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Soundless
by
In a village without sound…
For as long as Fei can remember, no one in her village has been able to hear. Rocky terrain and frequent avalanches make it impossible to leave the village, so Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom.
When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveri ...more
For as long as Fei can remember, no one in her village has been able to hear. Rocky terrain and frequent avalanches make it impossible to leave the village, so Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom.
When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveri ...more
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~✨Catherine✨~
Non. Im chinese and I havent heard any folktale remotely like this
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1 star seems so harsh, but I honestly do not have anything good to say about this book. I tried to come up with something redeeming about it, but there is nothing. Mead has always been a bit hit or miss, but Soundless is my least favourite of her books to date.
I mean, firstly, if I dressed up in traditional Chinese clothing for Halloween and started calling myself Ling, I would actually be more Chinese than this book. I cringe every time I read that promotional line: "A breathtaking new fantasy ...more
I mean, firstly, if I dressed up in traditional Chinese clothing for Halloween and started calling myself Ling, I would actually be more Chinese than this book. I cringe every time I read that promotional line: "A breathtaking new fantasy ...more
I'm heartbroken at having to give this a two, but I'm afraid there is little to redeem this book, one for which I've waited since I knew of its existence. I adore Richelle Mead, she is among my favorite authors, but I have to say that her latest two series have let me down. The two stars is because I like Richelle Mead.
1. It was boring. It lost me almost since the beginning. Pretty much nothing happens in this book. The dialogue was dull. The main character has no character, no spirit.
2. There's ...more
1. It was boring. It lost me almost since the beginning. Pretty much nothing happens in this book. The dialogue was dull. The main character has no character, no spirit.
2. There's ...more
3.75 stars: review coming soon to my YouTube channel! I really liked Soundless and although I wish the world building could've been better, it was an enjoyable, quick read!
...more
This one unfortunately, whilst the concept was unique and intriguing, didn't live up to its full potential. There was practically no world building or dimension. Being 250+ pages, there was plenty of room to flesh things out and paint a more vivid picture of the story world, but for the most part it just wasn't there.
I will say that I love Richelle's writing, and her books are such a breeze to read. I just wish there had been more of the story and world to enjoy.
...more
I will say that I love Richelle's writing, and her books are such a breeze to read. I just wish there had been more of the story and world to enjoy.
...more
3.5
Review to come soon!
Review to come soon!
Feb 09, 2015
Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Lovers of folktales
B/c curiosity will one day kill me:
Okay, clearly, I loved SOUNDLESS, but ever since I finished reading it and posted a pre-preview, I've heard over and over again, "This is the first highly rated review I've seen for this book."
That wasn't surprising to me. I'm often a black sheep. Whatev. I like what I like, and I don't what I don't.
But for unfathomable reasons, I scanned a half dozen of the MEH to WTF-is-this-crap? reviews today, and now I feel the need to elaborate.
The common complaints ar ...more
Okay, clearly, I loved SOUNDLESS, but ever since I finished reading it and posted a pre-preview, I've heard over and over again, "This is the first highly rated review I've seen for this book."
That wasn't surprising to me. I'm often a black sheep. Whatev. I like what I like, and I don't what I don't.
But for unfathomable reasons, I scanned a half dozen of the MEH to WTF-is-this-crap? reviews today, and now I feel the need to elaborate.
The common complaints ar ...more
Jan 29, 2015
Wendy Darling
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
penguin,
read-2015,
dnf,
asian,
fantasy,
retellings-and-inspirations,
historical-fantasy,
poc,
2015-publication,
november
I'm setting this aside at 100 pages. It's fine, and in a different mindset and at a different, more patient point in my YA reading career I think I might've been more into this. But this story and world and characters are not nearly as interesting or complex as they should be--even with a quieter (heh) heroine and less action-oriented plot. Not only soundless, but a bit colorless and lifeless as well, to be honest.
I do appreciate when authors try new things instead of cranking out the same stori ...more
I do appreciate when authors try new things instead of cranking out the same stori ...more
DNF.
This was equal parts boring and horrible. Mead essentially relies of the readers' knowledge and perception of Asian culture because there is absolutely no world building to be found. I was excited initially for this because it seemed like Mead was branching out. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a complete waste of time and words can not express how disappointing this was. I hate to sound harsh, but it really felt like this was written overnight aimlessly. I kept trying to power through ...more
This was equal parts boring and horrible. Mead essentially relies of the readers' knowledge and perception of Asian culture because there is absolutely no world building to be found. I was excited initially for this because it seemed like Mead was branching out. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a complete waste of time and words can not express how disappointing this was. I hate to sound harsh, but it really felt like this was written overnight aimlessly. I kept trying to power through ...more
Y'all this was bad... Not even going to write a full review for it because I just don't think it's worth the time and effort.
