Silence

Silence was one of those stories that I went back & forth on how to write this review because there were likes & dislikes about this book, and I really hate writing about dislikes in any story as I could never write a book. So for better or worse, here we go. Oakley is a girl who doesn't speak because she's been traumatized & holds a huge secret that has rendered her mute for the past 11 years. It brings on a bunch of bullying, and she only has one friend, Cole Benson, who has her back. As teenagers, they're starting to catch feelings, though she still doesn't talk, but that's okay with him, because they've come up with their own way to communicate. Now, the reason I gave it 4 stars was because it took a bit for Ms. Preston to let me in on the secret why Oakley was silent for so many years. Not to mention, in my opinion, and remember, this is only MY OPINION, the characters could have been developed a bit more. Next up in the cast of secondaries who make up the good, loved some of them, the bad, some of them had no place in the story other than to create drama that wasn't needed, and the very ugly, who needed to be hurt badly. Okay, got that out of the way, the emotions in this story seeped out of my kindle, so they surrounded me to punch me in the stomach, and it was like they were my own. Once the secret was revealed, I felt like I would cry for days. Twists came out of nowhere making sure my f-bombs rained down, and the bond between Oakley & Cole was beautiful to behold, especially as he stood by here during all of her silent years. This is a story that tried to bring me to my knees, and I certainly can't wait for the next one! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

3.5 stars -- Well. Hmmm. So the thing about this book is that I started it before bed and stayed up until 4am finishing it in one sitting...and then I felt disappointed and underwhelmed. Which doesn't make much sense right? Basically there were aspects of this book that were 4+ stars, and there were aspects of this book that were 2 stars. But given I was sucked in and just kept going and going, I figured I'd give it a slight nod above the average of 3 because I do tend to rate based on overall enjoyment, not on the actual quality of the book.This book reminded me a LOT of The Boy Who Sneaks in My Bedroom Window. The relationship between Oakley and Cole and how it develops, and the damage done to Oakley, were surprisingly similar in feel. That's another book that I can't necessarily say is superbly well-written (lots of editing issues common in early self-publishing), but I just LOVE it, you know? Like a guilty pleasure. And it was the same for this book. I was super intrigued by Oakley's secret, and didn't even mind TOO much the way it was revealed slowly over the course of the first half of the book, though the false leads were a bit annoying. And I really adored the sweet nature of Oakley and Cole's relationship, and how close they could be without her ever speaking (or communicating in any way really). I actually really believed that he understood her based on years of paying attention to her body language and facial expressions.But here's where this book falls short of TBWSIMBW: the pacing. Seriously, that is my number one issue with this book. I found I was staying up reading just to finally find out what happened, what was going to happen, b/c we know from the blurb that her past is going to catch up with her. Seriously, I was like "OK, more relationship, more normal everyday, more sideplot...anytime now..." I don't think it was until like 87% that we got even a hint of the dark turn, and that's just not enough time to give what should be a satisfying climax a lead up and solid conclusion. And it really wasn't. It was super rushed. I'm torn about how it all happened...there is a part of me that loves it, but there is another part of me that's wholly unsatisfied that we didn't hear from Oakley. And then the ending. OMG. I don't think I fully realized this was a series, or maybe I thought it was a series of connected characters, but nope...the ending is abrupt and unsatisfying. Not a cliffhanger so much as a non-HEA.And so there I am, laying in bed, just bummed. Because you know what? Even not having read the second book, I can tell that it didn't need to be a 2 part divided story. There was so much repetition in the meat of the book that really could have been pared down. I enjoyed getting to see the emotional impact of what Oakley went through, but I still think it could have been shaved down and still been effective. And I didn't mind not knowing the details of what happened, b/c that's a bit hard to take, and I enjoyed the focus being on how it impacted Oakley's life. But there was so much extraneous material in the book that honestly could have been either taken out or, for goodness sake, it should have had a purpose! Like Julian! What the what? What was the point of that storyline? Either it should have had a conclusion and a development that made sense, or it shouldn't have been that large. And Lizzie? What was with that?So while I would really *like* to have the conclusion of Cole and Oakley's story, from what I can gather from looking at the lower starred reviews of the next book (when I take out all the annoying reviews that just talk about the grammar...seriously, that's the whole reason you rated it 1 star? Why did even read the second book then?), the pacing is fairly similar and unsatisfying. So it's not really worth it for me. Maybe if it was free, but it still costs my time, you know?Weird review right? It was a weird reading experience. To have so much love for the characters and to be simultaneously sucked in and impatient, it's just odd. It's happened to me before, but it is always vexing when it does. Oh well. *shrugs* I don't regret it, I just wish it had been better. Especially because I enjoyed the handling of the tough topic.

