Reviews

Lago do Silêncio by Anne Bishop

hellobookbird's review against another edition

4.0

Judging by my attorney's laughter, if I failed to turn The Jumble into a viable business, I could always get a job as a standup comedian in a vampire bar.

Human laws do not apply in the territory controlled by the Others—vampires, shapeshifters, and paranormal beings even more deadly. And this is a fact that humans should never, ever forget...

After her divorce, Vicki DeVine took over a rustic resort near Lake Silence, in a human town that is not human controlled. Vicki was hoping to find a new career and a new life. But when her lodger, Aggie Crowe—one of the shapeshifting Others—discovers a dead body, Vicki finds trouble instead. The detectives want to pin the man’s death on her, despite the evidence that nothing human could have killed the victim. When tensions escalate, the Others get involved and suddenly Lake Silence and the town of Sproinger aren't so quiet anymore...

Anne Bishop has heard our prayers and returned to the world of The Others in [b: Lake Silence|35463752|Lake Silence (The Others, #6)|Anne Bishop|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1497821052s/35463752.jpg|53651626]. While she's closed the book on Meg and Simon directly, fans of the series will be happy to note that there is a familiar face: Ilya Sanguinati. There also happens to be honorable mentions of our dearly beloved Lakeside Courtyard characters (even if not by name) that will keep the Lakeside fire in our souls burning.

But I'm getting off-track.

[b: Lake Silence|35463752|Lake Silence (The Others, #6)|Anne Bishop|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1497821052s/35463752.jpg|53651626] definitely doesn't pull punches with violence but I also found that the narrative was a little more comic than her previous. While I liked the humor, I felt like there were a lot of similarities:

Emotionally innocent lead: Vicki feels a lot like Meg in that she seems a little emotionally innocent (if that makes any sense). While Meg's handicap was because of her tenure in the Compound, Vicki's is due to the emotional and psychological scars from her failed marriage.

"Aggie said his eyeball was squooshy. That's why she wanted to warm it up in the wave-cooker. Wouldn't it take a while for the eyeball to get squooshy?"

Central, human female to be taken care of at all cost: while Meg had the whole cassandre sangue thing going on to confuse their instincts, Vicki has no such help. Her emotional state doesn't even register with the Others until things start going down in town. While I understand the purpose of The Jumble, I don't think restoring and running it is really worthy of quite this much reaction so early in its infancy.

"You are the first person since Honoria Dane to show some understanding about the nature of The Jumble."

"Which is?"

"That it was built within a terra indigene settlement, with the understanding that the human caretaker would help those interested in learning to correctly mimic human ways."

Police presence: Grimshaw is the main police officer that gets volun-told to work with the humans and the Others to keep tensions from boiling over. Unlike Monty, he's kind of a grump. Like Monty, he has a sixth sense for feeling his way around the Others.

Grimshaw tapped the top of the shoebox. "Take that to the station and tuck it in an empty drawer. You never know when we'll need another shiny bribe."

Foresight for danger: enter Julian, an Intuit that can sense the feel of a place. He also serves as Grimshaw's backup as the other half of the police duo (in an unofficial capacity).

"And why should I do that?" the Sanguinati finally asked.

Julian looked Ilya in the eyes. "If you don't, Vicki DeVine is going to die."

Human pack: unofficially.

Others + tasty treats: the Sproingers are the ponies of this story (and they're actually kinda cute).

"A pyramid? They've made a Sproinger pyramid?" I looked at the Sproinger. He—or she—made the happy face. "Can I get a picture?"

If I got out of this in one piece, I was going to buy an I [HEART] SPROINGERS T-shirt.

I don't think I would have had as much of an issue if Vicki and Meg didn't feel so similar. Thinking on it, though, I'm wondering if this is the author's way of portraying mental overload? With Meg, new situations quickly got overwhelming. With Vicki, all she wanted was quiet and normal when all of a sudden Others are popping out of the woodwork like daisies. And not just any Others...even the Lady of the Lake!

I don't want to sound like a party pooper, though. I really did like quite a few things! Let's make a list of those also:

The humor: it's full of it in small ways. And they're awesome.

"This body has been disturbed."

"I'd be disturbed too if I was suddenly dead," I replied.

Aggie Crowe: I always loved the Crowgard, so I'm happy that the leading Other in this novel as Vicki's tenant is part of that gard.

Ilya Sanguinati: the other lead Other (ha), was present briefly in the previous novels. While we don't get to see more Meg and Simon, they still feel connected to this arc with his presence.

Bookstores!: they're still very much a thing. I know, that sounds so silly but I'm a book lover and the bookstore in Lakeside wasn't such a small thing. I actually think it's cool that Sproinger's bookstore helps the humans learn more about the others than the other way around.

Lady of the Lake: I always really liked the Elementals. While I'm not sure she's one precisely, she's along the same vein.

Vicki's bookkeeping habits: she even kept receipts for light bulbs and toilet paper when restoring The Jumble. While this normally wouldn't be of interest, there comes a point in the book where she has to temporarily vacate. Those receipts are important. And it's hilarious.

The Others are rougher: I would never claim Lakeside's Courtyard as tame, but I like that the Others in this novel embrace more of their wild nature. It really helps feel like Lake Silence is wild country.

Lakeside mentions!: Yes! Tiny little references and mentions that feed my starved Lakeside soul!


All-in-all, because of the similarities, I think this lowered my enjoyment of the novel to where it ultimately felt like a meh read when compared to her other work. However, there was plenty I enjoyed and it was definitely well written so I netted out between a 3.5 and a 4 star rating anyway.

Since I love quoting so much of the book, I'll leave you with this:

"Do the Sanguinati have trouble with mosquitoes?"

"You mean, do the big bloodsuckers get pestered by the little bloodsuckers?"

Judging by my attorney's laughter, if I failed to turn The Jumble into a viable business, I could always get a job as a standup comedian in a vampire bar.

See what I mean? Gems. Complete gems.

Thank you to Goodreads and Berkley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

notruse's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

wibberly's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

nutmeginnz's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

kelly_may's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

yodamom's review against another edition

5.0

4.5- audiobook
Excellent narration
I didn't expect to enjoy this spin off. I thought the series would fall into dullsville without Meg and the pack. I was wrong! I didn't even miss her I was so wrapped up in these newish characters (a few came from the original series)and their section of the world. There are so many new beings, my favorite had to be the Sproings I pictured them as a Porg (Star Wars) like beastie, so cute. The vampire, who happened to be a lawyer, a double blood sucker was acknowledged as yummy. Finally they get some love. Vicki, is the main character, she moved to Sproing after a nasty divorce from a total tool of a semi man. She got a piece of land form the divorce decree with some cabins on it she rebuilt and rents for a living. Everything is going well till her ex tool husband and some of his greedy non environmental friends try to take it away from her. There is the easy way death, but there is also a lot of sneaky excellence going on with twists and turns that had me cheering loudly. The rules were simple, but some humans just can't follow the rules even to save their own greedy useless lives.

laura_corsi's review against another edition

4.0

So much fun! I had a great time with this story.

brendalovesbooks's review against another edition

4.0

I liked this for the most part, because I really like Anne Bishop's writing. It definitely wasn't as good as the first few books in the series, though. I never really felt a sense of urgency, or even fear for the main character. The reason is that the Others are super powerful (as we all know), and the bad guys were complete idiots. I mean, not one of them did anything that was remotely smart. It just took away any suspense there might have been. But it was a quick read, and I'll keep reading if there are ever more in the series.

busyknitting's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

brianne_k's review against another edition

5.0

*5/5*
God I love this world.