Name: Juliana Matias's review of Silent Child by Sarah A. Denzil
Item: Silent Child
Rating: 3
Author: Juliana Matias

Sarah A. Denzil

In the summer of 2006, Emma Price watched helplessly as her six-year-old son's red coat was fished out of the River Ouse. It was the tragic story of the year - a little boy, Aiden, wandered away from school during a terrible flood, fell into the river, and drowned. His body was never recovered. Ten years later, Emma has finally rediscovered the joy in life. She's married, pregnant, and in control again... ... until Aiden returns. Too traumatized to speak, he raises endless questions and answers none. Only his body tells the story of his decade-long disappearance. The historic broken bones and injuries cast a mere glimpse into the horrors Aiden has experienced. Aiden never drowned. Aiden was taken. As Emma attempts to reconnect with her now teenage son, she must unmask the monster who took him away from her. But who, in their tiny village, could be capable of such a crime? It's Aiden who has the answers, but he cannot tell the unspeakable. This dark and disturbing psychological novel will appeal to fans of The Widow and The Butterfly Garden.

Silent Child

Juliana Matias

In the summer of 2006, Emma Price watched helplessly as her six-year-old son's red coat was fished out of the River Ouse. It was the tragic story of the year - a little boy, Aiden, wandered away from school during a terrible flood, fell into the river, and drowned. His body was never recovered.Ten years later, Emma has finally rediscovered the joy in life. She's married, pregnant, and in control again...... until Aiden returns.Too traumatized to speak, he raises endless questions and answers none. Only his body tells the story of his decade-long disappearance. The historic broken bones and injuries cast a mere glimpse into the horrors Aiden has experienced. Aiden never drowned. Aiden was taken.As Emma attempts to reconnect with her now teenage son, she must unmask the monster who took him away from her. But who, in their tiny village, could be capable of such a crime? It's Aiden who has the answers, but he cannot tell her the unspeakable.

tori 👻

wow this was terrible in every possible way

Cassandra Jane

Toyah Blackburn

I borrowed this book on Kindle because it was included in a list in an article I read and I thought it sounded quite interesting. I wasn't expecting much beyond an easy read but I was pleasantly surprised! 

Young mum Emma's son goes missing during a flood and is never found, presumed dead. Fast forward ten years and as Emma is preparing for the birth of her second child with new husband Jake Aiden turns up out of the blue, alive but psychologically traumatised and mute. 

The story follows the subsequent events that unfold as Emma tries to understand what happened to her child all those years ago, where he's been and who took him. 

Suspicion falls on pretty much everyone and right from the start I had an uneasy feeling about Emma's control freak husband Jake, who persuaded her to sell her parents' cottage after they died in a car crash, and move in with him. Emma hates his house and is never allowed to add her own personal touches to the decor. Jake is disdainful of the people around her and critical of her habits, reminding her to clean up after herself in the kitchen etc. An all round weird guy. 

When Aiden returns and moves in with them, Jake visibly struggles to adjust to the upheaval and straight away tries to control his behaviour, laying down rules, despite the obvious struggle Aiden has to adjust. 

There are certain aspects of this book that make you question Emma's reliability as narrator. This combined with different sides to the characters being revealed as the story continues means you're left suspecting everyone as events unfold, history is retold and perspectives are shifted.

I felt the characterisation of the young Rob (Aiden's dad) as a teenage rebel dropout who was in a band and got tattoos was slightly lazy stereotyping. Some of the elements were a bit predictable, and I wasn't altogether surprised by the ending, but nevertheless it's a great page turner.

Claire Knight

Excellent book. And for me, having it performed by Joanne Froggatt on Audible totally made this book. She was brilliant and made me want to keep listening.

Shirley Jones 

Omg what an amazing story, I absolutely loved Silent Child, i was hooked right from the start, I have read all of Sarah's book and rated everyone 5 stars they were all brilliant and can't wait for her next one.

Sofia Pereira

I really really really loved this book! It made me feel creeped out and afraid and thats exactly what i was expecting! Great Halloween read!

Laura

The author's note in the back cracks me up. Apparently, Ms Denzil has blessed me with her permission to leave an honest review. Now, I didn't really think that I needed her permission in the first place, but hey, it's always nice to know it's there.

This book lied to me. It promised it was perfect for fans of The Butterfly Garden, and that it was a twisty and disturbing psychological thriller. It also promised me it was about a kidnapped boy trying to survive after captivity and a mother trying to figure out who kidnapped her son.

In reality, this book is perhaps better for someone who liked The Girl on the Train, or hell, even The Cellar (though the idea that anyone unironically actually likes The Cellar still confuses me). It's a rather tame "thriller" that ended up being more about Emma than anyone else, including Aiden.

The Girl on the Train is the most obvious comparison, and one I'm surprised the blurb didn't make. Denzil clearly tries to mimic Paula Hawkins' writing style. I don't know, though. I thought the way Silent Child was written felt hollow. There was something off I couldn't quite put my finger on- some of the descriptions and phrases were nicely written, and there was some cool imagery, but it didn't feel like it fit in with the story, and kind of forced. I don't think that's Denzil's natural writing style. That topped off with the fact that there's so much telling and the narrative style was such a turn off made the writing unpleasant to say the least. 

But believe it or not, the writing was the most tolerable part about this book. The characters, and the way Denzil took this story was horrible.

Let's start off with Emma. Emma's one of those martyr mother main characters with a huge victim complex. Everything is about her, and nothing is her fault. If this was a cancer book instead of a kidnapping book, Emma would spend the entire time whining about how hard her child's illness is on her. For some reason, I kept thinking about the mother from My Sister's Keeper in comparison to Emma, and how that mother wasn't a particularly fine specimen of motherhood but I could believe she honestly cared for her children, and everything she did in that book was for her cancer-ridden daughter. She didn't spend entire chapters moping over how horrible her situation was and playing the victim martyr. Honestly, nothing in this book is really about Aiden. Even the motivation for his kidnapping is all about Emma. And to top it off, she's one of those characters who we are tailored to like- the poor, grieving mother in the clutches of bad, bad men. Spare me the Lifetime movie. 

Continue reading this review on my blog here: http://bookwormbasics.blogspot.com/20...

Rachel Schommer

Unlike the last Sarah A. Denzil novel I read, this one was completely predictable. I found the characters exhausting throughout most of the book, but am glad I stuck it out as I did enjoy the end.

Juliana Matias &
Silent Child by Sarah A. Denzil

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