READ: 01.09.17 - 06.09.17
BOOK: The Silent History
AUTHOR: Eli Horowitz, Kevin Moffett, and Matthew Derby
GENRE: Science Fiction
BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Sometime right around now, doctors, nurses and-most of all-parents begin to notice an epidemic spreading among newborn children, children who are physically normal in every way except that they do not speak and do not respond to speech. They don't learn to read, don't learn to write. Theories abound-maybe a popular antidepressant is the cause. Maybe these children, lacking the ability to use or comprehend language, have special skills of their own.
Unfolding in a series of brief testimonials from parents, teachers, friends, doctors, cult leaders, profiteers, impostors-everyone touched by the silent phenomenon except, of course, the children themselves.
REVIEW: Before I write this review, I would like to say that I'm aware that this story was originally told on an app in instalments, and maybe if I had read it in that format I would have had a different experience reading this.
Here's the thing, I loved the idea of this book. It's a really unique, fascinating concept which really made me think about language and how much we depend on communication. The plot development was unexpected and exciting, and the merging of storylines worked very well within the story. I really liked the ideas the book was throwing out.
But...
The format of this book made it so hard for me to read for the first 399 pages. I've read books written in interviews and testimonials before-hell my favourite book of the year was written in the same format-but this book was too difficult to follow. There are so many characters to remember who are all extremely similar in tone so you can't immediately tell who is talking other than the name at the start of the chapter, and to be honest I didn't know all the names until halfway through.
After the first 400 pages, I did really get into the story fully but my whole reading experience has been tainted by that initial confusion I faced when reading this book.
FINAL VERDICT: It does annoy me that I didn't like this book because the idea is so good, but the overall execution just didn't work for me.
RATING: 10/10 for the idea, 6.5/10 for the book.
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A Bookaholic's Book Log
Random2017. My New Year's resolution: read at least one book every week. Like actual, physical, made-of-dead-trees books. This log will contain the result of this maybe ambitious plan. A book containing my thoughts, opinions and recommendations about the...
