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A review by francis_deer
Silence of Winter by Avery Blake
2.0
Great cover, lovely title, charming gothic atmosphere, YA paranormal romance with a gay lead. I wanted to like this book. In fact, I quite enjoyed the first chapters.
What worked for me were the ghosts intruding into Oliver's life, that everyday life could suddenly become filled with horrors. I also liked the goal Oliver set for himself in regards to the ghosts.
Unfortunately, there are many things that did not work for me:
- Insta-Love/Insta-Lust with Victor. We get told that Oliver and Victor have meaningful conversations, but I do not remember a single one that actually convinced me of their being a perfect match. After a while, I was also irritated that Oliver mentions how very, very handsome Victor is whenever Victor enters the room. Victor, on the other hand, has a tendency to do a "Sweet Oliver" thing.
- Characterizations: I hoped for three-dimensional characters but so far none of them grew and changed. Instead, they all seem only to exist to support/fall in love with Oliver - or in the case of his mother - to dislike/ignore him.
Oliver's mother gets the worst lot in regards to characterization. When we first are introduced to her, I wondered if she was depressed by the death of her husband and if this would somehow become an important plot point. But no. His mother is a one-dimensional neglectful character with zero emotional ties to her son.
Now, of course, it's possible to write a neglectful mother. But if you do, I as a reader need to see that this has an impact on her son Oliver. Because such passive-abusive behavior would leave its marks on a child. He might be unable to trust others, might be unable to believe in his own self-worth, ...
We are also not told why Oliver's (apparently perfect father) married Oliver's mother or stayed with her.
So instead of visiting these potential plot places, Oliver gets discarded by his mother - he doesn't mind much - and all so that he can happily move away from home.
My final complaint is that the book is not plotted out very well. We are shown several intriguing plot lines (the little ghost boy, the scary ghost lady), but nothing comes of it. I have to admit that I fast-forwarded through the last chapters to see if anything substantial would happen, but the plot just fizzles out. In fact, it ends on such a "all is well" note that a sequel doesn't feel necessary.
What I wished for as a reader was also an exploration of grief, depression, suicide - because the ingredients for these difficult issues are all present within the book and a deeper look at them would have been possible.
What worked for me were the ghosts intruding into Oliver's life, that everyday life could suddenly become filled with horrors. I also liked the goal Oliver set for himself in regards to the ghosts.
Unfortunately, there are many things that did not work for me:
- Insta-Love/Insta-Lust with Victor. We get told that Oliver and Victor have meaningful conversations, but I do not remember a single one that actually convinced me of their being a perfect match. After a while, I was also irritated that Oliver mentions how very, very handsome Victor is whenever Victor enters the room. Victor, on the other hand, has a tendency to do a "Sweet Oliver" thing.
- Characterizations: I hoped for three-dimensional characters but so far none of them grew and changed. Instead, they all seem only to exist to support/fall in love with Oliver - or in the case of his mother - to dislike/ignore him.
Oliver's mother gets the worst lot in regards to characterization. When we first are introduced to her, I wondered if she was depressed by the death of her husband and if this would somehow become an important plot point. But no. His mother is a one-dimensional neglectful character with zero emotional ties to her son.
Now, of course, it's possible to write a neglectful mother. But if you do, I as a reader need to see that this has an impact on her son Oliver. Because such passive-abusive behavior would leave its marks on a child. He might be unable to trust others, might be unable to believe in his own self-worth, ...
We are also not told why Oliver's (apparently perfect father) married Oliver's mother or stayed with her.
So instead of visiting these potential plot places, Oliver gets discarded by his mother - he doesn't mind much - and all so that he can happily move away from home.
My final complaint is that the book is not plotted out very well. We are shown several intriguing plot lines (the little ghost boy, the scary ghost lady), but nothing comes of it. I have to admit that I fast-forwarded through the last chapters to see if anything substantial would happen, but the plot just fizzles out. In fact, it ends on such a "all is well" note that a sequel doesn't feel necessary.
What I wished for as a reader was also an exploration of grief, depression, suicide - because the ingredients for these difficult issues are all present within the book and a deeper look at them would have been possible.