Monday 20 August 2012

Review: Circle of Silence by Carol M. Tanzman

Title: Circle of Silence
Author: Carol M Tanzman
Published: 25 July 2012
Source: HarlequinTEEN Australia
Reviewed: Sapphireddragon
SapphiredDragon Rating: *** 1/2
20120817-210159.jpg
THE BIGGEST STORY OF MY LIFE COULD BE HOW IT ENDS It's my turn to run a "Campus News" crew, and I've put together a team that can break stories wide open. And Washington Irving High has a truly great one to cover, if only we can find a lead.

A secret society has formed in our school. It announced its presence with pranks: underwear on the flagpole, a toilet in the hallway, cryptic notes. A circle of silence keeps the society a mystery. No one knows its members, agenda or initiation secrets-until a student lands in the hospital under "strange" circumstances.

I "will" blow this story wide open and stop others from being hurt...or worse. And while my ex, Jagger, might want to help, I don't trust him yet. (And, no, not because of our past together. That is "not" important to this story.)

But whether you find me, Valerie Gaines, reporting in front of the camera, or a victim in the top story of the newscast...be sure to watch "Campus News" at 9:00 a.m. this Friday.

Review: Circle of Silence is the second book in the WiHi series by Carol M. Tanzman and I must admit I haven't actually read book number 1:Dancergirl.  That being said, I still found Circle of Silence a very good read

The book itself was a fast, easy read and I managed to finish it in just a few hours.  The story was clever, spun tight and well paced, dropping enough clues along the way to keep the reader guessing and continuing to read.  While I did guess a part of the ending, it was still well thought out and surprising enough to be satisfying.

The only slightly disappointing part was that I didn't become emotionally invested in the story. I am one of those people who likes to live the story along with the characters. With a great story, I am able to do that and come out the other side wrought with some strong emotion, be it a warm glow of a happily ever after, or a stunned disbelief at a cliff I've been hung from.  While I read this story and kept reading because I wanted to know what happened next, I didn't really connect to the main character Valerie, or even any of the characters really and in fact I kept forgetting Valerie's  name and even her nickname 'ValGal'. Whilst her character was ambitious and focused, I guess I didn't find her all that all that memorable or likable really.  Its a shame really as I really did find the story very good and believable so that emotional connection would really have taken it to the next level.

Overall though, I did enjoy Circle of Silence and am planning to go back and read DancerGirl.  Who knows, it may help with that emotional connection I so badly wanted.

Sapphired Dragon xx

No comments:

Post a Comment