with some strange letters on it that will affect the future of the whole village!
Only certain people can make Word boxes and hand them out to the villagers. Benjamin and Letta are the only two people who can make words and write out their definitions.
Letta is a teenager who dreams of having her lost parents return to claim her. Benjamin has been like a father to her, teaching her his trade and taking care of her.
Benjamin searches for lost words all over the dangerous countryside, which is inhabited by wolves and other animals.
Noe is the leader of the village called "Ark", he is the one who has put wolves in the forest, he is the one who controls the "List" of words people are allowed to use, how much water and food each person gets, and how people are punished for using words that are not on the list.
One day Benjamin goes off to look for words and he does not return, Letta keeps working but one day her world changes. She saves a young man named Marlo from the "gavvers", Noe's soldiers. She decides to help him even though it could mean her imprisonment or banishment. 
Marlo tells Letta he needs help from his people as they do not live in the village but the forest and are called "Desecrators" because they can use any words they want and they use arts like music and painting. Letta gives a message to Finn, who is able to come and get Marlo and take him to get medicine.
You will need to read the rest of the book yourself to see what happens to Letta, Marlo and the village - will Noe win or the "Recreators?"

This young adult dystopian novel is centered around an interesting premise that if you had a human society with a controlled and small vocabulary, could you eliminate the more negative aspects of the human condition? Our main character Letta starts out mourning the loss of creativity and expression but believing that her community's leader is creating the "List" for the benefit of the greater good. There are interesting hints of the long-term impacts of global climate change, and occasionally glimpses of other communities and how they have managed. However, the book's tight focus on Letta means much of the interesting premise is under-explored. Furthermore, while the author's choice to contrast Letta's rich vocabulary during her inner narration compared to the terseness of "List" speak makes sense, the feeling of never-ending constraint made this book hard to get through and consequently I felt more obligated to finish than anything else.

I REALLY love the concept behind this book - that people are only allowed to use a certain amount of words - those words being maintained by a wordsmith. 
I usually don't pay mind to dystopian novels - but the description on this one really made me want to take a second glance, and I am glad I did. 
It's a fairly easy read - meant for middle graders. It's well written and the plot twists and suspense really help to draw you into the story - always wanting more. 
The beginning of the story goes a bit slow - but once you hit the middle it starts getting good - and makes the read worth it!

Patricia Forde has crafted a world where ethics and morals collide, where horror and beauty, despair and hope walk hand in hand. The List becomes ever more relevant in exploring some of the key issues we all face today, issues surrounding the environment, around the use and utter misuse of language, and around equality, but in a way that will challenge even the most liberal of reader. The book is a wake up call for the young, and a warning to the rest of us, about the health of the planet and humanity's future, a book sure to bring about many a heated debate around the dinner table.

I loved the concept of language being restricted to 500 words. Employed both in dialogue and in the manner the characters describe the world around them, Forde has gifted a new favourite term for those who dare to stand up against the powerful, a phrase best left to discover yourself.

I love this book.  It reminds me of a mix of Harrison Bergeron, 1984 and the new crop of dystopian novels (like the Hunger Games.  Forde manages to educate without being preachy.  It tells the story of a society limited to a very short list of words. She writes characters in the manner of Vonnegut, the plot of 1984 and the "readability" of Suzanne Collins.

Letta, our protagonist, is the apprentice of the Wordsmith.  She meets another kid who has an expansive vocabulary.  What happens to someone who doesn't follow the norm?  Read it and you'll find out.

Read  
Read in May 2017
Based in a post world-wide flood setting, The List plays on the idea of Noah and the ark. In fact, the leader is named John Noa, and the community is called Ark. There the similarity ends, however, as readers quickly discover that not all is as it appears in this failing Utopia. The List is a perfect read for fans of The Giver by Lois Lowry.

Letta is an apprenticed Wordsmith. Her career includes collecting words from the past and removing them from circulation. Why? John Noa believes that language is the culprit for the terror and unrest in the pre-Flood world. The people in Ark may only speak List, a reduced language of five hundred "necessary" words. No abstracts. No ideas. Just basics. When Benjamin the Master Wordsmith disappears, Letta begins to discover the true value of words and ideas. But how far is she willing to go to protect them?

Written for more of a middle grade audience, this book is a quick read. It's not one that I can see myself reading again and again, but I enjoyed it. 

Pros: 

1. Discussion Value:

As a former middle school teacher, I can see how this book could be a great discussion starter for a sixth or seventh grade audience. After all, at this age, students begin to formulate their own value systems apart from their parents'. To decide what is valuable, just as Letta does. Some ideas for discussion include: What is the true value of language? Is life worth living without ideals and hope? What distinguishes humans from animals? When does a government become a dictatorship? 

2. Fast-paced Action: 

The List starts a bit slowly, but once the action picks up, the book flies by. I could easily have read it in one sitting if time had allowed. 

