When Letta learns that the leader of Ark wants to limit language even further, and when the soldiers of the city move against the rebels, capturing her friends, she is compelled to act to free her friends in particular, and her people more generally from a wordless subjugation to tyranny. She has her good friend Marlo on her society, and together they make a dangerous journey outside of their familiar world, finding dangers and allies. But the rebels are outnumbered, and in the end it's up to Letta to use her words to tip the balance in favor of freedom.
Letta's a great character, full of understandable doubt as to what she is able to accomplish. She doesn't see herself as a leader, and often her heart rules her head, causing her to make choices that are not always the safest. But she's able to step into the role required of her with great bravery, and she's always true to her personal commitment to keeping words from being lost.
It's a gradual build up to the excitement of the end, when introspection and journeying becomes direct action, so a bit of patience is needed. And it certainly is a book that will work much better for those who have read The List; lots of things won't really make sense otherwise.
The List was solidly a middle grade book; here Letta is preoccupied by her feelings for Marlo in a way that's pushing more YA-ward, making this a great pick for readers of 12 or so, moving from mg into YA. More generally, anyone who's interested in how controlling language can control people will be fascinated. That would be me, and my favorite part of this book was Letta's preoccupation with words--collecting them, taking comfort from them, and being determined to pass them on.
*The List was first published in Ireland as The Wordsmith, and The Last Lie was originally Mother Tongue.
disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.
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What an interesting concept for a book. I think I will like this one. I will be checking it out. Thanks for the review.
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