kittymeowington 's review for:

The Silence Factory by Bridget Collins

DID NOT FINISH: 48%

---

This book was a mess—and not the fun kind. 

Almost every character was hard to like, and the plot was all over the place. It flips between two perspectives: Henry, a recently widowed man who’s completely lost and ends up taking a job in a strange town called Telverton, and Sophie, whose story unfolds through her diary as she travels with her husband to an island called Kratos. That’s where they discover some mysterious spiders that seem to be at the centre of everything.

But honestly? The two storylines never really click. Sophia’s started strong, but quickly spiralled into an overly dramatic gothic tale that never got a proper ending. I get that women didn’t have much of a voice back then, but Sophia’s complete lack of backbone—especially around her husband James—just didn’t sit right with me. 

Then there’s Henry. The man has no spine. He somehow develops feelings for his new boss, Sir Edward, and despite all the red flags, he keeps thinking Edward is just misunderstood.

Most of the other characters felt flat, and I still have no idea what Sir Edward even wanted. The idea of the spider silk had potential—it could’ve been fascinating! I wanted to know more about the rituals, the women on the island, the spiritual stuff... but the book barely touched it. 

Oh, and the most unbelievable part? No one in this book is afraid of spiders. No one. They’re holding them, worshipping them, letting them crawl around like it’s normal. If I lived in Telverton, I'd be way more worried about loose spiders than weird factory noises. 

In the end, I couldn’t figure out what this book was even trying to say—something vague about relationships and parenthood, maybe? And the ending wrapped things up a little too neatly, like the author just wanted it over with. 

It had a few okay moments, but not enough to save it. I got bored, lost interest, and didn’t even finish the book. Safe to say, I wouldn’t recommend this one. Pretty disappointing overall.