Reviews

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys

abbymac99's review against another edition

5.0

Such a good one! A bit of everything woven into this one - romance, action, suspense, history, culture, family dynamics, power struggle, and even more than that. I don’t even think I have the words to make a short synopsis of this one - too intricate and deep for me to be able to convey in a couple sentences. Totally would recommend - it’s a long one but it doesn’t feel long when you are reading it because it hooks you early on.

I read Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys in high school and when I put it together that she wrote that and this one it made so much sense! She is a great storyteller and knows how to make the characters and their story really stick with the readers. She writes with authenticity to historical and cultural contexts and teaches us unheard stories of the past that are pretty shocking to have occurred without people knowing.

Shoutout to Becca Loritz for sending this to me hours after I put it on my want to read list

olivia_reads2024's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

perskaiciau's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

mia_013's review against another edition

emotional informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

this wasn’t as intense as her other books I read so far but like it’s still enjoyable? I kinda expected they’d do something impactful like in I Must Betray You, but there was a time skip over the climactic part of history 😵‍💫 still nice though 

alvin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

abbyl819's review against another edition

4.0

The premise of this book is so unique, I have never read a historical fiction book set after the Spanish Civil War, and I learned a lot about the Spanish culture and way of life at that time. I loved Ruta Sepetys' book Salt to the Sea, and I really enjoyed this one as well, but it did not have the emotional connection to the characters that I felt in her other book. The writing was very interesting, and I liked that it goes back and forth between so many characters but does not get confusing. My favorite part of the book was when each character goes to confession, and the reader is able to get a sense of their views from their thoughts and words from the same repeated experience. It was a really cool couple of scenes that I hadn't ever seen anything like in the past. The mysteries of what was really happening at the time and wanting to find out the truth was very intriguing and I thought that Part 2, comprising if the last few chapters, was a very satisfying ending, almost like an extended epilogue.

**I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via BookishFirst in exchange for a review**

rodor2017's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

bibliobrandie's review against another edition

4.0

Set it Madrid, Spain, after the war, Sepetys paints a richly descriptive picture of life in Spain. I was way too old when I first heard of Franco and I wonder why he/Spain's history is not taught more in classrooms. This novel is historically detailed and definitely a good introduction to some of the atrocities faced by the people in Spain under the fascist dictator, General Franco. I especially appreciated the author's note in the end. Beyond the excellent historical details, Sepetys is a skilled storyteller and the characters were well developed.

maryyyyykate's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

gwardyy's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5