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June 15, 2015

Double Reviews: Daughter of Deep Silence & The Summer After You and Me


Daughter of Deep Silence
Title: Daughter of Deep Silence 
Author: Carrie Ryan
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Publication date: May 26, 2015
Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary/Revenge)
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC
Pages: 384
I’m the daughter of murdered parents.
I’m the friend of a dead girl.
I’m the lover of my enemy.
And I will have my revenge.

In the wake of the devastating destruction of the luxury yacht Persephone, just three souls remain to tell its story—and two of them are lying. Only Frances Mace knows the terrifying truth, and she’ll stop at nothing to avenge the murders of everyone she held dear. Even if it means taking down the boy she loves and possibly losing herself in the process.
Daughter of Deep Silence had so much promise initially with its Revenge (tv show) like setting. I love revenge plots, especially ones that don't end in a happily ever after where the girl falls in love with the enemy and the enemy turns out to be this misunderstood guy who isn't at fault at all. I hate those type of Revenge books and it seems most YA books have that exact plot progression. Unfortunately Daughter of Deep Silence, while in the middle had some great schemes going on, turned out to be exactly like the typical YA revenge plots that I really could do without. 
The beginning of the book was rather enticing and gripping. However as I continued reading the book, many plot holes emerged that I just couldn't brush off or ignore. I kept on going back and forth trying to see if the author explained the plot hole previously but I just missed it but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Being able to formulate a revenge plot and build up the premise for that requires detailed planning that I felt the author left us out of.. and I sometimes felt she glossed over many of them just because the details where never actually thought of. I wished so badly for the main protagonist to be like Emily from Revenge, where even if her emotions started getting in the way, she squashed them because she had a revenge plan that was years in the making. Unfortunately for Frances, the first sign of emotional turmoil had her breaking down and second guessing everything. The psychological and mental state of Frances was odd to be honest. Anyone who spent years trying to avenge their parents and went to such drastic measures like Frances did, wouldn't second guess and break apart at the mere glimpse of her ex crush who actually could be at the centre of the conspiracy.  
I still enjoyed the few planned dangerous escapades she pulled off, but I wish we got more details and they were a bit more thrilling. Daughter of Deep Silence turned out to be a disappointment mainly because of how weak the main protagonist was. I ended up skimming through the last one hundred pages because it turned into a typical cliche YA story and I really wished the conspiracy was better explained and explored. 

The Summer After You and Me

Title: The Summer After You and Me
Author: Jennifer Salvato Doktorski 
Publisher: Raincoast Canada
Publication date: May 1, 2015
Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary)
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC
Pages: 320
Sunbathing, surfing, eating funnel cake on the boardwalk—Lucy loves living on the Jersey Shore. For her, it's not just the perfect summer escape, it is home. And as a local girl, she knows not to get attached to the tourists. They breeze in over Memorial Day weekend, crowding the shore and stealing moonlit kisses, only to pack up their beach umbrellas and empty promises on Labor Day. Lucy wants more from love than a fleeting romance, even if that means keeping her distance from her summertime neighbor and crush, Connor.

Then Superstorm Sandy tears apart her barrier island, briefly bringing together a local girl like herself and a vacationer like Connor. Except nothing is the same in the wake of the storm. And day after day, week after week, Lucy is left to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and broken home. Now with Memorial Day approaching and Connor returning, will it be a summer of fresh starts or second chances?
This is another book where the main girl already has a loving significant other but enters this other guy that apparently opens up her eyes to the world or reminds her of the good old days and in the meantime she is STILL Stringing along her boyfriend. I just don't understand people like this. If you are not satisfied with your current relationship, either work harder to make it better or just end it. You going behind anyone's back just to hang out with another guy isn't right, especially when you really have no emotional attachment or anything complicated keeping you from ending your former relationship. I always feel bad for the other person and it turns the heroine into a hateful character, especially if the author wants us to root for her to end up with the other guy. I'm totally OK with hateful characters, only when the author actually makes them hateful for the purpose of the plot. In here we're supposed to cheer her on? hell no. 
End of rant. I'm sorry but lately I've been somehow reading more and more contemporaries with that same plot device and it drives me mad. However for The Summer After You and Me, even taking out the whole annoying romance, I honestly did not find anything interesting. I love Doktorski's debut novel but this one failed to deliver for me. I didn't find myself immersed in the story or even the least bit interested about the outcome. I basically skimmed through the second half of the novel and didn't really miss much by just doing that. The story had potential to hit home emotionally for many people but it missed the mark. I will definitely be picking up more books by the author because I loved the first one, so I'm hoping this one is just a fluke for me

2 comments:

  1. I think you accidentally published this one before it was done!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awww, sad that you didn’t enjoy either of these. DAUGHTER OF DEEP SILENCE looks really good, and I’m a fan of revenge stories (and the TV show) but gah, sad it was disappointing. Great reviews!

    ReplyDelete