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Silence Volume 1 Natasha Preston 9781480118515 Books

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Silence Volume 1 Natasha Preston 9781480118515 Books

This is the first time I read something by this Author - seeing all the positive reviews and the somewhat hype, caused me to download a copy. That being said, I was glad the book was FREE.

***DNF***

I had such mixed feelings about this book. Apart from the several typos, being drawn into such a sadistic story, was something not for me. A teenager (Oakley) that does not speak since the age of five (now sixteen) - thinks out aloud and expects everyone to understand her (since when do they offer classes on body language??).

Fine, I get that something really traumatizing (possibly abuse by her father or some other family member) happened to her but the fact that the story was long-drawn, I got bored. Getting to the point was something difficult for this Author.

Then Oakley is treated like an outcast by her school mates and she has a major crush on the only boy (Cole) who stood by her and apparently understands her pain - too stilted and awkward to finish. The barbecue at his house (when she left her backpack behind), was the end for me.

I don't know about the ending but the beginning made me *yawn* and I'm sorry to say that I will never read anything by this Author again.


Tags : Silence (Volume 1) [Natasha Preston] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. For eleven years, Oakley Farrell has been silent. At the age of five, she stopped talking, and no one seems to know why. Refusing to communicate beyond a few physical actions,Natasha Preston,Silence (Volume 1),CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1480118516,Fiction,Fiction - Romance,Fiction Romance General,Romance - General,Romance: Modern

Silence Volume 1 Natasha Preston 9781480118515 Books Reviews

3.5 stars -- Well. Hmmm. So the thing about this book is that I started it before bed and stayed up until 4am finishing it in one sitting...and then I felt disappointed and underwhelmed. Which doesn't make much sense right? Basically there were aspects of this book that were 4+ stars, and there were aspects of this book that were 2 stars. But given I was sucked in and just kept going and going, I figured I'd give it a slight nod above the average of 3 because I do tend to rate based on overall enjoyment, not on the actual quality of the book.

This book reminded me a LOT of The Boy Who Sneaks in My Bedroom Window. The relationship between Oakley and Cole and how it develops, and the damage done to Oakley, were surprisingly similar in feel. That's another book that I can't necessarily say is superbly well-written (lots of editing issues common in early self-publishing), but I just LOVE it, you know? Like a guilty pleasure. And it was the same for this book. I was super intrigued by Oakley's secret, and didn't even mind TOO much the way it was revealed slowly over the course of the first half of the book, though the false leads were a bit annoying. And I really adored the sweet nature of Oakley and Cole's relationship, and how close they could be without her ever speaking (or communicating in any way really). I actually really believed that he understood her based on years of paying attention to her body language and facial expressions.

But here's where this book falls short of TBWSIMBW the pacing. Seriously, that is my number one issue with this book. I found I was staying up reading just to finally find out what happened, what was going to happen, b/c we know from the blurb that her past is going to catch up with her. Seriously, I was like "OK, more relationship, more normal everyday, more sideplot...anytime now..." I don't think it was until like 87% that we got even a hint of the dark turn, and that's just not enough time to give what should be a satisfying climax a lead up and solid conclusion. And it really wasn't. It was super rushed. I'm torn about how it all happened...there is a part of me that loves it, but there is another part of me that's wholly unsatisfied that we didn't hear from Oakley. And then the ending. OMG. I don't think I fully realized this was a series, or maybe I thought it was a series of connected characters, but nope...the ending is abrupt and unsatisfying. Not a cliffhanger so much as a non-HEA.

And so there I am, laying in bed, just bummed. Because you know what? Even not having read the second book, I can tell that it didn't need to be a 2 part divided story. There was so much repetition in the meat of the book that really could have been pared down. I enjoyed getting to see the emotional impact of what Oakley went through, but I still think it could have been shaved down and still been effective. And I didn't mind not knowing the details of what happened, b/c that's a bit hard to take, and I enjoyed the focus being on how it impacted Oakley's life. But there was so much extraneous material in the book that honestly could have been either taken out or, for goodness sake, it should have had a purpose! Like Julian! What the what? What was the point of that storyline? Either it should have had a conclusion and a development that made sense, or it shouldn't have been that large. And Lizzie? What was with that?

