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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
sophiesmallhands'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Violence, Child death, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Ableism, and Body horror
Minor: Stalking and Car accident
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
stardustandrockets's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Child death, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Murder, and Stalking
Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit
chronicacademia's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Child death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Sexual content, and Stalking
Moderate: Ableism
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 doesn’t recognize him but is drawn to him anyway, while he instantly knows her and can’t keep his distance. They begin spending time together, then the lines are blurred further when another student dies.
There’s a consistent theme of ableism, mainly but not only from professors who don’t know Delaney is deaf (because they didn’t read the emails alerting them). She’s navigating this new space and deciding how much she’d rather deal with not being able to usefully hear in the moment or with overt ableism once people know she’s deaf. Whether she’s 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. Colton’s 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 aren’t 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, don’t miss THE WHISPERING DARK.
There’s a consistent theme of ableism, mainly but not only from professors who don’t know Delaney is deaf (because they didn’t read the emails alerting them). She’s navigating this new space and deciding how much she’d rather deal with not being able to usefully hear in the moment or with overt ableism once people know she’s deaf. Whether she’s 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. Colton’s 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 aren’t 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, don’t 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
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