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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
I enjoyed this book, as I enjoyed Rosamund Lupton's two previous books, although this one maybe a little less so because some of it is just so improbable and far-fetched. But nonetheless it's a great pageturner set in wintry Alaska that makes the British winter feel quite cosy.
Though this book isn't horror, there's a very real and terrifying sense of aloneness that immediately brought to mind Stephen King. What could possible be scarier than finding yourself inching along across hundreds of miles of an empty expanse, knowing you can only have the heater on for ten minutes every hour, where your tears freeze your eyes shut, where a hurricane-like snowstorm plows through, temperatures are dramatically dropping to the -50s, and the only thing visible is a pair of headlights trailing along in the distance - keeping perfect pace, speeding and slowing as needed. Worst of all, someone has been sending e-mails with photos of dead animals. Horrifying, right?
For the full review and more, head over to The Pretty Good Gatsby!
For the full review and more, head over to The Pretty Good Gatsby!
(I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)
I'm not sure what it is between me and Rosamund Lupton, but we simply do NOT get on.
I read her previous novel, Afterwards, last summer and found it very confusing as it didn't really know what kind of story it wanted to tell.. Was it a murder mystery, or magical realism, or family drama, or something else? Sometimes a mish mash of genres can be an inviting thing, but to me it felt like Lupton was given way too much leeway by her editor and simply wrote whatever popped into her head.
I will admit, The Quality Of Silence doesn't suffer quite so badly from this genre confusion. We follow Yasmin and her daughter, Ruby, a Deaf ten year old, across the wilds of Alaska. I've not read a book before with a Deaf protagonist and found these aspects of The Quality Of Silence very interesting, although at times Ruby became a caricature of a preteen to me - always saying OMG! and SUPER COOLIO! and other things that no child has ever said.
Yasmin is hunting for her husband, wildlife cameraman Matt, who is supposedly stranded in the wilderness. Despite literally dozens of other characters advising her not to set off into a storm with her young child, she does it anyway. It's difficult to sympathise with Yasmin as a character because she simply acts ludicrously. I know we're supposed to think "wow, she really loves her husband!" but how are we to believe that this fight or flight reaction suddenly grants her with all of the knowledge of an arctic Bear Grylls?
The rest of the novel is basically a flimsy attempt to protest fracking, which I found quite odd. Obviously Lupton has done her research on energy resources, and also the cultures of indigenous people in Alaska, which was interesting to read about but a lot of things are left unexplained and I ended up Googling a lot of words that I came across.
I think in the future I'll steer clear of Rosamund Lupton. She has plenty of fans but I'm simply not one of them.
I'm not sure what it is between me and Rosamund Lupton, but we simply do NOT get on.
I read her previous novel, Afterwards, last summer and found it very confusing as it didn't really know what kind of story it wanted to tell.. Was it a murder mystery, or magical realism, or family drama, or something else? Sometimes a mish mash of genres can be an inviting thing, but to me it felt like Lupton was given way too much leeway by her editor and simply wrote whatever popped into her head.
I will admit, The Quality Of Silence doesn't suffer quite so badly from this genre confusion. We follow Yasmin and her daughter, Ruby, a Deaf ten year old, across the wilds of Alaska. I've not read a book before with a Deaf protagonist and found these aspects of The Quality Of Silence very interesting, although at times Ruby became a caricature of a preteen to me - always saying OMG! and SUPER COOLIO! and other things that no child has ever said.
Yasmin is hunting for her husband, wildlife cameraman Matt, who is supposedly stranded in the wilderness. Despite literally dozens of other characters advising her not to set off into a storm with her young child, she does it anyway. It's difficult to sympathise with Yasmin as a character because she simply acts ludicrously. I know we're supposed to think "wow, she really loves her husband!" but how are we to believe that this fight or flight reaction suddenly grants her with all of the knowledge of an arctic Bear Grylls?
The rest of the novel is basically a flimsy attempt to protest fracking, which I found quite odd. Obviously Lupton has done her research on energy resources, and also the cultures of indigenous people in Alaska, which was interesting to read about but a lot of things are left unexplained and I ended up Googling a lot of words that I came across.
