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The Silence Between Us
Schneider Family Book Award, Best Teen Honor Book 2020
Contemporary fiction fans will find it hard to put down The Silence Between Us —a YA novel that doesn’t shy away from real-life issues including the challenges faced by those in the Deaf culture, relationship struggles, communication problems, and complicated families.
Deaf teen Maya moves across the country and must attend a hearing school for the first time. As if that wasn’t hard enough, she also has to adjust to the hearing culture, which she finds frustrating. As Maya looks past graduation and focuses on her future dreams, nothing, not even an unexpected romance, will derail her pursuits or cause her to question her own self worth.
Contemporary fiction fans will find it hard to put down The Silence Between Us —a YA novel that doesn’t shy away from real-life issues including the challenges faced by those in the Deaf culture, relationship struggles, communication problems, and complicated families.
Deaf teen Maya moves across the country and must attend a hearing school for the first time. As if that wasn’t hard enough, she also has to adjust to the hearing culture, which she finds frustrating. As Maya looks past graduation and focuses on her future dreams, nothing, not even an unexpected romance, will derail her pursuits or cause her to question her own self worth.
320 pages, Paperback
First published August 13, 2019
503 people are currently reading
11722 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,234 reviews
December 27, 2019
4 stars
Many of you don’t know this, but my grandmother and stepgrandfather were deaf. My parents and I are hearing, but I grew up around the deaf community and it has a very special place in my heart. What I loved most about this book was it captured very well what it is like to be deaf (as it should since the author is hard of hearing). When the characters spoke ASL, it was true ASL and not a hearing person thinking how deaf people speak.
This book made me miss my grandparents a lot. I wish my grandmother was still alive so I could give this book to her, she would have loved it.
Many of you don’t know this, but my grandmother and stepgrandfather were deaf. My parents and I are hearing, but I grew up around the deaf community and it has a very special place in my heart. What I loved most about this book was it captured very well what it is like to be deaf (as it should since the author is hard of hearing). When the characters spoke ASL, it was true ASL and not a hearing person thinking how deaf people speak.
This book made me miss my grandparents a lot. I wish my grandmother was still alive so I could give this book to her, she would have loved it.
June 10, 2019
I'm almost done with my second semester of ASL, and I love and appreciate the language. So I was very excited to read this book, from the perspective of a deaf high schooler, and I perked up when I realized that the ASL would actually be written as ASL instead of just translated into English like in most the other books I've read with a deaf character.
But the book left me wanting, in so many ways.
Without even getting into my problems with how certain aspects of Deaf culture were displayed, the characters were incredibly boring. I really don't know what the author was trying to do with the main character's personality. She was inconsistent. Maybe a stupid example, but Maya said at least 4 times, to the reader, "Why would I ever turn down food?" but we only ever saw her appreciate it one time, and it was cookies and her appreciation was simply her eating a lot of cookies. At one point, she was aghast when students were surprised that she could speak, and she made a HUGE deal about how deaf people are perfectly capable of speaking, but the author never once brought up that some deaf people CANNOT speak, or that they only choose to speak around certain people, or that deaf people who lost their hearing young, or were born deaf, have to go through intensive speech therapy to be able to speak well. It was such an illogical way for her to go about the situation, and, while I don't ask for characters to always make logical choices, I ask that, when it comes to representation of something so few people understand, they do.
Look at that. I already failed at not getting into my issues with the deaf aspect.
Sometimes I can get over characters' bland personalities if the romance is good and it brings out different aspects in the characters, but I have to say, this was quite possibly the most poorly written romance I have ever read. There was zero chemistry. ZERO chemistry. I honestly didn't pick up on the fact that the guy was the love interest until a few chapters in, and I was still skeptical. If you've read any number of romances, you know how obvious it usually is (and not in a bad way: if you can't tell, it means there's NO CHEMISTRY) (even platonic relationships have chemistry) but I thought that he was just going to be the nice friend who wanted to learn sign language because who reads past the first paragraph in a book summary. Not me, apparently.
Way too much of the plot was focused specifically on Maya's struggles being deaf in a mainstream school, and maybe this would have been more interesting or dynamic to me if I had less knowledge on the subject, but I think just the way it was presented seemed whiny and melodramatic rather than helping the reader understand where deaf people are coming from. Again, I could not get on board with Maya's character.
We also had two very common tropes: the kid whose dad wants them to go to medical school but the kid loves something else, and the kid who has a passion for a certain career, but they don't think they'll be able to get it. These are both still usable tropes, if done correctly, but these were tired situations.
Before I get into the rest of my problems with the deaf representation, I am just an ASL 2 student. I am well aware that I don't fully understand Deaf culture or any other aspect of being deaf. But our main character didn't understand what it meant, either, and I just couldn't get past the bad depiction.
It was weird to see Maya saying that she was part of the Deaf community (capital 'D' Deaf) when she had no connection to the community other than her one deaf friend she spoke to on FaceTime. She had just moved to a new town, but there was zero reference to deaf adults or other kids in her life. We also only saw 2 characters who liked being deaf, Maya and her friend.
Partway through the book, Maya tries to go out and meet deaf kids, but they were actually a group of kids with Cochlear Implants, and none of them used sign. Not a single person at the event had any respect for ASL or deaf people, and it made every person with a CI seem like jerks. And it wasn't like it was just the main character's opinions--it was the way the other characters acted.
When Maya had lost her hearing, her mother learned ASL along with her, and her younger brother learned a little. So when she went to the aforementioned CI group, she was surprised to find that the mother of one of the deaf kids didn't understand ASL. I understand that this book should not represent every deaf person, but this was coming directly from Maya's head. She was genuinely surprised--surprised--that the mom didn't know sign even though that type of situation (the family of a deaf kid not learning sign) is more common than it should be. If she was really part of the Deaf community, she would know this.
So. In the end, I did appreciate the way the ASL itself was portrayed. But that was pretty much my only positive.
But the book left me wanting, in so many ways.
Without even getting into my problems with how certain aspects of Deaf culture were displayed, the characters were incredibly boring. I really don't know what the author was trying to do with the main character's personality. She was inconsistent. Maybe a stupid example, but Maya said at least 4 times, to the reader, "Why would I ever turn down food?" but we only ever saw her appreciate it one time, and it was cookies and her appreciation was simply her eating a lot of cookies. At one point, she was aghast when students were surprised that she could speak, and she made a HUGE deal about how deaf people are perfectly capable of speaking, but the author never once brought up that some deaf people CANNOT speak, or that they only choose to speak around certain people, or that deaf people who lost their hearing young, or were born deaf, have to go through intensive speech therapy to be able to speak well. It was such an illogical way for her to go about the situation, and, while I don't ask for characters to always make logical choices, I ask that, when it comes to representation of something so few people understand, they do.
Look at that. I already failed at not getting into my issues with the deaf aspect.
Sometimes I can get over characters' bland personalities if the romance is good and it brings out different aspects in the characters, but I have to say, this was quite possibly the most poorly written romance I have ever read. There was zero chemistry. ZERO chemistry. I honestly didn't pick up on the fact that the guy was the love interest until a few chapters in, and I was still skeptical. If you've read any number of romances, you know how obvious it usually is (and not in a bad way: if you can't tell, it means there's NO CHEMISTRY) (even platonic relationships have chemistry) but I thought that he was just going to be the nice friend who wanted to learn sign language because who reads past the first paragraph in a book summary. Not me, apparently.
Way too much of the plot was focused specifically on Maya's struggles being deaf in a mainstream school, and maybe this would have been more interesting or dynamic to me if I had less knowledge on the subject, but I think just the way it was presented seemed whiny and melodramatic rather than helping the reader understand where deaf people are coming from. Again, I could not get on board with Maya's character.
We also had two very common tropes: the kid whose dad wants them to go to medical school but the kid loves something else, and the kid who has a passion for a certain career, but they don't think they'll be able to get it. These are both still usable tropes, if done correctly, but these were tired situations.
Before I get into the rest of my problems with the deaf representation, I am just an ASL 2 student. I am well aware that I don't fully understand Deaf culture or any other aspect of being deaf. But our main character didn't understand what it meant, either, and I just couldn't get past the bad depiction.
