I received this galley in consideration for an honest review.

on November 10, 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Goodreads

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.
Set in a fantasy world heavily influenced by Chinese folklore, Soundless starts in a society that is isolated by geography and by the deafness of the villagers. Their entire communication system is visual, so when people start going blind, it starts to look like a desperate situation. For Fei, it becomes more desperate when her own sister starts losing her sight. That search for answers is the motivation behind Fei’s determination to get out of the village to find out why their food has nearly stopped coming at all. Together with her childhood sweetheart, Li Wei, the story takes them up and out of the valley and into a lot of secrets and shocking revelations. In the middle of all of this, Fei’s hearing returns. I was so intrigued by the idea of being the only one who could hear. How do you describe sound, like speech or music, to someone who has never been able to hear? What is it like to suddenly hear, but not have a way to process the sound? Their entire society was built around a lack of sound which made it very trusting, if you think about it. Suddenly, Fei could protect herself in ways that she couldn’t before. I do wish the story would have explored the reason behind Fei’s regained hearing.
If you are walking into this book looking for Vampire Academy or Bloodlines, don’t. It’s very different from either of those series, but that is not a bad thing. I really enjoyed this new world and Fei’s journey. Even with the romance, this is really about a girl who is trying to save her sister and her village. As a stand alone, everything is wrapped up in the end and while I wish it had been a little longer, I didn’t feel that it was rushed. Soundless was entertaining and interesting with a good balance of action and emotion.
This seems like it’s unique in it’s own right. I love the world described here and the handicap of the people living in it. I didn’t enjoy VA like everyone else, so maybe this will be the book to make me want to read more from Mead. Great review!
Sounds interesting! I’m kind of off fantasy right now, but the premise is intriguing.
This was my first Richelle Mead YA and I think since I had no read any of her previous series I didn’t have those kind of expectations! I was quite surprised that for a standalone fantasy book that is actually quite short we got so much depth!
I can’t wait for this to come out so I can buy it. *grabby hands*
Oooh, I’m all for fantasy standalones at the moment. And I’m interested to see a different side of Mead’s writing, particularly because I was the black sheep in really enjoying her adult UF Age of X series.
This book sounds very different from VA and Bloodlines indeed. The premise is intriguing, although I hear this one is a bit slow. I feel like there should have been more buildup or impact behind Fei regaining her hearing, but I really want to find out what these shocking revelations are. Great review!
I’ve been reading mixed reviews for this one but I am looking forward to reading it.
Karen @For What It’s Worth
The idea of Soundless is really interesting. I haven’t read the Vampire Academy series but I might give this one a go 🙂 Great review!
Zareena @ The Slanted Bookshelf
I am glad to hear you enjoy this one. I have not read any of her other books so I won’t have much to compare it to, which might be a goood thing!