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breedawnwriter's reviews
207 reviews
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I love how this one went further into the personal repercussions of being a bully. Shoya isn’t a bully anymore—but does that matter to anyone else? How do you move forward when your past has defined everything for you for so long? How do you learn to forgive yourself when you believe you don’t deserve it?
These are just some of the incredibly important and powerful questions that this sequel asks. I can’t wait to see how the characters develop even more in the third book.
Graphic: Bullying, Ableism, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It has some flaws, which we'll discuss in a moment, but it portrays grief in a way that resonated with me deeply.
What I Liked
- Lena's growth. Obviously character growth is important to any story. But stories that use grief as the primary way for a character to grow have my heart forever. Lena's just as messed up at the end of the story as she is at the beginning. But what changes is her priorities. She realizes what's important and what's not. She goes from caring solely about superficial things and ignoring what matters to caring deeply about those who are important to her and recognizing how precious every single moment is.
- The way grief is portrayed. I've read a fair amount of novels that feature grief, and this one did it really well. Lena's not done grieving at the end of the novel, and that's a realistic choice by the author. Grief is not a one-size-fits-all, and I appreciate that Armentrout portrayed the different ways that grief impacts people. Lena and her friends react very differently to grief, and that representation matters to me.
- The childhood-best-friends-to-lovers trope. This is by far my favorite trope, and it was executed beautifully.
What I Didn't Like
- Lena's lack of internal conflict and motivation. For the first third of the book, Lena doesn't really have anything driving her. She's in avoidance of most of her problems, which is important to know, but it doesn't really drive the story forward. I totally get why the author had to spend so much time showing us where Lena's at in the beginning, but it takes about 1/3 of the book to get to the inciting incident, which feels like a pretty big pacing problem to me.
- The sexual content. This isn't strictly a dislike for me, but it is flirting right on the edge of problematic for me (I don't like reading spice, so the sexual content was just barely within the bounds of what I personally am okay with). I wanted to point this out since I know a lot of my followers and friends also don't read spice, so just be aware that there are some sexual scenes with passionate kissing, touching, and sexual content in general.
Overall, this is a great book for people who like best-friends-to-lovers, stories that deal with grief, and beautifully executed themes.
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Car accident, and Grief
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use
4.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Bullying, Classism, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
3.0
Moderate: Cursing and Ableism
Minor: Alcohol
5.0
I don't usually give manga five stars. Because they're so short, the pacing can so easily feel rushed, which makes it hard to feel fully satisfied.
But A Silent Voice is different.
This manga is powerful. It has meaning. It carries so much more weight than I would have ever expected a manga to carry.
This is a story about bullying. That's how it's marketed, anyway. But, I would say it's a story about mistakes. A story about wanting to be redeemed. A story about this innate desire we all have to be forgiven when we do not deserve it.
When we know that we don't deserve it.
This story leaves off on a cliffhanger that has me ready to drive to my library while sick to try and get my hands on the sequel. (Don't worry, I'm not actually going to do that.) But this is a purposeful, intentionally written story with illustrations that bring so much of the story to life.
The way a child's actions can come back to hurt him isn't always discussed in the YA area, even though it should be. And Yoshitoki Oima has crafted a masterpiece that, I'm sure, will go on to push these boundaries for years to come.
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Ableism, and Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Emotional abuse
4.0
Graphic: Classism, Racism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Grief
4.0
I especially love all the little plot twists about the arcana🫡
Graphic: Genocide, Murder, Violence, Racism, and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Blood
Minor: War and Death of parent
For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.
Graphic: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Death, Murder, Grief, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, and Gun violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Kidnapping
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Physical abuse and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault
For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.