It was weird to see Maya saying that she was part of the Deaf community (capital 'D' Deaf) when she had no connection to the community other than her one deaf friend she spoke to on FaceTime. She had just moved to a new town, but there was zero reference to deaf adults or other kids in her life. We also only saw 2 characters who liked being deaf, Maya and her friend.
Partway through the book, Maya tries to go out and meet deaf kids, but they were actually a group of kids with Cochlear Implants, and none of them used sign. Not a single person at the event had any respect for ASL or deaf people, and it made every person with a CI seem like jerks. And it wasn't like it was just the main character's opinions--it was the way the other characters acted.
When Maya had lost her hearing, her mother learned ASL along with her, and her younger brother learned a little. So when she went to the aforementioned CI group, she was surprised to find that the mother of one of the deaf kids didn't understand ASL. I understand that this book should not represent every deaf person, but this was coming directly from Maya's head. She was genuinely surprised--surprised--that the mom didn't know sign even though that type of situation (the family of a deaf kid not learning sign) is more common than it should be. If she was really part of the Deaf community, she would know this.
So. In the end, I did appreciate the way the ASL itself was portrayed. But that was pretty much my only positive.
September 17, 2020
So many of my reviews I start (or at least want to start) with "I really wanted to love this book, but..." Representation! I love it! But there wasn't much else I loved about this book. You know how in Seinfeld, he'd say something completely homophobic and then just add "Not that there's anything wrong with that..." as if that disregarded the offensive comment they'd already made? Well, that's the character's attitude towards cochlear implants, and I found it completely off-putting. I feel like the novel was written, and the editor sat down and said "well, this is kinda harsh. Can we tone down the CI bashing just a hair?" So then the author added in "It's fine for other people, but not for me." In completely random places and called it a day, not bothering to care that that line didn't actually make sense or align with anything else the protagonist was saying. Many people in the Deaf community feel strongly against cochlear implants- this I do not deny. My problem is Maya's illogical rationale/explanation for her beliefs. I also feel that there's a bit of an opportunity- if not responsibility- to do a better job representing and explaining an extremely nuanced and personal viewpoint that the general population doesn't understand.
It would play out like this
Friend: Have you ever thought about a cochlear implant?
Maya: WHAT??? You hate me and hate the fact that I'm Deaf and I can never look at you again! That's fine for other people but not for me. You hate me and I hate you! Aghhhhh!
In other news, I have a really hard time believing the story of a girl who grows up completely neurotypical for 14 (!) years, loses her hearing one day, and then has ZERO grief for the hearing she lost? What about her former life and friends? She spends, what, 2 or 3 years at a school for the Deaf (because she was able to learn fluent sign instantly) and mourns the loss of that life when she has to move- but what about everything she used to know from those first 14 years? And after like 3 years without hearing, she's suddenly so intimidated by hearing people? And really, Mom... Your job is that important where you're going to take a SENIOR in high school and move her across the country, and move from a school for the Deaf to a mainstream school, and ALSO make your medically fragile son with *cystic fibrosis* move to a high altitude town?? Really? I just got re-annoyed with this book.
It would play out like this
Friend: Have you ever thought about a cochlear implant?
Maya: WHAT??? You hate me and hate the fact that I'm Deaf and I can never look at you again! That's fine for other people but not for me. You hate me and I hate you! Aghhhhh!
In other news, I have a really hard time believing the story of a girl who grows up completely neurotypical for 14 (!) years, loses her hearing one day, and then has ZERO grief for the hearing she lost? What about her former life and friends? She spends, what, 2 or 3 years at a school for the Deaf (because she was able to learn fluent sign instantly) and mourns the loss of that life when she has to move- but what about everything she used to know from those first 14 years? And after like 3 years without hearing, she's suddenly so intimidated by hearing people? And really, Mom... Your job is that important where you're going to take a SENIOR in high school and move her across the country, and move from a school for the Deaf to a mainstream school, and ALSO make your medically fragile son with *cystic fibrosis* move to a high altitude town?? Really? I just got re-annoyed with this book.
December 3, 2020
I am so surprised I didn't enjoy this one at all. I was so excited to read this. The main character was obnoxious. She was so guarded that she never gave anyone a break including Beau. Beau was always willing to apologize and see her side of things, but she couldn't do the same for him. I thought it was out of character for Beau to do what he did at the end of the book which immediately made me think less of this book than I already had. He is so open and understanding of her so why did his character suddenly do a 180? Everything was such a problem with Maya. Why was every second of this story filled with her having to be combative? Instead of me seeing the struggles people may have in the deaf community this just made me annoyed at this teenage girl. And the romance... Where was it? I don't see why Beau would ever want to be with Maya. She constantly berated or embarrassed him. And he clearly liked her from the beginning and she played it off like she wasn't sure. He literally blushed and started learning sign language because he liked her. Also, what was with the pacing? He suddenly learned a bunch of sign language in like a day? There was some odd passage of time that didn't do anything for the story. I'm just really disappointed overall. How this could have won the Schneider Family Book Award is beyond me.
April 15, 2020
This author's first book In 27 Days blew me away, no joke, and even though this is an entirely different genre, I was expecting great things. She absolutely delivered. It’s unlike anything else I’ve read before, and I loved it.
The main character Maia was pretty cool. Some other reviewers have found her annoying, but I didn’t get that off her. The author did an amazing job helping me understand the reasons behind how she thought and acted or at least want to understand. I think the fact that this is an OwnVoices book has a lot to do with that. ;) I loved her confidence and was rooting for her the whole time. Her relationships with her mom and her little brother were super sweet. Also, hooray for a heroine who actually admits her mistakes! XD In retrospect, I don’t have a very clear picture of what she looks like except her self-portrait, and I love that we as readers get to see her the way she sees herself. <3
Beau… he was a fantastic one, honestly. A good friend to Maia and open to changing his mind about things. At first, my “Manic Pixie Dream Boy” alarm bells went off, and then promptly shut down. ;) There’s a bit more to him than meets the eye.
KATHLEEN. I’d like to be her when I grow up.
My favorite scenes were eating cookies at prom (I’d totally do that) and the conversation after the party at Beau’s house. Also, all the real little details like the stickers on her brother’s notebook or the hilarious ASL translation errors were the best. :D
Speaking of ASL… It was really unique how it was portrayed, and I grew to love it and even think in it afterward. You know how sometimes in books, there’s a whole sentence of dialogue and then an action beat to remind us it’s signed? In this, speaking, signing (hand signs and fingerspelling are even different), and even lip-reading have their own format and grammar structure/feel of their own, immersing me thoroughly in Maia’s world. I will admit, that sometimes interpreting as I read got exhausting, and it’s a good reminder that there are those of us who live that way all the time.
Just a note, there is one very intense, distressing scene related to a medical emergency. There was also some kissing and usage of the words “freaking” and “p***ed”.
Best quotes: Nina was determined to hit the dance floor, and that was my cue to excuse myself to go to the restroom. I hid in the bathroom playing Fruit Ninja on my cell phone. Not really what you were supposed to be doing at homecoming, but the more time I could kill, the less time I’d have for dancing.
GOOD, Beau signed with a nod. HAPPY.
SAME, I replied.
Nina chose to cut in at that moment, leaning toward us to say “...everything okay?”
“Fine,” I said immediately, and Beau gave a nod of agreement.
Altogether, this was a very good book. <3
The main character Maia was pretty cool. Some other reviewers have found her annoying, but I didn’t get that off her. The author did an amazing job helping me understand the reasons behind how she thought and acted or at least want to understand. I think the fact that this is an OwnVoices book has a lot to do with that. ;) I loved her confidence and was rooting for her the whole time. Her relationships with her mom and her little brother were super sweet. Also, hooray for a heroine who actually admits her mistakes! XD In retrospect, I don’t have a very clear picture of what she looks like except her self-portrait, and I love that we as readers get to see her the way she sees herself. <3
Beau… he was a fantastic one, honestly. A good friend to Maia and open to changing his mind about things. At first, my “Manic Pixie Dream Boy” alarm bells went off, and then promptly shut down. ;) There’s a bit more to him than meets the eye.
KATHLEEN. I’d like to be her when I grow up.
