stardustandrockets's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Injury/injury detail, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Child death, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Murder, and Stalking
Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit
chronicacademia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book wasn’t perfect, and it’s not one I feel I can blanket recommend. However, I enjoyed it immensely, and as such it’s getting 5 stars.
First, the writing is absolutely stunning. When I say I will be buying multiple copies of all Kelly Andrew’s books from here on out solely for the prose, I mean it. There was a beautiful ease to the way her words flowed. It was lyrical and fresh and I often forgot I was reading because the words she strung together felt so visceral. The pacing of the plot was slow, but the writing dug claws inside me and kept me intrigued until I finished.
The characters were lovable and real and easy to relate to. I loved Lane. I loved Adya. I loved Mackenzie and Colton and… I felt like Lane and Colton were a sweet, believable ship. I spoiled the ending for myself, so I initially had some fears about their dynamic, but those were ultimately put to rest and I found myself rooting for them at every twist and turn of the story.
The only real gripes I had with the story were: the beginning was slow, there were parts that were confusing, and the ending felt a little rushed.
I don’t really fault the book for any of these; I don’t mind a slower pace, and admittedly I think some of the book was confusing because I’m dyslexic and occasionally miss important things, and the ending was still fleshed out enough that I didn’t feel like I was *missing* anything. I just wished there was a little more information about what happened with the school toward the end.
Overall, this is definitely an incredible read. It’s more New Adult than YA, so I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone on the younger side of YA. But I do think it was an excellent book, and if the premise sounds intriguing, you should definitely pick it up.
First, the writing is absolutely stunning. When I say I will be buying multiple copies of all Kelly Andrew’s books from here on out solely for the prose, I mean it. There was a beautiful ease to the way her words flowed. It was lyrical and fresh and I often forgot I was reading because the words she strung together felt so visceral. The pacing of the plot was slow, but the writing dug claws inside me and kept me intrigued until I finished.
The characters were lovable and real and easy to relate to. I loved Lane. I loved Adya. I loved Mackenzie and Colton and…
Spoiler
I really loved Ghost Nate (also this is the second ghost Nate I’ve read about who I fell madly in love with and like… I’m just saying I definitely have a type)The only real gripes I had with the story were: the beginning was slow, there were parts that were confusing, and the ending felt a little rushed.
I don’t really fault the book for any of these; I don’t mind a slower pace, and admittedly I think some of the book was confusing because I’m dyslexic and occasionally miss important things, and the ending was still fleshed out enough that I didn’t feel like I was *missing* anything. I just wished there was a little more information about what happened with the school toward the end.
Overall, this is definitely an incredible read. It’s more New Adult than YA, so I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone on the younger side of YA. But I do think it was an excellent book, and if the premise sounds intriguing, you should definitely pick it up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Abandonment, Stalking, Murder, Sexual content, Medical content, Injury/injury detail, and Grief
Moderate: Ableism
booksthatburn's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Delaney is a post-lingual Deaf girl who sometimes hears the shadows whispering. She gets into a university whose stated purpose is to teach its students to traverse between realities. Colton is a student who briefly died when he was a child, meeting Delaney briefly at the time. When they meet again on campus, she doesn’t recognize him but is drawn to him anyway, while he instantly knows her and can’t keep his distance. They begin spending time together, then the lines are blurred further when another student dies.
There’s a consistent theme of ableism, mainly but not only from professors who don’t know Delaney is deaf (because they didn’t read the emails alerting them). She’s navigating this new space and deciding how much she’d rather deal with not being able to usefully hear in the moment or with overt ableism once people know she’s deaf. Whether she’s using her implant and what she does or does not hear is important throughout, and is used to great effect once things start getting spooky.
The worldbuilding is sparse, most of the details are atmospheric and unexplained until late in the book. The specific answers and explanations (when they finally arrived) wrapped up pretty much everything I wanted to know. I enjoy vibe-heavy books that leave me interested but confused for long stretches, so this was a deeply satisfying read for me. Colton’s secrets (and those he keeps for others) are hinted at but not revealed early, keeping the reader and Delaney equally in the dark for much of the story.
For a book with parallel worlds there aren’t many descriptions of traversals, though there are more towards the end. I like how much the focus is on Delaney piecing things together and trying to make it through her classes, and on her dynamic with Colton. I often enjoy books with mysterious and brooding guys, and this delivered.
Heavy on vibes, supported by a delicate but satisfying plot, don’t miss THE WHISPERING DARK.
There’s a consistent theme of ableism, mainly but not only from professors who don’t know Delaney is deaf (because they didn’t read the emails alerting them). She’s navigating this new space and deciding how much she’d rather deal with not being able to usefully hear in the moment or with overt ableism once people know she’s deaf. Whether she’s using her implant and what she does or does not hear is important throughout, and is used to great effect once things start getting spooky.
The worldbuilding is sparse, most of the details are atmospheric and unexplained until late in the book. The specific answers and explanations (when they finally arrived) wrapped up pretty much everything I wanted to know. I enjoy vibe-heavy books that leave me interested but confused for long stretches, so this was a deeply satisfying read for me. Colton’s secrets (and those he keeps for others) are hinted at but not revealed early, keeping the reader and Delaney equally in the dark for much of the story.
For a book with parallel worlds there aren’t many descriptions of traversals, though there are more towards the end. I like how much the focus is on Delaney piecing things together and trying to make it through her classes, and on her dynamic with Colton. I often enjoy books with mysterious and brooding guys, and this delivered.
Heavy on vibes, supported by a delicate but satisfying plot, don’t miss THE WHISPERING DARK.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Ableism, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Vomit, Violence, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Cursing, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Confinement, Toxic friendship, and Car accident
Minor: Dementia, Drug use, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Animal death, and Pregnancy
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