Fantastic book with great questions about the power of language, music and art. I really enjoyed it!

All the elements of this book are things I like: dystopian stories, people obsessed with language and words, action, and mystery. I was disappointed by the feeling like I was reading a combination of 5 different books. The elements worked together to tell an interesting story but they didn't feel new. The whole dynamic of the Ark felt confusing and not fully fleshed out as it could have been. Marlo and Letta were intriguing characters who I like learning about but the abrupt beginning made me feel like I was playing catch up to try and understand this world.

This young adult book, is set in a post apocalytic city called Ark, whose leader is John Noa. The time in undetermined, but is after the 'Melting', the time when there was global warming and the ice caps melted.
The language of Ark consists of 'List', based on only 500 proscribed words, and use of other words from before the 'Melting' is punishable by banishment.. John Noa, has also banned the use of any words assiciated with Music and Art.
Benjamin the wordsmith and his apprentice Letta, are tasked with the collection and archiving of all words.. When Benjamin dies in suspicious circumstances, Letta is made wordsmith, but discovers a shocking plot to rob the townspeople of words, and embarks on a plan to foil the plan.
I think this book is quite pacy and exciting, but is really a book of ideas, it certainly makes you think about how we communicate and whether the world would have evolved, as we know it without language.
I enjoyed the book, although some parts are predictable, and found it easy to read. It will appeal to anyone who is interested in this genre.

Living in a post-flood dystopian world, language has been culled to a small selection of approved lexicon. Letta is a wordsmith, one of the privileged who can use more words.

I liked this book, it was a nice read and I was engaged enough to keep reading. It was a good premise as well. How hard must it be to ban words? Not just words but also luxuries such as art, music and even cooking interesting food. The biggest issue is that there was so much that wasn't original. The flood aspect is Noah's arc... and the Arks leader in this story is call Noa. I think that sums up the originality. It's also very typically YA and dystopian, and therefore predictable at times.

However, the premise of the flood being because humans ignored global warming was a welcome problem. Especially as climate change is such a big issue in real life, with politicians denying existence. The antagonist was so single minded about saving the planet, he really thought he was in the right. Because of this you feel quite emotionally attached, and it also makes you think. Is it really because of us that climate change occurs? Should we really drop all luxuries? It's a hard question to ask.

The cover is truly stunning - but is this what Ark looks like? The actual look of the world Letta lived in doesn't seem to be fully described. I was imagining older styled houses, but then because it's the future will the be more futuristic? I'm unsure. I think the world was wonderfully written about the circumstances, but the actual look and feel was hard to grasp.

In a post-apocalyptic world where the ice-cap has melted, full uncensored free speech is no longer approved and attracts punishment as well as banishment from the safety of the city of Ark. In a return to medieval lifestyles, life is simpler but more physically arduous engendering a more rigorous policing of culture and the spread of knowledge. Letta (this name can’t possibly be lost on the reader) is apprenticed to the Wordsmith – keepers and archivists of all language.

This is an interesting read – a porthole to a potential future for the human race. We are so used to reading and watching zombie apocalypse and colonisation by aliens stories, that it was refreshing to read a story stimulated by climate change – a very hot topic especially with the potential attempted overturning of Barrack Obama’s well renowned and compassionate climate change policy by President Trump. I started to consider how language could be censored and lost, and I realised that youth speak in 2017 is very much like using the Ark’s List of 500 words. Social media, perhaps in particular Twitter with its limit of 140 characters, encourages shortcuts and abbreviations in language. Without schools, Dictionary’s and English masters perhaps language could be forgotten all too easily. In this article entitled the Biblical Tongue Reborn, it talks about the restoration of the Hebrew language and the use of the guardians of textual memory.

‘… it was a conscious decision by Jews who decided that if they were going to make it out of the Diaspora, their language was going to make it, too. So successful were the "guardians of Hebrew's textual memory," that when the time came to restore Hebrew as a spoken tongue after two millennia, they did so, in Glinert's words, "almost overnight."

