A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLERFrom Richelle Mead, the #1 internationally bestselling author of Vampire Academy and Bloodlines, comes a breathtaking new fantasy perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Laini Taylor and Sabaa Tahir. “Fans of characters like Rose Hathaway and Sydney Sage will flock to this impressive stand-alone novel.”–Booklist For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in … novel.”
—Booklist
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 readers 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….
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A great story! There has been no sound in Fei’s cut off village in high treacherous cliffs. Her people are at the mercy of a mysterious faraway kingdom, which delivers food in return for precious metals they mine. It reads like a true village’s story with a kick of magic.
Prior to picking this book up, I had no familiarity with the Vampire Academy and Bloodlines author, Richelle Mead. However, I was drawn to this book’s cover at the store, and when I saw it again at the library, I knew I had to read it. I didn’t even read the book description before buying it on my Kindle, so I had no idea what it was about. I just knew I loved the intriguing Asian-inspired cover and opening sentences.
Soundless (2015) is a folk story that takes place in a fictional mountain village in China. The era is quaint and timeless. Atop a high and treacherous mountain sits a village wherein all the occupants have long gone deaf for generations. The society is separated into artists and miners. The artists keep record of the town’s history, and the miners send their metals down a zip line to the base of the mountain, in exchange for the village’s food. While the food supply is very scarce, farming is impossible, and everyone’s going hungry, no one can climb down the mountain. Its passageways have been blocked for generations, and since nobody can hear the falling rock, one who attempts to climb down could be crushed by frequent avalanches.
That all changes when a young woman, a painter’s apprentice named Fei, mysteriously gains the ability to hear. Accompanied by her past love, a strapping miner called Li Wei, the pair resolve to climb down the mountain and learn what’s causing their people to go blind on top of their deafness, and to ask for more food for their village. What they discover at the bottom of the mountain is beyond what anyone expected.
I think one of the aspects I enjoyed most about this book was the concept of a community without hearing, how the characters communicated only in sign language, and the experience of one person in such a society’s hearing suddenly coming awake. I loved the romance between Fei and Li Wei. Fei is a strong, noble character who deeply cares about her love interest, her sister, and her people, and she respects her elders, too. The writing is excellent. Mead’s style reminds me of Kiera Cass; direct and easy to follow. I loved the mythological flare at the climax. Overall, a solid and engrossing YA read that I would recommend, especially to anyone with an interest in Asian folklore.
I have read a lot of negatives reviews about this book and despite them I quite enjoy this book.
Soundless is the story about a village high in the mountains whos villagers, as far as anyone can remember, haven’t been able to hear anything. Its impossible for them to leave the village do to the only road is block by a big boulder and the other way would is by rockly cliff and possible avalanche made it a hard route.
The town is devided into two classes, miner and artist. The materials find in the mines goes to Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom. And in exchange they get food through the zippline that connect the top of the mountain to the base. But they get barely enough food to feed everyone. When people in the village stars to goes blind, the food rations get tinyer.
Until one night, Fei is awoken by a searing noise. Her hearing have started to return. She goes on a journey with the help of an really hansome miner to uncover whats happening to her and to help her village.
This book could have been so much more than what it was. I was so excited when reading the premise of this book. A fantasy set in Chinese folklore. I mean, come on, that sounds amazing! But, alas, the book was anything but. The story lacks depth. I was expecting to be immersed in a wonderful fantasy story, but the fantasy was barely there. In fact, while reading the book you don’t really get a glimpse of any fantasy until the very end of the book which makes it read like a historical fiction up until that point. There are tiny bits of folklore tossed in the book at a few spots, but it doesn’t make up for lack of fantasy feel to the book.
What I liked
The premise of this book is great. With more development, this book could have been incredible.
The one thing about this book that I enjoyed was the characters. I really liked Fei’s character. She is strong and selfless. I think that she could have been developed much more, but the base of a good character is there.
I did like the relationship that Fei had with Li Wei. They were friends since childhood until her career choice distanced them. The romance was very mild, but their relationship was a delight.
What I didn’t like
The lack of fantasy was a big deciding factor for me. I don’t read fantasy books to trudge through a historical fiction and have a little bit of fantasy slapped on at the end. I truly think that if more fantasy would have been included throughout the book that it could have been great.
