Friday, September 9, 2011

Review

SILENT ECHOES by Carla Jablonski

Book Info:

Publish Date: February 1, 2007
Publisher: Razorbill
Page Number: 288

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What the cover says: What happens to a teenage girl who starts hearing voices? The answer is vastly different for two girls living in two different eras.


When a spirit contacts Lucy Phillips at a seance in nineteenth-century Manhattan, Lucy quickly gains fame as a talented medium who can impart knowledge about the future to wealthy socialites. Lucy is grateful to this spirit, who communicates with her from beyond, for giving her a life of luxury she's never known before. By contrast, Lindsay Miller is hospitalized in modern-day New York City for schizophrenia when she starts to hear a girl's voice in her head.


But when the two girls realize they are really hearing each others voices every time they occupy the same physical location, they begin to see possibilities that will change both of their lives forever...

My Review: I absolutely adored this book! So much, in fact, that I gobbled it up in just a few sittings over the course of forty-eight hours. I was hooked from page one - just how I like it!

 I love Lucy! She is such a strong, caring person who only fault is the naivety of her age in the era she lives in. Her life revolves around her father's "Get Rich Quick" schemes and when he decides to follow the spiritualist route - which is gaining steam during that time period - the last thing that Lucy ever expected was to hear an actual spirit speak to her!

The spirit however isn't dead. In fact in Lucy's world, Lindsay won't exist for another hundred years. Somehow though, they are able to communicate. While I liked Lucy much more, I still was able to connect with Lindsay's character as well.

Lucy's father, while taking care of her, doesn't seem to understand her at all. He mostly sees her as dollar signs and I found myself wondering what drastic measures he would've taken to secure money for himself and his sidekick, Peabody, at poor Lucy's expense. Luckily when she starts to make it big in the seance business she is able to separate herself from him.

Lindsay is also stuck with a less than desirable parent. After arriving home from camp, Lindsay learns that her mother, who is an alcoholic, has married Carl, aka "The Husband". Home life for Lindsay is deplorable and unhealthy. When she begins hearing "voices" while hiding in her closet during one of her mother, whom she refers to as Melanie rather than Mom, and The Husband's knock-out, drag-down fights, she thinks she's finally gone off the deep end.

The relationship between Lucy and Lindsay is sweet. Lucy appeared when Lindsay needed help, and at first Lindsay was reluctant to accept that she could hear Lucy, and when she finally broke down she was taken to the psych ward and diagnosed with schizophrenia and popped full of pills - which didn't work.

The entire dynamic of this relationship is one that truly left me wishing I was Lucy. To be such a caring, thoughtful, loving person who was so compassionate that she devoted her life's work to helping girls like Lindsay is so honorable. When she begins to work towards creating a future with Bryce Cavanagh I wanted to throw the book and scream at her! It was so comforting to know that Lindsay felt the same way and helped Lucy to see that what she felt for Bryce wasn't love. The old adage, money can't buy happiness certainly applied here.

The twist in the story is slightly predictable. While we aren't ever given a "scientific" reason why Lucy and Lindsay are able to communicate, the reason given is enough to satisfy. The end of the book is perfect; I couldn't think of a better way to have wrapped it all up with a nice little bow.

Jablonski's writing style is simple and easy, flows well and works for the story. Her descriptions are to the point and easy to picture, and the dialog is decent to create the relationships between characters. Each character is vastly different from the next, which gives it a large sense of no two are the same. While Lucy and Lindsay share certain personality traits and characteristics, each is their own person.

The depth of the characters and Jablonski's ability to weave your feelings with those of Lucy and Lindsay is one I wish I could feel with every single book I read. But alas, that wouldn't give room for those out there like Silent Echoes that are truly extraordinary.

MY RATING: 
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