I think in the future I'll steer clear of Rosamund Lupton. She has plenty of fans but I'm simply not one of them.
I started the book in the summer and couldn't get through the first chapters and then school started... then winter came and it started snowing and freezing and I read the book within days. And oh. my. god. it's so good. So good.
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 must admit this book took me a while to get into and is a slow burner. I started reading it a while back and after a break it took me some time to get back into it. Much of the plot comprises of a big journey across Alaska: a mother and child desperate to reach the husband and father that they are adamant is alive despite police reports that he died. Only towards the end does the story pick up, with a mystery stalker trying to attack the girls, a fight for survival amidst a blizzard and a tense and emotional conclusion. I'm not sure I would have finished reading this book had I not been kindly given it as an advance copy, but I am so glad I did. The prose is simply beautiful; the descriptions depicting the thoughts of the characters and exploring the back story, as well as the way the author paints the relationship between hearing mother and deaf child, absolutely fascinated me. You really feel as though you are there, in the freezing cold, experiencing the strange and scary land that these fearless girls are fighting through. Well worth reading to the end!
I finished this ages ago, but forgot to update. While not my usual genre, this was excellent! Lupton made me feel for the characters and built a natural feeling suspense with this story. The mother/daughter relationship can be hard to depict without getting too cliche but she did it.
I won't offer a rehash of the book plot or ambush with spoilers. I do recommend reading it! I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway.
I won't offer a rehash of the book plot or ambush with spoilers. I do recommend reading it! I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway.
I chose this book in a book fair just by looking at the title. The title had a sort of a peculiar effect on me. I knew I had to try this book lest I feel I should have bought the book. Yes, I judged a book by its title. An act I have seldom done before (unless I knew the author). So when I held the book in my hands and started reading, I knew I made a right choice.
Everyone reader of this book will experience many beautiful uplifting feelings at various places of the book. Yet there are places where it does inject a feeling of aversion. Ruby is a gem of a character. Understanding Her character alone is a truly rewarding experience. I could recommend this book to everyone just for her. The second reason, the more powerful and compelling from my pov, is the author's description of the arctic tunera, Alaska and arctic wilderness in general. The way her words crafted those vivid images of a pure white surrounding was just astounding. I could reread this book for this alone. A pure bliss of strangeness.
Now, the characterisation of ruby's mother Yasmin is the main problem of the book. Her rather unintelligent moves almost t every conflicting places really troubled me. I couldn't understand a single plausible reason behind her actions in most of the places. Yet she remains the main point of twists nd turns in the plot to keep it moving steadily towards the ending. The ending.... The most truely disappointing and totally inappropriate ending I could ever imagine. It almost destroyed the story's beautiful travel to reach that point. The unusually similar cliche of an ending disrupts the plot's convincing portrayal of uniqueness. 3.5 stars for this book. And what a way to score a double century of my career. :)
Everyone reader of this book will experience many beautiful uplifting feelings at various places of the book. Yet there are places where it does inject a feeling of aversion. Ruby is a gem of a character. Understanding Her character alone is a truly rewarding experience. I could recommend this book to everyone just for her. The second reason, the more powerful and compelling from my pov, is the author's description of the arctic tunera, Alaska and arctic wilderness in general. The way her words crafted those vivid images of a pure white surrounding was just astounding. I could reread this book for this alone. A pure bliss of strangeness.
Now, the characterisation of ruby's mother Yasmin is the main problem of the book. Her rather unintelligent moves almost t every conflicting places really troubled me. I couldn't understand a single plausible reason behind her actions in most of the places. Yet she remains the main point of twists nd turns in the plot to keep it moving steadily towards the ending. The ending.... The most truely disappointing and totally inappropriate ending I could ever imagine. It almost destroyed the story's beautiful travel to reach that point. The unusually similar cliche of an ending disrupts the plot's convincing portrayal of uniqueness. 3.5 stars for this book. And what a way to score a double century of my career. :)