i have tried twice to read this novel but i have really struggled with the concept. Was quite slow to start and just didn't hold my attention. Sorry Netgalley

From my opinion of this book, I thought it was mediocre. I know it is middle grade but that should nevertheless take away too much from a great story. Since I've already traveled into that kind of scenery there wasn't much that made my mind explode, however it would be a nice introduction to dystopian worlds to younger ages.

There were a lot of predictable things but at least there were a few messages that youth could learn from

Even with those negatives, there were points in the book that I liked. The cover is absolutely beautiful. Rarely, but still sometimes, I got so engrossed in the story and some anxiety built up for the characters, thus I became attached to them to an extent.

I don't think this was the best book in the world by all means nor the worst, it just settled in the middle.

This dystopian young adult novel is going to be a BIG hit with upper grades kids at my school. It will have plenty of fans among kids who are savvy about some of the current events used to shape the narrative (global warming, government power). It would make a great book for literature circles/discussions. Will be recommending to my coworkers, especially our Resource Teacher for the Gifted, and to mature 4th and 5th graders.

Minimalist, simplistic, dystopia. The premise behind the book is as simple as it gets. “The Melting” occurred (climate change, polar ice caps anyone?), those that were lucky enough to get into John Noa’s Ark (ha, get it?), live a fairly simple life where everything gets reused, Noa is in total power, and the people get to use only the approved words from The List. Noa believes that words are the root of all men’s evil. People use it to hurt others, to plant subversive ideas, to inspire hope where there should be none, etc. When Letta (the Wordsmith apprentice) receives word that her beloved Master has died on a word finding journey, and a strange young boy from outside her home shows up, she knows that something strange is afoot. The List is a timely reminder that absolute power corrupts and that the human spirit knows no bounds.

This was like a rehash of The Giver, only instead of colors being limited/forbidden, it's words. The Earth has flooded and a man named John Noe conveniently built this town (I think??) called Ark (har de har har) to save people, but the price is that you can't speak English anymore.

I have no idea why any of this would ever happen, and the book doesn't either. If you're going to sell me something ridiculous, then SELL it.

A middle grade dystopian novel that follows Letta who becomes the Wordsmith for Ark. She is now in charge of 'List' which all the people must speak, which consists of only 500 words.

If the whole 'List' was provided somewhere in the book if would have been fun and challenging to use to write a review with.

The story starts out slowly and only speeds up at the half way point. It wasn't a fantastic read for me but I'm not the target audience. It's a typical dystopian story...maybe I'm just burnt out on them.

I've seen several reviews saying that this is a good book to recommend to readers who enjoyed The Giver. They were right. In this vision of the world after "the Melting," only the words on the approved List are allowed to be spoken. The wordsmith and his apprentice curate the other words, carefully filing them away after his trips out into the wilderness to look for remnants of print. Just as Jonas learns from the Giver as memories are shared, Letta learns from Benjamin as he teaches her his craft. Their stories are also similar in the way the younger characters become more frustrated and disillusioned with their society as they come to see its flaws. And, of course, there is the inevitable clash with authority when their sense of what is right impels them to act.

For teachers looking for a book with themes to explore, The List has many to choose from. Ecology and man's impact on the environment, justice, the corruption of power, language and the power of words, humanity, responsibility, coming of age...There really is something for almost everyone.

If you enjoy stories full of complex relationships, characters determined to do the right thing even at personal risk, and books that make you really think about what it means to be human - then you need a copy of The List.

If you're looking for a highly unique book, stop here, don't look further! This book is all about WORDS. About talking and understanding words, with little references to the flood from the Bible where Noah built an Ark. This story was so clever, so unique and it was actually kinda creepy to bestow a world where spoken language is minimalized little by little...

Pros
Highly unique: Like I just said, the story is highly unique. In a dystopian world where spoken language is reduced word by word. Talking whole sentences will get you a penalty, and with a certain amount of penalties, you won't be allowed to talk anymore. To make sure people only learn the words that are allowed, there is a new profession: Wordsmith. How original is this! I was astonished in every chapter about the world, the rules, the story and it all made sense in this book.
Biblical references: This is not a biblical book, don't get me wrong, but the flooding from the Bible is a big part in this book. Since Noah built an ark and saved mankind by doing so. A large part of this book is based on this story. And I actually liked it! I'm not a religious person, but I went to a Christian Primary School and I also teach the kids in my classroom about the Bible and the stories in it. I enjoyed reading a story with a different take on a biblical story! I don't think people who are religious will be offended by the book.
Creepy feeling: Not being able to express yourself because you don't have the words to do so, seems so creepy to me! Since I'm a blogger I NEED my words to tell the world how I feel/what I think. Art is not something that is accepted in this book and the words just keep being deleted, destroyed... It had a pretty creepy vibe!
Ending: The ending is a discussion point. I can't tell you if it's a good or a bad ending.. Decide for yourself, only then can we argue about it. I liked the ending, but I also like the fact that maybe not everyone will like the ending.. Do you get me? I like the fact that it can raise discussion! If you have read the book, or plan to do so, let me know your opinion on the ending!

