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A review by bookandcoffeeaddict
Tragic Silence by E.C. Hibbs
5.0
Surprise, it’s a book about vampires! It may be just me, but from the description, I had no idea it was a vampire book, so I was absolutely surprised. BUT, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise, because not only is Tragic Silence a vampire book, it’s a good vampire book.
Told through Bianka’s first person perspective, Tragic Silence starts with a teenage Bianka who’s injured, traumatized, and hospitalized. The early chapters jump around a bit as Bianka struggles mentally to accept what has happened, interspersing her memories of events leading up to the horrific night her friend was murdered and her current reality under supervised medical care. We follow Bianka’s story over the next four years as she comes to terms with what happened that night and just what kind of monster it was that killed her friend and left her with long lasting damage – damage that goes even deeper than she realizes as she sees and feels the alarming and unnatural changes that occur to her own body.
This book is really fantastic. I was impressed that it managed to be a gripping paranormal suspense that keeps the reader hooked, while at the same time providing a slow burn when it came to the confrontation with the monster at the heart of events. The romance between Bianka and Frank is the same way as well – both intensely romantic and with an immediate feel once they get together, and yet they take things glacially slow (seriously, they take foreeeever to kiss).
Bianka as a main character was frustrating at times. She liked to keep things close to the vest and I wanted to yell at her just tell him already when it came to clueing Frank in on what had happened in her past. I feel like a lot of the book was just her tiptoeing around telling him the whole truth, but I know people like that, who getting information from is like pulling teeth, so I could totally relate that that’s just how some people are. She was still really strong and really brave and fatally loyal, so I loved her anyway.
Speaking of characters I loved, and don’t throw rotten fruit at me or anything, but I really liked the bad guy. Not like for killing young girls or anything (bad vampire, shame on you), but I liked that he had a motivation. That somehow, despite his extreme evilness, he was a victim somewhere along the line too. He has layers, you know? He loved. He lost. He got cosmically screwed over by fate. As much as Bianka is his victim, he was once someone’s victim once upon a time as well, except he had no one to save him from turning into a monster.
With its compelling characters and a deeply engrossing story, I recommend Tragic Silence to lovers of paranormal books in general and vampire books in particular. It’s a surprisingly good read ;)
*I received a copy of this book to review. You can find this review and others like it at BookAndCoffeeAddict.com, along with recommendations for a fantastic cup of coffee.
Told through Bianka’s first person perspective, Tragic Silence starts with a teenage Bianka who’s injured, traumatized, and hospitalized. The early chapters jump around a bit as Bianka struggles mentally to accept what has happened, interspersing her memories of events leading up to the horrific night her friend was murdered and her current reality under supervised medical care. We follow Bianka’s story over the next four years as she comes to terms with what happened that night and just what kind of monster it was that killed her friend and left her with long lasting damage – damage that goes even deeper than she realizes as she sees and feels the alarming and unnatural changes that occur to her own body.
This book is really fantastic. I was impressed that it managed to be a gripping paranormal suspense that keeps the reader hooked, while at the same time providing a slow burn when it came to the confrontation with the monster at the heart of events. The romance between Bianka and Frank is the same way as well – both intensely romantic and with an immediate feel once they get together, and yet they take things glacially slow (seriously, they take foreeeever to kiss).
Bianka as a main character was frustrating at times. She liked to keep things close to the vest and I wanted to yell at her just tell him already when it came to clueing Frank in on what had happened in her past. I feel like a lot of the book was just her tiptoeing around telling him the whole truth, but I know people like that, who getting information from is like pulling teeth, so I could totally relate that that’s just how some people are. She was still really strong and really brave and fatally loyal, so I loved her anyway.
Speaking of characters I loved, and don’t throw rotten fruit at me or anything, but I really liked the bad guy. Not like for killing young girls or anything (bad vampire, shame on you), but I liked that he had a motivation. That somehow, despite his extreme evilness, he was a victim somewhere along the line too. He has layers, you know? He loved. He lost. He got cosmically screwed over by fate. As much as Bianka is his victim, he was once someone’s victim once upon a time as well, except he had no one to save him from turning into a monster.
With its compelling characters and a deeply engrossing story, I recommend Tragic Silence to lovers of paranormal books in general and vampire books in particular. It’s a surprisingly good read ;)
*I received a copy of this book to review. You can find this review and others like it at BookAndCoffeeAddict.com, along with recommendations for a fantastic cup of coffee.