She could have renamed her characters and plonked them down in medieval England with no real narrative impact.” One of the criticisms I read of the book before I read the book itself said, “While Mead may be commended for attempting to create a world based on a non-Western culture, her use of Chinese mythology and culture is superficial at best. The plot is both simplistic and full of holes, but it wasn’t terrible. However, since this one featured a “Chinese” setting, I picked it up. I’m not a fan of YA novels in general, their plots are simplistic at best, problematic at worst, so I hadn’t read any of Mead’s books before.

Richelle Mead takes readers on a triumphant journey from the peak of Fei’s jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiguo, where a startling truth and an unlikely romance will change her life forever… My Review Fei’s home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.īut soon Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon. When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink and many go hungry. Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom. About Soundlessįor 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. Richelle Mead, the hugely successful author behind the Vampire Academy series, stepped into new territory this year with Soundless, a fantasy novel set an a China-inspired world.

Soundless by Richelle Mead