Soundless by Richelle Mead (review)

Folkloric elements, a romance, and some Chinese cultural references combine in this story of a village oppressed beyond endurance. The quest for profits in the city below keeps most villagers laboring in mines, gathering metals that, when sent via a ropeline down a treacherous mountain, will mean food comes back up to them. It’s a pretty terrible life, especially since exposure to the metals has rendered the workers deaf for generations and now many are also going blind. When Fei, a quiet, thoughtful artist, discovers she can suddenly hear, she and her handsome beloved, Li Wei, decide to risk the terrible climb down to seek help for their people. Nothing down the mountain is as they believed, though, and the odds are slim that they’ll survive long enough to get back home, let alone save anyone. The spellbinding passages where an awestruck Fei painstakingly describes what it is like to hear for the first time are some of the best moments in the novel, and they’ll likely linger with readers. The miracle save by magical creatures is less effective, though, and it undercuts the power of the human protagonists. In addition, the book seems decorated with rather than embedded in Chinese mythology or culture—with different names, this book would work just as well in a number of other settings. Even with those concerns, the urgency of a mission to literally save everyone Fei loves, and one undertaken with her sweetheart, makes for a gripping read; additionally many readers will appreciate that the story is fully told in one volume, ending with a rich conclusion that wraps up all loose ends neatly.