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A review by hmmreads
The Silent Waters by Brittainy C. Cherry
4.0
3.75 - 4 stars
Maggie had been in love with Brooks since they were kids. Brooks had always denied it but he secretly cared about her. When they were kids, she wanted to play pretend wedding with him and asked him to meet her in the woods. Brooks got caught up with Maggie's dress code request and was late to their meeting. While waiting for him, Maggie saw a man killing a woman who we presumed to be his wife. The man saw Maggie and attempted to kill her too by choking her throat. But she was saved when Brooks arrived and called out her name. Since then, she wasn't able to speak and often had nightmares about the man.
Brooks stuck by her and they grew closer, eventually dating each other. But Brooks was in a band with Maggie's older brother, Calvin, and they managed to land a deal to go to LA. Maggie's mom was ridden with guilt and became a suffocating toxic mom who wanted Maggie to always be alone and "safe" in their house. Maggie saw that her relationship with Brooks was (indirectly) destroying her parents' marriage while holding Brooks back from realizing his dreams. So she ended things with him. I loved Maggie's relationship with her siblings, especially her sister Cheryl who was initially angry at Maggie's special treatment.
Brooks kept in touch with Maggie but he found himself a girlfriend. That made Maggie stop writing back out of respect to his girlfriend. Soon Brooks and his girlfriend broke up because he was still in love with Maggie. They reconvened when Maggie was 28, when the old lady next door, Mrs. Boone, got into a car accident and was hospitalized. Side note, I also loved Maggie and Mrs. Boone's relationship :'). Maggie still couldn't exit her house, so she called Brooks. The band came home and Brooks went to visit Mrs. Boone, who in return gave the band keys to her cabin when she awoke.
The band headed up the cabin and Brooks suffered an accident on a boat they were using. He was trying to save his bandmate from going overboard when the boat rocked and sent him under instead. The boat's propellers hit him, causing him to lose two fingers of his left hand. Brooks was devastated that he wouldn't be able to play the guitar anymore, so he went back up the cabin to drink himself to misery.
Maggie managed to leave her house for Brooks and visited the hospital while he was there. She also eventually went up to the cabin to check up on him. Brooks became aggressive toward her and did everything he could to make her go back, which was super hard to read. Maggie finally reached her tipping point and shouted out actual words. That woke him from the bender he was in and made him get his act together.
Maggie's parents' arc was also closed off when she returned home and made them patch things up. Maggie had told Brooks about the man in the woods before but they finally met him when Maggie tagged along with Brooks to return the boat. They called the police and had him convicted.
In the epilogue, Maggie and Brooks had two kids. And Brooks was back to touring with his band again, vocals only.
My complaint about this book is that throughout the 18 years after Maggie's incident, not one single person in her life ever thought to have her go to a psychologist
Maggie had been in love with Brooks since they were kids. Brooks had always denied it but he secretly cared about her. When they were kids, she wanted to play pretend wedding with him and asked him to meet her in the woods. Brooks got caught up with Maggie's dress code request and was late to their meeting. While waiting for him, Maggie saw a man killing a woman who we presumed to be his wife. The man saw Maggie and attempted to kill her too by choking her throat. But she was saved when Brooks arrived and called out her name. Since then, she wasn't able to speak and often had nightmares about the man.
Brooks stuck by her and they grew closer, eventually dating each other. But Brooks was in a band with Maggie's older brother, Calvin, and they managed to land a deal to go to LA. Maggie's mom was ridden with guilt and became a suffocating toxic mom who wanted Maggie to always be alone and "safe" in their house. Maggie saw that her relationship with Brooks was (indirectly) destroying her parents' marriage while holding Brooks back from realizing his dreams. So she ended things with him. I loved Maggie's relationship with her siblings, especially her sister Cheryl who was initially angry at Maggie's special treatment.
Brooks kept in touch with Maggie but he found himself a girlfriend. That made Maggie stop writing back out of respect to his girlfriend. Soon Brooks and his girlfriend broke up because he was still in love with Maggie. They reconvened when Maggie was 28, when the old lady next door, Mrs. Boone, got into a car accident and was hospitalized. Side note, I also loved Maggie and Mrs. Boone's relationship :'). Maggie still couldn't exit her house, so she called Brooks. The band came home and Brooks went to visit Mrs. Boone, who in return gave the band keys to her cabin when she awoke.
The band headed up the cabin and Brooks suffered an accident on a boat they were using. He was trying to save his bandmate from going overboard when the boat rocked and sent him under instead. The boat's propellers hit him, causing him to lose two fingers of his left hand. Brooks was devastated that he wouldn't be able to play the guitar anymore, so he went back up the cabin to drink himself to misery.
Maggie managed to leave her house for Brooks and visited the hospital while he was there. She also eventually went up to the cabin to check up on him. Brooks became aggressive toward her and did everything he could to make her go back, which was super hard to read. Maggie finally reached her tipping point and shouted out actual words. That woke him from the bender he was in and made him get his act together.
Maggie's parents' arc was also closed off when she returned home and made them patch things up. Maggie had told Brooks about the man in the woods before but they finally met him when Maggie tagged along with Brooks to return the boat. They called the police and had him convicted.
In the epilogue, Maggie and Brooks had two kids. And Brooks was back to touring with his band again, vocals only.
My complaint about this book is that throughout the 18 years after Maggie's incident, not one single person in her life ever thought to have her go to a psychologist