I was hooked on this book from page one, despite being far older than the middle grade (8-12) core audience it is aimed at. It is a sweet but also a dark story about a young girl's bravery in a society where the person in power is removing human rights through limiting the words one can use and ban artistic activities like painting and music.

It is an easy read for an adult, but will get you thinking about how small changes can seem innocent at first, but the end result can be catastrophic. The book is too dark, in my opinion, for an 8 year old, but will be suitable for the older end of the core audience and beyond. I have given this book five stars and would highly recommend it.

Thank you to the publisher for letting me review a pre-publication copy to review.

This book is kind of a letdown for me. I was so attracted to the cover, and the concept is SO intriguing. I really wanted this to be a winner, but it is not. When I review a YA novel I always think about my current 9th grade students. I question whether or not they would be engaged by the topic, would they be able to stick to it through the end, is the language age-level appropriate, etc. My number one issue with this book is how bored I became with it. I could easily put the book down, and I didn't want to come back to it. I do like the main character, Letta. She is so brave, and she becomes more brave as the story progresses. I love novels with legitimately strong female characters. The dialogue and action sequences in this book are very well done as well. But, there are SO many pages of explanation and inner thought...it made the book boring. I kept thinking, "Get on with it!" My other issue with the novel is that it reads just like the Giver, Oryx and Crake, and all the other dystopia novels out there today. It would throw me because multiple times the story felt paraphrased from these other very well-known and popular novels. Overall, I see great moments of seriously awesome potential, but inot the end it just fell flat.

This book was wonderful. Once it got close to the end I didn't want to put it down! I hope the author will write a sequel because I'd love to read more about these characters.

This a book that I just couldn’t put down, though it is a tiny bit predictable at times. The book is just so beautifully written that it didn’t seem to bother me, I found myself constantly turning the pages through late hours of the night.

Set in the future after ‘the melting’ (global warming), Letta lives in a town called Ark where they are only allowed to speak ‘list’ (with only 500 words as a language) with the reasoning that “Man was the one who spoiled everything. Man and his words”. The man in charged of Ark… Noa, is taking away the people of Arks capability to express themselves through language for fear of ‘the melting’ happening again.

The storyline has some interesting messages behind it. Some that I felt were rather important for the way we are currently living, the carelessness of mankind, being selfish and only wanting to hear things if it suits us. Turning our backs on truth just because it is easier to ignore facts for the fear of the unknown. Although these messages were within the book, they could of taken them further; it was hinting on ideas but never really followed through with them all the way.

There seems to be an open ending with room for a sequel and I personally hope that it does get written.

In Forde's debut novel she artfully draws us into a world attacked by natural forces. Global Warming caused sea levels to rise and the resulting waves stole civilization before many even had a moment to worry--all but John Noa. John Noa saw the signs and had the foresight to build Arc. Noa and his Arc--along with those he saved, were spared and a new society began.

Having seen the mass confusion language and words had on the people from before Noa institutes a change--people can only use a new language in Arc. A language called List for the list of 700 words it contains.

A new generation is growing up when we find ourselves in this world, a generation that has learned only List. Well, all except Letta, the apprentice to the Wordsmith. With the education she has received she loves the old tongue, but it is only safe to speak it with her mentor.

After her mentor goes missing other parts of her world begin to crack. In those cracks there are glimmers of truth that begin to shine through. Who can Letta believe? What is next for the people of Arc? What do the Desecrators really stand for? And who is that bvoy that came into the shop speaking the old tongue?

This was an excellent novel and I look forward to reading more from Forde in the future!

With a wave of greeting to The Giver, this story tackles the power of language, emotion, imagination and bravery in a controlled world which is trying to strangle all four.

Letta lives on a future Earth, where the big 'melting' has left only a few survivors in a place called the Arc. Here, language is controlled and only 500 words are allowed. Speaking any other word is punished by banishment and certain death. Letta holds a rare and important position; she's the Word Smith's apprentice. Not only does she distribute the allowed list, but categorizes no longer used words and files them away in case they might someday be necessary again. When her master goes missing and a wounded traitor of the Arc shows up at her door, her world is turned upside down.