Cons
Not wow-ing: Although I had a lot of Pros for this book, it's not a book that will receive a 5-rating from me. The book was intriguing, creepy, unique, but didn't WOW me. Now I'm thinking about it, maybe I missed a bit of tension in the final part of the book.

Overall
Unique, creepy and all about WORDS. I like the fact that words are such a big part in this book, or actually not, because the list of words that are allowed is only 500 words long. I'm also really curious about more books by Patricia Forde, I expect a lot more unique novels! I'll keep an eye out for new books.

The concept and general storyline drew me (along with the gorgeous cover) but I couldn't get into the action and was struggling to connect with something whether it be beautiful language, character, setting, but alas, it never clicked!

Dystopian novels are all the rage and it is not often that you can get a story like “The List” that is both familiar and at the same time fresh. While the story line evokes familiar feelings and a nod to utopian societies with a dark side like “The Giver” and to a degree “Red Queen,” Patricia Forde has knocked it out of the park with her debut novel. The idea of limiting not the ideas that people have through separation but also by limiting the words that they can use is an interesting premise that Forde follows through with great strength. This is a middle school leveled book but I still was able to enjoy the familiar path. The characters were well written and though there were hints of romance there was no overtly obvious romantic overtones with the main character, while the familial bonds were highlighted. I appreciate this when the character are written very young. As someone who jumped into dystopian fiction with “Handmaid’s Tale” and “Brave New World,” I think young me would have appreciated a story like this to start me off in the dystopian style. It’s a little dark but not so much so that I would worry about giving this book to my niece or nephew.
​*This eBook was provided by NetGalley and Sourcebooks Jabberwocky in exchange for honest feedback*

***This book was reviewed for Sourcebooks- Jabberwocky via Netgalley

*Words are… tears of the sun, given shape.
Words are… Awen manifest; fruit of the soul.
Words are… arbitrary symbols of communication.

Patricia Forde’s The List is a clarion call for the future, echoing the lessons of Fahrenheit 451 and Equilibrium. Set in a post-apocalyptic future where the polar ice caps have melted, flooding the land and killing thousands, one man has built a false utopia. John Noa, founder of Ark, created a city where surviving inhabitants live in peace with the environment. On the surface,everything seems to run smoothly, but dark currents run beneath. To maintain his utopia, Noa has restricted language to a List of a mere 500 words.

It is Noa's belief that language is not a thing of great beauty that sets humanity apart, but rather our deepest evil that clouds the mind and separates humans from harmony with the natural world. The only people accorded the privilege of full language are Noa, his close advisors, the wordsmith, and the wordsmith's apprentice. Certain jobs are allowed the use of specialist words amongst themselves.

It is Benjamin and Letta's job to scribe out the List words for students and specialist words for apprentices, and to go out into the world to collect and catalogue words. When an injured young man stumbles into the wordsmith's shop when Benjamin is out on a word hunt, Letta takes him in and cares for him. This single act of kindness will forever change her life, and the very future of Ark itself.

First, I have to say I adore the cover! It's simple and elegant; a minimalist testimony to the language of List itself. With The List, Forde has woven an enduring tale about the value of language and communication. It is a tale of ethic and civic responsibility. It is humanity who hastened the Melting, and this scenario is a portent of our future, if we are not careful. It is a morality tale. For Noa, the ends justify the means. He has a sincere desire to preserve and protect, but it has clouded his mind and opened the way for drastic measures. Many of his attempts at eradicating language are horrifyingly tragic. It is a tale of censorship. By attempting to eliminate language, Noa has declared free thinking, imagination, and creative works of song, art, poetry and more as sacrilege, and labels those that embrace them Desecrators. But humans are wired for creativity. Deprived, the mind withers and dies.

Favourite quote: “Music comes in all colours, Letta, just as we do. Before I knew the word 'Creator’, I called us colour-catchers, the musicians, the painters, the dancers. That's what we try to do, catch the colours in our own hearts and share that with other people.” ~Leyla to Letta

*’Words are…’ by J Aislynn d’Merricksson, Jonas Merricksson, and Winter Dolan

📚📚📚📚📚 A must read for fans of dystopic and post-apocalyptic fiction.

