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paracosim's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I’m HoH myself, so when I received this book in a subscription box and saw that both the protag and the author are Deaf, I was pretty excited. That excitement quickly turned…pretty bland. This isn’t a bad book by any means and there were parts that I enjoyed immensely, but overall it felt shallow. There wasn’t much substance to the characters or even the magic elements; everything just felt surface-level and honestly I don’t think much of anything about this book will stick with me for any real amount of time. The writing and pacing were decent and I liked what little characterization there was, so I have hopes that this debut is just the start of the author’s career and that she continues improving—because I really do think she will. I’ll be giving my copy to the local bookstore in town so someone younger and better suited (that isn’t a man in his late 20’s, I mean LOL) can find and enjoy it. So while I don’t regret reading it, I don’t think I would ever pick it up again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gore
hafable's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
What I liked:
Delaney as a deaf character was incredibly fresh and not only that but her deafness was integral to the story which was great! The premise of the story where there is the college that people who've had brushes with death go to and learn how to tear through the sky to enter parallel worlds is interesting too. The idea of a group of mean at the college who are trying to obtain immortality at a cost is intriguing and the ride it takes you on is compelling enough that despite some of this books faults, I just had a fun time reading it.... for most of it There were so many moments and interactions that were either fun enough or intriguing enough, even thrilling at some points, where I just wanted to keep on reading and do nothing else so despite how intense I'll be about what I didn't like, I would probably still read it again like if you turn your critical thinking off for a bit, it can be a very fun read.
What I didn't like: ( vague spoilers but nothing that specific)
This books biggest pitfall was its own marketing. The synopsis advertised itself as this paranormal, dark academia thriller featuring our 2 main characters who are meant to keep away from each other; delaney by choice since he annoys her and colton because he was ordered to by the campus group called "The Priory". It says that Colton and Delaney team up in order to fight against something ageless and dangerous at the university, implying that they do not in fact become easily close within the first third of the book. What's the scope of the priory you ask? Why is colton ordered to stay away from her? why does the leader of this group of men care so much about her and yet does absolutely nothing with her until the end? Do most of these side characters matter? WHATS THE MAGIC SYSTEM? IF THERES UNIVERSE HOPPING WHY DOES THE BOOK ONLY SHOW THEM GO TO OTHER UNIVERSES TO BREIFLY GO PLACES LIKE MUSEUMS OR MARKETS AND BARELY LOOK OR INTERACT WITH DEAD PEOPLE WHO ARE ALIVE THERE?????? IF THE BOOK IS MARKETED AS A PARANORMAL DARK ACADEMIA THRILLER, WHY DOES THE MOST IMPORTANT THING SEEM TO BE THE ROMANCE?? A ROMANCE THAT COULDVE WORKED BUT INSTEAD DRAGGED THE PLOT AND SO FUMBLED THE ACTUALLY INTENSE AND COOL ENDING OF THE NOVEL TO BE INFINITELY MORE BORING THAN IT SHOULDVE BEEN YOU ASK???? Don't ask my friend bc you'll never know. Still a fun read lol, 3 stars but extra points off for making me read the phrase "knees kissing" more than once
Delaney as a deaf character was incredibly fresh and not only that but her deafness was integral to the story which was great! The premise of the story where there is the college that people who've had brushes with death go to and learn how to tear through the sky to enter parallel worlds is interesting too. The idea of a group of mean at the college who are trying to obtain immortality at a cost is intriguing and the ride it takes you on is compelling enough that despite some of this books faults, I just had a fun time reading it.... for most of it There were so many moments and interactions that were either fun enough or intriguing enough, even thrilling at some points, where I just wanted to keep on reading and do nothing else so despite how intense I'll be about what I didn't like, I would probably still read it again like if you turn your critical thinking off for a bit, it can be a very fun read.
What I didn't like: ( vague spoilers but nothing that specific)
This books biggest pitfall was its own marketing. The synopsis advertised itself as this paranormal, dark academia thriller featuring our 2 main characters who are meant to keep away from each other; delaney by choice since he annoys her and colton because he was ordered to by the campus group called "The Priory". It says that Colton and Delaney team up in order to fight against something ageless and dangerous at the university, implying that they do not in fact become easily close within the first third of the book. What's the scope of the priory you ask? Why is colton ordered to stay away from her? why does the leader of this group of men care so much about her and yet does absolutely nothing with her until the end? Do most of these side characters matter? WHATS THE MAGIC SYSTEM? IF THERES UNIVERSE HOPPING WHY DOES THE BOOK ONLY SHOW THEM GO TO OTHER UNIVERSES TO BREIFLY GO PLACES LIKE MUSEUMS OR MARKETS AND BARELY LOOK OR INTERACT WITH DEAD PEOPLE WHO ARE ALIVE THERE?????? IF THE BOOK IS MARKETED AS A PARANORMAL DARK ACADEMIA THRILLER, WHY DOES THE MOST IMPORTANT THING SEEM TO BE THE ROMANCE?? A ROMANCE THAT COULDVE WORKED BUT INSTEAD DRAGGED THE PLOT AND SO FUMBLED THE ACTUALLY INTENSE AND COOL ENDING OF THE NOVEL TO BE INFINITELY MORE BORING THAN IT SHOULDVE BEEN YOU ASK???? Don't ask my friend bc you'll never know. Still a fun read lol, 3 stars but extra points off for making me read the phrase "knees kissing" more than once
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Grief
sinkitten's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Honestly this book exceeded my expectations. It was dark, thrilling, mysterious, and slightly confusing at times, but in the right ways.
