Reviews with content warning for Child death - The Whispering Dark

Pleasantly surprised by this book! I chose this to fulfill a prompt for a reading challenge and it was exactly what I was hoping for. The main character’s disability is a focus to the plot, but in a way that was unique to the fantastical world. When I started I was worried this would be too much of a teen coming of age story, but it was much more than that. The romance was a little saccharine at times but honestly I liked the characters enough later in the book I didn’t mind.

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piperclover's review against another edition

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I was so intrigued by this and was really excited to read a book with a deaf main character but I just can't click with any of it. I don't think the style is working for me so I'm not connecting to anything that's happening and I find myself being confused at the plot and at the flow of the story itself.

There's lots of scenes that are described in sentence fragments and it's meant to portray the feeling of being jarred and disoriented, only getting smashes of information, but it's just something that I can't process and I don't enjoy. I like the story itself but I'm over halfway through and I feel like nothing's happening even though there's a lot of plot happening.

I just don't think that forcing myself through it is going to make me enjoy it anymore when I've already been listening to it at 2.35 speed and I'm wishing to be done.

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ylvyly's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

2.5

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jasminerose97's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

Unique. Infuriating yet gripping.

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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

“She wanted to be defined. Not by the silence between her ears or her fear of the dark, but by the sum of her achievements. Not by what she couldn't do, but by what she could.”

➽ The Whispering Dark is about Delaney Meyers-Petrov, a deaf girl who gets accepted into the prestigious Godbole University! This isn't your normal school, as the program teaches students to slip between worlds and every carefully selected student has a specific esoteric talent. Delaney has been feeling like there's something in the quiet and her supernatural aptitude gets her invited to Godbole. I liked that we're following a deaf main character who's trying to navigate school and struggling with the lack of disability accommodations. I found the world very intriguing, I'm always excited by the concept of parallel worlds and the story itself was very atmospheric. I definitely got some dark academia vibes! In general, the writing style was very detailed and lyrical, which I liked at first. The longer the book went on, the more tired I got of the overdescription of everything though.

➽ I wish we'd gotten more explanations about the magic system, as the story just throws us right into the action without bothering to establish any background on the world. I kept waiting for additional information, but they never came. It was also disappointing that the actual school life took a backseat to Delaney and Colton's investigations and romance. Delaney doesn't have any other meaningful connections. A lot of things seemed to happen off-page, as she's suddenly friends with her roommate, but we never see them connect to each other. They just exist to be Delaney's friends, but get no personality or time with her. It felt like their friendship was skipped over in favor of the romance.

➽ The main dynamic is between Delaney and Colton, but I found them frustrating. Colton almost died when he was 9 years old and ever since he's been different. He knows Delaney, as she was there for the incident, but is told to stay away from her at school. I like a forbidden romance, but the problem is that we don't really find out why he has to push her away. As much as I was intrigued by Delaney and Colton's dynamic the fact that he kept so much information from her got exhausting! I get that there were plot reasons for his constant lying, but it grated on my nerves how he never explains anything and still expects Delaney to follow him. Their relationship felt codependent at times and suffered from a clear lack of communication. In the very beginning, Colton is downright nasty to Delaney to keep her away and even later his behavior is pretty arrogant. The longer the relationship went on, the more offputting it was!

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