My favorite scenes were eating cookies at prom (I’d totally do that) and the conversation after the party at Beau’s house. Also, all the real little details like the stickers on her brother’s notebook or the hilarious ASL translation errors were the best. :D
Speaking of ASL… It was really unique how it was portrayed, and I grew to love it and even think in it afterward. You know how sometimes in books, there’s a whole sentence of dialogue and then an action beat to remind us it’s signed? In this, speaking, signing (hand signs and fingerspelling are even different), and even lip-reading have their own format and grammar structure/feel of their own, immersing me thoroughly in Maia’s world. I will admit, that sometimes interpreting as I read got exhausting, and it’s a good reminder that there are those of us who live that way all the time.
Just a note, there is one very intense, distressing scene related to a medical emergency. There was also some kissing and usage of the words “freaking” and “p***ed”.
Best quotes: Nina was determined to hit the dance floor, and that was my cue to excuse myself to go to the restroom. I hid in the bathroom playing Fruit Ninja on my cell phone. Not really what you were supposed to be doing at homecoming, but the more time I could kill, the less time I’d have for dancing.
GOOD, Beau signed with a nod. HAPPY.
SAME, I replied.
Nina chose to cut in at that moment, leaning toward us to say “...everything okay?”
“Fine,” I said immediately, and Beau gave a nod of agreement.
Altogether, this was a very good book. <3
March 30, 2019
***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of THE SILENCE BETWEEN US by Alison Gervais in exchange for my honest review.***
Maya is less than thrilled to beginning senior year at a hearing school half way across the country. Deaf for four years, leaving her secure previous school, where everyone signed to one where she’ll be the only Deaf student and need an interpreter scares her.
When Beau, a cute popular guy starts learning sign language, Maya is certain he’s either pitying or pranking her, unwilling to consider he may actually like her.
Maya was a difficult character for me to like. While she had positive qualities like caring about her family and little brother with Cystic Fibrosis, she was mostly self centered and often unkind.
THE SILENCE BETWEEN US is well written, distinguishing dialogue signed vs spoken. Aside from Maya, most of the other characters were likable.
I had a hard time buying into a lot of the scenarios in the book. For example, I didn’t believe a mother would move her sick son from New Jersey to the high altitude of Colorado and be surprised his condition worsened. Surely his NJ doctor would have warned the mother to consider her son’s life and death situation, no matter how good the job offer. I also didn’t believe this mother would take a week long business trip and leave her Deaf seventeen-year-old daughter to care for her struggling seven-year-old son with no backup contingency plan. She was a great mother except when in regards to her son’s life threatening illness!?!?!?
I also didn’t understand Maya’s insistence on not considering a cochlear implant. If she has been deaf all her life, I’d have understood more. She has a passion for becoming a pediatric respiratory therapist. Hearing would only seem to enhance the relationship with patients. After the scare with her brother, where he could have died, I’d think hearing would be a safety issue. Accommodations are great, important and necessary, but they also involve relying on others (in the case of the book) to provide those well-deserved services. I have a disability and sometimes have to rely on others to make my life. When my body won’t do what it’s supposed to do, I’m frustrated and would do anything to change the situation. I understand the Deaf community is rich and full. CIs are controversial and many have strong opinions against them. Maya had only been deaf for 4 years and so the majority of her experiences were hearing. I was glad she was proud to be Deaf and confident, but didn’t understand the safety and accommodations aspects of her choice.
THE SILENCE BETWEEN US was enjoyable, though sometimes slow, disjointed and repetitive.
Maya is less than thrilled to beginning senior year at a hearing school half way across the country. Deaf for four years, leaving her secure previous school, where everyone signed to one where she’ll be the only Deaf student and need an interpreter scares her.
When Beau, a cute popular guy starts learning sign language, Maya is certain he’s either pitying or pranking her, unwilling to consider he may actually like her.
Maya was a difficult character for me to like. While she had positive qualities like caring about her family and little brother with Cystic Fibrosis, she was mostly self centered and often unkind.
THE SILENCE BETWEEN US is well written, distinguishing dialogue signed vs spoken. Aside from Maya, most of the other characters were likable.
I had a hard time buying into a lot of the scenarios in the book. For example, I didn’t believe a mother would move her sick son from New Jersey to the high altitude of Colorado and be surprised his condition worsened. Surely his NJ doctor would have warned the mother to consider her son’s life and death situation, no matter how good the job offer. I also didn’t believe this mother would take a week long business trip and leave her Deaf seventeen-year-old daughter to care for her struggling seven-year-old son with no backup contingency plan. She was a great mother except when in regards to her son’s life threatening illness!?!?!?
I also didn’t understand Maya’s insistence on not considering a cochlear implant. If she has been deaf all her life, I’d have understood more. She has a passion for becoming a pediatric respiratory therapist. Hearing would only seem to enhance the relationship with patients. After the scare with her brother, where he could have died, I’d think hearing would be a safety issue. Accommodations are great, important and necessary, but they also involve relying on others (in the case of the book) to provide those well-deserved services. I have a disability and sometimes have to rely on others to make my life. When my body won’t do what it’s supposed to do, I’m frustrated and would do anything to change the situation. I understand the Deaf community is rich and full. CIs are controversial and many have strong opinions against them. Maya had only been deaf for 4 years and so the majority of her experiences were hearing. I was glad she was proud to be Deaf and confident, but didn’t understand the safety and accommodations aspects of her choice.
THE SILENCE BETWEEN US was enjoyable, though sometimes slow, disjointed and repetitive.
May 26, 2019
I got this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
You know those stories where you fall in love with everything after just a few pages?
That, for me, was this book.
The Silence Between Us was, in a nutshell, some of the best disability representation I’ve *ever* read. I am not deaf, but, as someone with hydrocephalus, right-sided cerebral palsy, and partial blindness, I am always looking for good representation, and this book was It. The Silence Between Us celebrates disability instead of shying away from it.
The characters in this book were amazing — I don’t think there was a single character that I didn’t like. Maya was a fantastic MC, Beau was adorable, Nina was an awesome friend (I LOVE that Nina and Maya ended up becoming friends because I was anticipating the dreaded “popular girl hates the new girl” cliché). Even the side characters — Connor, Maya’s mother, Maya’s interpreter, and Melissa — were wonderfully written. They all enhanced the plot so well, and I adored every single one of them.
This book even managed to teach me a little bit about sign language. Not necessarily how to actually sign, but just little tidbits about the language and about deaf culture, and about little things here and there that deaf people might appreciate or be annoyed by. Even though this book doesn’t really use verbal dialogue (other than signing, Maya can only read lips — but she *can* Speak), I think the interaction between characters ran very smoothly and, while I don’t know if this is the common way to express sign language in books, I appreciate the way the author wrote out the sign language in ALL CAPS. That made things really easy to follow, and definitely made up for the lack of verbal dialogue.
Did I mention that Maya and Beau are absolutely adorable? I adore their chemistry, and Beau is an absolute darling. A lot of “love interests” in YA (and in general tbh) come off as totally douchey, so words cannot describe how much I love the fact that Beau is sweet and genuine. He is such a good character, I love him a lot, and it’s so nice to see able-bodied people accepting people with disabilities, disabilities and all.
Overall, I ADORED this book. I’m so glad I was approved on NetGalley to review it, and I think it definitely became one of my favorite YA contemporaries. I highly encourage everyone to check this book out, but especially if you love contemporary romances and/or disability rep!
You know those stories where you fall in love with everything after just a few pages?
That, for me, was this book.
The Silence Between Us was, in a nutshell, some of the best disability representation I’ve *ever* read. I am not deaf, but, as someone with hydrocephalus, right-sided cerebral palsy, and partial blindness, I am always looking for good representation, and this book was It. The Silence Between Us celebrates disability instead of shying away from it.
The characters in this book were amazing — I don’t think there was a single character that I didn’t like. Maya was a fantastic MC, Beau was adorable, Nina was an awesome friend (I LOVE that Nina and Maya ended up becoming friends because I was anticipating the dreaded “popular girl hates the new girl” cliché). Even the side characters — Connor, Maya’s mother, Maya’s interpreter, and Melissa — were wonderfully written. They all enhanced the plot so well, and I adored every single one of them.