I wasn't really sure what to expect going in and I'm glad I didn't have anything spoilt.
The mood and the way the story was revealed reminded me somewhat of "House of Hollow" which I also really loved.
I wasn't really sure what to expect going in and I'm glad I didn't have anything spoilt.
The mood and the way the story was revealed reminded me somewhat of "House of Hollow" which I also really loved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Minor: Car accident and Fire/Fire injury
chronicacademia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Child death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Sexual content, and Stalking
Moderate: Ableism
booksthatburn's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Delaney is a post-lingual Deaf girl who sometimes hears the shadows whispering. She gets into a university whose stated purpose is to teach its students to traverse between realities. Colton is a student who briefly died when he was a child, meeting Delaney briefly at the time. When they meet again on campus, she doesn’t recognize him but is drawn to him anyway, while he instantly knows her and can’t keep his distance. They begin spending time together, then the lines are blurred further when another student dies.
There’s a consistent theme of ableism, mainly but not only from professors who don’t know Delaney is deaf (because they didn’t read the emails alerting them). She’s navigating this new space and deciding how much she’d rather deal with not being able to usefully hear in the moment or with overt ableism once people know she’s deaf. Whether she’s using her implant and what she does or does not hear is important throughout, and is used to great effect once things start getting spooky.
The worldbuilding is sparse, most of the details are atmospheric and unexplained until late in the book. The specific answers and explanations (when they finally arrived) wrapped up pretty much everything I wanted to know. I enjoy vibe-heavy books that leave me interested but confused for long stretches, so this was a deeply satisfying read for me. Colton’s secrets (and those he keeps for others) are hinted at but not revealed early, keeping the reader and Delaney equally in the dark for much of the story.
For a book with parallel worlds there aren’t many descriptions of traversals, though there are more towards the end. I like how much the focus is on Delaney piecing things together and trying to make it through her classes, and on her dynamic with Colton. I often enjoy books with mysterious and brooding guys, and this delivered.
Heavy on vibes, supported by a delicate but satisfying plot, don’t miss THE WHISPERING DARK.
There’s a consistent theme of ableism, mainly but not only from professors who don’t know Delaney is deaf (because they didn’t read the emails alerting them). She’s navigating this new space and deciding how much she’d rather deal with not being able to usefully hear in the moment or with overt ableism once people know she’s deaf. Whether she’s using her implant and what she does or does not hear is important throughout, and is used to great effect once things start getting spooky.
The worldbuilding is sparse, most of the details are atmospheric and unexplained until late in the book. The specific answers and explanations (when they finally arrived) wrapped up pretty much everything I wanted to know. I enjoy vibe-heavy books that leave me interested but confused for long stretches, so this was a deeply satisfying read for me. Colton’s secrets (and those he keeps for others) are hinted at but not revealed early, keeping the reader and Delaney equally in the dark for much of the story.
For a book with parallel worlds there aren’t many descriptions of traversals, though there are more towards the end. I like how much the focus is on Delaney piecing things together and trying to make it through her classes, and on her dynamic with Colton. I often enjoy books with mysterious and brooding guys, and this delivered.
Heavy on vibes, supported by a delicate but satisfying plot, don’t miss THE WHISPERING DARK.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Ableism, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Vomit, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Cursing, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Confinement, Toxic friendship, and Car accident
Minor: Dementia, Drug use, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Animal death, and Pregnancy
ttumbletree's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-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
i really really enjoyed this book!
i loved the representation in it, as well as the world it was set in and the characters different voices and especially their interactions (the amount of times i chuckled to myself and wrote the word “same” in this book is just…. a lot, okay? 😂)
the one thing i would’ve enjoyed a bit more is if more of the book had focused on lane’s relationship with her friends. i think it would’ve given her more agency and would’ve made their developing friendships feel a bit more natural ☺️ oh and there were just a lot of descriptions of colors where the author used flowers/plants as descriptors and it got a bit confusing at times… (there were a solid 50 pages throughout which i was struggling to understand what the mc’s eye color was… i enjoy flowery descriptions a lot, but i also enjoy understanding certain bits… like the eye color of the mc if it’s being pointed out this much.) but this feels more like a side note to me personally. (also in case your wondering, lane’s eyes are green… at least i think so 😂)
long story short, i really enjoyed the book and will definitely recommend it to friends and maybe even reread it one day.
a solid 4⭐️ read!
i loved the representation in it, as well as the world it was set in and the characters different voices and especially their interactions (the amount of times i chuckled to myself and wrote the word “same” in this book is just…. a lot, okay? 😂)
the one thing i would’ve enjoyed a bit more is if more of the book had focused on lane’s relationship with her friends. i think it would’ve given her more agency and would’ve made their developing friendships feel a bit more natural ☺️ oh and there were just a lot of descriptions of colors where the author used flowers/plants as descriptors and it got a bit confusing at times… (there were a solid 50 pages throughout which i was struggling to understand what the mc’s eye color was… i enjoy flowery descriptions a lot, but i also enjoy understanding certain bits… like the eye color of the mc if it’s being pointed out this much.) but this feels more like a side note to me personally. (also in case your wondering, lane’s eyes are green… at least i think so 😂)
long story short, i really enjoyed the book and will definitely recommend it to friends and maybe even reread it one day.
a solid 4⭐️ read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Grief, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Abandonment, Gore, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Dementia
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