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kamilahlove's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Ableism
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Child death, and Violence
Minor: Dementia and Car accident
takarakei's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
(reread) tbh the audio narration was just ok (no difference between POV voices) BUT I love this book so, just read a physical copy!
- The ROMANCE *screams*
- Deaf MC
- Dark academia
- A little spooky
- A lot mysterious
- Dual POV
My original review:
This book will keep you on questioning everything until the end it's super mysterious. You're gonna be like "wtf is going on" for 80% of the book, but in the best way possible.
THE ROMANCE.
What are these YA Fantasy Romance authors doing to me???? I have *feelings* How do they keep everything so PG but I am sweating?! IT'S SO GOOD.
Protect Colton at all costs. That is all.
If you're a fan of: Belladonna by Adalyn Grace (new adult) or Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (NOT YA) I think you'll really enjoy this.
IDK where to even put the spice cause it's completely 'closed door' if anything even really happens it's vague in the most beautiful way. So 1.5-2/5 š¶ļø??
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Ableism, Murder, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Body horror
Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, Car accident, Dementia, and Cursing
bibliomania_express's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Murder, Death, and Ableism
Moderate: Medical trauma, Violence, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Torture, Grief, Body horror, and Kidnapping
Minor: Cancer, Car accident, Toxic relationship, and Dementia
sylvestra's review
dark
mysterious
medium-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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Death
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Ableism and Dementia
skylar_cr_wolf's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
āDeath is part of life. Nothing is permanent. Nothing stays. Everything comes to an end, thatās just the way it goes.ā
This is something you would believe. Even Delaney believed it for a while. A long while. But does life really stop with death?
While you follow her on her journey to unravel not just the truth by finding an answer to this particular question maybe, youāre also meeting Colton, someone who will keep secrets till his last breath. Or in this case simply even to the end.
And honestly, I like this. They both evolve throughout the story but Colton still remains with secrets of his own.He is also not your average dark, mysterious guy with a sweet spot for the female main protagonist. No. He is literally a dead person with questionable morals, maybe even only a shadow of himself at the end. Colton isnāt becoming morally grey. His morals have always been a little off because the laws of life do not necessarily apply to him anymore. I must say, I think I like this about him. Or about this story in general. You will get answers to questions and yet you wonāt be able to solve all of the secrets.
I am surprised how quickly I read this, to be honest. Usually I need more than a week to read ~400 pages but this one really had me in a grip there. I canāt pinpoint why it did not turn out to be 5 stars or more than solid 4. But maybe this is just another question which I cannot answer and wonāt possibly. Which is fine. I liked the book a lot nonetheless.
This is something you would believe. Even Delaney believed it for a while. A long while. But does life really stop with death?
While you follow her on her journey to unravel not just the truth by finding an answer to this particular question maybe, youāre also meeting Colton, someone who will keep secrets till his last breath. Or in this case simply even to the end.
And honestly, I like this. They both evolve throughout the story but Colton still remains with secrets of his own.
I am surprised how quickly I read this, to be honest. Usually I need more than a week to read ~400 pages but this one really had me in a grip there. I canāt pinpoint why it did not turn out to be 5 stars or more than solid 4. But maybe this is just another question which I cannot answer and wonāt possibly. Which is fine. I liked the book a lot nonetheless.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Murder, and Death
Minor: Dementia, Car accident, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
booksthatburn's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Delaney is a post-lingual Deaf girl who sometimes hears the shadows whispering. She gets into a university whose stated purpose is to teach its students to traverse between realities. Colton is a student who briefly died when he was a child, meeting Delaney briefly at the time. When they meet again on campus, she doesnāt recognize him but is drawn to him anyway, while he instantly knows her and canāt keep his distance. They begin spending time together, then the lines are blurred further when another student dies.
Thereās a consistent theme of ableism, mainly but not only from professors who donāt know Delaney is deaf (because they didnāt read the emails alerting them). Sheās navigating this new space and deciding how much sheād rather deal with not being able to usefully hear in the moment or with overt ableism once people know sheās deaf. Whether sheās using her implant and what she does or does not hear is important throughout, and is used to great effect once things start getting spooky.
