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A review by thewallflower00
The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf
3.0
I had immediate sympathy for the main character before I opened to page one, because she suffers from selective mutism (not mutantism, which is something different. Learn the difference between the two or you will be sorely disappointed). I have a form of mutism wherein I simply have nothing to say, and everyone thinks I'm mute. But we're not here to talk about me.
My biggest problem with the novel is that it goes against good writing choices, and not in the "I know the rules so I can break the rules" way. There's a prologue which is totally unnecessary and only confuses the reader. And the prologue is actually a scene in the middle of the book, so it spoils as it repeats. It introduces characters before they're introduced and does nothing to enhance the story.
Then the main plot keeps getting shoved to the background so that it can tell the stories of all the peripheral characters. The perspective switches each chapter, which is fine, except that instead of focusing on what they do during the present day, they keep ruminating on all the crap that happened in the past -- all their relationships, all their mistakes and regrets that really don't have anything to do with the story. Instead of finding the missing child, we hear about how the deputy and the mother were once romantically involved, until, for no good reason whatsoever, she married an stereotypical alcoholic trucker redneck. Everyone's so busy remembering, the story stands in the middle, being unresolved. It's exactly what they say not to do in writing.
Also, how did the mom who was so sweet and apparently raised correctly enough to be ready marry a sweet, college-bound guy, end up marrying an alcoholic named Griff. Her past does not reconcile to her future, and as an avid Loveline listener, I know these things. Always avoid people named Griff. Remember: Cafe 80's, guy named Griff, just say no.
The story is not terribly complex. It seems like a beach or airplane read. It's a simple story more focused on memories and memoir-based vignettes. The ending is not particularly thrilling and everything wraps up in a neat little package by the end. The bad guy dies. The mute becomes unmute. And everyone gets what they want. I didn't feel like anyone changed by the end of the story. Their mistakes were obvious to me, but it didn't look like anyone learned anything from the experience. So it's hard whether to recommend a read or a skip for this one.
My biggest problem with the novel is that it goes against good writing choices, and not in the "I know the rules so I can break the rules" way. There's a prologue which is totally unnecessary and only confuses the reader. And the prologue is actually a scene in the middle of the book, so it spoils as it repeats. It introduces characters before they're introduced and does nothing to enhance the story.
Then the main plot keeps getting shoved to the background so that it can tell the stories of all the peripheral characters. The perspective switches each chapter, which is fine, except that instead of focusing on what they do during the present day, they keep ruminating on all the crap that happened in the past -- all their relationships, all their mistakes and regrets that really don't have anything to do with the story. Instead of finding the missing child, we hear about how the deputy and the mother were once romantically involved, until, for no good reason whatsoever, she married an stereotypical alcoholic trucker redneck. Everyone's so busy remembering, the story stands in the middle, being unresolved. It's exactly what they say not to do in writing.
Also, how did the mom who was so sweet and apparently raised correctly enough to be ready marry a sweet, college-bound guy, end up marrying an alcoholic named Griff. Her past does not reconcile to her future, and as an avid Loveline listener, I know these things. Always avoid people named Griff. Remember: Cafe 80's, guy named Griff, just say no.
The story is not terribly complex. It seems like a beach or airplane read. It's a simple story more focused on memories and memoir-based vignettes. The ending is not particularly thrilling and everything wraps up in a neat little package by the end. The bad guy dies. The mute becomes unmute. And everyone gets what they want. I didn't feel like anyone changed by the end of the story. Their mistakes were obvious to me, but it didn't look like anyone learned anything from the experience. So it's hard whether to recommend a read or a skip for this one.