First of all, I don't know why this is being marketed as a Middle Grade title because it reads nothing like a MG, and it is so draggy that age group will drop it like a hot potato before they are quarter way done. I don't even see it making the mark as a YA either because it bored me to tears and I am an adult. This is a shame, too, because the premise is stellar.

For good solid story telling there were too many coincidences, especially in finding the item that brought about the climax. The science wasn't well researched, and some of the sociology factors didn't mesh with human behavior, and some of the political elements made no sense in the context of things. It was a weak narrative. There was also flirting and sexual tension and that is a big no no in my opinion for Middle Grade stories.

There was also this clipped rhythm to the reading. It was strange. At first I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was because 80% of the sentences were super short. It felt like reading dit-dit-dot-dit-dit-dit-dot. Scenes took way to long to play out and there was a feeling of redundancy to the storyline. The last 10% of the book dragged so much I wanted to bang my head on the wall

As mentioned in most of the reviews I’ve read about The List, it strongly resembles The Giver by Lois Lowry, the popular, recently made-into-a-movie story about a boy living in a small community where everyone is assigned a job to support their population’s well-being. Jonah is extra special because his job is rare. Only one is needed to fulfill the Receiver’s duties, duties which cause him see the world in a completely different way from everyone else in his world.

Leta also lives in a small community where everyone must contribute to the well-being of the whole. She isn’t assigned her job but apprenticed into it. The wordsmith is a rare position and the knowledge her job gives her causes her, too, to see the world very differently than (most of) her neighbours. That’s where the similarities end.

Jonah’s world is peaceful and gentle. People are assigned to jobs they love after they’ve had a chance as children to try any and all of them as volunteers. Everyone is provided for. There is no conflict, because emotions are blunted. Passion, anger, jealously barely exist. Openness among families, bland cheer, and drugs keep people comfortable. Any misdemeanor is quickly and gently correctly. Jonah’s only regret is that his people don’t know the incredibly wonderful things they are missing out on by avoiding the horrible things that might come with them.

Leta’s world is significantly less gentle. Outside of Ark, her community, are destitute and desperate people living on Ark’s dregs. The Desecrators turn up occasionally to play music or create a public art piece (art, music, even excess words are NOT. Allowed.). Inside of Ark everyone answers to Noa, their infallible leader. He does not lie, he does no harm. Those who trusted in Noa had a place in Ark. Those who didn’t… The survivors of the Melting and their children are outside the gate. Ark has a very cultish feel to it. Noa is charismatic and actually quite crazy. He does great harm. He lies often. Even to his most beloved wife. How ironic he hates words because of their lying power.

Words, for Noa, are evil. They are the root of the world’s destruction. Without words, people could not have lied about Global Warming. People wouldn’t have believed everything was okay. His distrust of words has created Leta’s job. She creates copies of The List, the officially approved collection of words people in Ark are allowed to use. It’s a small list. And growing smaller.
Crisply written, the author uses a variety of beautiful words in The List. My favourite is when Leta sees words in her dreams. The story begins strongly but, for me, fizzles into a typical dystopia. “Good” guys come in fighting, bad guys suffer terrible blow, somebody dies, somebody else makes a decision you “didn’t” see coming. This is not a bad thing. For people who haven’t read almost every dystopia written this decade, it will be a delightful read.

This cover and description totally pulled me in and I knew I had to read this book. I wasn’t disappointed as the story fulfilled my expectations and I was pleased by Forde’s prose and to live in her world for a short time.
I’m not one of those who wishes Dystopian would die and never come back. I love a well-told Dystopian tale. Plus, THE GIVER, FARENHEIT 451, 1984 … all of these are tales of my childhood and a book which comps these titles at least deserves a peek from me.
Letta’s world is in the far future after global warming caused floods to cover the earth and all that is left is a small town called Ark, founded by a man (Noa) who foresaw the floods. (Funny, right?) What I love about this town (well, hate about it, but it makes for a good story) is the limit they put on the words the people may use, but they are intent on preserving the language.
This is where Letta and her wordsmith master come in. What follows is a twisty tale full of intense conflict that, while not wholly original, will pull young readers in for sure. The villain is one to love to hate, and Letta is a protagonist to cheer for.
I love the message that words have power and can hurt, but at the same time, taking them away only limits society and is not the answer. Forde’s use of this limited word bank shows in the dialogue and in the development of the characters and the journey they are on.
I thought Forde’s worldbuilding was clear and detailed and she used mystery and so many feelings to allow the reader to connect to the characters and the story.
I would classify this as upper middle grade because of the violence and the slight love story, but it’s still very tame and teaches many valuable lessons.
Definitely a book suitable for a classroom library or a middle school project. Very well done.

