A silent call for help began the friendship between two children. A bond unlike any other kept them together.
Finn was just a kid when he first heard Snow’s voice inside his head, two children in need of a friend and finding one in mysterious strangers. Never meeting in person, the pair grows up as opposites – Finn the boy who loves to get in trouble and works for the toughest drug lord in town, Snow the good, sheltered girl who wants to be a doctor.
The bond built upon a strange ability to hear each other’s thoughts is threatened when Snow is abducted, her screams for help consuming Finn’s mind until they disappear completely, submerging him in a terrifying silence he’s never known before. Now it’s up to Finn to save her, led only by Snow’s sporadic thoughts as she floats in and out of consciousness.
But the search for Snow leads him to a truth he isn’t prepared to face, a truth that has the power to unravel his entire world. The people he thought he knew, the life he thought he’d made, the best friend he thought he could protect – all point toward a brutal reality should he fail.
And as Finn struggles to find Snow before she slips away, he must fight to keep that reality out, lest he let the chaos in.
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**My thoughts**
I haven't been this impressed by a story in quite some time. I was looking for a different kind of read, because I had gotten myself into a kind of rut in genres. The blurb was captivating. The ability for the two children to communicate in their heads initially made me think of the original Escape to Witch Mountain. (Yes, I know, Tony wasn't able to talk back to Tia in his head, but the general concept is similar.)
Just as the blurb was captivating, so was the story from the beginning. That initial moment when the two connect telepathically sparked a strong desire to understand how and why this was happening. Knowing that their connection was partially due to their horrid circumstances just tugged at my heartstrings. I wanted to do something to help these children, to protect them from their worlds. But they are only meant to have each other.
As their story went on and they grew older, I found myself starting to wonder what it would be like to have someone almost on speed dial in my head. An instant helper and cheerleader for anything life threw at me. I loved that they had that in each other. I also loved how Snow worked so hard at being good all the time and managed to keep Finn somewhat in check. I loved how Finn kept doing what he was going to do in his "bad ass life," and yet Snow's voice was like a Jiminy Cricket conscious in his head, preventing him from going all out. The two are total opposites, and yet still have so much in common and need each other. It's a beautiful thing that we could all use in our lives. They are so fortunate to have found each other, and in this way.
Snow's abduction made me hurt. This intense connection of theirs is put to the test. And how do you explain it to those around you? When I hit this point in the novel, it was getting pretty late and I really needed to go to bed. I knew I would regret it in the morning if I didn't. But I couldn't put it down. I needed to know if Finn could find her. I needed to know what was going to happen if and when they finally met in person. And I'd read in other reviews that there was a great twist at the end. So, of course I needed to find out what that was. The whole time I was reading, my head was coming up with every possible scenario I could think of.
I plowed through to the end. And then that twist came. I was so confused at first and felt like I had missed something. I had to slow way down when reading, to make sure that I got all of the information and could process it. I went back through the story in my mind, to see if I had been given some clues to the twist. Perhaps they are there, but they are very well hidden, which I love in a book like this. I almost want to go back and reread it, knowing what I know now. I think the book the second time through would be a very different read.
So, all in all, I loved this book. It was refreshing to read something a little different in this saturated book market. I felt a lot of different emotions while going through it, which is always a good thing. I may have had a tear or two escape. I love this kind of reading experience. I also want to now check out some of Kristina's other books, to see how captivating they are for me, as well.
Meet the author:
Night owl, Dorito lover, and quiet eccentric – Kristina Circelli is the author of several fiction novels, including The Helping Hands series, The Whisper Legacy, The Never, and The Sour Orange Derby.
Her latest series, The Whisper Legacy, features Beyond the Western Sun. This book is what all fantasy adventures must strive to be: a complex, intricate examination of human emotion set within the context of worlds known only in our imagination. Melding fantasy and legend in an epic quest, this series signals the arrival of Kristina Circelli as a master storyteller and an important voice in Native American literature.
A descendent of the Cherokee nation and niece of a Cherokee elder, Circelli holds both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English from the University of North Florida, where she teaches creative writing. She also heads Red Road Editing, a full-service editing company for independent authors and commercial clients.
She currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida with her husband, Seth, and cats, Lord Finnegin the Fierce and Mr. Malachi the Mighty.
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