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Silence  By  cover art

Silence

By: Michelle Sagara
Narrated by: Alexandra Bailey
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Publisher's summary

It began in the graveyard.... Ever since her boyfriend Nathan had died in a tragic accident, Emma had been coming to the graveyard at night. During the day she went through the motions at her prep school, in class, with her friends, but that’s all it was. For Emma, life had stopped with Nathan’s death. But tonight was different. Tonight Emma and her dog were not alone in the cemetery. There were two others there - Eric, who had just started at her school, and an ancient woman who looked as though she were made of rags. And when they saw Emma there, the old woman reached out to her with a grip as chilling as death....

Emma was not quite like others teenagers. It was true that other girls had experienced grief. Other girls had also lost their fathers, or had their boyfriends die in a senseless accident. But though she hadn’t known it till that night in the graveyard, unlike those other girls, she could see, touch, and speak with the dead. In fact, Emma could draw upon the essence of the dead to work magic. That was what Necromancers did. But Emma had no desire to be a Necromancer. She just wanted to help the ghosts who walked the streets of Toronto, unable to escape from the land of the living. And that was just as well, because had she chosen the path of the Necromancer, Eric would have had to kill her.

Instead, Eric and his fellow Necromancer hunter Chase found themselves violating every rule they were sworn to follow, becoming part of Emma’s group, helping her to stand against those who preyed upon the dead. But whether Emma and her friends could survive such a battle was anyone’s guess. And whether Emma could learn to use the magic of the dead against her enemies without herself falling victim to the lure of such power remained to be seen. Eric seemed to think she could, and her living friends would never abandon her. But only time would tell what Emma’s true destiny was....

©2012 Michelle Sagara (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Silence

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
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    155
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    155
  • 4 Stars
    151
  • 3 Stars
    109
  • 2 Stars
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    26

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • K
  • 12-26-12

F Words??? Where??

This book is a good story and I truly don't know what the other reviewer is talking about as the only F words in the entire story are Fun, From, Function, Frivolous etc you get the picture?

Typical Sagara in writing, much like Elantra in content (as in, I would let my 13yrold read it). but still a good read for an adult as well.

After listening to over 500 books in the last couple of years I think I am well able to judge a good book. I gave this one 3 stars which to me means it's a good book, worth the credit but no prize winner. The narration is OK which is a bonus since bad narration can totally crush a book of any class.

I am looking forward to seeing where Michelle is planning to take this story line and I will buy the next book in the series.

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42 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An imaginative new approach to a series

This wasn't a bad listen, a present day fantasy about ghosts, the living, magic and forces among the living. The plot felt slow in the beginning and rushed in the end, and if you can tolerate a main character who is a little whiny (she's had more than her share of tragedy) then this may be an audio book you will enjoy.

Other reviewers mentioned the "f" word, and yes it's there. It seems to be the only curse word used, but it doesn't detract from the storyline. Mostly, the Characters seem to exclaim it when something doesn't go as planned.

If you enjoyed Sagara's other series you may enjoy this one as well. There's a lot of creativity & imagination in her work that I always enjoy, although I wish she'd reach past the teen genre and go a little more in depth about things.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Liked the story, but the "F" words ruined it.

Would you try another book from Michelle Sagara and/or Alexandra Bailey?

I really liked Michelle's Chronicles of Elantra series. I had high hopes for this series too. However, I find vulgar language as an attack on my senses. The same emphasis can be made with intelligent writing. I started her last series because of reviews that stated that such language was missing. I'm so sad that she has succumbed to the prevalent "now" language. I wish Audible would add content in their ratings.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

So disappointing

I loved Michelle's 'Cast in' series. This new book was so disappointing. Not the quality of her first series of work. I was three hours into the book and waiting for it to actually start. The story never got ground, the characters were one-dimensional. I am returning this book. Hopeful for future work from her since her first series I was addicted to! Oh, and the narrator was not easy to listen to. It was like she didn't stay a consistent distance from the microphone. The volume would go so soft at times I had to replay it to hear it.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Solidly Written YA Paranormal

Silence is a YA urban fantasy in the hands of a mature and talented author. Solidly written with good pacing, realistic and logical characters, and an interesting (if perhaps not wholly original) plot dealing with necromancers and ghosts.

