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Dec 09, 2009

Eileen rated it:

From now on, I will write separate reviews for goodreads and facebook and then the one for Amazon can stand alone.

I liked "The Weight of Silence." Heather Gudenkauf uses multiple voices (Antonia, Louis, Martin, Ben) and then third person for the selective-mute, Calli.

Calli Clark witnessed a horrific event in her younger years and has not spoken since. She makes a friend at school, who rather than taunting Calli, begins to interpret for Calli. Calli's brother, More...

7 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 16, 2010

Kristine rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Apr 12, 2011

Lisa rated it:

"The Weight of Silence" chronicles a day in the lives of two families whose daughters go missing. The reader learns what transpires through the alternating perspective of six lives who are impacted by the events. Although a deceptively easy read, this book immediately grabs your attention and makes you long to know what happens next. I don't think there is much question about who committed the crimes but I think this book is more of a character study than a mystery. Speaking of... the More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 03, 2011

Mallory rated it:

This one had 4 stars until the end, which totally ruined it. There were some good moments, but all things considered, this reads like it was the author's first book and she has some growing to do.

One thing I liked was that, though the author toys with the oh-so-trendy multiple narrator/first person writing in each chapter, the chapters from Calli, a select mute's, perspective were in third person past tense. An interesting choice which bodes well for future writing, but it didn't r More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jul 28, 2011

Shannon rated it:

I have to say "The Weight of Silence" by Heather Gudenkauf was an eye-opening, compelling story of two families who awoke to find their little girls missing without a trace.

It was an early morning day in a small town in Iowa, and everything was supposed to be just as any other day before. Only two little girls, who are best friends and neighbors, are missing from their beds and no one knows where they are or what could have happened. It's up to both families to work toget More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 15, 2010

Errin rated it:

This book is one of the few books I gave 5 stars to. It was, in two words, absolutely beautiful. It's been a while since I can hardly make my eyes move across the page fast enough. Reading some of the reviews on here, I see not everyone thought it was as awesome as I did, but for some reason, this book really 'spoke' to me.

The characters Ben and Petra especially touched my heart.

"You ran upstairs to your room and wouldn't even look at me for the next ten days. But I knew More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Aug 02, 2009

Cici rated it:

The writting style reminded me of Jodi Picoult, each chapter starts as a different character in the book.
The stories of each character is very interesting.. Calli is my favorite, a 7-year old year who goes mute at around 4-years old and she becomes friends with Petra, who is her voice.
The two little girls go missing and everyone is trying to find out what happened to them and where they are.
Ben, Calli's brother is my second favorite character and then I like the story of Calli' More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2011

Florinda rated it:

The backstory in Heather Gudenkauf's novel The Weight of Silence goes back years, but the main plot occurs during one intense, suspenseful, terrifying day in the lives of the Clark and Gregory families. The past relationship between Calli's mother Toni Clark and deputy sheriff Loras Louis has long been a problem for Toni's husband Griff and Louis' wife Christine, and it further complicates matters when Louis oversees the investigation into the girls' disappearance. Griff, Calli's father, is know More...

0 comments like

Nov 26, 2011

Smitha rated it:

This was an incredible thriller with psychological undertones. After a long time, I read a book cover to cover without a single pause in between and it took me 3.5 anxiety-filled hours. This story deals with two seven year olds who disappear from their beds (or so their mothers think). One of them is a selective mute who would not speak after an incident which involved injury to her mother(I cant tell more without spoiler alert). The police and media become involved, suspicions are running to an More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 27, 2011

Ismail rated it:

When two, seven-year-old girls go missing in the middle of the night in a small Iowan town, everyone becomes suspect, especially those with questionable character traits. One of the girls, Calli, is suffering from selective mutism after a traumatic event befell her when she was four. The other girl, Petra, is Calli's best friend who has never questioned Calli's silence and has always been there for her. Both were "kindered spirits" much to the surprise of their parents and community.
More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 17, 2011