Language is key in this tale, or rather, the attempt to abolish it. The idea is that language enabled unnecessary/useless thoughts, which hindered people to listen and act accordingly in the past. The result was the Melting and almost extinction of mankind. By limiting language to 500 words, needless things such as emotions and imagination no longer get in the way of practicality. It's an interesting premise, but don't think it through too much because it'll hit logic's Swiss cheese. That, however, isn't necessarily important. The theory behind this thought is interesting and worth a couple tumbles through the head. It definitely gets the intended audience (kids 10 and up) to put on those thinking caps and dig a little deeper.

Letta is easy to sympathize with--an average girl (orphan), who has a good life thanks to her master's important position. She supports the odd language laws in the town, but as a person who knows about all of the wonderful words which really exist, questions things at times. Her beginning stand point, the changes she goes through and her later decisions are all understandable and believable. In other words, she's an easy character to like and cheer for the entire way through.

The world comes to life in all of it's hardships, grime and small town quirks. It's not a happy place, throwing this into a definite darker read. The various characters add a lot of flavor and spice, making the every day life colorful and realistic. The descriptions add just the right amount of explanation without weighing down, so that the plot can roll along.

There are many familiar elements from other dystopian works reflected in the plot, but it still carries enough new aspects to make for an interesting read. The plot holds at a quick pace the entire way through and has multi-layers of secrets and intrigue. There are unexpected twists and turns, especially in the way the characters relate to each other. The tension stays high, but then, Letta is up against some pretty gruesome odds. Luckily, she has a good head on her shoulders and isn't overly emotional, but handles things in a fairly believable way.

Although this book is supposedly intended for a middle grade audience, I'd recommend it more for the tweens (ages twelve and up). Some scenes are fairly graphic on the violence and torture side, and not all kids under twelve are ready to digest this type of material.

This was a slower read for me and I'm not sure who of my patrons I'll recommend it to. But I really love the cover - and I think it could be a fun book club title.

I can't wait to have discussions about this book. Great read.

This book started off with a cray concept. A list of words that are approved and the rest are banned, that's preposterous. There was intrigue and excitement at first, but half way through I lost interest from the slow pace of the story. The writing was good and the characters had depth. It just didn't keep my attention the way I wanted it too. Three stars.

Speaking any words not on the approved List is outlawed, except for the Wordsmith. Orphaned Letta is apprenticed to the Wordsmith, and relishes in her tasks - creating ink, copying boxes of words for students and other apprentices, and archiving words removed from the approved list. Harboring an injured outsider brings her into a plot to overthrow the leader of her sequestered community.

Wordsmith (also called The List) by Patricia Forde tells the story of Letta, a young apprentice in a dystopian future where words are limited. Letta quickly discovers that all is not what it seems in the city of Ark when she meets a young man (Marlo) who lives beyond the city borders who questions the leadership of John Noa.

The premise of the book has been done before, as the description of it being a mixture of The Giver and Fahrenheit 451 shows. It's fast paced enough to keep it interesting, but still predictable in terms of plot and the relationships between characters. It's enjoyable enough, but doesn't stand up to the bigger, more complex YA novels that are out right now.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful read that is most definitely for fans of Lois Lowrys The Giver. "The Melting' has occurred, and the leader of the small community that this book takes place in, known as the Ark, has decided that humanity brought his own downfall because arrogance, and too much freedom. His solution is amazingly simple - limit everyone's language to 500 approved words. As the apprentice Wordsmith discovers during the course of this novel, this seemingly innocent action is actually the first part of a far worse plan. Middle grade readers will find a book full of action and danger, a thoroughly engaging hero, and a interesting, thought provoking novel.

Nice dystopian novel about a future controlled by John Noa and the rules he uses to keep the Ark running without problems. Letta is a wordsmith and words have become precious, too many of them and you have a revolution on your hands. When a mysterious boy and possible desecrator shows up at Letta's shop, it becomes clear to Letta that she has a mission. She must save the language.