Word and Breath (Wordless Chronicles #1) By Susannah Noel – a review

From author’s website:

Riana has learned how to stay out of trouble. She spends her days studying written texts in the government’s Office of Readers, and she spends her nights taking care of her sick sister. She always—always—follows the rules.  Despite her low profile, she has mysteriously become a target. Someone has kidnapped her sister. Someone else is trying to kill her. And someone has sent a Soul-Breather to beguile her out of her secrets. Her help comes from the mythic leader of an underground rebel movement. A man who used to be her friend. A man who has silently loved her for years. He disappeared from her life without a word, and now he expects her to trust him again. Then there’s the Soul-Breather, a man who can taste her spirit with only a touch. He makes her feel things she’s never experienced before, but she doesn’t know if the feelings are real. Hired to deceive and betray her, he offers to help her instead. Without both men, she can’t rescue her sister. And she can’t discover the world-changing knowledge—buried in her memory—that has made her a target in the first place.

Review:  Released August 2012

I have to be honest here as I really don’t know where to begin. This wasn’t my type of book/story. So it’s hard for me to write up a review on a book I didn’t connect with at all. From the short synopsis that is given by the author on her site it sounded like something I would like, but upon starting the story and realizing it’s very heavy in the dystopian genre, I knew it wouldn’t be my cup of tea. I’m not a fan of the dystopian genre, it was never my favourite subject in school and still isn’t to this day. So you see my issue here, so I will try my best to give an unbiased review and hope for the best. 😉

If you are a fan of the dystopian genre, intrigue, suspense, and a love triangle thrown in, then this book will be right up your alley. I found the plot development and storyline ideas to be well developed and moved along at a decent pace. For me I would have preferred more action, but I saw that the author was building up to something big for the last couple of chapters. Groundwork needed to be laid first to get to those chapters, and that’s just what the author did with the first half of the book. In doing so, we get to see the character’s develop on their own and with each other. Her characters are solid and real, and the element of the soul-breathers is pretty neat. However, I didn’t care for Mikeal, the soul breather hired by the Union to deceive and gather information from Rianna. Probably because I’m a romantic and believe in happy every after between two people who are meant to be together, and for me that was Rianna and her best friend Reed Connor, who had to go underground in order to become the leader of The Front. So for me the element of the love triangle in this story was a complete distraction for me, causing me to dislike Mikeal all the more.

As the story progresses we learn there are three fractions all working to obtain a different purpose since the cataclysm. To which we never truly learn what this major event was that caused the world to be the way it is in the book. That was another major issue with me, but since the book doesn’t really end with the last chapter I’m assuming we’ll learn more in the next installment. As I said earlier, she laid all kinds of groundwork, but really leaves the reader with more questions, than answers. At least that’s how I felt when I finished the book. I guess if I want these questions answered I’ll have to read her next installment Word and Deed which is scheduled for release this December.

Even though I’m not a fan of the dystopian genre and didn’t really make any major connections, I did find myself enjoying how Rianna went from a shy quiet, stay in the shadows type, to a woman of action and purpose. We really see her shine in the last part of the book and see that she has much more to offer. I guess you can say her character ‘grows up’ in this book, and discovers herself and finds her purpose in life. To unlock the mysteries her grandfather left her regarding the written word. As the book comes to a close Rianna makes the decision to go with Connor(Reed) and figure out just what her grandfather was trying to teach her as a young girl.

As I said earlier, I was left with more questions then answers at the conclusion of this book. Will Rianna learn the truth of these mysteries? Will Rianna and Connor grow closer and fall in love, or do her and Mikeal still have a chance? Will the Union and the Zealots send others after Rianna? Will The Front make any major headway against these two factions?

The questions for me are endless and I guess the only way to get them answered is to read the next book. Who knows, if I do, maybe I’ll make more of a connection with the story second time around.

ORDER LINKS: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Reading Cafe /

Copy supplied by author

Reviewed by Marcie