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cimorene1558's review against another edition
2.0
The premise seemed really good, I enjoyed about the first 200 pages, and after that I was reading more and more slowly, and finding other things to do instead of reading it, and I realized I no longer cared how it ended, so I didn't finish it.
machadofam8's review against another edition
2.0
Way too long to read as an actual book - I think I would have liked it better as an app because I see how it would have worked that way.
joyousreads132's review against another edition
3.0
I was under the impression that this book is a horror. But as the chapters flew by, it quickly become clearer that it was more Sci-Fi than anything. I enjoy Sci-Fi/horror anyway, and since I don’t have very many of those, I’m always game to dive in. However, I felt that this book went way too long for my taste and it didn’t have the sustainability to keep a reader like me.
In here, we find a generation of children without voice and no means of communication. It was as if they were born without that part of their brain. Parents, doctors, scientists were confounded. The children can’t speak, and unable to make any sounds at all. They were shunned by other children who can speak, treated as if they were mentally handicapped. But the worst part of all was that they were vulnerable to predators. Case in point, a kid who was abducted while shopping in a mall when he couldn’t scream for help.
Told in part as chronicles of testimonials, The Silent History contains a world whose ability to communicate vastly changed. Half of the world spoke in a telepathic manner but was not taught and can’t be learned. Though this book is 500-some odd pages, I found myself racing through 50% of it. It was a fascinating world, one where half the population scrambled to learn about a new kind of language all together.
However, it doesn’t take time until I found myself lost — not in the story, but literally lost. The plot quickly becomes convoluted. With the discovery of nanotechnology that enabled the children to speak, the Science of it all complicated what was an otherwise absorbing story. And as the cure was slowly introduced, so were the factions that contributed to the chaos. It was harder to keep track of the number of points of views — and there were many.
The cure, while great on the surface, became a bone of contention for some parents and the government. After the kid was saved from the sexual predator that kidnapped him, the government instituted a law that aimed to protect children under the age of 6. They made it a law to have all outfitted with the cure. And while I can understand why the parents would want their kids to have the ability to speak, I also saw why some parents were against it. In essence, the cure would invariably change their children into different people altogether. Some chose to let the children decide for themselves as adults.
In here, we find a generation of children without voice and no means of communication. It was as if they were born without that part of their brain. Parents, doctors, scientists were confounded. The children can’t speak, and unable to make any sounds at all. They were shunned by other children who can speak, treated as if they were mentally handicapped. But the worst part of all was that they were vulnerable to predators. Case in point, a kid who was abducted while shopping in a mall when he couldn’t scream for help.
Told in part as chronicles of testimonials, The Silent History contains a world whose ability to communicate vastly changed. Half of the world spoke in a telepathic manner but was not taught and can’t be learned. Though this book is 500-some odd pages, I found myself racing through 50% of it. It was a fascinating world, one where half the population scrambled to learn about a new kind of language all together.
However, it doesn’t take time until I found myself lost — not in the story, but literally lost. The plot quickly becomes convoluted. With the discovery of nanotechnology that enabled the children to speak, the Science of it all complicated what was an otherwise absorbing story. And as the cure was slowly introduced, so were the factions that contributed to the chaos. It was harder to keep track of the number of points of views — and there were many.
The cure, while great on the surface, became a bone of contention for some parents and the government. After the kid was saved from the sexual predator that kidnapped him, the government instituted a law that aimed to protect children under the age of 6. They made it a law to have all outfitted with the cure. And while I can understand why the parents would want their kids to have the ability to speak, I also saw why some parents were against it. In essence, the cure would invariably change their children into different people altogether. Some chose to let the children decide for themselves as adults.
ang0521's review against another edition
3.0
This book is full of weird characters and at times they got too weird for me. There’s also a lot of characters and it got hard to remember them all. The concept of the book, that kids are being born silent, is what interested me in this story. The story is told through testimonials which was odd at first but nonetheless ended up telling a story. However, near the end things started to happen that I felt were far fetched for even this sort of dystopian novel. I also felt like the story dragged on for longer than necessary. I ended up going with three stars though rather than two because the characters were well written as was the story line.
shortsaga's review against another edition
4.0
An exploration of what people assume is better and how they pursue it.
"It doesn't matter what you do. Organize a parade...Set a couch on fire. A force calls to you, you follow, but the tail you're chasing is your own."
"So I can banter with chattering fools-so what?"
"It doesn't matter what you do. Organize a parade...Set a couch on fire. A force calls to you, you follow, but the tail you're chasing is your own."
"So I can banter with chattering fools-so what?"
chickadeespirit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
salshrem_nardea's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. Although a slow and frankly boring read at times, it was very interesting and different enough to keep me coming back. Do I think it needed to be over 500 pages? Absolutely not. By the middle of the book I was mostly skimming, trying to find the point of some of the chapters. However I enjoyed it and I'm happy I read it.
lorimichelekelley's review
2.0
This book had such potential! Right up until about 80% I was hooked, mesmerized! and then it turned into something like a B science fiction film and after that just fell limp and petered out.
nerdalert64's review
challenging
mysterious
reflective
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