Soundless wasn't put together and was boring as hell. This book seemed like it was going to be a win with it's high talk of extreme cultural influences. We were suppose to get a high action novel that wove deaf and Asian culture together... This is not what we get with Soundless. We got a thrown together, no world building, book that seemed like it was aimlessly written ov ...more
Soundless wasn't put together and was boring as hell. This book seemed like it was going to be a win with it's high talk of extreme cultural influences. We were suppose to get a high action novel that wove deaf and Asian culture together... This is not what we get with Soundless. We got a thrown together, no world building, book that seemed like it was aimlessly written ov ...more
Okay, I had my sights on this book right after it was published. It's from Richelle Mead! How much do you need?
Plus it seemed to be inspired by Chinese mythology or set in China. This was a hard sell for me.
And the characters were supposed to be deaf and using sign language. This book seemed to be checking all the boxes for me! Love, Love!
However, before I got the book, the not-so-happy reviews started to roll in. The rating started to drop. And I was confused to why.
It took me years to finall ...more
Plus it seemed to be inspired by Chinese mythology or set in China. This was a hard sell for me.
And the characters were supposed to be deaf and using sign language. This book seemed to be checking all the boxes for me! Love, Love!
However, before I got the book, the not-so-happy reviews started to roll in. The rating started to drop. And I was confused to why.
It took me years to finall ...more
I read this today... the whole thing...
What an interesting story this is. I am a fan of Richelle Mead and this novel got me really excited!
I am in LOVE with the setting and romance of this novel. It was really believable ... until the end..
Brilliant read.
I just did not much like the end
What an interesting story this is. I am a fan of Richelle Mead and this novel got me really excited!
I am in LOVE with the setting and romance of this novel. It was really believable ... until the end..
Brilliant read.
I just did not much like the end
Soundless, Richelle Mead
Originally published: November 10, 2015. For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village.
Her people are at the mercy of a mysterious faraway kingdom, which delivers food in return for precious metals mined from the treacherous cliffs surrounding them.
When villagers begin to lose their sight, their rations shrink and many go hungry. Fei's home, the boy she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starva ...more
Originally published: November 10, 2015. For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village.
Her people are at the mercy of a mysterious faraway kingdom, which delivers food in return for precious metals mined from the treacherous cliffs surrounding them.
When villagers begin to lose their sight, their rations shrink and many go hungry. Fei's home, the boy she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starva ...more
A fantasy with a Chinese-inspired setting? An isolated village high up in the mountains, full of deaf people? A heroine who regains her hearing back and aims to use it to make a difference?
WOW, BADUM-TSS!
On a perfect, ideal day, this would have been an absolutely great treat. Just from these few sentences, we can already feel the diversity of the premise!
But, alas, it is not a perfect and ideal day, because this book is boring and dull as hell. But hey, there's one thing positive from this: ...more
On a perfect, ideal day, this would have been an absolutely great treat. Just from these few sentences, we can already feel the diversity of the premise!
But, alas, it is not a perfect and ideal day, because this book is boring and dull as hell. But hey, there's one thing positive from this: ...more
Soundless is about a village on the top of a mountain where for as long as anyone can remember there has been no sound. No one can leave the mountain because the climb down is too dangerous and there is no other way out. The village must rely on a zipline that carries food up the mountain in exchange for the metals that they mine. Villagers are starting to lose their sight and food from the zipline starts to decrease. One day Fei wakes up with a strange new sensation. She can hear. It is up to h
...more
This book is one of the coolest I've read all year! I loved that it was based on Chinese folklore, and I especially thought that it was so cool how everyone was deaf, therefore sign language was used the entire novel. I thought this was so different than anything i've ever read, and it was written really nicely, as well. My only problem with this book is that it was just entirely too short. For a fantasy standalone, 270 pages just didn't do it justice. There wasn't enough world and character bui
...more
Well I thought the book was bloody awesome!
*****SOME SPOILERS*****
Fei and her sister Zhang Jing live on a mountaintop with many other people. Their village has been here for some time and they have no means of getting down the mountain because they can't hear. Yep, no one can hear, so if they try to go down the mountain, they will most likely be killed by falling boulders they can't hear falling.
