Book Review: Soundless

Author: Richelle Mead

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Edition: Hardcover

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Rating: 3.5 Stars

Richelle Mead was one of the first YA writers I ever read, since her Vampire Academy series was the first YA series I ever picked up.  I was excited, though a little nervous, when I heard about this book coming out, though I trusted Richelle Mead to write a good book.

Soundless is about Fei, who lives in a remote village where no one can hear.  They get their food and supplies every day from a town in exchange for the metal they mine.  People have started losing their vision, though, which has caused the village to suffer in the amount of metals it's been able to mine.  In order to try and save both her village and her sister, Fei travels with an old friend down the side of the mountain and into the world after mysteriously regaining her ability to hear.

First things first: this cover is gorgeous, though that's not really how I pictured Fei in my head.

Now, onto what I didn't like, so we can take care of the negatives first.  The world-building was rather lacking, and since it has been depicted as being a fantasy, there should have been a bit more.  Besides a few mentions of the name of the country, I would have thought it was set in ancient China.  The ending, too, got on my nerves a bit.  The set-up for it was there, but it also seemed way to convenient.  I don't want to give anything away, but while it was a cool way to finish the book, it didn't feel like the right way.

Here's what I did like:

The writing, not unexpectedly, was amazing.  The characters, too, really grew on me.  I do wish there had been more time to explore them, but not because it was necessary, but because they were interesting.  The fact that there's no spoken dialogue in the whole book was pretty amazing, and when reading the sign language it was a new experience for my brain.  What little world building we got was interesting, and I feel like the village itself is pretty cemented in my head.

I've seen some really negative reviews for this book, which is surprising since it's not that bad.  It's not her strongest work compared to Vampire Academy or Bloodlines, but as a book, it's very good and I recommend it if you're looking for something different to read.