Actual rating - 3.5 stars

It took me a little while to finish this book, but overall, I enjoyed it. It was, for the most part, well-written, if a bit rushed and unbelievable in places, and it took the seemingly never-ending genre of dystopian fiction and brought a whole new spin to it.

I think what made me enjoy this book more than I would have had it come out a year ago is that it is terribly relevant to our current political situation. The great debate over climate change and all of our president's talk of "fake news" is eerily similar to what is going on in this book.

Basically, this book takes place after an event that is referred to only as "The Melting" - basically, a time after climate change and global warming has made the ice caps melt and destroyed civilization in a flood. A man named Jon Noa built a "refugee" city (of a sort) called Ark. (Yes, the symbolism is a bit obvious, but it works.) In this city, they speak a new language called "List." Basically, it is English, but a much shortened, less rich version of English. There are wordsmiths that keep all the words from before the Melting -- our own, known English language -- but the rest of the community is only given the bare number of words they need to communicate basic things, such as fundamental needs. They are NOT given abstract words, such as "hope" or "future" or "art." They are also not given those things -- hope, futures, and art. There is no art or music or philosophy in ark. Basically, Jon Noa wants to save what is left of the world and the people in it by having them live as much like animals as is possible -- with very limited language skills and only the will to survive. (Oh, the reason for the abbreviated language is because Noa believed politicians used WORDS to convince the general public that scientists were just being ridiculous and that nothing bad was going to happen.)

Of course, not everyone agrees with this new way of life. There are people called Desecrators who believe people should live as people were meant to live -- with art and music and a full, rich language. This, of course, leads to the conflict of the story.

It is a good story, and it is not something that -- as far as I know -- has been done before now. For that reason alone, I liked it.

As I said, there are times when the plot feels a little thin and rushed and makes it hard to suspend disbelief, but those things can be overlooked in the grand scheme of things. Overall, it was quite the enjoyable read, and I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of young adult, dystopian novels.

The List is a very clever apocalyptic Dystopian about a little girl named Letta apprenticing as a wordsmith. They help distribute words to everyone as they require them and words found are to be deposited to them for proper handling. Letta originally faithfully follows their leader in the beginning, but events happen that cause her to slowly question the world she thinks she knows. I would highly recommend this to anyone, especially those that love this genre and eager to find a story with a unique concept on government control.

This is a solid 3.5 read for me. It has a very interesting premise and sympathetic characters but I would have liked to see less predictable plot points and more of an exploration into the inner workings of the society ("Ark").

I did not finish this book. Unfortunately, I found it boring and do not believe a Middle School student would be able to stay engaged in the story.

This book is a look at a post apocalyptic world in which the polar ice caps have melted and there was a great flood. Pulling from the Bible and George Orwells 1984, the plot is that a dictator wants to limit language to only a select few to shape and rule the new world. A young wordsmith, must curate words and deliver them to the appropriate people. Yet she soon discovers a more sinister plot, to make the entire human population mute. Can she stop the dictator? That is the crux of the book.
I liked this book. It was a bit hard to get into at first. However, by the end of the book, I could not put it down. I thought it was a new way of looking at how the world as we knew it ended. Yet, the storyline was a bit repetitive from the Bible and 1984. Good book overall, tired themes.

Let me preface this review by saying my opinion is very much influenced by the comparisons to The Giver and Fahrenheit 451. Why? Because I absolutely love both of these books. I read The Giver as middle schooler and never forgot it, so I was thrilled when I got to teach it as an adult. As far as Fahrenheit 451 goes, it is one of my all-time favorites. I have highlighted, underlined, and written notes in my multiple copies of the novel. So, when The List was compared to the two of these works, I jumped at the chance to read it. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my personal hype.

However, this is still a good book and I can easily it working well in middle-grade classrooms for teaching the basics of literature (symbolism, allegory, themes, etc.). This middle grades novel tells the story of a dystopian world called Ark following the Melting (a result of global warming) where the people are forbidden from speaking using non-list words. The general idea is that language, art and music are what led to man’s downfall; therefore, extraneous words should be avoided. Young Letta, the main character, is a wordsmith, meaning she is responsible for documenting the proper list words. Letta develops a friendship with a desecrator (someone who does not follow orders and instead pursues the arts) and uncovers a harmful conspiracy by the leader, John Noa.

It has a very intriguing premise and may work well for teaching; however, it was pretty slow moving for me. The lengthy descriptive passages seemed to weigh the novel down rather than add to it. I wanted to be more attached to the characters and the plot. I also wanted the reader to see the power of words when more emphasis seemed to be placed on the power of art in general. It may be that I have just been saturated with dystopian novels, so for young people being introduced to the genre, they may feel differently. And, as I said earlier, as a former teacher, I was constantly picking up on how easy it would be to teach.