This book has gotten a lot of mixed reviews, but the subject matter is so different from a lot of contemporary YA fiction of the non-paranormal genre that I was intrigued. Sometimes these intense subjects can be glossed over or sanitized for the YA book, so I was interested to see how that was going to play out in this book.The underlying "secret" of this book is a dark subject and one that was probably as tough to write as it was to read without getting extremely emotionally invested in the main character. Oakley is clearly a girl who is haunted by something in her past, but we don't know what that was for much of the book. The hints were subtle and that made the reveal that much more shocking and upsetting. An interesting twist to this story was the fact that Oakley doesn't speak. At all. For that matter, she has virtually no communication with anyone of any kind. Her isolation was so complete that, although she had a cell phone for texting, she never used it. Every night, Cole texted her and she always answered him... but never sent them. I didn't understand why that was until the end, which I won't share for fear of spoilers. That isolation made me wonder how the story could possibly progress well with a character who had no verbal communication. How can she maintain friendships and relationships, trapped in herself the way she was? The answer was simple. She couldn't, not really, outside of her brother and her best friend Cole. It was tragic, her isolation.There is romance in this book, and it is touching and sweet, but I think that the rest of it was more of the central focus of the book. And I liked that. I liked that there was much more to the story than teenage romance and angst.This is a story that is, in my opinion, character-driven. There were characters I loved and there were others that I hated with a passion. Like in real life, there were points at which I hated/loved a particular character and then later in the story, my feelings would flip. Oakley's parents are a perfect example of this. As a mom, I felt like their hands off approach was a bit unbelievable. But as the story progresses and you learn ore there are questions that get answered and make you understand.Things to love about Silence... --The subject matter. Not that one can truly "like" the subject matter, but I liked how it was handled throughout the story. --Knowing Oakley. As I said, I wondered how Oakley would be as a well-rounded character without communication and I was truly impressed with how much of a non-issue that turned out to be. --The relationships and characters. Whether you loved them, or hated them, they evoked a response and that is important.Things I wanted more or less of... --More Cole. Technically, the chapters of this book are done in POV-style, chapters for Oakley and chapters for Cole. But Cole's POV doesn't come into play until Chapter 11, more than halfway through the book.Some quotastic goodness... --Silence consumed my whole life ; it suppressed things I could never express. My silence was responsible for my family’s happiness. Silence was my prison (1). --We couldn’t be together. I would never be good enough for him. He was perfect , and I was broken (18). --I loved her so much. More than anything in the world. Enough to let her go (211).My recommendation: This was a moving story that I think is more than worth a read!

Felt real and love the characters.

A heartbreaking story of a teenage girl who doesnt speak because somebody did the unspeakable.*** SPOILERS ***Oakley and best friend cole grew up together and when she stopped taking at 5 Cole continued to support Oakley liking her without having the need for her to speak.Friendship turns to romance and Oakley and Cole grow even closer together not wanting to be apart. Oakley's family continue to try and understand why Oakley wont talk. Then the truth is finally revealed and Oakley can no longer keep her silence due to a fateful weekend camping trip.This is a story full of heart break with hints throughout of the trauma suffered by Oakley.However, towards the end i felt the story rushed which was a different pace from the rest of the book. Also the ending with Oakley's sudden departure made little sense.Overall a good read just disappointed with the ending.

my partner is into books like these and so i though it would be a nice gift for her to keep her busy at night, she said she enjoyed it, her type of books are the ones involving real life abuse and books that social services would like to read