The worldbuilding is sparse, most of the details are atmospheric and unexplained until late in the book. The specific answers and explanations (when they finally arrived) wrapped up pretty much everything I wanted to know. I enjoy vibe-heavy books that leave me interested but confused for long stretches, so this was a deeply satisfying read for me. Coltonās secrets (and those he keeps for others) are hinted at but not revealed early, keeping the reader and Delaney equally in the dark for much of the story.
For a book with parallel worlds there arenāt many descriptions of traversals, though there are more towards the end. I like how much the focus is on Delaney piecing things together and trying to make it through her classes, and on her dynamic with Colton. I often enjoy books with mysterious and brooding guys, and this delivered.
Heavy on vibes, supported by a delicate but satisfying plot, donāt miss THE WHISPERING DARK.
Thereās a consistent theme of ableism, mainly but not only from professors who donāt know Delaney is deaf (because they didnāt read the emails alerting them). Sheās navigating this new space and deciding how much sheād rather deal with not being able to usefully hear in the moment or with overt ableism once people know sheās deaf. Whether sheās using her implant and what she does or does not hear is important throughout, and is used to great effect once things start getting spooky.
The worldbuilding is sparse, most of the details are atmospheric and unexplained until late in the book. The specific answers and explanations (when they finally arrived) wrapped up pretty much everything I wanted to know. I enjoy vibe-heavy books that leave me interested but confused for long stretches, so this was a deeply satisfying read for me. Coltonās secrets (and those he keeps for others) are hinted at but not revealed early, keeping the reader and Delaney equally in the dark for much of the story.
For a book with parallel worlds there arenāt many descriptions of traversals, though there are more towards the end. I like how much the focus is on Delaney piecing things together and trying to make it through her classes, and on her dynamic with Colton. I often enjoy books with mysterious and brooding guys, and this delivered.
Heavy on vibes, supported by a delicate but satisfying plot, donāt miss THE WHISPERING DARK.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Ableism, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Vomit, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Cursing, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Confinement, Toxic friendship, and Car accident
Minor: Dementia, Drug use, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Animal death, and Pregnancy
ttumbletree's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.0
i really really enjoyed this book!
i loved the representation in it, as well as the world it was set in and the characters different voices and especially their interactions (the amount of times i chuckled to myself and wrote the word āsameā in this book is justā¦. a lot, okay? š)
the one thing i wouldāve enjoyed a bit more is if more of the book had focused on laneās relationship with her friends. i think it wouldāve given her more agency and wouldāve made their developing friendships feel a bit more natural āŗļø oh and there were just a lot of descriptions of colors where the author used flowers/plants as descriptors and it got a bit confusing at timesā¦ (there were a solid 50 pages throughout which i was struggling to understand what the mcās eye color wasā¦ i enjoy flowery descriptions a lot, but i also enjoy understanding certain bitsā¦ like the eye color of the mc if itās being pointed out this much.) but this feels more like a side note to me personally. (also in case your wondering, laneās eyes are greenā¦ at least i think so š)
long story short, i really enjoyed the book and will definitely recommend it to friends and maybe even reread it one day.
a solid 4āļø read!
i loved the representation in it, as well as the world it was set in and the characters different voices and especially their interactions (the amount of times i chuckled to myself and wrote the word āsameā in this book is justā¦. a lot, okay? š)
the one thing i wouldāve enjoyed a bit more is if more of the book had focused on laneās relationship with her friends. i think it wouldāve given her more agency and wouldāve made their developing friendships feel a bit more natural āŗļø oh and there were just a lot of descriptions of colors where the author used flowers/plants as descriptors and it got a bit confusing at timesā¦ (there were a solid 50 pages throughout which i was struggling to understand what the mcās eye color wasā¦ i enjoy flowery descriptions a lot, but i also enjoy understanding certain bitsā¦ like the eye color of the mc if itās being pointed out this much.) but this feels more like a side note to me personally. (also in case your wondering, laneās eyes are greenā¦ at least i think so š)
long story short, i really enjoyed the book and will definitely recommend it to friends and maybe even reread it one day.
a solid 4āļø read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Grief, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Abandonment, Gore, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Dementia
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