Caity rated it:

This book was delicious. Absolutely delicious! I'm not usually able to read crime drama/thriller, and though this book had that tinge, it was SO much more!! It was so beautifully and expertly written that i want to quote the whole goddamn thing! The prose was...just phenomenal.
So clearly I like the style, but the plot didn't disappoint either. The characters were put together over the course of the whole novel- I mean that you get all these bits and pieces that you add together yourself. More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 01, 2011

Steve rated it:

Heather Gudenkauf's novel The Weight of Silence is a nearly perfect book with a major flaw. I'm rating this book as five stars because it gives me as much of what I want out of a story as I can get. It's a page turner at times. It has believable and flawed characters. It makes me think about situations from other people's points of view. I can't ask for more than that. Still, I couldn't get my mind off of one problem while I was reading it.

Calli Clark is a young girl, five or s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 11, 2011

Heather rated it:

This was my very first library book on my NookColor. I've been wanting to try it out, but couldn't find any available titles on my own "to-read" list. So, I moved to Laura's "read" list (thanks Laura!) for some titles to try.

Besides being super excited about figuring out how to read a library book on the Nook, I liked this selection. I was immediately pulled into Gudenkauf's suspense filled story. I liked getting right into the experiences of the families of t More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 02, 2011

Suze rated it:

From the premise of the book -- two families wake to find their seven-year-old girls missing from their beds -- I expected pure suspense. While the story was reasonably suspensful, it also spent a good deal of time providing background on the characters' relationships, as well as revealing why one of the missing girls, Calli Clark, is a selective mute who has not spoken since she was four years old. Gudenkauf handled many of the story's more distasteful elements -- domestic violence, sexual abus More...

0 comments like

Jun 15, 2011

Sarah added it

The Weight of Silence

The Weight of Silence is a hauntingly moving story of a dysfunctional family in the middle of a crisis. After witnessing a tragedy in the family, young Calli becomes a selective mute. She refuses to speak, yet she builds a strong friendship with a girl without using words. They seem to have an otherworldly connection in which Petra, her friend, can feel what Calli wants or needs. The book centers around the search for Calli and Petra who both went missing early More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 16, 2011

Barbara rated it:

Callie and her friend both 7 are missing in the woods. Callie's father is an abusive alcholic. Her mom and Sheriff Louis were together as kids but married the wrong people. Enjoyed the chapters from each different characters viewpoint. Good story. Loved Callie's brother.

Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing in the night.

Seven-year-old Calli Clark is sweet, gentle, a dreamer who suffers from selective mutism brought on by tragedy t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 16, 2011

Kathy rated it:

This is an excellent book! It is hard to believe that this is a FIRST BOOK for this fine author. I read it in one day and found it to be thoroughly enjoyable. Look forward to her next book.

Note: NEVER EXPECT AN ALCOHOLIC, ABUSER TO CHANGE. Characters: Calli, little 6 yr. old girl who doesn't speak due to the abusive, alcoholic father; Petra, Calli's good friend who talks FOR HER; Ben is Calli's brother, age 12; Antonia is mom; Griff is the alcoholic/abusive dad; Louis, the depu More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 29, 2011

Paul rated it:

"The Weight of Silence" is the story of two young girls, Calli Clark and Petra Gregory, who have formed a strong relationship under unusual circumstances.

Calli was a normal young girl until something happened in her life that caused her to go mute. She has the ability to speak but has become what is referred to as a "selective mute".

Petra, knowing of Calli's condition, becomes a spokesperson for her. Calli with a little sign language and Petra's unca More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 12, 2011

Louise rated it:

I have mixed feelings about this book – I liked it and I didn’t like it. I felt the beginning was great but then began to get weighed down with way too many words and too many details and then seemed a long time in getting to the end. After all that, we never did find out why one girl was even taken!

