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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
I first came across Rosamund Lupton with her fantastic debut novel Sister which I read in my pre-blogging days and absolutely loved. I have her second novel, Afterwards on my Kindle to read at some point but now after reading The Quality Of Silence it has definitely edged its way further up the TBR list! It wasn’t a perfect read and I did have a couple of unsure moments which I’ll go into later but nonetheless it was a thoroughly entertaining read overall and after two books I know now that I really enjoy this authors writing.
Our main characters are Yasmin and her daughter Ruby who has been deaf since birth but has only recently been having problems with her disability at school i.e. making friends. She has a beautiful, close relationship with her father however who works as a wildlife photographer and film-maker and is currently involved in a project in Alaska. At the beginning of the book, Ruby and her mother are on their way to spend some time with him and Ruby is beyond excited as they are planning a blog together about the Alaskan wildlife. Unfortunately, when mother and daughter reach Alaska, there is devastating news. There has been an explosion in the village where her father was known to be staying and they have not found any survivors.
Yasmin, although initially grieved by the news becomes absolutely determined that her husband is not dead and decides not to tell Ruby anything at first. When she cannot convince the authorities to carry on searching for her husband, she decides to find some willing trucker to take Ruby and herself the hundreds of miles to the nearest town to where he was last known to be so she can search for him herself. Then, when their caring driver has a medical emergency, she decides to appropriate the monster truck for herself and drive down the treacherous Ice Road, her daughter in tow.
Sure, desperate times call for desperate measures, and the sceptical among us might wonder at a mother putting her daughter through such a dangerous journey with no experience of handling such a large truck under such hazardous conditions, but Yasmin is so certain that her husband is alive she feels she has no choice in the matter, especially as the relevant authorities are making no effort to search for him, believing him dead. The journey is fraught with tension and drama as Yasmin and Ruby struggle with the freezing temperatures and the mechanics of the huge truck and the story takes a turn to the dark side as they realise they may not be alone on the road. Ruby is receiving strange emails from an unknown sender with frankly, horrific images and then they notice a truck behind them, edging closer and closer yet the driver is somewhat reluctant to identify himself on the general radio. They are smack bang in the heart of the Alaskan wilderness with no means of help and all around them – nothing but silence.
There were so many great things about this novel that kept me turning the pages at an alarming rate. For me, the heart and soul of the story has to be the character of Ruby, who I instantly fell in love with. We get both her “voice,” and Yasmin’s in alternating perspectives and I felt so excited when it came round to her turn again. She is brave, funny and sensitive and definitely doesn’t let being deaf get in the way of what she wants to say! She prefers to use a laptop which converts her type into a “voice,” and this frustrates Yasmin, who really wants her to use her proper voice in conversation. I have to say, it did frustrate me at times that Yasmin was so insistent on this, but she goes through quite a journey emotionally speaking in the novel and by the end, you do feel that she understands her daughter a lot better.
Yasmin is a very interesting character, despite at times what I may have wondered about the practicalities of their journey I did love her determination and her assuredness that her husband was alive. It is true that you may have to suspend your disbelief at points in this story but if you can get over the few niggles that Yasmin’s decisions and inexperience provide, it is a really exciting narrative that only gets more thrilling with the appearance of the “mystery trucker.” Will Yasmin and Ruby make it to the end of their journey? You really can’t tell as the tension heightens, providing what was for me personally quite an exhilarating reading experience.
For my full review, please see my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com
Our main characters are Yasmin and her daughter Ruby who has been deaf since birth but has only recently been having problems with her disability at school i.e. making friends. She has a beautiful, close relationship with her father however who works as a wildlife photographer and film-maker and is currently involved in a project in Alaska. At the beginning of the book, Ruby and her mother are on their way to spend some time with him and Ruby is beyond excited as they are planning a blog together about the Alaskan wildlife. Unfortunately, when mother and daughter reach Alaska, there is devastating news. There has been an explosion in the village where her father was known to be staying and they have not found any survivors.
Yasmin, although initially grieved by the news becomes absolutely determined that her husband is not dead and decides not to tell Ruby anything at first. When she cannot convince the authorities to carry on searching for her husband, she decides to find some willing trucker to take Ruby and herself the hundreds of miles to the nearest town to where he was last known to be so she can search for him herself. Then, when their caring driver has a medical emergency, she decides to appropriate the monster truck for herself and drive down the treacherous Ice Road, her daughter in tow.
Sure, desperate times call for desperate measures, and the sceptical among us might wonder at a mother putting her daughter through such a dangerous journey with no experience of handling such a large truck under such hazardous conditions, but Yasmin is so certain that her husband is alive she feels she has no choice in the matter, especially as the relevant authorities are making no effort to search for him, believing him dead. The journey is fraught with tension and drama as Yasmin and Ruby struggle with the freezing temperatures and the mechanics of the huge truck and the story takes a turn to the dark side as they realise they may not be alone on the road. Ruby is receiving strange emails from an unknown sender with frankly, horrific images and then they notice a truck behind them, edging closer and closer yet the driver is somewhat reluctant to identify himself on the general radio. They are smack bang in the heart of the Alaskan wilderness with no means of help and all around them – nothing but silence.