Cons: 

1. Connection with Characters:

Sadly, I didn't connect with the characters in this book. There were a few moments where it seemed like the author was building a romance or developing the characterization, but they seemed disconnected. I am absolutely not saying this book needed romance. It didn't, but those few moments seemed random. It seems as though The List will be a series though, so perhaps these are hints as to what will happen down the road. 

2. Slow Beginning:

It took me a few days to actually hit a point in my reading that I cared to keep going. I can see how one of my students could pick this book up, read the first chapter or two, and put it down. Hopefully readers will follow my personal book rule: read at least 50 pages. Life is too short to spend time reading books you don't like, but sometimes the true gems are books that don't capture you at first.

Overall, I would recommend this book especially to middle schoolers with a taste for the dystopian genre. It was a fun read, but more importantly, the ideas and themes are valuable. After all, words are how we build relationships and grow.

The premise of this book was excellent. Unfortunately it feel far short of my expectations. It reminded me of a lot of other dystopias that are popular right and was very predictable. The world building was very scarce and happened to late in the book that I almost gave up. I never felt like I had a good sense of where we were or what the set up was. In addition, I did not become invested in the characters. I had no emotional attachment and was not concerned with what happened to them. I will add though that there were interesting elements to the story and that I don't regret reading it. I do believe that it would definitely appeal to middle grade readers and may just be one of those books that only appeals to that age group.

Imagine a world where the population is limited to 700 words.  Where are and music are not allowed.  Even worse, they have been forgotten.  This is the world of The List.  It is a post-apocalyptic world after a huge ice melt brought on by Global Warming.  There are a few who remember The Arts and a few who remember a larger vocabulary, they are either the ones in authority who want the citizenry to forget or those who are part of the disenfranchised.  Can a this kind of community and culture continue to exist?  flourish?  Can these authoritarians continue to rule?

I loved this book, devoured it in less than a day.  I think the author has left herself open for a sequel.  Fingers crossed.

Definitely will recommend to my students!  A different type of story and one that I think they will love!

Patricia Forde's The List is a Middle-Grade Dystopian novel and it is based on many other novels in the genre. Many will recognize classics and may appreciate this.
After global warming hits the world and the Biblical flood happens again, a man creates a modern ark. In this eco-friendly ark, the last survivors on earth try to recreate a world where people are controlled. Noa has seen how humans have betrayed themselves by the foul use of words. By consequence, the Ark can use only 500 chosen words.
This world is minimalist since it rations everything. It proves the power of the words to humanize or dehumanize. Being limited in words rips us of choices and makes us feel trapped. Some emotions, some feelings cannot be expressed with just a few words to choose from. Art cannot exist. Communication is reduced.
When Letta, the main protagonist, uncovers a plan to suppress language altogether, which will rob Ark’s citizens of their power of speech, she decides to act against it.
Although the concept is fascinating, the novel in itself is on the slow side and many characters are two-dimensional. The idea of everybody in the Ark being indoctrinated and following like sheep did remove some of the pleasure of reading because it was hard to care for them. The people outside the Ark on the other hand are more developed and seem more enlightened. That makes this world seem more black and white: the good guys on one side and the bad guy on the other side. Honestly, I am surprised that so much violence and such a grown up concept would slip into a Middle Grade novel. I almost want to say that this novel would have done better with an older audience in mind.  
The part where they rebuild the world was interesting and the novel overall is unique because it gives the reader a reflection on how important culture plays in our happiness. Communication, invention, art, choices in food and in mates, freedom of deciding on our fate, etc., are important to thrive. Mere surviving and being enslaved by a code of conduct are not living. In brief, a novel that has a lot to please, but that lets me with mixed feelings.

This is my own blog so I will not say “Personally” nor “in my point of view”.. but personally 😜 I think this story is weird and unique at the same time. I am currently struggling on my thoughts about this one….

I don’t like Carver, the gavver. His personality is more villainous than the villain John Noa, who has a twisted thinking. It was a struggle for me — a 10min struggle when I learned that Noa cut the tongues of some people. I mean, what’s sickening with people having language?? 

I feel lucky to live in the age where people are free to talk, able to learn many languages. I don’t think I can live in the world of Ark. It was twisted, sick bastard Noa I can’t understand… really..


for more of my reviews: https://mypoppingthoughts.wordpress.com

Received an ARC from NetGalley. 

I found the first half of the book to be rather slow. good premise, I'm interested in finding out more of what happens, but it didn't grab my attention. 

About halfway through, the plot finally picks up and we understand more of what the storyline actually is. I enjoyed most of the second half of the story, though I feel like the end fell short. Lots of build up for a disappointing ending. 

The plot idea has a lot of promise, but I didn't find this as enjoyable as I thought it would be.

A page turner of a book that illustrates the power and importance of words and language, as well as the danger in them when twisted or used for ill means. Beautifully written, unsettling and with an ending that has me hoping for a sequel, Forde has written a book that transcends the YA category.

I first wanted to read this novel because the concept really caught my attention, living on only five hundred sanctioned words is just mad, but it makes for an interesting read. There were many times I moved along chapters with such ease, others where I needed to pause and pick it up another day. Even so, I was very pleased with The List. Noa, who is the leader of Ark, has twisted things in such a way that has left almost everyone fearing anything and everything. Of course, the law don't really apply to him.

