Review: The Silent Waters

The Silent Waters by Brittainy C. Cherry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A review to the girl who made me cry

I feel there's not enough words to describe how powerful and soul shaking this read is, in the most beautiful way, may I add.

It's been a while since I read something that touched me so deeply, that made me ugly cry, laugh and fall in love at the same time. It's been a while since a book changed me. Therefore, it's also been a while since my last 5 stars read, but this book deserves all the stars in the sky.

When I signed to read this I realized I was going to be gifted with the possibility of reading a beautiful book, but it wasn't until I held it in my hands that I actually felt how excellent and moving this was going to be. When a book starts with a dedication of the author that says: "To the drifters like me who float away. To the anchors who always bring us home" you have to know that you are preparing yourself for quite a ride.

I read it in a day and a half and the more I read the more I needed to keep reading. There was a craving inside me of not letting it go without finishing. I needed to know what will happen with the characters that I got to love so deeply. I needed it to *almost* keep breathing:

It all began with a rocket ship nightlight and a boy who didn't know me

BLURB



Moments.

Our lives are a collection of moments. Some utterly painful and full of yesterday's hurts. Some beautifully hopeful and full of tomorrow's promises.

I’ve had many moments in my lifetime, moments that changed me, challenged me. Moments that scared me and engulfed me. However, the biggest ones—the most heartbreaking and breathtaking ones—all included him.

I was ten years old when I lost my voice. A piece of me was stolen away, and the only person who could truly hear my silence was Brooks Griffin. He was the light during my dark days, the promise of tomorrow, until tragedy found him. Tragedy that eventually drowned him in a sea of memories.

This is the story of a boy and girl who loved each other, but didn’t love themselves. A story of life and death. Of love and broken promises.

Of moments.

If you start reading the synopsis you may think that this is a love story and it may be, but I'd say that most importantly, this is a story about love, life and changes. This is a story about not only a girl and a boy who loved each other but also about their families and friends who loved them. A story about fears and earth-shaking situations, about humans, about you, about us, about me. I could be Maggie May or I could be Brooks, I may even be all of them, and you may be them as well.

But I'll let you decide that, and for now I'm going to tell you about my journey with this powerful voice of Brittainy C. Cherry. I was new to this author, this was the very first book of hers that I read, but now I've already purchased two more (the previous books in this series, all can be read as standalones) that are waiting for me to pick them up and bring them to life again. I have to say that I'm in love with the poetical writing of Mrs. Cherry, her narrative feels like a classical song that I could hear over and over and it'd reverberate in my soul. It's not always, nowadays, that you find such a gifted person like her, she's talented and skilled. She obviously knows what she's doing with her pen, she's no amateur, she knows how to guide you into the story, how to pull the different characters' voices and to keep her literary resourses going on in a subtle way that you could *almost* not notice how beautifully and smartly placed they are.

The Silent Waters is told between two POVS, with the voice of Maggie May and Brooks.



When this story starts Maggie May was the most happy child you could find in this world, driven, romantic, with hopes and dreams, a lovely character to everyone around her but Brooks, who was a little boy not yet into girls. However, our Maggie was difficult to be turned down and little by little she approaches Brooks' heart. They're two little boys finding in each other their first crush and friendship. Until one day, one moment, things change for Maggie, her world is turned upside down (no, I'm not going to tell you why, you'll have to discover that) and she loses her voice. That voice that used to upset Brooks so much, and now he'll give everything he has to hear it again. And at the age of ten he promises to be the best friend he can be to her, he promises to be her anchor.



The story drifts between the two of them telling how their lives pass, how they grow together and how they grow appart, but the love between them always growing bigger. Ten years fly by and Maggie May continues not to speak or be able to live her life, she's scared to death of what happened when she was a kid, there's a magnetic and powerful voice inside her that won't let her discover the world. Brooks has stood next to her all this time, but now she knows it's time to let him go pursue his dream.

But sometimes dreams can become a nightmare and, again, lives can change within a second. This time is Maggie's turn to be his anchor, to help him see the light that he gave her. But in order to help him, she first has to save herself.



I loved both characters, Maggie May made me feel really sad for very long, but I could feel her, that little girl who was stolen her dreams, her hopes, her way to see the world. I could feel how she grew into a woman who was still a child, still scared. And I can't tell you enough how proud I ended up being of her. She was kind and loving, caring, funny even in her darkest, loyal and so, so strong, even when she didn't realize. And Brooks was a great boy with a golden heart, passionate and very talented. He was a protector. He was light, even when he only saw darkness.



Speaking of the secondary characters, I think they're all very necessary and smartly placed, from family to friends, the story wouldn't have been the same without them. They were the perfect complement to Maggie and Brook. The ones to show some of the biggest struggles as well. They represented real life.

So, to sum up, let's see:

*Great writing: checked
*Amazing story: checked
*Beautiful characters: checked

What's not to love of this story? The answer's nothing. I'm very grateful to the author for having written this story, for giving it a voice. It's a piece of art, thank you for letting me read it. It'll stay with me forever.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review*

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