Soundless

By: Richelle Mead

Narrated by: Kim Mai Guest

Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

From Richelle Mead, the number one internationally best-selling author of Vampire Academy and Bloodlines, comes a breathtaking new fantasy perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Laini Taylor, and Sabaa Tahir.

For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village, where rocky terrain and frequent avalanches prevent residents from self-sustaining. 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, deliveries from the zipline shrink and many go hungry. Fei’s home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.

But soon Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon.

Richelle Mead takes listeners on a triumphant journey from the peak of Fei’s jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiguo, where a startling truth and an unlikely romance will change her life forever...

©2015 Richelle Mead (P)2015 Listening Library

Critic reviews

A New York Times best seller.

"Fans of characters like Rose Hathaway and Sydney Sage will flock to this impressive stand-alone novel." (Booklist)

"Reminiscent of Kristen Cashore's novels, this blend of mythology, romance, and suspense will keep readers turning pages." (School Library Connection)

Amazon story!

I hope for a second book! Rochelle mead is amazing! And so was this story!

Always assumed there'd be a sequel

This story stands just fine as a one off but I think she definitely had a sequel in mind! I've loved this story for years and while it's definitely not her greatest work ever it's a fun listen/read!!

The narrator does a great job as well!

This review kills me to write

Richelle Mead is one of my favorite authors of all time. She has an amazing ability to craft character chemistry. Unfortunately, this novel just lacked in this area. I liked the story and the setting. I just didn't feel anything for the characters. Fei lacked personality. Li Wei might have been better, but only marginally. Fei's sister, Zhang Jing was two dimensional. We were supposed to care about her and the village people up in the mountain, but I just didn't. The girl and her dad who ran the restaurant in the town were pretty cool, but they didn't get much screen time.

The plot was interesting enough. I liked the premise anyway. There were a few holes that never quite resolved themselves, like what triggered Fei's hearing to return. The King and the people keeping the village in enslavement were never fully realized. I felt they were evil for evil sake, which does't make for an interesting story.

The narrator was really good. She was convincing and rode the line between and accent and good pronunciation well. I would listen to her again.

So while it kills me to say this, Soundless was a disappointment. If only because I know the author is capable of so much more.

My favorite audiobook so far!!!

Nothing I write will do justice to this story! It was amazing! This was a timeless story of overcoming, surviving, caring more about others than yourself, and doing what is right not what is easy. There are so many life lessons, such as when you dream big you can change the world, that there is nothing in life you cannot overcome if you set your mind to it and that just because we are born to a certain station it does not mean that we cannot work hard and break out of the mold we were placed in! Believe in yourself!

I am very surprised at the low ratings this story received. I do not know if it because I heard the audio version and it added so much depth to this story or that people were just expecting something different but I truly loved this story and Fei's journey to save her people.

I do not feel there was a lack of world building. I think the story was steeped in tradition, beauty and strength.

The narrator was simply perfect! I do not think they could have chosen anyone more suited for this story. She added so much to an already great story! I was transported to this new world and made to feel part of it. Fei's struggles were my struggles, here loss was my loss, her triumphs were my triumphs!

Another reason I loved this story so much is that I am watching a similar story come to life in my own world. My daughters boyfriend is slowly regaining his sight after years of being completely color blind from a tragic accident! I am watching as he is seeing the world again for the first time, experiencing new things, dealing with how overwhelming it is to have so much stimulus again in his life and Richelle's description of Fei regaining her hearing is so much a reflection of his journey! It helped me so much to know where he is coming from and has allowed me to help him on his journey.

Took a while to love it

I wasn't sure I would like this story in the beginning, but by the end I loved it. I hope there will be more books!

Excellent book/excellent performance

I love how well the village and how it worked was developed. And the main character and her discoveries were well described. The voice reading was very lovely to listen to.

Misleading description of the book

This was a fantasy book with only about 5% of it being fantasy. I also didn't like the description of the book describing "sound becomes her weapon". Sound was not her weapon it's as much a weapon as the dragon radar in Dragon Ball was a weapon. All she did was hear the rocks falling and footsteps.

The book was okay but I felt this book was very misleading and the ending just kinda comes out of left field with not much build up or hints throughout the story.

Richelle Mead can do a lot better than that.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

suspense

Have you listened to any of Kim Mai Guest’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Was my first time listening to Kim

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment, since I know Richelle Mead wrote many really great books.

Very disappointed

I normally don't write reviews but I was so surprised by how much I disliked this book I felt I should share my opinion. From the very beginning I was simply not captivated by her writing like I have been in the past. After maybe 2 and a half chapters I realized I had no idea what I was listening to and had to re-start the book. This book took me significantly longer to finish than I would have expected due to the fact that I kept falling asleep listening to it. Now you might think, "oh is it the narration?" and I don't think that was the problem. There was simply a very weak plot-line unlike Richelle Mead's usual writing style.
If your expectations going in are for well developed characters with charisma and charm with an interesting story line to support them then you will probably not like this book. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy it more that I did!

Not Worth it

The narrator was fantastic the story was kind of bland but at least it wasn’t too depressing. Rachelle made has a really good knack for romantic tension in relationships which showed a little bit – but her other books it was far far better this could have been developed a lot more overall I kind of felt like it was just filling in time.