Where Silence Gathers by Kelsey Sutton Series: Some Quiet Place #2
Published by Flux (7.8.2014)
Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: eARC, 360 pages
Source: NetGalley
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Seventeen-year-old Alexandra Tate sits outside Nate Foster's house, clutching a gun. After serving ten years for the drunk driving accident that killed Alex's family, Nate has been released from prison. Every night, Alex waits out of sight, building up the courage to exact her own justice. There's just one problem: Forgiveness.
Alex has been able to see personified Emotions for as long as she can remember, and Revenge is her best friend. But when Forgiveness suddenly appears, he offers Alex a choice—getting even or moving on. It's impossible to decide when Revenge whispers in one ear . . . and Forgiveness whispers in the other.
My thoughts
I totally didn’t realize this going in, but this book is a companion novel to Some Quiet Place, not a sequel. I was disappointed to say the least, and sadly, I feel like maybe that could have affected my overall judgement of this book.
My first issue? I wanted Fear. I loved Fear in the first book. Actually, he was what made that book for me! If you didn’t already know, I gave Some Quiet Place 4.5 heartbeats. While he had a few small cameos in this one, there was basically little to no parts with him in it. I’m not basing my opinion of the second book off of that (because that wouldn’t be fair), but I really do think that Fear was 90% of what made me love the first so much. Whatever the case, the sequel lacked the magic that the first book had.
My main problem with this was that I didn’t like our main character, Alex. She was selfish and impulsive, and did idiotic and reckless things with no thought to how it would affect the people around her. There were times when I wanted to throttle her! I felt bad for her aunt and uncle for the way she treated them. Actually, I didn’t particularly like any of the characters. I was really hoping to love Revenge, but it just never happened.
I didn’t care about the relationships, either. There was a love triangle in there, and almost instalove (instalust?) with Forgiveness. While I understand the appeal that he has, and that Alex’s attraction to him was kind of a double meaning, it still annoyed me. I thought at some point I would start to feel something for one of the Choices, but again, it never happened. I never chose a side and I didn’t care who Alex chose, either. I think I was disappointed because neither Revenge nor Forgiveness ever stood out like Fear had. Terrible, isn’t it? I kept expecting to fall in love with one of them.
The second major flaw that this book had: It was forgettable. It didn’t leave an impression on me, and within days I’m already I’m forgetting details of the story.
What I did love, though, which was what struck me about the first book, were the Emotions and Choices as people. How awesome is that?! It was always interesting to see how each Emotion would be interpreted in physical form. I also liked the mystery aspect of the story with all the experiments and secrets! That was what kept me going when I wasn’t otherwise invested in the story.
“The most painful emotions are better than none at all. Ironically, we make you human.”
Plot: 3.5/5
Premise: 5/5
Writing style: 4/5
Originality: 5/5
Characters: 2.5/5
Pace: 4/5
Feels: 1.5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall rating: 3/5
Companion novel
Click cover for review
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