I read this book after reading the reviews on Amazon (it is the first book I have read on my new Kindle Fire, in fact.) At first I thought the reviews were a little kind, but having now finished reading the story I find myself applying a high rating also.The author writes so naturally, in a very conversational way, making this a storyline you find yourself getting totally absorbed in. It does tend to feel a little bit like a 'Teen Fiction', but then the narrator's are teens. You are led into thinking this is a nice, easy story without too much depth, but by the end you understand the Author's reason for doing this. That said, I would like to have seen a few more layers running through the book, and feel there is more that could have been explored with the relationships.There are quite a few typos, and I think this book would have benefited from a good proof reader and editor. Some of the mistakes were distracting. However, I totally respect the Author for her guts and dedication in writing this story, and I will be reading the next book in the series.... now!

[Please don't read this review if you haven't read the book.] In common with some of the other readers, I found myself feeling confused. The settings, language and names smacked of the US but the book was set in England. I didn't understand why Oakley's dad wasn't the abuser. What a weird person, though, he just allowed his daughter to be abused by his friend Frank. Not very likely. Most children who lose their voices have suffered some kind of abuse so it wasn't difficult to work out what, it was just a question of who, which turned out to be really implausible. (At first I thought Frank was someone that Oakley had invented as a coping mechanism.) I think the book has had some proofreading and editing since the first reviews, as I didn't notice as many errors as others have mentioned but one glaring error is the fact that the family of three just upped and went to Australia at the end. That would never happen. Would never have happened in the past either. Having emigrated to Australia in the past myself, I know what a difficult and long process it was then, and still is today. Even if one has relatives living there it's not at all easy. Three months is the maximum stay visa but this family somehow was allowed to stay indefinitely, apparently. There isn't any mention of exactly where in Australia, either. It's a big place. I did find it hard to believe the happenings and although the book covers some teenage issues, I can't agree that it's aimed at teenagers, as the subject matter is quite harrowing, with teenagers having sex all over the place and Cole's sister finding herself pregnant after having given her useless boyfriend the boot. Her laid back parents just take it all in their stride though. I also find it hard to swallow that the heroine would have entered so very easily into a physical relationship with her older boyfriend, when she'd suffered sexual abuse for so long as a child. It's also really hard to believe that the boyfriend, aged 17, had passed his driving test, owned a car and was allowed to take his girlfriend around in it. Particularly to school. That may happen in America but not really likely here in Britain. Not really a credible story at all, I'm sorry to have to say. Although I'm disappointed, I didn't pay for the book so have lost nothing, only the time spent reading.

Having downloaded this book onto my Kindle last night and finished it just a few minutes ago, I wanted to write a review while it was still fresh in my mind. It's been a while since I wrote a book review but this one was too good for me not to make my opinion known.The basis of the story is one that has been told many times, and no doubt you will work that out for yourself early on. What makes this book stand apart from the others is that the main character literally doesn't say a single word over 90% of the time, and doesn't have a whole lot of dialogue at the end. Instead, Oakley Farrell communicates solely through facial expressions, gestures and emotions. As the story unfolds and you get more hints as to the crux of Oakley's shattered life, you feel compelled to keep turning the pages just in the hope she will finally speak. A tremendous effort on the part of the author to create a character so strong, yet silent.A couple of other reviews make mention of the grammatical and spelling errors, and while they are there I don't feel they were enough to detract from the story and could be easily overlooked. There was also a question raised as to whether the story was set in the US or the UK because of some of the terms that were used. While it isn't integral to the plot, I do feel it worthwhile pointing out that we as a society have embraced more of the American culture of our own free will so expressions such as 'Sweet Sixteen Party' don't seem so out of place any more. Don't let the odd lapse in grammar or any 'Americanisations' put you off reading.I've always found books written in the first person to be more engrossing; the constant use of 'I' allows you to see things from their (the character's) perspective more easily. On this occasion, you get a rare opportunity to connect with someone on a purely emotional basis rather than just verbal, and for me that made the story shine. I have the follow-up book 'Broken Silence' on my Kindle and can only hope it will be as half as good as its predecessor. With both books currently on free download, they absolutely should not be missed.