This book even managed to teach me a little bit about sign language. Not necessarily how to actually sign, but just little tidbits about the language and about deaf culture, and about little things here and there that deaf people might appreciate or be annoyed by. Even though this book doesn’t really use verbal dialogue (other than signing, Maya can only read lips — but she *can* Speak), I think the interaction between characters ran very smoothly and, while I don’t know if this is the common way to express sign language in books, I appreciate the way the author wrote out the sign language in ALL CAPS. That made things really easy to follow, and definitely made up for the lack of verbal dialogue.
Did I mention that Maya and Beau are absolutely adorable? I adore their chemistry, and Beau is an absolute darling. A lot of “love interests” in YA (and in general tbh) come off as totally douchey, so words cannot describe how much I love the fact that Beau is sweet and genuine. He is such a good character, I love him a lot, and it’s so nice to see able-bodied people accepting people with disabilities, disabilities and all.
Overall, I ADORED this book. I’m so glad I was approved on NetGalley to review it, and I think it definitely became one of my favorite YA contemporaries. I highly encourage everyone to check this book out, but especially if you love contemporary romances and/or disability rep!
May 18, 2019
I’ve been waiting so long for a book like this. Like our protagonist Maya, I was born hearing and have slowly lost bits of my hearing over the years in addition to dealing with Auditory Processing Disorder, both of which require me to wear hearing aids. While Maya is immersed in the Deaf community, I’ve remained a part of the hearing community into which I was born, but I can relate to so many of the experiences Maya has all throughout the novel.
I’ve seen some people say in their reviews that Maya is unlikable and her strong negative stance on CIs being something that was difficult for them to grasp, but it’s curious to note that these are hearing people who are leaving these comments. In my opinion, Maya is an exemplary figure of a late-deafened girl making her way first through the Deaf community and then the hearing world once she and her family move. She’s remarkably realistic, and knowing that the author is hard of hearing and coming from a similar place, it’s somewhat disheartening to see hearing reviewers seemingly miss the point in some places.
Overall, this is a great novel and one I’ve been waiting for for so, so long. Highly recommend. And if you’re hearing, please go into it with extra kindness and openness toward Maya and where she’s coming from!
I’ve seen some people say in their reviews that Maya is unlikable and her strong negative stance on CIs being something that was difficult for them to grasp, but it’s curious to note that these are hearing people who are leaving these comments. In my opinion, Maya is an exemplary figure of a late-deafened girl making her way first through the Deaf community and then the hearing world once she and her family move. She’s remarkably realistic, and knowing that the author is hard of hearing and coming from a similar place, it’s somewhat disheartening to see hearing reviewers seemingly miss the point in some places.
Overall, this is a great novel and one I’ve been waiting for for so, so long. Highly recommend. And if you’re hearing, please go into it with extra kindness and openness toward Maya and where she’s coming from!
June 30, 2019
#OwnVoices is quickly becoming my favorite part of YA Lit. Having lost a lot of my own hearing just out of high school, I really related to 'The Silence Between Us' (pub. August 13, 2019). Maya was born hearing, but lost it due to Meningitis; however, she gained her confidence; embracing her deafness. "There was one thing I knew for certain. I was happy being Deaf, and I was not about to change that just because a cochlear implant might make my life easier."[280] I loved that Maya's character, supported by her mother and brother, knows what she wants and can educate and share her beliefs with others as a teen, dealing with a cross country relocation, new school, making friends, and completely starting over. "I've been having a hard time figuring out who I am... Probably I wasn't the only high school student that felt this way, Deaf or hearing."[278] Maya owns what others label as disabled; she is proud to declare "[she] doesn't need to be fixed."[280] I have never read a book the way 'The Silence Between Us' is written. For those who don't know, American Sign Language isn't directly interpreted the way English is spoken. Many words are dropped from conversation, and the signs are often shortened and notated early in a conversation, and then referenced in a shortened way later on. The font changes inside this book read accurately, text indicated in CAPS LOCK showing ASL usage in dialog verses what Maya is thinking in her head or other characters are verbally speaking- amazing! I am completely impressed that Alison Gervais saw the lack of Deaf characters in YA Lit and did something about it. “No matter how hard you try to understand something, sometimes there’s a personal connection to the cause that you’re missing, something you may not ever reach, and that can make all the difference. That’s why this is important to the real world.”[147] Thank you b
Blink YA Books for sharing an ARC with me in exchange for an honest review. I am cheering this title on to the finish line! 5☆
Blink YA Books for sharing an ARC with me in exchange for an honest review. I am cheering this title on to the finish line! 5☆
March 11, 2024
Digital audiobook narrated by Chloe Dolandis
3.5***
When her family moves several states away just before she’s to start her senior year of high school, Maya, who is deaf, is mainstreamed into a hearing high school. When student body president Beau Watson begins to learn sign language so he can converse with her, Maya is suspicious of his motives.
This is a lovely young-adult romance with the added inclusion of one partner with a significant disability. Maya is smart and tenacious, but she just can’t believe that a hearing person and a deaf person can form a true relationship. In many ways the relationship between Beau and Maya is a typical teen romance, with missteps followed by genuine gestures that show caring, alongside all the usual teen drama of a senior year in high school. And that, I think, is the beauty of the novel. Maya’s deafness may set her apart, but in all other respects she is a typical teenager with the same kinds of dreams and questions and aspirations and missteps as every other teenager.
I listened to the audiobook, wonderfully performed by Chloe Dolandis. The irony of my listening to a book about a deaf student was not lost on me.
3.5***
When her family moves several states away just before she’s to start her senior year of high school, Maya, who is deaf, is mainstreamed into a hearing high school. When student body president Beau Watson begins to learn sign language so he can converse with her, Maya is suspicious of his motives.
This is a lovely young-adult romance with the added inclusion of one partner with a significant disability. Maya is smart and tenacious, but she just can’t believe that a hearing person and a deaf person can form a true relationship. In many ways the relationship between Beau and Maya is a typical teen romance, with missteps followed by genuine gestures that show caring, alongside all the usual teen drama of a senior year in high school. And that, I think, is the beauty of the novel. Maya’s deafness may set her apart, but in all other respects she is a typical teenager with the same kinds of dreams and questions and aspirations and missteps as every other teenager.
I listened to the audiobook, wonderfully performed by Chloe Dolandis. The irony of my listening to a book about a deaf student was not lost on me.
September 10, 2020
Wow. That was an awesome book.
I found this a fascinating read because it really gave me a tiny feel of what being deaf might be like. It was brilliantly written, and I loved reading it. Maya was a very relatable character and Beau was pretty cool.
This book really does give you a good starting point for how to relate to, and understand people who are deaf.
Only 4 stars because I didn't really relate to any of the situations the characters were in, and I am not a fan of teen romance. But the book was still pretty cool.
I found this a fascinating read because it really gave me a tiny feel of what being deaf might be like. It was brilliantly written, and I loved reading it. Maya was a very relatable character and Beau was pretty cool.
This book really does give you a good starting point for how to relate to, and understand people who are deaf.
Only 4 stars because I didn't really relate to any of the situations the characters were in, and I am not a fan of teen romance. But the book was still pretty cool.
July 13, 2020
3.5 Stars
I’m really torn on this one.
The audiobook I listened to had an author interview in the back and the author kept talking about Maya’s confidence. That’s actually some of what seemed... off? to me. I don’t know what it’s like to be Deaf (frankly neither does the author who is Hard or Hearing and involved in Deaf/HoH advocacy but admits this isn’t her lived experience) but what I do know damn well is what it’s like to develop a significant disability as a teen or young adult. If there’s anything that’s just off in this book and I question why it was written this way is that Maya loses her hearing at 13 from meningitis. She’s 17 in the book. And apparently she went to a Deaf high school after this. At the start of the book she’s at a traditional/hearing school... I just question if her fierce confidence in herself as a young Deaf woman is so realistic with this chain of events and the storyline?
