Pages:
266
Publisher:
Razorbill
Release
Date: 10th
November 2015
Edition:
US hardback,
purchased
Other
Titles by this Author: Vampire
Academy, Frostbite,
Shadow
Kiss, Blood
Promise, Spirit
Bound, Last
Sacrifice, Bloodlines, The
Golden Lily,
The
Indigo Spell,
The
Fiery Heart,
Silver
Shadows, The
Ruby Circle
For
as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village, where
rocky terrain and frequent avalanches prevent residents from self-sustaining.
Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the
treacherous cliffs of Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom.
When
villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink and
many go hungry. Fei’s home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is
plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.
But
soon Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her
weapon.
Richelle
Mead takes readers on a triumphant journey from the peak of Fei’s jagged
mountain village to the valley of Beiguo, where a startling truth and an
unlikely romance will change her life forever…
Soundless
was one of my
most anticipated books of the year, but it wasn’t quite all I wanted it to be.
I really love the premise of Soundless. An isolated, deaf community
reliant on another town for supplies; Richelle Mead’s promise of a ton of
Chinese myth and folklore; a standalone fantasy and my love for Mead’s previous
novels, but this one didn’t really deliver on its promises. However, it’s a
quick, easy and fun read and I was really rooting for the book to succeed on its
brilliant ideas.
Everything was there, but there
just wasn’t enough of it. This is a short novel at under 270 pages, especially
for a standalone fantasy, and I think it was too short. Soundless could have done with at least another 100 pages. The world
building wasn’t up to Mead’s standards, the Chinese folklore only came in at
the very end and there was so little development with Fei, Li Wei and their relationship.
It didn’t entirely feel like a Richelle Mead novel because these are the areas
that she excels in; these are the things that made me fall so in love with the Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series’. Such a shame.
Though Soundless isn’t Richelle Mead at her best, it’s still worth a read
for fans of her books and those interested in the world she's created here. I’ll
just be keeping my attention on her upcoming release, The Glittering Court, and hoping for the best.
Sophie
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