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whynotreadwithalex's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
Writing a review for a book that completely stole my heart is always a challenge. It's especially difficult to describe the ways in which this kind of book makes a reader feel seen -- not simply a story or cast of characters that you can relate to, but one that is so extraordinary that it reminds you why you fell in love with reading in the first place. This is one of those books for me.
Truth be told, I originally picked up this book because I wanted to read another book by Kelly Andrew -- Your Blood, My Bones -- that is set in the same universe and I didn't want to miss out on any important details. The plot intrigued me, but I wasn't expecting to be so completely swept up in the narrative that the story buried itself into my bones. I was surprisingly captivated, to say the least.
Lane and Colton...wow. Theirs is a story of heartbreaking tragedy, new hope fluttering to life in the darkest of places, and a tangled web of fate and lies and beautifully broken bits slowly mended by love and time. Their story is haunting...literally. It's achingly beautiful. It's horrifying, at times, and struggles with honesty and freedom amid power plays, paranormal agendas, and death that lingers. It's a masterpiece.
And the writing style is brilliant: wistful, sweeping, mysterious, unnerving, withholding, heart-wrenching, and unique. Amazing, truly amazing.
What you're getting:
--> from her POV, enemies-to-lovers; from his POV, he's loved her all his life
--> dark academia meets gender-bent Ella Enchanted vibes meets Hades and Persephone retelling/Beauty and the Beast (you decide which is which)
--> spooky spook galore: we've got creepy cult dudes, Wednesday (the TV show) thriller vibes, a multiverse to explore, and the dead...always lurking
--> deaf FMC with paranormal gifts x overprotective, working behind the scenes, secretive Mr. Darcy type MMC who is obsessed with her
If you can't tell, I absolutely loved this book and will be reading everything that Kelly Andrew writes. This is an immediate 5-star read for me, I cannot recommend it enough, and has easily made it to my FAVORITES shelf.
Fearless. Brilliant. Sweepingly romantic. Thrilling and mysterious. Creative and unique. Dark. Captivating. Aesthetic. Addicting. Beautiful.
Truth be told, I originally picked up this book because I wanted to read another book by Kelly Andrew -- Your Blood, My Bones -- that is set in the same universe and I didn't want to miss out on any important details. The plot intrigued me, but I wasn't expecting to be so completely swept up in the narrative that the story buried itself into my bones. I was surprisingly captivated, to say the least.
Lane and Colton...wow. Theirs is a story of heartbreaking tragedy, new hope fluttering to life in the darkest of places, and a tangled web of fate and lies and beautifully broken bits slowly mended by love and time. Their story is haunting...literally. It's achingly beautiful. It's horrifying, at times, and struggles with honesty and freedom amid power plays, paranormal agendas, and death that lingers. It's a masterpiece.
And the writing style is brilliant: wistful, sweeping, mysterious, unnerving, withholding, heart-wrenching, and unique. Amazing, truly amazing.
What you're getting:
--> from her POV, enemies-to-lovers; from his POV, he's loved her all his life
--> dark academia meets gender-bent Ella Enchanted vibes meets Hades and Persephone retelling/Beauty and the Beast (you decide which is which)
--> spooky spook galore: we've got creepy cult dudes, Wednesday (the TV show) thriller vibes, a multiverse to explore, and the dead...always lurking
--> deaf FMC with paranormal gifts x overprotective, working behind the scenes, secretive Mr. Darcy type MMC who is obsessed with her
If you can't tell, I absolutely loved this book and will be reading everything that Kelly Andrew writes. This is an immediate 5-star read for me, I cannot recommend it enough, and has easily made it to my FAVORITES shelf.
Fearless. Brilliant. Sweepingly romantic. Thrilling and mysterious. Creative and unique. Dark. Captivating. Aesthetic. Addicting. Beautiful.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
hematthews's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Kidnapping and Fire/Fire injury
thepastelnerd's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
kassidyreads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Violence, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Dementia, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury
vaguelyredhead's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content, Dementia, and Car accident
inirac's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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
4.5
Pleasantly surprised by this book! I chose this to fulfill a prompt for a reading challenge and it was exactly what I was hoping for. The main character’s disability is a focus to the plot, but in a way that was unique to the fantastical world. When I started I was worried this would be too much of a teen coming of age story, but it was much more than that. The romance was a little saccharine at times but honestly I liked the characters enough later in the book I didn’t mind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Violence, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment
piperclover's review against another edition
I was so intrigued by this and was really excited to read a book with a deaf main character but I just can't click with any of it. I don't think the style is working for me so I'm not connecting to anything that's happening and I find myself being confused at the plot and at the flow of the story itself.
There's lots of scenes that are described in sentence fragments and it's meant to portray the feeling of being jarred and disoriented, only getting smashes of information, but it's just something that I can't process and I don't enjoy. I like the story itself but I'm over halfway through and I feel like nothing's happening even though there's a lot of plot happening.
I just don't think that forcing myself through it is going to make me enjoy it anymore when I've already been listening to it at 2.35 speed and I'm wishing to be done.
There's lots of scenes that are described in sentence fragments and it's meant to portray the feeling of being jarred and disoriented, only getting smashes of information, but it's just something that I can't process and I don't enjoy. I like the story itself but I'm over halfway through and I feel like nothing's happening even though there's a lot of plot happening.
I just don't think that forcing myself through it is going to make me enjoy it anymore when I've already been listening to it at 2.35 speed and I'm wishing to be done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, and Grief
ylvyly's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, and Murder
jasminerose97's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Unique. Infuriating yet gripping.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Child death
bookcheshirecat's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
“She wanted to be defined. Not by the silence between her ears or her fear of the dark, but by the sum of her achievements. Not by what she couldn't do, but by what she could.”
➽ The Whispering Dark is about Delaney Meyers-Petrov, a deaf girl who gets accepted into the prestigious Godbole University! This isn't your normal school, as the program teaches students to slip between worlds and every carefully selected student has a specific esoteric talent. Delaney has been feeling like there's something in the quiet and her supernatural aptitude gets her invited to Godbole. I liked that we're following a deaf main character who's trying to navigate school and struggling with the lack of disability accommodations. I found the world very intriguing, I'm always excited by the concept of parallel worlds and the story itself was very atmospheric. I definitely got some dark academia vibes! In general, the writing style was very detailed and lyrical, which I liked at first. The longer the book went on, the more tired I got of the overdescription of everything though.
➽ I wish we'd gotten more explanations about the magic system, as the story just throws us right into the action without bothering to establish any background on the world. I kept waiting for additional information, but they never came. It was also disappointing that the actual school life took a backseat to Delaney and Colton's investigations and romance. Delaney doesn't have any other meaningful connections. A lot of things seemed to happen off-page, as she's suddenly friends with her roommate, but we never see them connect to each other. They just exist to be Delaney's friends, but get no personality or time with her. It felt like their friendship was skipped over in favor of the romance.
➽ The main dynamic is between Delaney and Colton, but I found them frustrating. Colton almost died when he was 9 years old and ever since he's been different. He knows Delaney, as she was there for the incident, but is told to stay away from her at school. I like a forbidden romance, but the problem is that we don't really find out why he has to push her away. As much as I was intrigued by Delaney and Colton's dynamic the fact that he kept so much information from her got exhausting! I get that there were plot reasons for his constant lying, but it grated on my nerves how he never explains anything and still expects Delaney to follow him. Their relationship felt codependent at times and suffered from a clear lack of communication. In the very beginning, Colton is downright nasty to Delaney to keep her away and even later his behavior is pretty arrogant. The longer the relationship went on, the more offputting it was!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Death, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Gore, Kidnapping, and Stalking