In my mind there’s no harder time to develop a disability then as a teen. When so much of your life is in the air as it is (or I was a bit older, we’ll sort of, I didn’t realize the struggles I repeatedly hit upon in high school where chronic illness. It wasn’t until college when it became evident these things would never go away, that there was a name for them, etc. In my case I thought I’d already overcome a ton. I knew what I wanted more than most and then bam. It was gone.) Theres so much about growing up that’s so prescriptive. Like life is supposed to go X followed by Y followed by Z and that’s absolutely all you see as a kid. When a disability shakes that up... even I don’t have words and would have to write a book of my own to even begin to try to explain how that feels. I’m somewhat willing to give Maya some benefit of the doubt. After all, she went to a Deaf high school. I can’t imagine how empowering it would’ve been for a much younger me to be surrounded by other disabled people. But then for Maya to lose that with her family’s move... I don’t know. I wish we had gotten more of a background. Like on where Maya’s confidence came from. Frankly that could’ve made a better story except oops, her confidence absolutely came from other Deaf people and would this story have been published then? Or did we have to have this abled narrative with the traditional school and hearing friends and all?
I kind of think the author wanted to depict a proud disabled/Deaf woman living her life. But ehhh. Again, I hit upon- I don’t know how one reached that sense of pride apart from the community. Another reviewer learning ASL, not Deaf or disabled, kind of called out the lack of community too. I didn’t fully agree with their particular thoughts or reasoning. But thinking through this myself... fuck the abled folks. I would’ve loved to see a Deaf woman gaining her confidence through the Deaf and disabled community. This was more oh Maya is magically confident. Here let’s throw her in to educate some hearing folks. Like there’s some aspect of this story that still rubs me wrong. Something that’s just a bit patronizing or off. Maybe it’s simply this- if you’re writing an Own Voices disability story- who are you writing it for and why? I damn sure hope you’re writing it for Own Voices readers. This book.... wasn’t. The author talks about in interviews how similar she was in some ways to Maya or how her mom really saw a lot of her in Maya. Ok but who are you showing yourself and your character to? I imagine many Deaf teens would be even more disappointed with this book than I was. Because there’s the rub. Own Voices but written for an abled majority. Can we just not? I don’t think any sort of diverse character should exist just to have that representation there if you’re not really speaking to the very people who that representation matter to.
And I don’t know. That feels a bit harsh. I don’t think it’s wrong but I will say I do think the author tried. But I think she fell into a bit of a trap here. Or because this isn’t fully her own experience and maybe she’s not as empowered as her own character, she slipped into some of those exhausting ableist narratives. And internalized ableism is a bitch. It runs so flipping deep, that 10, probably really 15-20 years in honestly, I’m still digging through my own. I think that’s also maybe where I had to call out the whole narrative of Maya being so empowered after 4 years too.
Again, I don’t want to be overly harsh. But I feel so passionately about disabled representation and this one fell flat. Beyond the above, frankly, Maya is pretty boring. She doesn’t have much of personality or any real hobbies and interests beyond disability. And oh man, even her singular goal of becoming a respiratory therapist is because of her brother’s Cystic Fibrosis. Yoooo do you get me now when I said the author tried a little too hard? Because good gosh. That’s literally the only hint of personality she’s given and even that’s a stereotype (how many heroic siblings do we need to see. That was cheap and screwy to even bring up CF just to make a hero out of the main character. Disabled or not that was an ableist AF trope.) And hey this is why disabled authors matter. Because I am sure this author knows- being Deaf matters. Who Maya is, is Deaf. Disability impacts every part of who I am too. But I still have a personality and passions. And so there’s a lot of problems when you swing to the “In spite of the disability” or “When I see you I don’t see a disability” side but also, your character can be disabled and proud and happy and talk about how disability impacts their life and it will impact everything- but there needs to be more too. This book is really off there. I think it was well intentioned. It’s fighting back against the other problem. But again, in so many ways this book misses the mark.
I’m honestly even more conflicted now. I may be giving this book more credit than it deserves because while it has some deep problems I can tell they’re the direct result of trying to do better than so much of what exists, trying to remedy the crap I see all the time with disability in fiction. But is that good enough? Don’t we deserve more? And I don’t want to add to the problem. I don’t want to be one of those hardass reviewers that make people fearful of writing about disability (though man it’s the people who don’t care. The abled folks or uggggh the parents of disabled kids or whatever writing books those are the ones who really get me). I can see so much of how much this author tried to do better because she knew better. And still missed the mark because that’s how piss poor disability rep in lit really is. So I don’t fault her. But jeez, can we please do better? Also screw it, maybe I’m exactly who you WANT to show your manuscript to if you’re writing about disability. (Not even kidding. Hit me up if you’re writing about disability.) Because I know what’s out there and I know what we actually want, need, and deserve. And this one didn’t hit the mark for me. It wasn’t offensive. That’s great. But it also doesn’t feel written for Deaf and disabled readers either. And please please please give your disabled characters a personality beyond “stands up for herself as a disabled person”.
I’m really torn on this one.
The audiobook I listened to had an author interview in the back and the author kept talking about Maya’s confidence. That’s actually some of what seemed... off? to me. I don’t know what it’s like to be Deaf (frankly neither does the author who is Hard or Hearing and involved in Deaf/HoH advocacy but admits this isn’t her lived experience) but what I do know damn well is what it’s like to develop a significant disability as a teen or young adult. If there’s anything that’s just off in this book and I question why it was written this way is that Maya loses her hearing at 13 from meningitis. She’s 17 in the book. And apparently she went to a Deaf high school after this. At the start of the book she’s at a traditional/hearing school... I just question if her fierce confidence in herself as a young Deaf woman is so realistic with this chain of events and the storyline?
In my mind there’s no harder time to develop a disability then as a teen. When so much of your life is in the air as it is (or I was a bit older, we’ll sort of, I didn’t realize the struggles I repeatedly hit upon in high school where chronic illness. It wasn’t until college when it became evident these things would never go away, that there was a name for them, etc. In my case I thought I’d already overcome a ton. I knew what I wanted more than most and then bam. It was gone.) Theres so much about growing up that’s so prescriptive. Like life is supposed to go X followed by Y followed by Z and that’s absolutely all you see as a kid. When a disability shakes that up... even I don’t have words and would have to write a book of my own to even begin to try to explain how that feels. I’m somewhat willing to give Maya some benefit of the doubt. After all, she went to a Deaf high school. I can’t imagine how empowering it would’ve been for a much younger me to be surrounded by other disabled people. But then for Maya to lose that with her family’s move... I don’t know. I wish we had gotten more of a background. Like on where Maya’s confidence came from. Frankly that could’ve made a better story except oops, her confidence absolutely came from other Deaf people and would this story have been published then? Or did we have to have this abled narrative with the traditional school and hearing friends and all?
I kind of think the author wanted to depict a proud disabled/Deaf woman living her life. But ehhh. Again, I hit upon- I don’t know how one reached that sense of pride apart from the community. Another reviewer learning ASL, not Deaf or disabled, kind of called out the lack of community too. I didn’t fully agree with their particular thoughts or reasoning. But thinking through this myself... fuck the abled folks. I would’ve loved to see a Deaf woman gaining her confidence through the Deaf and disabled community. This was more oh Maya is magically confident. Here let’s throw her in to educate some hearing folks. Like there’s some aspect of this story that still rubs me wrong. Something that’s just a bit patronizing or off. Maybe it’s simply this- if you’re writing an Own Voices disability story- who are you writing it for and why? I damn sure hope you’re writing it for Own Voices readers. This book.... wasn’t. The author talks about in interviews how similar she was in some ways to Maya or how her mom really saw a lot of her in Maya. Ok but who are you showing yourself and your character to? I imagine many Deaf teens would be even more disappointed with this book than I was. Because there’s the rub. Own Voices but written for an abled majority. Can we just not? I don’t think any sort of diverse character should exist just to have that representation there if you’re not really speaking to the very people who that representation matter to.
And I don’t know. That feels a bit harsh. I don’t think it’s wrong but I will say I do think the author tried. But I think she fell into a bit of a trap here. Or because this isn’t fully her own experience and maybe she’s not as empowered as her own character, she slipped into some of those exhausting ableist narratives. And internalized ableism is a bitch. It runs so flipping deep, that 10, probably really 15-20 years in honestly, I’m still digging through my own. I think that’s also maybe where I had to call out the whole narrative of Maya being so empowered after 4 years too.