At four years of age little Callie stopped talking due to something her father said to her on one particular day but no one knows about this other than Callie herself. Callie’s mother More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 07, 2010

Lissa rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

2 comments like

Oct 25, 2010

Sydney rated it:

The Weight of Silence
Heather Gudenkauf
Sydney Rapp- Monday October 25, 2010

The Novel The Weight of silence was a beautifully inspired novel by Heather Gudenkauf. This novel is about the story of two families whose daughters go missing one dewy spring morning. One is the selective mute child from a tragic experience when she was a toddler, Calli, and the other her best friend Petra. Who have both learned to understand and love each other as best friends. Everyone in More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 22, 2010

Lisa rated it:

If you want a fast, easy and interesting book to read, I recommend it. Not my favorite book of all time, but a great book to escape into. The characters are interesting, and the author really keeps you turning the pages.

I like the story about a mom who has made some bad choices in her life, and must deal with the consequences of those choices. The author does a great job showing how hard it can be to make good choices, especially when you are hurting. And she helps you connect wi More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 29, 2010

Meredith rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 03, 2010

Anita rated it:

I am trying something new. This book was very good, and sucked me in from the very beginning, and I finished in the 2nd day of reading. I just couldn’t put it down. There was a discussion guide in the back of the book – so I decided to answer the questions in the discussion guide. So beware, while the discussion guide had done a fairly good job of not asking questions that give too much away – I’m sure that you will get a basic jest of the story and might consider the following spoilers!! D More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 03, 2010

Karen rated it:

The story line of this novel was good and I think the author had a good idea upon which to formulate a story. There were many smaller themes--small town life, childhood friendship, first loves, alcoholism and its effect on a family, etc. This story was told in pieces--both in present and in the past, recalled in the speaker's memories. I thought that was a fine vehicle to deliver this story and I also thought it interesting in whose voices the author chose to tell the story, and whose were not c More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 28, 2010

carissa rated it:

It happens quietly one August morning. As dawn's shimmering light drenches the humid Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing in the night.
Seven-year-old Calli Clark is sweet, gentle, a dreamer who suffers from selective mutism brought on by tragedy that pulled her deep into silence as a toddler.

Calli's mother, Antonia, tried to be the best mother she could within the confines of marriage to a mostly absent, often angry husband. Now, though she More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 28, 2010

Rosanne rated it:

As we know families are destroyed by alcohol and all of its affects. The Weight of Silence is a story of one family and the affect that alcohol plays in their lives. Calli a 7 year old girl has been silenced for four years by an event that she witnessed. Her older brother Ben has been touched by this event also as he struggles to care for his sister Calli. Antonia, their mom, battles with her role as mother, wife and friend not with any great success.
The story unfolds with Calli bein More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 06, 2010

Theresa rated it:

When Calli Clark was a toddler she talked a lot, but then one day she stopped talking and does not speak any more. Her best friend, Petra Gregory, is her soul mate as well as her voice.

Calli and Petra’s families could not be more different. Calli’s parents have tumultuous marriage and her father is away from home often to work on the Alaska pipeline and when he’s home he is abusive. Petra’s parents are loving and kind. Her father is a professor at the local college.

One mo More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 25, 2010

Abby rated it:

I wanted to like this book. I really did. It looked very fascinating on the Barnes and Noble top reads table and I waited for 3 months on a 200 person list to get it from the library. But this book was nothing special, and was undeserving of all the hype, in my opinion.

The basic plotline has been touched on already...two young girls, (one of who is a selective mute, for reasons unknown to anyone) neighbors and best friends, each go missing one morning and their families and the town More...

3 comments like (7 people liked it)

Feb 11, 2010

Sophia rated it:

A chilling yet oddly comforting book about the love and complexities of family life. Two girls, best friends, seven year old Petra and Cailli go missing one hot August morning. The suspense that every family must feel discovering a child missing, the worry and the stress, it is all here. But also it brings out family secrets, and shame as well as the elements in our human nature that keeps us alive in times of such inexplicable chaos. A good read, and excellent story with many plots turns and tw More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)