There were so many great things about this novel that kept me turning the pages at an alarming rate. For me, the heart and soul of the story has to be the character of Ruby, who I instantly fell in love with. We get both her “voice,” and Yasmin’s in alternating perspectives and I felt so excited when it came round to her turn again. She is brave, funny and sensitive and definitely doesn’t let being deaf get in the way of what she wants to say! She prefers to use a laptop which converts her type into a “voice,” and this frustrates Yasmin, who really wants her to use her proper voice in conversation. I have to say, it did frustrate me at times that Yasmin was so insistent on this, but she goes through quite a journey emotionally speaking in the novel and by the end, you do feel that she understands her daughter a lot better.
Yasmin is a very interesting character, despite at times what I may have wondered about the practicalities of their journey I did love her determination and her assuredness that her husband was alive. It is true that you may have to suspend your disbelief at points in this story but if you can get over the few niggles that Yasmin’s decisions and inexperience provide, it is a really exciting narrative that only gets more thrilling with the appearance of the “mystery trucker.” Will Yasmin and Ruby make it to the end of their journey? You really can’t tell as the tension heightens, providing what was for me personally quite an exhilarating reading experience.
For my full review, please see my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com
Loved it
Great book. A tad slow in places but really well written and moved me to tears. Beautiful and very sensitive to deaf people too
Great book. A tad slow in places but really well written and moved me to tears. Beautiful and very sensitive to deaf people too
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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:
No
Really enjoyed the way this story grew. Like many similar books, Lupton has a killer hook for about 80% of the book's plot. In that 80%, we see Ruby (the deaf daughter of our other protagonist, Yasmin) really taking shape and becoming a character we want to keep following and learning more about. The plot loses steam even as it's meant to heat up--not an uncommon problem with suspense stories--but it doesn't detract from the goodness that came before. (And there's plenty of it.)
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
What I liked
- The atmosphere: I literally felt as though I was in Alaska in the cold and the wilderness. The author very clearly did their research
- The tension: The middle section was so dark and mysterious and really sucked me into the story.
- The twist: After thinking about it, I actually really liked the direction the story took.
- The themes: The discussion of sound and other similar themes was very thought-provoking and added nice layers to the story.
What I disliked
- The pacing: I felt that there was too much set-up and not enough thrilling moments. We had about 100 pages of set-up, and only the middle section thrilled me. The last 100 pages was the revelation, which was kind of long-winded.
- I didn't care enough about the characters unfortunately
- The writing drove me mad. The switch between first and third person took a long time to get used to, and it really pushed me out of the story. I also felt that the writing at times was disjointed and stopped the story from being more thrilling than it could have been.
Overall, if the story intrigues you, then you should check it out. I was just a tad bit disappointed.
- The atmosphere: I literally felt as though I was in Alaska in the cold and the wilderness. The author very clearly did their research
- The tension: The middle section was so dark and mysterious and really sucked me into the story.
- The twist: After thinking about it, I actually really liked the direction the story took.
- The themes: The discussion of sound and other similar themes was very thought-provoking and added nice layers to the story.
What I disliked
- The pacing: I felt that there was too much set-up and not enough thrilling moments. We had about 100 pages of set-up, and only the middle section thrilled me. The last 100 pages was the revelation, which was kind of long-winded.
- I didn't care enough about the characters unfortunately
- The writing drove me mad. The switch between first and third person took a long time to get used to, and it really pushed me out of the story. I also felt that the writing at times was disjointed and stopped the story from being more thrilling than it could have been.
Overall, if the story intrigues you, then you should check it out. I was just a tad bit disappointed.
I enjoyed listening to this audio edition--to a point. There were times the narrator would lower her voice, making me scream, "Stop whispering!" No way I could hear well enough to understand during those times, so a bit frustrating.
This review originally ran on Everyday eBook
A Chilling Thriller: Rosamund Lupton's The Quality of Silence
Reading bestselling author [a:Rosamund Lupton|3953740|Rosamund Lupton|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1423823012p2/3953740.jpg]'s newest thriller, The Quality of Silence, this time of year is to feel the cold as if you are standing outside naked. Set in Alaska at the height of winter, the weather is its own character. As with [b:Afterwards|12598982|Afterwards|Rosamund Lupton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1330957613s/12598982.jpg|14096818], Lupton again features a mother and daughter as the center relationship; Yasmin has brought her daughter, Ruby, to Alaska to visit husband and father Matt. Upon arrival, they are told he has died in a horrible fire that obliterated the small village, Anaktue, where he was staying. Unwilling to accept his death, Yasmin sets out to the remote village in the Arctic Circle, despite a horrible storm barreling down. Yasmin brings her ten-year-old daughter along; she would rather have Ruby by her side than leave her in an unknown place with a person they don't know. Especially as Ruby is deaf -- thus making communication with others more difficult.