The village gets their food sent up on a zip line from the town below. They are told the zip line c ...more
*****SOME SPOILERS*****
Fei and her sister Zhang Jing live on a mountaintop with many other people. Their village has been here for some time and they have no means of getting down the mountain because they can't hear. Yep, no one can hear, so if they try to go down the mountain, they will most likely be killed by falling boulders they can't hear falling.
The village gets their food sent up on a zip line from the town below. They are told the zip line c ...more
*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
4.5 stars
REALLY, Really enjoyed this book! I thought the Chinese Folklore was really interesting. Also reading about these character's senses or lack there of was super interesting. Richelle Mead is an incredible author and I'm sure it wasn't easy to write a book where none of the characters could hear and they all used sign language. She did it beautifully though! ...more
4.5 stars
REALLY, Really enjoyed this book! I thought the Chinese Folklore was really interesting. Also reading about these character's senses or lack there of was super interesting. Richelle Mead is an incredible author and I'm sure it wasn't easy to write a book where none of the characters could hear and they all used sign language. She did it beautifully though! ...more
4 stars
“Look what we've done so far. We're pretty good at the impossible.”
I didn't expect to like this one. The only book I've ever read by this author was Vampire Academy, and I wasn't super impressed by that one (despite loving the movie as a guilty pleasure). So Soundless was a bit of a risk going in, but the premise is what had me intrigued.
Fei lives in a small village in China, up on the mountains where they can only be reached by zip line. Years ago an avalanche blocked all exits fro ...more
“Look what we've done so far. We're pretty good at the impossible.”
I didn't expect to like this one. The only book I've ever read by this author was Vampire Academy, and I wasn't super impressed by that one (despite loving the movie as a guilty pleasure). So Soundless was a bit of a risk going in, but the premise is what had me intrigued.
Fei lives in a small village in China, up on the mountains where they can only be reached by zip line. Years ago an avalanche blocked all exits fro ...more
Okay. I didn't dislike the characters, plot or setting. What I hated was wasted potential in this story. And to comment on all the Asian culture issues: I didn't really feel like there were any because the only thing Asian about the book was the names and a few terms (so in reality, it probably shouldn't have been marketed as such b/c it didn't deliver on that front, in my opinion. Disclaiming that I am Filipina, not Chinese. I am not an expert on culture or folklore. I think the issues regardin
...more
This was SUPER cheesy. At some point it turned into a reallllllllly long PSA.
Let's face it: we all knew this was going to be hit or miss. It turned out to be the later.
First good thing about this book: it is a standalone. Trust me, less then 300 pages are more then enough to spend in this dull world.
Second best thing: the writing style is amazing. Unfortunatelly, not even an amazing writing style can help the boring plot make interesting.
Third and final best thing: uniqueness of the story. All people in the village Fei lives in are deaf and are comunicating trough signin ...more
First good thing about this book: it is a standalone. Trust me, less then 300 pages are more then enough to spend in this dull world.
Second best thing: the writing style is amazing. Unfortunatelly, not even an amazing writing style can help the boring plot make interesting.
Third and final best thing: uniqueness of the story. All people in the village Fei lives in are deaf and are comunicating trough signin ...more
The first Richelle Mead book I've both read and liked. I've read some mixed reviews on this one, but mine is definitely positive.
Soundless is set in a Han-Chinese inspired world, in a secluded village on top of a mountain. Since the world makes no pretense of actually being ancient China, but rather a close approximation, I didn't get riled up about any historical inaccuracies. Anyway, the people in the village have been deaf for several centuries, communicating only through sign language, unti ...more
Soundless is set in a Han-Chinese inspired world, in a secluded village on top of a mountain. Since the world makes no pretense of actually being ancient China, but rather a close approximation, I didn't get riled up about any historical inaccuracies. Anyway, the people in the village have been deaf for several centuries, communicating only through sign language, unti ...more
Dropping at 105 pages because it offends me with its ableism.
Why I Recommend Bumping This Down On Your TBR: She writes a deaf character special-snowflake regaining her hearing and spends a lot of the book describing how beautiful it is to hear and how magnificent sound is. That's called ableism. ...more
Why I Recommend Bumping This Down On Your TBR: She writes a deaf character special-snowflake regaining her hearing and spends a lot of the book describing how beautiful it is to hear and how magnificent sound is. That's called ableism. ...more
Mar 03, 2015
Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Yosbe Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ
marked it as to-read
THAT cover
...more
...more
4.5 stars! Im surprised at how much I actually enjoyed this book with all of the negative reviews. Personally I really enjoyed it! I thought it was a quick, fun, easy read (perfect for the readathon I'm currently participating in). My biggest problem probably lies in the fact that it was originally described as a fantasy book to me and nothing even remotely fantasy occurred until the very end of the book. All and all, I really had a great time reading Soundless. Full review to come on my YouTube
...more
So what is Soundless?