Again, I don’t want to be overly harsh. But I feel so passionately about disabled representation and this one fell flat. Beyond the above, frankly, Maya is pretty boring. She doesn’t have much of personality or any real hobbies and interests beyond disability. And oh man, even her singular goal of becoming a respiratory therapist is because of her brother’s Cystic Fibrosis. Yoooo do you get me now when I said the author tried a little too hard? Because good gosh. That’s literally the only hint of personality she’s given and even that’s a stereotype (how many heroic siblings do we need to see. That was cheap and screwy to even bring up CF just to make a hero out of the main character. Disabled or not that was an ableist AF trope.) And hey this is why disabled authors matter. Because I am sure this author knows- being Deaf matters. Who Maya is, is Deaf. Disability impacts every part of who I am too. But I still have a personality and passions. And so there’s a lot of problems when you swing to the “In spite of the disability” or “When I see you I don’t see a disability” side but also, your character can be disabled and proud and happy and talk about how disability impacts their life and it will impact everything- but there needs to be more too. This book is really off there. I think it was well intentioned. It’s fighting back against the other problem. But again, in so many ways this book misses the mark.
I’m honestly even more conflicted now. I may be giving this book more credit than it deserves because while it has some deep problems I can tell they’re the direct result of trying to do better than so much of what exists, trying to remedy the crap I see all the time with disability in fiction. But is that good enough? Don’t we deserve more? And I don’t want to add to the problem. I don’t want to be one of those hardass reviewers that make people fearful of writing about disability (though man it’s the people who don’t care. The abled folks or uggggh the parents of disabled kids or whatever writing books those are the ones who really get me). I can see so much of how much this author tried to do better because she knew better. And still missed the mark because that’s how piss poor disability rep in lit really is. So I don’t fault her. But jeez, can we please do better? Also screw it, maybe I’m exactly who you WANT to show your manuscript to if you’re writing about disability. (Not even kidding. Hit me up if you’re writing about disability.) Because I know what’s out there and I know what we actually want, need, and deserve. And this one didn’t hit the mark for me. It wasn’t offensive. That’s great. But it also doesn’t feel written for Deaf and disabled readers either. And please please please give your disabled characters a personality beyond “stands up for herself as a disabled person”.
April 28, 2021
I didn't really have a big background on this book, but I enjoyed the read. It was quick and quite interestingly presented as it presented ASL as it is spoken... So that was insightful about the deaf community. I have had several students who are HOH/Deaf so had some exposure to that group.
There were some really great aspects to this book... I loved the positive statement about inclusion, self-acceptance, and Maya's confidence ... but some of it didn't really add up for me and left me questioning the book's structure... Maya was hearing up until four years ago and her hearing went with a blink of an eye based on an illness.... So she has been deaf for only 4 years when we start the story, yet she doesn't want to speak to communicate and requires an interpreter (which I understand). I found her level of acceptance and her dive into ASL seems quite extraordinary, not that it couldn't happen.. just extraordinary. This is simply an observation, Maya's attitude just strikes me more in line with born deaf than shortly having become deaf.
That is really just an observation... not a real concern... The story has Maya, who is deaf for 4 years from an illness, move from her home and across the country to attend a hearing school for the first time since becoming deaf. Clearly, she has some concerns about being accepted... and she is ...
3 stars for me
Happy Reading!
There were some really great aspects to this book... I loved the positive statement about inclusion, self-acceptance, and Maya's confidence ... but some of it didn't really add up for me and left me questioning the book's structure... Maya was hearing up until four years ago and her hearing went with a blink of an eye based on an illness.... So she has been deaf for only 4 years when we start the story, yet she doesn't want to speak to communicate and requires an interpreter (which I understand). I found her level of acceptance and her dive into ASL seems quite extraordinary, not that it couldn't happen.. just extraordinary. This is simply an observation, Maya's attitude just strikes me more in line with born deaf than shortly having become deaf.
That is really just an observation... not a real concern... The story has Maya, who is deaf for 4 years from an illness, move from her home and across the country to attend a hearing school for the first time since becoming deaf. Clearly, she has some concerns about being accepted... and she is ...
3 stars for me
Happy Reading!
March 4, 2022
Full Review on The Candid Cover
4.5 Stars
The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais is an unforgettable read spotlighting Deaf culture. There are so few books out there with Deaf main characters, so I was happy to see the confident and witty protagonist in this one. This book also respects the syntax of ASL as the author narrates Maya’s signs, and the many nuanced discussions about current debates in the Deaf community make it a must-read.
Because of an illness four years ago, Maya lost her hearing. However, after her mother gets a new job, she is forced to move across the country and transfer to a hearing school for the first time. As the only Deaf student there, and the only one with an interpreter following her, Maya struggles to fit it at first. However, when one of her classmates starts learning sign language to communicate with her, things start looking up for her, and she finds a new group of friends, and even romance.
❀ LIKEABLE MAIN CHARACTER
Maya is a likeable main character, and I admired her confidence. She loves herself the way she is, and she refuses to let people try to change her and push her to get a cochlear implant. At school, many people talk down to her, but I enjoyed the way she is unafraid to call them out on this behaviour. The book also contains many supportive side characters, which I always like to see. I especially enjoyed Maya’s interactions with her little brother and, of course, Beau, the boy who learns sign language for her.
❀ FANTASTIC REPRESENTATION OF DEAF PEOPLE
One of my favourite parts about this book is its fantastic (in my opinion) representation of Deaf people. Throughout the story, there are many nuanced conversations about cochlear implants and their impact on Deaf identity, and through Maya’s character, the author discusses the way Deaf people don’t need to be “fixed.” I also loved the way the book uses the syntax of ASL when Maya signs. I have never seen this done before, and the way the sentences respect the grammar of ASL makes the story more realistic.
❀ A MOVING STORY
The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais is a moving story about loving yourself. The main character is realistic, and the representation of Deaf culture is the best I’ve seen in YA. I would recommend this to those looking for a contemporary with both humour and discussions of current social debates.
4.5 Stars
The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais is an unforgettable read spotlighting Deaf culture. There are so few books out there with Deaf main characters, so I was happy to see the confident and witty protagonist in this one. This book also respects the syntax of ASL as the author narrates Maya’s signs, and the many nuanced discussions about current debates in the Deaf community make it a must-read.
Because of an illness four years ago, Maya lost her hearing. However, after her mother gets a new job, she is forced to move across the country and transfer to a hearing school for the first time. As the only Deaf student there, and the only one with an interpreter following her, Maya struggles to fit it at first. However, when one of her classmates starts learning sign language to communicate with her, things start looking up for her, and she finds a new group of friends, and even romance.
❀ LIKEABLE MAIN CHARACTER
Maya is a likeable main character, and I admired her confidence. She loves herself the way she is, and she refuses to let people try to change her and push her to get a cochlear implant. At school, many people talk down to her, but I enjoyed the way she is unafraid to call them out on this behaviour. The book also contains many supportive side characters, which I always like to see. I especially enjoyed Maya’s interactions with her little brother and, of course, Beau, the boy who learns sign language for her.
❀ FANTASTIC REPRESENTATION OF DEAF PEOPLE
One of my favourite parts about this book is its fantastic (in my opinion) representation of Deaf people. Throughout the story, there are many nuanced conversations about cochlear implants and their impact on Deaf identity, and through Maya’s character, the author discusses the way Deaf people don’t need to be “fixed.” I also loved the way the book uses the syntax of ASL when Maya signs. I have never seen this done before, and the way the sentences respect the grammar of ASL makes the story more realistic.
❀ A MOVING STORY
The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais is a moving story about loving yourself. The main character is realistic, and the representation of Deaf culture is the best I’ve seen in YA. I would recommend this to those looking for a contemporary with both humour and discussions of current social debates.
December 14, 2019
Update 12/14/19: Okay ... so I’m a little behind on my ARCs because I had a baby. Thanks to Netgalley and Publisher for the review copy.
I went into this book expecting to feel seen, to feel validated. And that’s not what I got. In this, I did mildly see a reflection of my experience of being a deaf kid in a hearing school. I didn’t have an interpreter so my experienced differed from Maya’s. I also communicated exclusively verbally not did I have friends willing to learn sign ... heck my own family didn’t even bother to learn sign.
But the experience was authentic. The #ownvoices-ness of this really shown through which is not something that happens when hearing authors write deaf characters. So for this fact alone, I’m excited to share this with readers at my library.
