I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

I have enjoyed Lupton's other novels and this was no exception. The setting, Alaska, above the Arctic Circle was well done with the references to the native population, the stars, the wildlife and more through the eyes of the characters. The plot was not very plausible, but one wants to believe in the strong characters of Ruby and her mom as they ride off to save Matt. The characterization of the deaf daughter, Ruby, was well done. I liked the strong voice she maintained throughout the book.

Although this is a novel of suspense and adventure, the message about the environment and fracking comes through loud and clear.

Well done!

Loved this book. So original.

The last chapter was disappointing. Kind of a crazy far fetched plot. I'd advise skipping.

I received an ARC of this book from The Reading Room. This is was tense, engaging suspense novel. Rosamund Lupton is an amazing writer and did an incredible job of making you feel like you were there in a dark Alaskan night with Yasmin and Ruby. It kept me guessing until the pursuer of Yasmin and Ruby was revealed. I would have liked a little more closer at the end - maybe a short epilogue to let you know how everything turned out. I highly recommend this book especially if you enjoy a good psychological, suspense novel.

I loved Rosamund Lupton's 2 prior books - Sister and Afterwards. They were both excellent mysteries/drama. I wasn't as enamored with this book, however. It was a good story about the relationship between the mother and daughter and enjoyed reading about the world of deaf people. I didn't feel it had much suspense and what the mother had to do to find her husband was not believable. I would still read her next book but not get it right away - would wait until it was out a while and the price dropped.

I received The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton from the program, Blogging for Books. I am super excited to publish my review!

Ruby is a 10 year old girl who just happens to be deaf. When her mom Yasmin hears the news that Ruby's father, Matt, might have died in an unfortunate fire in Anaktue in northern Alaska, they both make their way to Fairbanks. Yasmin finds it hard to believe Matt could be dead and she is determined to find him, no matter what it takes.

Yasmin begins asking anyone and everyone she see's if they know of anyway she can get a ride to Anaktue or at least the closest town, Deadhorse. She is finally able to hitch a ride from a kind truck driver, Adeeb Azizi.

They begin making their way across the frozen tundra, when Adeeb suddenly becomes ill and is unable to continue. Yasmin takes it upon herself to continue the journey...driving the truck herself.

With a major storm fast approaching, Yasmin and Ruby have to do all they can to safely (as safe as they can with ice packed roads) get as far as they possibly can before the storm hits. The reader is taken on an adventure with Ruby and Yasmin to find Ruby's father.

I really enjoyed this book. The story kept me hooked from the very beginning and I stayed up far into the night just to see what was going to happen next. Ruby was a wonderful character with a sweet and fun personality. Yasmin was a protective mother, which learned more about her daughter throughout the entire book and eventually began to level with Ruby about things she never thought she would. The whole story gave Yasmin the chance to truly get to know her daughter.

I will say that the writing style was a bit different than what I'm used to. Rosamund Lupton is an English writer and American English does vary from British English. For example, she would use "sat phone" for cell phone and even when she was writing from an American's point of view, she would use sat phone. It bothered me that she did not think about the simple things such as that, while the rest of her story had so much obvious research.

This was a great story of growth, love, passion, and hope. I recommend anyone with a love for their family to read this family's story.

Overall, I rate this book with 4 stars!

Talented novelist takes a bit of a big swing here and whiffs. The idea is pretty good. Astrophysicist Yasmin drags her ten year old daughter Ruby, who is deaf, to Alaska after hearing her husband and Ruby's father Chris, a wildlife photographer, was killed in a fire that took out a small Inupiaq town way the hell up north. Their marriage was on shaky ground under suspicion that Chris fell for an Inupiaq woman. Some instinct tells her that her husband is still alive, so she finagles a ride on a truck to get to this village just as a major storm is blowing in. Circumstances I will not completely reveal leave Yasmin driving the truck herself while being tailed by another rig as she desperately tries to reach her husband who, again, everyone presumes is dead.

This is a tough plot because three quarters of the book is Yasmin and Ruby in a cab of a truck. Lupton tries to break it up by flashing back to Chris and Yasmin's courtship but it is pretty claustrophobic. Not many people can really build tension on this premise, except for maybe Stephen King and possibly Emma Donoghue (who wrote a positive blurb for this book). It's a heavy lift and Lupton doesn't succeed.

The other issue is Ruby's voice. Lupton is trying to get into the mind and mimic the language of a ten year old girl and doesn't quite get there. For example, she overuses slang like Supercoolio

She is on surer ground with the adults. Yasmin feels realer. And she does manage to beautifully describe the Alaskan landscape.

Lupton is a good novelist and you can feel that throughout. She manages to create a solid relationship between Yasmin and Ruby, the main conflict being Yasmin trying to get Ruby to talk and not use a device that she can type her words into and absolutely not use a laptop, which she fears distorts the real world situations that Ruby will find herself in as an adult.

The mystery itself (how did the town get torched and who is trying to stop them from getting there) is fairly predictable to figure out. It is more a framework to hang the characters conflicts and development on.

It is not a bad novel at all. It just feels like a talented writer spinning her wheels.