The Chinese culture did not seem to be represented very well. To be honest, I didn’t feel as though I was reading a book set in Chinese culture at all. I was so disappointed.
The world building needs much improvement. Not only the Chinese culture, but everything else as well. Better descriptions of their village- living arrangements, what the children do while parents are working, what people do for fun (if anything), more careers (there has to be more than just miners and artists), and what daily life is like for everyone (not just artists). I would have liked to have known more about the kingdom, the king, and I would have liked more of a connection to the folklore. The folklore and fantasy part of this book is too minimal. The story just needs more details.
While I liked the relationship between Fei and Li Wei, the romance was almost non-existent. I was at least expecting a romance worth reading, but there was no buildup and execution at all.
The story was dull. While reading the book I didn’t feel a connection or even remotely interested in the outcome of the book. Towards the beginning of the book I kept hoping for for something that didn’t come. Towards the end of the book I was just reading to find out what happens. The hope was gone. At that point I wasn’t expecting anything.
Would I Recommend It
This book isn’t for everyone. If you are looking for a light read then you will most likely love this. If you are looking for a book that is immersed with fantasy and folklore, then I think you will be disappointed. I personally would not recommend this. There were too many things that needed development.
The characters were engaging and the story is original, but this was not one of my favorite Richelle Mead books.
This was a very short story it was 260 pages so very short but it worked, there was nothing missing from the story like even though it was short it still had the full story and you know I love a short book as much as I love a big book.
The world building was fantastic you can tell Richelle Mead has done her research about this being that it is based off an old Chinese myth (I think it was Chinese someone mentioned it in a blog) Anyway it was brilliant and the fact that they are deaf at the beginning is very interesting, I don’t think I’d be able to cope if I ever became deaf, but it’s normal for them. When Fei begins to hear again it’s so strange to her and hearing her describe what the sounds may sound like to someone who is hearing for the first time. It was weird it was something different, it makes me want to read more books where they could be a hearing or blindness character. (Other than fault in our stars where Issac turns blind) but it makes me want to read more. This was the first book I read where the characters are deaf and that is their normal. So that is one of my reading goals I think.
So Fei’s character I loved her the fact she wanted to protect her sister so much it made me smile so much, it’s nice that she wanted to try and protect her sister. Even when she found out she was going blind she just wanted to keep her close.
Fei finding out that her sister is going blind sends her to go and help Li Wei to change things about how they swap the metal for rations of food and it’s not even a lot of rations. So they both decide to go and talk to the line keeper which nobody has done. On their way they discover some things the fact that there was another village exactly like their village and that they have a small realisation that they could end up exactly the same.
When they finally get to where the line keeper is they realise the truth there is many line keepers but they are all doing it because of the Prince or King whichever it was. That he was doing it just so he could be rich and keep in control of all the people. After they discover she goes back and tells the village.
I am not going to say anything else that happened in the story because it would ruin it, better that you read it yourself than me blab everything here.
So as I said I loved the characters and I found that you could see that they loved each other even though technically they wasn’t meant to. I thought that was the pathetic part of the story I thought that was pretty pointless, I think it would have been if they just stayed friends. The romance was pointless and loads of people have also said the same that they thought the romance was pointless. To me it didn’t even feel like they were in love it just felt like they were really good friends.
This was a nice and different read than most YA that’s out there. I liked all the culture and detail within this book. The story was unique and interesting enough to keep me reading. I admit I wasn’t sure how the story would progress or whether or not it would keep me interested. But I think it did a good enough job. The ending wasn’t exactly what I was expecting and maybe I was looking for a little more. Even though I didn’t love it, it was still a nice book to pick up.
This book has a fresh, original premise: a village high in the mountains where the inhabitants have lost their sense of hearing. Most of the villagers are miners who trade what they’ve mined for food that comes up the mountain on a zipline from the valley below. Fei is an artist who records her people’s daily life on canvas; I enjoyed the descriptions of how she painted and experienced things (although sometimes the prose felt a little distant to me for some reason, especially near the end). While Fei’s artist sister is slowly losing her sight along with her hearing, one night Fei herself is awakened by a loud vibrating sensation that she comes to realize is Sound. Together, with her handsome childhood friend Li Wei, she must make the treacherous trip down the mountainside—which is prone to avalanches—in order to save their village from a dwindling food supply. What she finds is a splash of romance mixed with a dash of adventure and a sprinkling of something magical.