While the plotline can occasionally pass the line of believability, Lupton's writing allows the reader to suspend that disbelief as she gets caught in the propulsion of the journey. As Yasmin and Ruby attempt to outrun the storm, they also realize that there may be someone following them in an attempt to railroad their hunt: two blue lights not far behind, always finding them. As the story continues, it is hard to decide which is the greater danger: the blue lights behind them or the Alaskan winter weather.
Lupton tells the story from two points of view: Yasmin's and Ruby's. This allows the reader to experience the journey through both of their eyes and to learn about their relationship from both a mother's and a daughter's perspective. While Ruby's deafness adds a different prong to the story, the problems that it causes in their relationship still boil down to issues that underlie a lot of mother/daughter conflicts. The dual narrative also gives the reader insight into the complex dynamics the two have with Matt, and the misperceptions they have of the other's relationship with him.
Alaska, in all its glory, is its own character. Lupton's portrayal of the bitter, dark winter weather is always present, even in small details. The clothing and gear that Yasmin and Ruby have. The speed at which frostbite sets in. The danger of hypothermia. The last tree as one continues north. The barrenness of the land. Lupton's talent as a writer really comes through in these passages. She writes at one point:
"The land's purity and huge aloneness, its balance of details in a larger whole, made it feel to him more like a living poem than a place."
This is also the story of a marriage. We learn early on that Yasmin and Matt's marriage is at the brink of failure. Matt has kissed another woman, and the silence between the two has grown as they have become more complacent in their relationship. However, Yasmin's love is obviously deep and true as she refuses to believe he is dead and embarks on this dangerous journey to find him.
The Quality of Silence will have you turning pages into the deep, dark night, rooting for Yasmin and Ruby while shivering under your blanket.
A Chilling Thriller: Rosamund Lupton's The Quality of Silence
Reading bestselling author [a:Rosamund Lupton|3953740|Rosamund Lupton|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1423823012p2/3953740.jpg]'s newest thriller, The Quality of Silence, this time of year is to feel the cold as if you are standing outside naked. Set in Alaska at the height of winter, the weather is its own character. As with [b:Afterwards|12598982|Afterwards|Rosamund Lupton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1330957613s/12598982.jpg|14096818], Lupton again features a mother and daughter as the center relationship; Yasmin has brought her daughter, Ruby, to Alaska to visit husband and father Matt. Upon arrival, they are told he has died in a horrible fire that obliterated the small village, Anaktue, where he was staying. Unwilling to accept his death, Yasmin sets out to the remote village in the Arctic Circle, despite a horrible storm barreling down. Yasmin brings her ten-year-old daughter along; she would rather have Ruby by her side than leave her in an unknown place with a person they don't know. Especially as Ruby is deaf -- thus making communication with others more difficult.
While the plotline can occasionally pass the line of believability, Lupton's writing allows the reader to suspend that disbelief as she gets caught in the propulsion of the journey. As Yasmin and Ruby attempt to outrun the storm, they also realize that there may be someone following them in an attempt to railroad their hunt: two blue lights not far behind, always finding them. As the story continues, it is hard to decide which is the greater danger: the blue lights behind them or the Alaskan winter weather.
Lupton tells the story from two points of view: Yasmin's and Ruby's. This allows the reader to experience the journey through both of their eyes and to learn about their relationship from both a mother's and a daughter's perspective. While Ruby's deafness adds a different prong to the story, the problems that it causes in their relationship still boil down to issues that underlie a lot of mother/daughter conflicts. The dual narrative also gives the reader insight into the complex dynamics the two have with Matt, and the misperceptions they have of the other's relationship with him.
Alaska, in all its glory, is its own character. Lupton's portrayal of the bitter, dark winter weather is always present, even in small details. The clothing and gear that Yasmin and Ruby have. The speed at which frostbite sets in. The danger of hypothermia. The last tree as one continues north. The barrenness of the land. Lupton's talent as a writer really comes through in these passages. She writes at one point:
"The land's purity and huge aloneness, its balance of details in a larger whole, made it feel to him more like a living poem than a place."
This is also the story of a marriage. We learn early on that Yasmin and Matt's marriage is at the brink of failure. Matt has kissed another woman, and the silence between the two has grown as they have become more complacent in their relationship. However, Yasmin's love is obviously deep and true as she refuses to believe he is dead and embarks on this dangerous journey to find him.
The Quality of Silence will have you turning pages into the deep, dark night, rooting for Yasmin and Ruby while shivering under your blanket.
Not as good as the previous two (Afterwards and three hours) imho, but still a pretty jolly way to pass an afternoon and I still plan to read everything Lupton writes, so... (Possibly I read it too soon after Afterwards as the themes were not dissimilar and I don't totally relate to the maternal drive).