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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
Generally when I finish reading a book I wait a few days before I write a review but having just finished reading this amazing book; about family, love, respect, strength and dishonesty all set against the backdrop of the Wilderness of Alaska, I knew I had to write one immediately. The book tells the story of Yasmin and Ruby's trip across Alaska on a quest to find Matthew the man in their life (husband and father) and wildlife photographer after being told on their arrival in Alaska that he was missing presumed dead. The spit narrative between .... For my full review please feel free to follow the following link. http://catherinehunt.me.uk/2016/05/09/book-review-the-quality-of-silence-a-novel-by-rosamund-lupton/#.VzCluNUrLC0
Liked this more and more as I read along, not so much for the actual plot,although there is some good suspense and surprise, but for the voices of the characters and the exploration of how we use ( or don't use) our words.Nicely atmospheric.
Yasmin riep een groot respect bij me op: ze geloofde voor geen enkele seconde dat haar man echt dood was & ze zou er alles voor doen om haar familie weer samen te brengen. Naast dat het verhaal soms wat langzaam verliep, veel reizen door de bergen in de sneeuw etc., bleef het boek me toch boeien. Goede thriller!
I was disappointed by this book, but not altogether surprised that I didn't enjoy it. Apart from the plot twist at the end of Sister, Rosamund Lupton's books have been mediocre for me, and this just didn't quite reach that. The writing was very pretty, but that's about the only positive I have for this book. Child narrators are difficult to write well without being annoying, and I don't think it was successfully done here. Add to that the absurdity of a lot of the plot and the way it just dragged on, and it wasn't a book I was able to enjoy.
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Oh dear.
For a decent writer who has obviously done a lot of research for the science and setting of this book- what a horrible plot. Unbelievable, and not in a good way.
Every choice the characters made was worse than the last one. Characters that became more like stereotypes the more you got to know them. Plot holes that the author tried to cover up with miracles. These people should have died at least two times a chapter.
I kept reading because I was very curious as to how the mess would resolve itself and all I got was some weird d-rate spy novel level shit, with evil villains planting complicated puzzle traps in the middle of an arctic blizzard, and our stalwart heroes also taking off mittens in sun-zero temperatures to send coded and creepy messages over EMAIL to each other?!? Oh and by the way, the real evil is fracking, which is a message I usually won’t argue with, unless it’s presented in this messy ridiculous way. Captain Planet cartoon writers from the 90s could do better. This book lost stars from me faster than it killed off huskies
1/18/23
For a decent writer who has obviously done a lot of research for the science and setting of this book- what a horrible plot. Unbelievable, and not in a good way.
Every choice the characters made was worse than the last one. Characters that became more like stereotypes the more you got to know them. Plot holes that the author tried to cover up with miracles. These people should have died at least two times a chapter.
I kept reading because I was very curious as to how the mess would resolve itself
1/18/23
Mm. I guess so. I'm often quite situational about books I read: if I think a book takes place in the wilderness, I'm much more likely to read it. A woman and her daughter trekking through the Alaskan wild? SIGN ME UP.
As it turns out, though, there's a definite 'bathtub story' element to this: Yasmin and Ruby spend much of the book crossing Alaska, yes, but...in a truck. A giant truck. And as it's been a long time since 'be a truck driver' was on my bucket list (it was right before 'learn to drive', and I still haven't managed that, sooooo driving a lorry for a living seems unlikely), that doesn't interest me nearly so much as...wilderness outside the confines of a truck cab.
I know so little about Alaska, and on the one hand it's useful to have another view of what Alaska looks like—there's a certain grimness to the descriptions here, a sense of blank desolation. But on the other hand...
So! All fine and all. Nice to see an environmental element. But not, alas (through no fault of the book's own), the more 'nature-y' book that I would have hoped for.
As it turns out, though, there's a definite 'bathtub story' element to this: Yasmin and Ruby spend much of the book crossing Alaska, yes, but...in a truck. A giant truck. And as it's been a long time since 'be a truck driver' was on my bucket list (it was right before 'learn to drive', and I still haven't managed that, sooooo driving a lorry for a living seems unlikely), that doesn't interest me nearly so much as...wilderness outside the confines of a truck cab.
I know so little about Alaska, and on the one hand it's useful to have another view of what Alaska looks like—there's a certain grimness to the descriptions here, a sense of blank desolation. But on the other hand...
Spoiler
get to the end of the book, and we hear a character describe his time outside in the wilderness, and that's pretty much what I wanted from the rest of the book: I wanted to experience that outside-in-the-wilderness in real time, as Yasmin and Ruby (and, sure, Matt) travel by dogsled and struggle to take care of the dogs and build a snow shelter and...and yes, Yasmin and Ruby still have to work to survive in an Alaskan storm—but from the confines of a truck cab, which feels very, very different.So! All fine and all. Nice to see an environmental element. But not, alas (through no fault of the book's own), the more 'nature-y' book that I would have hoped for.
I enjoyed this book so much! It was such an engrossing, totally fascinating, unique and tense thriller. It’s most unlike anything else I’ve read. I really didn’t know where the book would take me next. Such a great collection of characters. It was so interesting seeing the world through Ruby. The only niggle for me is where and how the author left the characters. What actually became of them?! I wanted definite and clear salvation for them after everything she put them through. I’d love to read more by this author.
Echt zooooo langdradig. Er gebeurt bijna niets in het verhaal. Uiteindelijk is het plot dan nog zo voorspelbaar ook. Ik vond het echt een serieuze verspilling van tijd.
Loved this book! Great journey across Alaska, environmental issues and a character who is deaf.
I wasn't quite as 'thrilled' as I thought I would be. There are moments of anxiety and suspense, and the first half of the book does this really well, but the end let it down somehow. I'm still not sure why it fell flat towards the end, and if it was just too lengthy a resolution.
You need to be able to ignore certain 'issues' whilst reading too - Yasmin driving the heavy rig truck across Alaska in a massive storm being one issue! I also felt angry with her a lot of the time for dragging her daughter into such a perilous situation. But Ruby, her daughter, was a good character and I liked her a lot. Her deafness made certain situations very interesting, and I liked the different view it gave her of the world, and of words.
I did find it a compelling read, and I rushed to the end to finish it, but it lacked a little something for me to make it really, really good.
With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for my advanced review copy.
You need to be able to ignore certain 'issues' whilst reading too - Yasmin driving the heavy rig truck across Alaska in a massive storm being one issue! I also felt angry with her a lot of the time for dragging her daughter into such a perilous situation. But Ruby, her daughter, was a good character and I liked her a lot. Her deafness made certain situations very interesting, and I liked the different view it gave her of the world, and of words.
I did find it a compelling read, and I rushed to the end to finish it, but it lacked a little something for me to make it really, really good.
With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for my advanced review copy.