Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by charvi_not_just_fiction
The Usual Silence by Jenny Milchman
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
This was such an interesting book, I cannot stop thinking about it.
It was a rather mixed bag for me with some captivating aspects but also things that fell flat and didn't work.
Let's start with the positives.
The premise is what drew me in and the author was able to maintain an aura of mystery, thrill and a sense of looming darkness that encourages the reader to keep turning the pages. I like the format of the stories - the three-way split made for an interesting storytelling method and also suspended us in the mystery as I impatiently read on to know what happened next.
As a psychology student it's always nice to see good therapy and psychology portrayal so I was happy on that front although an average reader might be able to tell you better whether some of the concepts felt too theoretical and forced, I personally found it a good blend.
We also get an interesting cast of characters and a rather decent execution of the plot. All narrators were interesting to follow but I particularly loved Louise's POV and getting to know more about her.
I think the two major letdowns for me were pacing and unnecessary or underdeveloped characters and scenes. The pacing was a bit slow in the beginning which is fine but after maybe 20% it became very sporadic for me. It just felt certain things were very rushed and others were crawling at a snail's pace.
One of my biggest pet peeves is side-characters who are just there and unfortunately this book has plenty. We know next to nothing about Dan, he's kind of just there so that we get to see more of Arles and her personality and backstory. The entire cast that came for family therapy could literally be omitted and it won't make a difference to the story which I hated. I was really getting into the Merritts' family drama but then they in addition to the cult recovering clients just disappear and add basically nothing. They're there just so that the group family therapy model makes sense which brings me to my next point - there were certain things that were quite unrealistic and pulled me out of the story. You cannot tell me Arles almost single-handedly fixed a rapidly deteriorating manor of sorts in a span of days?? There was just no planning on her part? What were her plans for carekeeping and running of the whole system? None whatsoever, she found Stephanie and Tissa by chance and even then it's realistically very difficult for two and a half humans to run the entire place.
Plus the structure of group therapy felt a bit off and the 'fixing' of the Merritts family felt so rushed, as if the author just wanted to get done with them and out of the story.
I think these few things bugged me and ultimately weighed down my overall experience but I have to say I was quite glued to the book in the second half and found the revelations and conclusions extremely fascinating and shocking as well. Although the ending left quite a few loose ends with very little resolution for most of the characters which might explain why I'm still thinking about this book and wondering what happened to some of them.
So do I recommend this book? I think the idea is wonderful and the author does manage to execute it well but has simply tried doing too many things within one book. It's worth a shot of you're interested in psychological thrillers and darker themes.
It was a rather mixed bag for me with some captivating aspects but also things that fell flat and didn't work.
Let's start with the positives.
The premise is what drew me in and the author was able to maintain an aura of mystery, thrill and a sense of looming darkness that encourages the reader to keep turning the pages. I like the format of the stories - the three-way split made for an interesting storytelling method and also suspended us in the mystery as I impatiently read on to know what happened next.
As a psychology student it's always nice to see good therapy and psychology portrayal so I was happy on that front although an average reader might be able to tell you better whether some of the concepts felt too theoretical and forced, I personally found it a good blend.
We also get an interesting cast of characters and a rather decent execution of the plot. All narrators were interesting to follow but I particularly loved Louise's POV and getting to know more about her.
I think the two major letdowns for me were pacing and unnecessary or underdeveloped characters and scenes. The pacing was a bit slow in the beginning which is fine but after maybe 20% it became very sporadic for me. It just felt certain things were very rushed and others were crawling at a snail's pace.
One of my biggest pet peeves is side-characters who are just there and unfortunately this book has plenty. We know next to nothing about Dan, he's kind of just there so that we get to see more of Arles and her personality and backstory. The entire cast that came for family therapy could literally be omitted and it won't make a difference to the story which I hated. I was really getting into the Merritts' family drama but then they in addition to the cult recovering clients just disappear and add basically nothing. They're there just so that the group family therapy model makes sense which brings me to my next point - there were certain things that were quite unrealistic and pulled me out of the story. You cannot tell me Arles almost single-handedly fixed a rapidly deteriorating manor of sorts in a span of days?? There was just no planning on her part? What were her plans for carekeeping and running of the whole system? None whatsoever, she found Stephanie and Tissa by chance and even then it's realistically very difficult for two and a half humans to run the entire place.
Plus the structure of group therapy felt a bit off and the 'fixing' of the Merritts family felt so rushed, as if the author just wanted to get done with them and out of the story.
I think these few things bugged me and ultimately weighed down my overall experience but I have to say I was quite glued to the book in the second half and found the revelations and conclusions extremely fascinating and shocking as well. Although the ending left quite a few loose ends with very little resolution for most of the characters which might explain why I'm still thinking about this book and wondering what happened to some of them.
So do I recommend this book? I think the idea is wonderful and the author does manage to execute it well but has simply tried doing too many things within one book. It's worth a shot of you're interested in psychological thrillers and darker themes.