The Weight of Silence

The Weight of Silence

By: Heather Gudenkauf

As far as my book reading speed goes, I’d say I’m kind of slow. Which is why you know something is up when I finish a book in…what under a week? Ok – so the book wasn’t a particularly difficult read and we’re not looking about 800 pages here, but still – in my book (no pun intended), that says I must have liked it. And I did!

The Weight of Silence plainly put is a solid, quick, enjoyable read. It’s a quickie, but a goodie. I would classify this book as a plot-filled suspense book. However, it’s not suspense in the way you think. It’s not a “thriller” or a scary book – it just keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what will happen next.

The main gist of the story is that Calli is a young girl who hasn’t spoken a single word in four years, after something traumatic happened. Calli and her best friend go missing early one morning and an intense hunt begins to find them. Along the way, we learn a great deal about Calli and her best friend Petra’s family histories. It’s very touching at times and I found myself getting a wee bit emotional here and there – but nothing crazy. And there certainly have been books that have made me sob.

But I digress. You follow the main characters along this crusade to find the children and each chapter is narrated by a different person. This really helped to move the story along, keep me interested (who was coming next?) and develop the characters better by giving them each distinct voices.

I very much enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone. I also think it happens to be a particularly good book to pick up after perhaps you’ve finish a lengthy novel or a novel with intense ideas or themes. Give your brain a break and just let yourself fly along with the plot of this book.