Friday, March 9, 2018

Silenced

This one came in one of my fairly recent book boxes and it doesn't even matter which one because it was SO DAMN GOOD.

Silenced - Leddy Harper

As a young child, Killian Foster survives the unimaginable. Silenced and scarred, he keeps to himself, spending his time with his notebook in the woods behind his aunt’s house. 


Until Rylee Anderson…



When Rylee spots Killian hopping over a fence next door, she follows him, unprepared for the boy she’d find—or the relationship that would unfold over the next seven years.



Or the silence that would follow.



Fighting between the hate of his past and the promise of his future, Killian must make choices—ones that would affect more than himself. Choices that would test the lines of right and wrong. Decisions that could break the bond of the only love Killian knew.



Hate or love.
Revenge or forgiveness.
Silence or his voice.


I got ALL of the feels with this book. Let's start by saying we have Killian, who witnesses the aftermath of his parent's murder as a young boy and is brutally mutilated in the process. He stops speaking completely because they told him not to and he's destined for a terribly sad and lonely life.

Until he meets Rylee in the woods behind his aunt's house. And nothing is the same ever again for either of them.

They form a friendship and become each other's firsts for everything. The author perfectly captures both a girl and a boy going through the awkward stages of puberty, the weirdness of a first kiss, dry humping, ejaculation for the first time, boners, and sex. I squirmed so many times because there were parts of this book that just hit home so hard for me and now as a parent I squirm thinking that my kids will experience this, so I can imagine Rylee's parents and how they felt.

But it isn't all cupcakes and rainbows, Killian is a troubled boy. He wants revenge but he wants, needs Rylee with him but she's only 17 at this point. He leaves and Rylee is left devastated. For five years. When she sees Killian again she's blown away at how much he's changed, how much he's still the same, and the circumstances of how she finds him inadvertently. Can they rekindle what they had? The answer is YES and it's hotter than dry humping on a twin bed, you guys.

My only issue with the book is that there seems to be some blurry lines of consent in this book a few times and I was there thinking, this could really be wrong on a few levels here. Never mind the almost caveman mentality of Killian at times, so I guess it's part of character building. But bravo to Rylee for being a strong woman open to just about anything because she really turns out to be a pretty great character... even though it got a little dicey at the end for her.

Overall? I'm giving this one 4.5 stars because it was THAT good. This is one I'd buy for my friends, easily.
   


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