Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Șoaptele

I wasn’t really impressed with this. However, I’m not a mother, nor do I want to be one, and this book was clearly written for mothers. I’m also perhaps not a fan of domestic thrillers (evidenced by my recent string of bad experiences trying to read them), although I wouldn’t call this a thriller at all. There is a “mystery”, but not much tension around the reveal. The writing was much better than others that I’ve dnf’ed or rated poorly recently, with decently fleshed out characters with relatively distinct voices and motives. The writing was enough to draw me in and keep me reading to find out how the story wrapped up.

Content Warnings

nicolegw's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

emilyctrigg's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

laurenabeth's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was unfortunately a major miss for me. The non-linear timeline, the focus being on the most unredeemable characters, and the predictability of the ending truly disappointed me.

I won’t go into a summary, but while I find this book to be raw and insightful, I didn’t find it especially well written or constructed. There are too many voices, too many timelines, too many unnecessarily jarring scenes that come off gratuitous for shock value. If the book is about womanhood and how hard it is, about motherhood and what defines it, about escaping what we thought we wanted for what we think we can live with… I understand the purpose of the book but found it poorly executed.

Whitney and Blair are both monstrous, the husbands are all unfit, and the kids are uniformly forsaken for their parents’ petty whims.

The ending was predictable and no one emerges from the text unscathed. So what was the point? What I’m sure started off as a character study ended up being more of a grueling race to the finish, which is actually where the story begins.

I’m befuddled and let down, frankly.

Content Warnings

slad's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

tracey_b's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark sad tense slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

meganrae047's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

starrysteph's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This made my stomach churn from start to finish (complimentary!!). Ashley Audrain has done it again - she’s created a compelling, unsavory psychological drama that zeroes in on the most painful aspects of motherhood.

The Whispers centers around a group of women who neighbor each other in suburbia. Their lives are altered when a young boy falls from his bedroom window in the middle of the night and ends up fighting for his life in the hospital. Each narrator hides their own secrets & desires & uncomfortable truths - and they eventually have to confront their own roles leading up to the events of that tragic night.

It’s about the transformational power of motherhood, sacrifices made for partners and children, uncontrollable envy, and those intuitive ‘whispers’ that we often try to silence.

I would call the story both slow burn and character-driven, but I was reading FRENETICALLY. I couldn’t part from the book, even when it made me nauseated or horrified or furious. Audrain writes these perspectives so intimately, carefully, and compassionately that it’s hard not to place yourself in their shoes (and cross your fingers that you would make different choices).

None of these women can have it all - career-wise, love-wise, child-wise - and it breaks them one by one.

It’s messy and terrible and you may want to climb into the book and shake some of these women (Whitney, I’m looking you dead in the eyes). I felt raw after reading the final words.

CW: child death, child abuse, graphic miscarriages, pregnancy, infertility, infidelity, ableism, medical trauma, suicidal thoughts, grief, toxic friendship, bullying, sexual content

Follow me on TikTok for book recommendations!

(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

Content Warnings

More...