My gripes with this are as follows: there was so much Deaf educating in this. It felt like educating instead of the experiences and development of the characters normal life. It was purpose driven instead of normalized and that made the storytelling awkward. And then the characters didn’t feel fully developed either which made this feel/read young when everyone is preparing to head off to college. Too many pieces for each character make none of the pieces feel all that important on their own or as part of the overall whole.
Original thoughts upon discovering this book and adding it to my TBR: It's about GD time that the universe (and publishing) gave us (meaning: me as a hearing impaired reader) an #ownvoices Deaf kid in a hearing school story. #thankyouverymuch Now to read the ARC that I just got ...
I went into this book expecting to feel seen, to feel validated. And that’s not what I got. In this, I did mildly see a reflection of my experience of being a deaf kid in a hearing school. I didn’t have an interpreter so my experienced differed from Maya’s. I also communicated exclusively verbally not did I have friends willing to learn sign ... heck my own family didn’t even bother to learn sign.
But the experience was authentic. The #ownvoices-ness of this really shown through which is not something that happens when hearing authors write deaf characters. So for this fact alone, I’m excited to share this with readers at my library.
My gripes with this are as follows: there was so much Deaf educating in this. It felt like educating instead of the experiences and development of the characters normal life. It was purpose driven instead of normalized and that made the storytelling awkward. And then the characters didn’t feel fully developed either which made this feel/read young when everyone is preparing to head off to college. Too many pieces for each character make none of the pieces feel all that important on their own or as part of the overall whole.
Original thoughts upon discovering this book and adding it to my TBR: It's about GD time that the universe (and publishing) gave us (meaning: me as a hearing impaired reader) an #ownvoices Deaf kid in a hearing school story. #thankyouverymuch Now to read the ARC that I just got ...
September 28, 2023
Actually, I finished this a day or two ago, again... my excuse is my life is crazy and I have horrible scheduling skills right now...lol...
Characters:
Maya was such a cool character...I loved her! And how she was true to herself even in touch situations. And there were things that I didn't even think about that would be hard for a deaf person...but how their work really isn't any less than ours, it just looks different. They are incredible people! (Round of applause just for putting up with us infuriating hearing people)
Beau was so sweet even though he didn't understand, he got it in the end and really he just wanted to help.
Nina was so sweet and I loved her!
Maya's mom and brother Connor were great! Loved them!
Themes:
Being true to yourself and taking the time to understand someone else's world.
Romance:
Yes, but nothing gross. Very clean.
Language:
None! Which made me happy because the last deaf YA book I tried to read had a lot of language so I didn't make it part chapter 7 I think...
Overall:
I really enjoyed this story! I loved learning more about deaf culture and seeing the world through Maya's eyes. And learning some about cochlear implants was nice because I didn't know much but now I'm a little more informed. 😀
And I totally understand why there's a debate about them.
I did think the end was pretty rushed compared to the rest of the book. I also wanted more resolved between a certain character and their parent...but *shrugs*.
Other than that, this was a fun read!
Characters:
Maya was such a cool character...I loved her! And how she was true to herself even in touch situations. And there were things that I didn't even think about that would be hard for a deaf person...but how their work really isn't any less than ours, it just looks different. They are incredible people! (Round of applause just for putting up with us infuriating hearing people)
Beau was so sweet even though he didn't understand, he got it in the end and really he just wanted to help.
Nina was so sweet and I loved her!
Maya's mom and brother Connor were great! Loved them!
Themes:
Being true to yourself and taking the time to understand someone else's world.
Romance:
Yes, but nothing gross. Very clean.
Language:
None! Which made me happy because the last deaf YA book I tried to read had a lot of language so I didn't make it part chapter 7 I think...
Overall:
I really enjoyed this story! I loved learning more about deaf culture and seeing the world through Maya's eyes. And learning some about cochlear implants was nice because I didn't know much but now I'm a little more informed. 😀
And I totally understand why there's a debate about them.
I did think the end was pretty rushed compared to the rest of the book. I also wanted more resolved between a certain character and their parent...but *shrugs*.
Other than that, this was a fun read!
May 6, 2022
3.5 stars
I picked this book up mostly on a whim because someone I knew on Goodreads had liked it and I had KU. Since I love the “Sue Thomas F.B.Eye” TV series I was probably more interested in trying something with a deaf MC.
I found myself drawn into the story and growing to love the characters even with their flaws and problems. Having the main character be deaf was interesting as that is not common for fictional stories, and I was fascinated by the inside look, so to speak, of a character who was deaf and what she deal with everyday. It’s not easy. The reactions and interactions of her hearing classmates gave me a new sense of what to do or NOT do to someone who is deaf.
This is not a Christian book and I found myself wishing it was. I think I would have liked it even more then.
There are several kissing in this book by teens who are not seriously thinking of marriage at the time. Not really descriptive, but I still wasn’t that comfortable with it.
I picked this book up mostly on a whim because someone I knew on Goodreads had liked it and I had KU. Since I love the “Sue Thomas F.B.Eye” TV series I was probably more interested in trying something with a deaf MC.
I found myself drawn into the story and growing to love the characters even with their flaws and problems. Having the main character be deaf was interesting as that is not common for fictional stories, and I was fascinated by the inside look, so to speak, of a character who was deaf and what she deal with everyday. It’s not easy. The reactions and interactions of her hearing classmates gave me a new sense of what to do or NOT do to someone who is deaf.
This is not a Christian book and I found myself wishing it was. I think I would have liked it even more then.
There are several kissing in this book by teens who are not seriously thinking of marriage at the time. Not really descriptive, but I still wasn’t that comfortable with it.
June 22, 2024
I went into this book with high expectations and it did not disappoint! I had a great time reading this book, and I really loved all the relationships. Maya and her little brother were so sweet 🥺 This was *mostly* a relaxing read, except for chapter 19 and 20. I also learned a new sign or two and was encouraged to look up some that I didn't know! I would definitely read this book again if I needed a light read. I'm also really glad that all the signing scenes were in ASL grammar instead of English grammar.
❤️Maya + Beau❤️
🥹
❤️Maya + Beau❤️
🥹
September 1, 2021
New favorite standalone
February 20, 2025
This book was really cute. I’ve wanted to read it for months and I’m really glad that I randomly found it at the library. I loved learning more about the deaf community and seeing characters take the time and effort to do the same. Maya and Beau’s romance was obviously adorable, and they communicated so well. I would watch this movie so hard if it ever got made into one. This was a good book, no notes.
August 21, 2019
I LOVED that this book had a deaf MC. Just YES, all the yes. She had a regular life, had the same concerns with school, boys, grades, as anyone else. This book just shined when showing the differences and similarities, the things that were harder and the things that she embraced as a deaf person. It felt real, what she went through and how she reacted.
Why not five stars then? Because key, to me, questions were ignored or barely touched on.
1) ghost dad much? Divorced when she was eight, no mention of him skipping on alimony or child support, yet the mom worked her @SS off and the younger kid had a disease that required a lot of medical attention. The MC is discussing wanting to get a job to help with the bills, but doesn’t even MENTION the father and his financial responsibilities? That is not realistic at all.
2) mom is apparently the best at what she does (whatever it is, we never find out), so she is moved from NJ to Colorado to be in that office, but her son has CF, which affects the lungs, so SHE AGREED TO MOVE SOMEPLACE WHERE BREATHING IS HARD?!?! And she wasn’t getting paid enough, if the MC is worried about the bills and she was working from home most of the time to take care of her sick son. So why not stay in NJ and work from home there??
3) a school for the deaf was an hour away from where they moved. Why didn’t she move closer so her other child, the deaf MC could go there? Not saying the deaf shouldn’t go to school with the hearing, but at the beginning the MC wanted to go to a school geared towards the deaf. Does this mom even CARE about her kids?
4) it’s not even mentioned until about 100 pages in why the dad isn’t in the picture and how the MC became deaf. She was born hearing and became deaf later in life. Those are pretty crucial story points that I would think would come out a tad earlier, just my thoughts.
