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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: Body horror, Violence, Death, Ableism, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Gore
annelihghh's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Sexual content, Death, Gore, Grief, Child death, and Cursing
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
meys_kingdom's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
The plot is very interesting although a tad tangled, but is cold and dark, and the shadows feel like a character itself, I did not spected to like it this much, but boy I did.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Grief, and Child death
Deafnesstakarakei'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 🌶️??
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
natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Murder, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Ableism
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
thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition
3.5
This was an interesting story! I wish more information had been given throughout, though. I was lost for most of the book and some stuff was not satisfactorily explained. I may like it more on second read-through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Child death, Violence, and Ableism
Moderate: Grief and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content
takarakei's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
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 🌶️??
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 🌶️??
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Ableism, Murder, Violence, and Body horror
Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Cursing
hafable's review
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
What I liked:
Delaney as a deaf character was incredibly fresh and not only that but her deafness was integral to the story which was great! The premise of the story where there is the college that people who've had brushes with death go to and learn how to tear through the sky to enter parallel worlds is interesting too. The idea of a group of mean at the college who are trying to obtain immortality at a cost is intriguing and the ride it takes you on is compelling enough that despite some of this books faults, I just had a fun time reading it.... for most of it There were so many moments and interactions that were either fun enough or intriguing enough, even thrilling at some points, where I just wanted to keep on reading and do nothing else so despite how intense I'll be about what I didn't like, I would probably still read it again like if you turn your critical thinking off for a bit, it can be a very fun read.
What I didn't like: ( vague spoilers but nothing that specific)
This books biggest pitfall was its own marketing. The synopsis advertised itself as this paranormal, dark academia thriller featuring our 2 main characters who are meant to keep away from each other; delaney by choice since he annoys her and colton because he was ordered to by the campus group called "The Priory". It says that Colton and Delaney team up in order to fight against something ageless and dangerous at the university, implying that they do not in fact become easily close within the first third of the book. What's the scope of the priory you ask? Why is colton ordered to stay away from her? why does the leader of this group of men care so much about her and yet does absolutely nothing with her until the end? Do most of these side characters matter? WHATS THE MAGIC SYSTEM? IF THERES UNIVERSE HOPPING WHY DOES THE BOOK ONLY SHOW THEM GO TO OTHER UNIVERSES TO BREIFLY GO PLACES LIKE MUSEUMS OR MARKETS AND BARELY LOOK OR INTERACT WITH DEAD PEOPLE WHO ARE ALIVE THERE?????? IF THE BOOK IS MARKETED AS A PARANORMAL DARK ACADEMIA THRILLER, WHY DOES THE MOST IMPORTANT THING SEEM TO BE THE ROMANCE?? A ROMANCE THAT COULDVE WORKED BUT INSTEAD DRAGGED THE PLOT AND SO FUMBLED THE ACTUALLY INTENSE AND COOL ENDING OF THE NOVEL TO BE INFINITELY MORE BORING THAN IT SHOULDVE BEEN YOU ASK???? Don't ask my friend bc you'll never know. Still a fun read lol, 3 stars but extra points off for making me read the phrase "knees kissing" more than once
Delaney as a deaf character was incredibly fresh and not only that but her deafness was integral to the story which was great! The premise of the story where there is the college that people who've had brushes with death go to and learn how to tear through the sky to enter parallel worlds is interesting too. The idea of a group of mean at the college who are trying to obtain immortality at a cost is intriguing and the ride it takes you on is compelling enough that despite some of this books faults, I just had a fun time reading it.... for most of it There were so many moments and interactions that were either fun enough or intriguing enough, even thrilling at some points, where I just wanted to keep on reading and do nothing else so despite how intense I'll be about what I didn't like, I would probably still read it again like if you turn your critical thinking off for a bit, it can be a very fun read.
What I didn't like: ( vague spoilers but nothing that specific)
This books biggest pitfall was its own marketing. The synopsis advertised itself as this paranormal, dark academia thriller featuring our 2 main characters who are meant to keep away from each other; delaney by choice since he annoys her and colton because he was ordered to by the campus group called "The Priory". It says that Colton and Delaney team up in order to fight against something ageless and dangerous at the university, implying that they do not in fact become easily close within the first third of the book. What's the scope of the priory you ask? Why is colton ordered to stay away from her? why does the leader of this group of men care so much about her and yet does absolutely nothing with her until the end? Do most of these side characters matter? WHATS THE MAGIC SYSTEM? IF THERES UNIVERSE HOPPING WHY DOES THE BOOK ONLY SHOW THEM GO TO OTHER UNIVERSES TO BREIFLY GO PLACES LIKE MUSEUMS OR MARKETS AND BARELY LOOK OR INTERACT WITH DEAD PEOPLE WHO ARE ALIVE THERE?????? IF THE BOOK IS MARKETED AS A PARANORMAL DARK ACADEMIA THRILLER, WHY DOES THE MOST IMPORTANT THING SEEM TO BE THE ROMANCE?? A ROMANCE THAT COULDVE WORKED BUT INSTEAD DRAGGED THE PLOT AND SO FUMBLED THE ACTUALLY INTENSE AND COOL ENDING OF THE NOVEL TO BE INFINITELY MORE BORING THAN IT SHOULDVE BEEN YOU ASK???? Don't ask my friend bc you'll never know. Still a fun read lol, 3 stars but extra points off for making me read the phrase "knees kissing" more than once
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Grief