Don't Breathe a Word | Review

Don't Breathe a Word

Author: Jennifer McMahon

Publisher: Harper
Genre: Fiction
Source: Whitby Public Library
Length: 502 pages
Format: Paperback
  

Don't Breathe a Word is a darkly mysterious novel with a story that moves between present day and fifteen years earlier, when main characters, Phoebe and Lisa, were children.

Once upon a time there was a 12-year-old girl named Lisa. One night she went into the woods behind her house, where lay the ruins of an old village, Reliance, and never returned. Don’t Breathe a Word may be about fairies, but is far from a fairy tale.

Before heading into the woods that night, Lisa told her brother, Sam, that she had found an entrance to a magical land where a Fairy King ruled. Her disappearance remained a mystery to her brother until fifteen years later when Sam and his girlfriend, Phoebe, receive a strange phone call about the hidden Book of Fairies that Lisa had with her just before she vanished.

Strange things begin to happen to Sam and Phoebe, which lead them through a maze of family secrets, unexplainable events, and shocking discoveries.

In one word, I would describe this book as creepy! The author, brilliantly, gives only little pieces of the story at a time, heightening suspense. The story is utterly unpredictable. It had me questioning reality. Did fairies really take Lisa?

Dark family secrets become childhood fairy tales; this tale will make your skin crawl.

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I give this book a rating of 10/10 and here’s why:

Text: I enjoyed the use of imagery, though not overly flowery – just enough to be able to visualize the barebones and use my imagination to fill the gaps.

Dialogue: McMahon switches between the dialogue of children and adults with ease and accuracy.

Plot: Reading this novel felt like driving to a cottage for the first time on a winding, hilly road, unsure of every turn. Mysteries aplenty, McMahon weaves a constantly surprising and intriguing storyline where I was continuously learning things about the characters’ past and was eager to know more.

Characters:  Both main characters, Lisa and Phoebe, have solid characters and are easy to like. I appreciated Phoebe’s hopefulness, despite her turbulent past and would describe Lisa as a free spirit. I sympathized with those who grieved the loss of Lisa after her disappearance.