A modern reinvention of an ancient Chinese fairytale? A clever display of limited sensory narrative? Maybe even a social commentary buried in a serenly-wrapped take-out container?
Whatever it is, I enjoyed it. My first experience with Richelle Mead, I couldn’t get past how much I liked the cover and the concept, despite the knocks I’d seen some other readers give it. But it kept staring at me in the store. I could only wonder what kind of dreamy mist and bayin-kissed tale awa ...more
A modern reinvention of an ancient Chinese fairytale? A clever display of limited sensory narrative? Maybe even a social commentary buried in a serenly-wrapped take-out container?
Whatever it is, I enjoyed it. My first experience with Richelle Mead, I couldn’t get past how much I liked the cover and the concept, despite the knocks I’d seen some other readers give it. But it kept staring at me in the store. I could only wonder what kind of dreamy mist and bayin-kissed tale awa ...more
As a Richelle Mead fan (especially when she’s not writing love triangles), I was really expecting more from Soundless. I’m accustomed to epic plot lines and even more epic romances from her, and this ended up feeling lazy in comparison. It’s not a bad book at all; I like that it draws from Chinese folklore and features such a diverse main cast. But it unfortunately falls short of my high expectations and fails to be something truly memorable.
I was, like everyone, really excited after first readi ...more
I was, like everyone, really excited after first readi ...more
2.5 video review to come
This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.
I enjoyed this book and found it really hard to put down. I was very excited to get my hands on an early copy of the new stand alone novel by Richelle Mead. While I own quite a few of her books, I had not read any of them before reading this book. This book ended up being something quite different than I had expected but I enjoyed every page of the story it told.
Fei lives in a village high in the mountains. Everyone who lives in her village i ...more
I enjoyed this book and found it really hard to put down. I was very excited to get my hands on an early copy of the new stand alone novel by Richelle Mead. While I own quite a few of her books, I had not read any of them before reading this book. This book ended up being something quite different than I had expected but I enjoyed every page of the story it told.
Fei lives in a village high in the mountains. Everyone who lives in her village i ...more
This was... ok. It was ok. Nothing amazing, not bad, just ok.
I did enjoy it, but it felt like not much happened, almost like I read a really long synopsis of a potentially awesome book, but then it turned out to be the book itself and... oh. That's it.
I wanted more character development, more character in general, more Chinese culture and not necessarily the fantasy bit because it felt odd with the other 98% of the book. But then I did like what I read, it's just that it could have been SO much ...more
I did enjoy it, but it felt like not much happened, almost like I read a really long synopsis of a potentially awesome book, but then it turned out to be the book itself and... oh. That's it.
I wanted more character development, more character in general, more Chinese culture and not necessarily the fantasy bit because it felt odd with the other 98% of the book. But then I did like what I read, it's just that it could have been SO much ...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Addicted to YA: Soundless | 12 | 399 | Jun 21, 2020 09:39PM | |
| What are books/series' that are taking you FOREVER to finish? Or am I the only one who has this problem sometimes :( | 2 | 9 | Sep 20, 2017 03:12PM | |
| City of Heavenly ...: Chapter 14-End | 3 | 7 | Oct 07, 2016 01:55PM | |
| City of Heavenly ...: Chapter 1-6 | 3 | 8 | Oct 07, 2016 06:17AM | |
| Doubleinfinity Bo...: Průběžná diskuze k Soundless | 10 | 13 | Aug 28, 2016 07:51AM | |
| Crazy for Young A...: Soundless, by Richelle Mead → Start Date: May 23, 2016 | 27 | 23 | Jun 01, 2016 05:09PM |
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Scorpio Richelle Mead is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy books for both adults and teens. Originally from Michigan, Richelle now lives in Seattle, Washington where she works on her three series full-time: Georgina Kincaid, Dark Swan, and Vampire Academy.
A life-long reader, Richelle has always loved mythology and folklore. When she can actually tear herself away f ...more
A life-long reader, Richelle has always loved mythology and folklore. When she can actually tear herself away f ...more
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