3 out of 5 stars
All this time I thought you were reading to escape the world, but now I know, you didn’t read to escape it, you read to discover it.
This review contains spoiler !!
Brittainy C.Cherry is one of my all-time favourite Authors. Her books always shake me deep to my core, letting me rearrange and reevaluate my thoughts and feelings. I am more than sad to admit that this book didn’t do anything for me. I feel terrible to be writing this review because the book disappointed me when it shouldn’t have. I still want to say that Brittainy C.Cherry is one of the most talented contemporary romance authors out there. This book didn’t work for me, but it did for many other readers.
The story
This story is about Maggie Brooks, a girl who lost her voice, due to a horrible incident, when she was only 10 years old. Her childhood friend, Brooks Griffin had been there for her ever since, being the light in the darkness and the song in the silence. This is the story of two young people falling in love. However, how can two people who don’t love themselves be open to give and receive the love that the other deserves?
My issue with this book, Characters and Relationship
I liked Maggie and Brooks individually, but I didn’t love them. I felt more of a connection towards Brooks than Maggie, to be honest , which is weird since she is a huge book lover. And we also get a lot of chapters from her POV, that normally help me to delve deeper into the mind of the character but for some reason I just couldn’t with Maggie.
Don’t get me wrong, she was a sweet girl, and my heart broke for her and for how much she lost over the years. Her pain, her fears, her insecurities were wonderfully portrayed by the author. However, I didn’t connect with her, it didn’t click.
Brooks, on the other hand, was an amazing hero. He was caring, thoughtful, considerate and so much more. What I loved the most was the way he loved Maggie -unconditionally, how over the years he became her anchor, how he never gave up on her. He always stood by her side, always supported and loved her,- no matter what. And I loved that ! I loved the friendship that turned into love and a relationship because it was real.
Now, here are my issues with this book. I honestly had a problem with the plot. I was so disappointed and irritated by the reaction and actions of the one’s around her, I couldn’t enjoy the the book. The people around her accepted her trauma too easily in my opinion. I think her parents didn’t do enough. I don’t understand why her loving and educated father, didn’t fight more. I understand, that she needed space and I understand that you have to deal sensitively with trauma, but to just leave her and let her be locked inside the house over all these years ?! I just couldn’t understand.
I was also frustrated by Maggie herself. She didn’t seek help for herself, she didn’t research her own condition and try to fight this trauma. I mean how could she have read in excess of 800 books and not once been interested in seeking help for herself ? She claims she wants to do so many things, and to travel to so many places, yet she never tries to seek medical help! It just frustrated me for her and for the ones around her.
Another issue I had was with the flow and the pace of the story. The story starts of when Maggie and Brooks were kids, then the incident happened and then we get chunks of chapters from one period of their time to others. It was chunk after chunk, and it irritated me and it was a little too abrupt, too sharp. There were so many chapters that were boring to me, and I had a really hard time getting through the whole book.
I know there are a lot of reviewers out there who state that this book turned them into an emotional mess and how much they cried while reading this book. And I understand where they come from, because again Brittainy writes amazing stories and I’m usually the one who’s bawling her eyes out. But, I kid you not, during the whole process of me reading the book, I did not cry once. I really felt …..
To be honest with you: that irritated and disappointed me even more! I’m usually an emotional bundle of loose nerves, and to read this book and to not feel anything broke my heart. I wanted to love the characters, I wanted to love this story, but I felt so disconnected !!
I don’t even want to talk about the ending, it was so …… unbelievable. She was silent for so many years and that’s how she finally gained her voice back ? Is that medically even possible ?
Before concluding, I want to stress the fact that the author writes beautifully, and her stories are always a pleasure to read. I also want to include the fact, that this book is based on a personal experience from the author,(which makes it even harder for me to rate this book). I don’t want you to not give this book a try, just because it didn’t click with me. There are many 5 star reviews out there for this book, this is just my honest opinion. I will still read her other books and still support Brittainy, because I truly believe she is talented. So take this review with a grain of salt
To conclude, I enjoyed the characterization and (most) of the writing. I highlighted a bunch of quotes that I liked. I really liked Brooks and his unconditional love for Maggie. I liked the idea of the story, but not the implementation. I hated how everyone around her accepted everything, I hated how she accepted everything.
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