So while I would really *like* to have the conclusion of Cole and Oakley's story, from what I can gather from looking at the lower starred reviews of the next book (when I take out all the annoying reviews that just talk about the grammar...seriously, that's the whole reason you rated it 1 star? Why did even read the second book then?), the pacing is fairly similar and unsatisfying. So it's not really worth it for me. Maybe if it was free, but it still costs my time, you know?

Weird review right? It was a weird reading experience. To have so much love for the characters and to be simultaneously sucked in and impatient, it's just odd. It's happened to me before, but it is always vexing when it does. Oh well. *shrugs* I don't regret it, I just wish it had been better. Especially because I enjoyed the handling of the tough topic.
This review contains spoilers.

The book was okay. There's a decent amount of potential here, but the book didn't quite pull it off.

I feel that much of the book could have been consolidated. It was clear that the two main characters loved each other from the start, and they acknowledged that early on in the book. They had a very strong relationship that could have been the foundation of support for exploring the rest of the character's history. But the author focused on the relationship between those two rather than other topics. The exploration of their relationship seemed excessive when there was a massive backstory and probably more interesting conflict that was barely touched on.

That the main character suffered from sexual abuse as a child was not much of a revelation - there was only a slight twist to what I'd guessed based on the plot summary - and pieces of the backstory were handed out rarely. Having finished the entire book, I barely know more now that I did at the beginning. There is no explanation of why events happened and the details were sparse.

I'm not sure why the main character stopped speaking at 5, when the first stated rape was at 10 (granted, abuses other than rape could have happened in those 5 years). I don't know the relationship between the rapist and the father. I don't know why the mother attempted sporadic attempts at 'fixing' her daughter after 10 years of silence, when it seems going to a psychologist would have been a close second step after a physician when the main character was a child. There were also several subplots that didn't get much attention or resolution (e.g., what happened with Jasper's ex-girlfriend, what happened to Courtney, what was the history with Julian, why talk about gymnastics a few times but only go to practice once, why was the cousin/aunt with the mini-mansion not even considered as an escape option?).

The writing itself was fairly simple. Clear to understand, if not particularly expressive or complex. There were spelling and grammar issues, and a few inconsistencies - enough that in a few cases I actually looked up if word meanings had different connotations in British English than in American English. A few examples of inconsistencies Jasper was first characterized as being only lazy, but from the point where the families went to Italy, 'womanizer' was his main trait for the remainder of the book. Kerry was identified as Ben's girlfriend, and then attempted to become his girlfriend. There were several instances where it appeared the author didn't know which character's perspective she was writing from.

Overall, there was a lot of potential, but not great execution or much resolution. I don't have a problem with the premise - I know enough about abuse and victimization that I fully believe someone could be silent for years, especially at the demand of their parental figure, despite a strong support network (which all of the book showed was definitely present in Cole's family and Jasper). But the focus of the book seemed off, and I feel the book would have been stronger if it had focused more on the revelation and fallout of the abuse rather than the buildup of a relationship that was strong from the start.
This is the first time I read something by this Author - seeing all the positive reviews and the somewhat hype, caused me to download a copy. That being said, I was glad the book was FREE.

***DNF***

I had such mixed feelings about this book. Apart from the several typos, being drawn into such a sadistic story, was something not for me. A teenager (Oakley) that does not speak since the age of five (now sixteen) - thinks out aloud and expects everyone to understand her (since when do they offer classes on body language??).

Fine, I get that something really traumatizing (possibly abuse by her father or some other family member) happened to her but the fact that the story was long-drawn, I got bored. Getting to the point was something difficult for this Author.

Then Oakley is treated like an outcast by her school mates and she has a major crush on the only boy (Cole) who stood by her and apparently understands her pain - too stilted and awkward to finish. The barbecue at his house (when she left her backpack behind), was the end for me.

I don't know about the ending but the beginning made me *yawn* and I'm sorry to say that I will never read anything by this Author again.