Emma is lost in the grief of the recent loss of her boyfriend, Nathan. While visiting his grave, a young man appears with an old woman, who promptly hands her a lantern and lays a ghostly kiss upon her. Emma learns from the old woman's kiss that she is a necromancer - and is slated to die by the young man to prevent her from bringing more evil upon the afterworld. But Erik does not kill her and now commits to discovering what makes her different before her powers put her friends and her world at risk.

Silence has a great cast of characters (think Buffy and you get the idea of the diversity) but in Sagara's hands the characters are very grounded. There is no manufactured melodrama, sappy love or romance, or over the top scenes. Instead, we have a well-paced story of trust, friendship, love, and the paranormal thrown in.

I greatly enjoyed Silence. It is an easy and quick read but with enough action to keep me interested throughout. Sagara gives her characters a flawed and humane perspective as they struggle with events far beyond their control. There are no superheroes and each character's weaknesses as well as strengths become the driving plot points.

In all, I greatly enjoyed this book. The narration was a bit flat and it was very difficult to tell who was talking at times.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good, soild book

Would you consider the audio edition of Silence to be better than the print version?

Yes

Who was your favorite character and why?

Eric and Michael, they added grounding to the book. It gives you that, 'I could almost see this happen' feeling.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Good charaters and story development. Worth having a listen.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Story Bad Narrator

I really liked the story. The concept was fun. The character of Michael was well researched and written. The story seemed to be a little awkward at times like when Emma referred to her mother as "Mercy Hall" as if she wasn't actually related to her. There were times when it seemed to be lacking in depth but it is hard to give the story an authentic review based on this audiobook. The narrator just did not do it justice. She had no character definition, so you never knew when one character changed to the next. She lacked emotion so it was hard to follow along in the story - one minute you were with Emma at her house and the next you were at Eric's without any real transition. I think for this series I'm going to have read the book, because the audio just didn't cut it.

Also, as mentioned by another reviewer, the author likes to drop the "F" bomb, so be warned especially if you're listening to this in mixed company.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

EXCELLENT YOUNG ADULT AND ADULT STORY

I really enjoyed this book, it's a rare occasion for me to even try a young adult book any more, too much angst and not enough story. In this story we meet Emma a young woman who has had her fair share of tragedy in her life. She has recently lost the love of her life, Nathan. Emma spends a lot of time in the graveyard @ Nathan's grave because she finds peace there. One night she finds one of her classmates there and her entire life starts to change.
I won't give away any spoilers here, but know it's worth the time, credit or cash to listen to this book. I rarely give 5 stars for any book but this one earned it. The narration is excellent also.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I Ended Up Liking This Quite a Bit

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book. I have read a few books by the author published under the name Michelle West but I did not particularly like the books in her "Cast in" series. I also realized after I bought this one that was a YA book which increased my feelings that maybe I had made a mistake. I'm not keen on a lot of the current crop of YA fiction because I'm not keen on books that end up with cliffhangers or instant love. Thankfully this book while clearly part of series does not rely on lust between any two of the characters as part of the plot and does have a satisfying ending.

Do not expect to have all questions you might have about the characters, particularly the enigmatic Eric, answered in this volume. There are threads left hanging, but the second book is already available so there's no need to fear that there will not be a follow up.

I particularly liked the relationship between the teens in the book. They seemed like teenagers who might be the children of friends, but they also are more interesting and have bigger adventures. They also are presented as teenagers who have friendships, disagreements and real differences.

Sagara in the meantime is dealing with serious concerns about life and death while coming up with some creepy imagery.

I'd recommend this even if you aren't a teenager and haven't been for decades.

Narrated by Alexandra Bailey who does a good job.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

If this is what its like to be Queen I'll pass.

Narrator was flat, characters had no life (no pun intended). Several chapters in and I still had no idea where the story line was going. I couldn't take it anymore, I had to give up. Her dad is gone, the boyfriend is gone, some weird guy is in the cemetery, her dog is huge and likes to eat biscuits, she has migraines and she and her mother don't communicate well. Seriously that is what I got from what I forced myself to listen to.

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1 person found this helpful