Circle of Silence – Carol M. Tanzman
Editura: Harlequin Teen
Data publicare: 24 iulie 2012
Numar pagini: 304
Sinopsis:
The biggest story of my life could be how it ends. It’s my turn to run a “Campus News” crew, and I’ve put together a team that can break stories wide open. And Washington Irving High has a truly great one to cover, if only we can find a lead.
A secret society has formed in our school. It announced its presence with pranks: underwear on the flagpole, a toilet in the hallway, cryptic notes. A circle of silence keeps the society a mystery. No one knows its members, agenda or initiation secrets-until a student lands in the hospital under “strange” circumstances.
I “will” blow this story wide open and stop others from being hurt..or worse. And while my ex, Jagger, might want to help, I don’t trust him yet. (And, no, not because of our past together. That is “not” important to this story.)
But whether you find me, Valerie Gaines, reporting in front of the camera, or a victim in the top story of the newscast…be sure to watch “Campus News” at 9:00 a.m. this Friday.
Parerea mea:
Multumesc editurii Harlequin Teen si autoarei, Carol M. Tanzman pentru ca mi-au oferit aceasta carte pentru recenzie.
Circle of silence imbina trasaturile romanului politist cu cel young adult. Valerie Gaines este redactor sef al uneia dintre echipele de stiri ai liceului in care invata. In momentul in care o societate secreta isi anunta prezenta prin cateva farse, Valerie este automat intrigata de poveste si incearca sa afle cine sunt membrii gastii. Dar lucrurile avanseaza rapid, iar de la farsele inocente pana la initierile aproape mortale, nu mai este decat un pas. Iar viata catorva dintre apropiatii lui Valerie atarna de un fir.
Sincer, pana pe la jumatatea cartii povestea se lungeste atat de mult incat devine plictisitoare. Intr-adevar, misterul exista, insa intriga nu este parca indeajuns de bine dezvoltata. Ma asteptam la niste situatii mai tensionate, de genul celor intalnite in Micutele Mincinoase, la suspans si secrete care sa te tina cu sufletul la gura. Din pacate, farsele prezentate sunt plictisitoare, modul in care echipa de ziaristi aspiranti urmareste povestea este destul de superficial, iar la un moment dat esti convins ca romanul nu are cum sa aduca ceva cu adevarat interesant. Totul se schimba insa in momentul in care unul dintre personajele principale este la un pas sa isi piarda viata. Iar o alta persoana foarte apropiata de Valerie se dovedeste a fi membru al societatii secrete. Abia de pe la jumatate, cartea incepe sa te tina in suspans. Mai ales ca pana la momentul respectiv, ai ajuns sa fii aproape sigur ca nu vei avea parte decat de o lectura acceptabila, iar surpriza este deci si mai mare. Finalul insa, ofera doar pe jumatate ceea ce asteapta cititorul. Pe de-o parte, avem dezvaluirea legata de unul dintre membrii societatii, dar pe de alta parte, restul membrilor sunt necunoscuti, nu au o poveste in spate, nu sunt legati de personajele principale, deci aflarea identitatii acestora nu ofera un moment captivant.
Latura romance a romanului este ok, dar nu impresioneaza. Valerie este prinsa intre fosta relatie si posibilitatea unui nou iubit, dar lucrurile nu avanseaza foarte mult in nici una dintre directii. Tatonarile cu colegul ce o curteaza raman la stadiul de inceput, cei doi neavand parte nici macar de o prima intalnire. Iar relatia cu fostul iubit este reinnodata abia dupa finalul aventurii, atunci cand eroina ofera un fel de concluzie a intregii povesti.
Bile albe:
– Autoarea a reusit cateva momente perfecte, in care ti se taie respiratia, iar ceea ce citesti este in totalitate neasteptat. Din pacate, aceste pasaje nu sunt foarte dese si nu reusesc sa compenseze lipsa de elemente captivante din restul cartii.
Bile negre:
– Povestea se desfasoara in principal pe un singur plan, cel al cercetarii povestii de catre Valerie si echipa ei. Restul aspectelor sunt tratate prea superficial, iar povestea pare dezechilibrata si incompleta.
English version:
I received Circle of silence by courtesy of Harlequin Teen publisher and Mrs. Carol M. Tanzman, the author of the book. Thank you for offering me the book for review! Because English is not my native language, please accept my excuses for the possible mistakes.
Circle of silence is mixing the characteristics of the detective fiction with the ones of the young adult literature. Valerie Gaines is a news reporter in her high-school. When a secret society begins to signal their presence by some tricks, Valerie is intrigued by the story and tries to find out who are the clan’s members. But everything happens to quickly, and from the innocent tricks to some fatal initiations, there’s just a tiny step. And the lives of some close friends of Valerie are in danger.
Honestly, until the half of the novel the story is so outstretched, that it becomes boring. Indeed, we have some mystery, but the intrigue is not very well built. I was expecting some thrilling moments, something like Pretty Little Liars, lots of suspense or some secrets that blow your mind. Unfortunately, the secret society’s tricks are boring and the way the news team follows the story is superficial. At some point, you really lose the hope that the book could bring something interesting. But everything changes when one of the main characters almost loses his life. And when you find out that another character, one that’s really close to Val, is actually a member of the secret society. Only from the half, the book begins to captivate you. Especially because at that point, you’re almost sure that the book is only..acceptable, so the surprise is even bigger. The ending is only partially offering what the reader would expect. We do get the revelation of one of the society’s members, but the other ones are unknown, they don’t have a story, they’re not linked in any way with the main characters, so their identities revelation is not offering an interesting moment.
The romance side of the story is ok, but not impressive. Valerie is caught between her ex and the possibility of a new relation, but the stories don’t grow to much. The flirting with the new colleague remains at an incipient level, the two characters never getting a first date. And the relation with her ex is resumed only after the whole adventure, when the protagonist is offering kind of a conclusion for the story.
Pros:
– The author created some perfect moments, when you’re totally surprised, because you couldn’t expect any of those things to happen. Unfortunately, these fragments are not very frequent and they don’t cancel all the lack of interesting aspects from the rest of the story.
Cons:
– The story comes off on a single plan – the news team attempts to figure out who are the secret society’s members. The other aspects are presented in a superficial way, so the story looks unbalanced and incomplete.
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