"The key glided through the mechanism with a tiny metallic click. The heavy door fell open, and Letta caught her breath as she always did when confronted with the master's library. Here were the words he in isolation, the words forever removed from everyday use. Shelf after shelf, from floor to ceiling, the boxes were packed with words that would survive, even if they could never be used in Letta's lifetime."

Then there is Letta, the newly titled Wordsmith, finding herself in the middle of an uprising when she gets involved with Marlo whom she believes might be a Desecrator, against everything that the Ark stands for, but there is so much more going on that will bring her world crashing down. There are feels that resemble The Giver in this novel, worlds that almost void of all free will, with nothing that makes a person unique like art or music. Everything is set in its ways and anyone wanting to change that gets banished with no hope (not even in writing) of making it past one day outside of the Ark.

"Stop!' Noa said 'Enough. I don't want to hear about your barbarity. Where is he now?' 'In the holding cell. If he hasn't died yet.' Letta heard Noa sigh. 'Take him to the forest then and dispose of him.' 'Maybe it would be safer to kill him, master?' 'No!' Noa said. 'We do not kill. Nature will take care of those we need to eliminate. How long can an injured old man survive in the forest? We need not interfere."

At times, I found The List to be a little more than a middle grade book, at other times it fit right in with the genre. Even though there were many similarities with other dystopian novels, it had enough uniqueness to make it worth the read. I enjoyed very much how the list of words came to be, what caused all of it, and the final chapters kept me very much interested and wanting to find out the outcome of Ark and everyone residing within its walls.

***I received this copy from Sourcebooks Jabberwocky via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.***

The description of this book is The Giver and Farenghight 451, but it is more like The Giver and 1984, and not the good bits.

This is a society, set in the future, where climent change has destroyed the world, except in some places, and the main character is in one of them.  She is apprenticed to the keeper of the words that people can use in her society.  She knows other words, but the people do not.  They speak in stilted sentences.  There is a world beyond the arc, but she knows nothing of it.

Wow, sounds like a great book, doesn't it?  I thought so too, but it drags, and drags, and nothing happens.  It is mostly world building, and the world is not that interesting, so I finally gave up.  I couldn't; go back and finish this.  Sorry.  Perhaps others will love it.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Interesting concept, but didnt follow through with me the way that I thought it would.

Looking for a gripping, middle-grade, dystopian novel with great male and female characters?  Then look no farther than The List.  This novel reminds one of The City of Ember, but with the intensity significantly ratcheted up, and a dictator who really is quite psychotic.  The heroine, Letta, is determined, courageous, compassionate, and loyal; she begins to question the society she has always accepted when a boy, Marlo, collapses in her store and trouble starts mounting.

The twist to this story (although a little out-there) is that language is being restricted to the extreme in this post-apocalyptic society.  The author's love of words and language is felt on every page.; it is thought-provoking to consider their power.  

An action-packed climax wraps up this book.  Although this is not obviously a set-up for a series, the author leaves the door cracked for that possibility--and that is not a bad thing!

Review of a Digital Advance Copy

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of The List, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

While the technical aspect of the writing felt smooth and comfortable to read, the rest of the story really seemed to be lacking. Letta often came across as contrary, it was impossible to pin down overt details about her and the setting, and the most interesting characters were thrust very firmly to the sidelines. Everything seemed to be approached or addressed very tentatively, except for the List itself.

The concept was interesting, but I won't lie - it was really hard for me to suspend disbelief when it came to the use of language in it. Just didn't work for me. As soon as it was mentioned that the Melting swept away all - or most - written language, I just couldn't keep up the pretence.

This one wasn't for me, I'm afraid.

**I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

After reading the synopsis, I had high hopes for this book. The Giver meshed with Fahrenheit 451? Yes, please. After reading the novel, I came away feeling unsatisfied. I never could really connect with Letta, the main character. She seemed overly weak for a dystopian novel. I guess I was expecting this hero to be confident and strong with some weakness but it almost seemed opposite. Towards the end of the book, the excitement picked up. I wasn't hanging on for any major hooks or thrills after reading the first half of it. 

As Letta found hope in the Desecrators, I saw where it was going. As much as I truly wanted to believe that she was this believable character I found too many flaws within her. I do like the inclusion of John Noa. As I read I pictured this older Jeff Bridges mixed with Count Rugen (The Princess Bride). I found him to be the strongest character in the book.

The ending left me wanting. I saw where it was going as soon as she was on the platform with Noa. I wanted to be hooked and pulled into the feeling that Letta had, but it just seemed disconnected during the end. Obviously, she wanted to stop Noa but her anger did not convince me.

Overall, the book was good for a quick read - somewhat provocative sense. It was a new take on dystopian literature which was nice. The concept of ridding the world of language due to the harm that it caused was fresh, but I think that it could have had a much better main character. She just always seemed to be lucky and in the right place at the right time. I give this 3 stars.