Silence

by Michelle Sagara

Story summary: One fateful visit to her boyfriend's grave reveals that there is something special about Emma: she is a Necromancer, and can see and touch the dead. And then two newcomers show up at her school, who turn out to be hunters of Necromancers, sent to kill her.

Thoughts: Surprisingly delightful book. When I read the inside cover, it sounded like a stereotypical YA book without any particular redeeming qualities. But it came recommended by someone so I tried it out, and I'm very glad I did. On the surface, I suppose it is fairly normal for a YA book nowadays--there's the ordinary girl who turns out to be special, and surprise! All that paranormal stuff is real! She meets a boy who is involved with all the said paranormal stuff, then gathers a group of other teenagers around her, and together they fight evil. But this book has some important differences from the standard fare. Emma's boyfriend and father both recently passed away, and she is still suffering from the grief. Partly because of this, the characters' reactions are all much more realistic. There is no romance at all, for instance (although there is the distinct possibility of some in the future). This seems almost unheard of to me for this type of book. But even if there had been, although it would have lessened my opinion, I still would have had a lot of fun with this book because of the secondary characters. I love me a group of evil-fighting teens a la Buffy, and this bunch was awesome. I especially liked the autistic character, Michael. I believe one of Sagara's own sons is autistic, so he is portrayed very well, as a person in his own right with flaws and strengths.

P.S. Just for the record, because I like to keep track of these things for my own amusement, Chase was my favourite character here. I'm not totally sure why, but his kind of character really appeals to me when they are a secondary character. I'm not sure I would have liked him as much if he had taken Eric's place.
P.P.S. Also, Sagara is Canadian! The whole book takes place in Toronto. Go Canada!
P.P.P.S. I have also now reviewed the sequel, Touch.

Grade: 3 1/2 stars