"Don't Breathe a Word" Review

Don’t Breathe a Word

By Jennifer McMahon

8/10

My Synopsis:

The town of Reliance sits empty in the middle of the woods - the residents having vanished one mysterious night many years ago.  Just the foundations and cellars remain of the houses that once were.  This is where Lisa first sees the lights.  Could they be fairies?  Lisa believes in fairies with all her heart but when she suddenly vanishes from the woods behind her house is it a supernatural event or a mortal abduction?  Now, fifteen years later, Lisa’s brother Sam and his girlfriend Pheobe get a call from someone claiming to be Lisa who knows things only Lisa would know.  They set out to find the truth and maybe, just maybe, Lisa herself.

My Opinion:

Don’t Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon is a fast paced, suspense filled story interweaving fairytales and reality in a very disturbing way.  The narration switches from today to fifteen years ago with each chapter making it a bit confusing as to what you know from the past chapters and what the characters actually know from the present chapters.  I started off not liking Pheobe but warmed up to her as the story progressed and loved her by the end of the book.  She seemed to be the only constant within the story and the one thing that you could rely on as being “real”.  The whole book makes you question what is reality and what isn’t.  It is very confusing at times.  I had trouble keeping track of who was really who at certain points.  The story is full of intriguing twists and turns but there are so many it starts to make your head spin.  Just when you think you’ve got it figured out something else is revealed and everything changes.  The author does a good job feeding the reader bits of information just as they are needed to keep up the suspense.  I tried to figure out what actually happened but couldn’t see it coming except the very last little end bit.  I didn’t want to put the book down for the last 150 pages which raised my expectations of the ending and I’m afraid I was a bit let down.  I found the ending was surprising, unbelievable, disturbing, and confusing.  I still didn’t quite know what to think of some of the characters at the end.  A good book but the Teilo concept left me wondering.  8/10