So yeah, those issues knock a couple of stars off for me, unfortunately. Not a bad book, but I couldn’t overlook those issues. Definitely recommended anyway, the deaf MC and the insight into the deaf community are important for those not exposed to the deaf community to learn a little about it. I found that aspect of it fascinating and I feel I learned from reading this book. 3, I wish I could rate it higher but I can’t, stars.
Why not five stars then? Because key, to me, questions were ignored or barely touched on.
1) ghost dad much? Divorced when she was eight, no mention of him skipping on alimony or child support, yet the mom worked her @SS off and the younger kid had a disease that required a lot of medical attention. The MC is discussing wanting to get a job to help with the bills, but doesn’t even MENTION the father and his financial responsibilities? That is not realistic at all.
2) mom is apparently the best at what she does (whatever it is, we never find out), so she is moved from NJ to Colorado to be in that office, but her son has CF, which affects the lungs, so SHE AGREED TO MOVE SOMEPLACE WHERE BREATHING IS HARD?!?! And she wasn’t getting paid enough, if the MC is worried about the bills and she was working from home most of the time to take care of her sick son. So why not stay in NJ and work from home there??
3) a school for the deaf was an hour away from where they moved. Why didn’t she move closer so her other child, the deaf MC could go there? Not saying the deaf shouldn’t go to school with the hearing, but at the beginning the MC wanted to go to a school geared towards the deaf. Does this mom even CARE about her kids?
4) it’s not even mentioned until about 100 pages in why the dad isn’t in the picture and how the MC became deaf. She was born hearing and became deaf later in life. Those are pretty crucial story points that I would think would come out a tad earlier, just my thoughts.
So yeah, those issues knock a couple of stars off for me, unfortunately. Not a bad book, but I couldn’t overlook those issues. Definitely recommended anyway, the deaf MC and the insight into the deaf community are important for those not exposed to the deaf community to learn a little about it. I found that aspect of it fascinating and I feel I learned from reading this book. 3, I wish I could rate it higher but I can’t, stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 4, 2020
The earnest good intentions of The Silence between Us can’t be denied, and the handling of ASL on the page is interesting. But not one of the characters has any shape or dimension whatsoever, the protagonist has no arc to speak of, and for a novel so concerned with asserting the legitimacy and value of Deaf culture, there’s shockingly little exploration of Deaf culture, which leaves the novel feeling rather hollow.
2020 Read Harder Challenge
21. Read a book with a main character or protagonist with a disability (fiction or non).
For the record, Maya, who is Deaf, doesn’t consider herself disabled, but her profound hearing loss does introduce unique challenges to her life.
2020 Read Harder Challenge
21. Read a book with a main character or protagonist with a disability (fiction or non).
For the record, Maya, who is Deaf, doesn’t consider herself disabled, but her profound hearing loss does introduce unique challenges to her life.
July 24, 2022
More YA books with Deaf characters please!! This was so great. It reminded me of True Biz but geared for teens. I’m so excited to offer this book as an option for my students in a coming of age unit this fall. (Also it’s clean so crazy Utah parents can’t get mad 🙃)
I really loved learning about Deaf culture and seeing Maya stay true to herself throughout the whole book. All of the characters were so fleshed out & were willing to learn. I love when teen friendships in books are so wholesome 🥹 The audiobook was fabulous as well.
I really loved learning about Deaf culture and seeing Maya stay true to herself throughout the whole book. All of the characters were so fleshed out & were willing to learn. I love when teen friendships in books are so wholesome 🥹 The audiobook was fabulous as well.
July 12, 2022
This was awesome!
Rep: White deaf cishet female MC, white male side character with cystic fibrosis, deaf cis female side character, various white side characters.
CWs: Ableism, chronic illness (cystic fibrosis), bullying, medical content, HP references. Minor: Car accident, past death of parent, grief.
Rep: White deaf cishet female MC, white male side character with cystic fibrosis, deaf cis female side character, various white side characters.
CWs: Ableism, chronic illness (cystic fibrosis), bullying, medical content, HP references. Minor: Car accident, past death of parent, grief.
August 4, 2022
Deaf student Maya moves from New Jersey to Colorado when her mum’s job is relocated. Knowing she will have to attend a hearing school surrounding by students who could react in all sorts of manners to her deafness, suffice... read the full review here: https://www.amysbookshelf.co.uk/2022/...
April 27, 2022
Five shining stars. I absolutely loved this book. Any story with a non-traditional MC interests me, but especially when there is disability present—a visible or invisible one.
July 8, 2019
*I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
3/5
This review may contain very mild spoilers.
The Silence Between Us is a book about a girl who is deaf and transfers to a hearing school for the first time since becoming deaf. I enjoyed parts of the story, but overall was kind of let down.
One thing I really loved was the writing. The author wrote sign language in a really cool way that I've never personally seen before. She also wrote parts where the main character Maya is lip reading, and there will be words missing in the sentence that Maya isn't able to read, so we don't get those words either and have to infer, as Maya does, what the sentence is supposed to mean. I thought that this was a brilliant way for the author to give us just a hint of what it must be like to be Maya, or any other deaf or hard of hearing person.
There were a few things in the story that didn't really make a lot of sense to me. For one, Maya's brother has cystic fibrosis. The first thing that happens in the story is Maya's mother moving them to Colorado, a city with a higher elevation almost certainly going to wreak serious havoc on her brother's health. I'm not a mother, but i can't imagine ever, for any job, moving my child with serious health issues somewhere that will exacerbate those issues. I knew that we would end up having a scene where he gets very sick because of this. I really loved the mother in this story, but i felt like that was just a really stupid thing to do, and I couldn't wrap my head around it. the mother was far from stupid, so it felt like it was just added to give her a reason to be at that school, which is fine, but didn't really make sense to me.
Also, something that happens with Maya and the love interest close to the end I didn't really like. The love interest does something that I felt was very out of character not only for the character in general, but felt really off considering how the character had been acting even a page before. It felt like it was added in purely for drama between them, and though we got a resolution, the resolution felt too easy, and i feel like that part could have been cut out and we could have gone straight to the epilogue and had the same, if not better impact on the story.
Maya herself was really hard for me to like. While i liked that she was perfectly happy with herself the way she was and wanted nothing to do with things that could make her life easier, like a cochlear implant, I found her judgemental, sometimes selfish, and pretty unkind, particularly at the beginning. She wants nothing to do with hearing people. She judges people for not knowing how to communicate with her, but also suspects some sort of agenda when they want to learn how to communicate with her. I do understand this is part of her development, and also because of prejudices she's faced in the past. But i felt she was particularly rude and mean to the love interest, and it just really held me back from liking her. she definitely got better throughout the story.
A lot of this story was pretty cliche in terms of really following closely a normal contemporary. there wasn't anything groundbreaking story wise.
"Just because my world looks a little different than yours suddenly that means its not as important?"
The book had a lot of good lines, and as i mentioned earlier I did really enjoy the representation and the writing. The overall plot and the characters were what brought it down a bit for me, but it was still enjoyable and I'd still recommend it, if it sounds interesting to you.
3/5
This review may contain very mild spoilers.
The Silence Between Us is a book about a girl who is deaf and transfers to a hearing school for the first time since becoming deaf. I enjoyed parts of the story, but overall was kind of let down.
One thing I really loved was the writing. The author wrote sign language in a really cool way that I've never personally seen before. She also wrote parts where the main character Maya is lip reading, and there will be words missing in the sentence that Maya isn't able to read, so we don't get those words either and have to infer, as Maya does, what the sentence is supposed to mean. I thought that this was a brilliant way for the author to give us just a hint of what it must be like to be Maya, or any other deaf or hard of hearing person.
There were a few things in the story that didn't really make a lot of sense to me. For one, Maya's brother has cystic fibrosis. The first thing that happens in the story is Maya's mother moving them to Colorado, a city with a higher elevation almost certainly going to wreak serious havoc on her brother's health. I'm not a mother, but i can't imagine ever, for any job, moving my child with serious health issues somewhere that will exacerbate those issues. I knew that we would end up having a scene where he gets very sick because of this. I really loved the mother in this story, but i felt like that was just a really stupid thing to do, and I couldn't wrap my head around it. the mother was far from stupid, so it felt like it was just added to give her a reason to be at that school, which is fine, but didn't really make sense to me.
Also, something that happens with Maya and the love interest close to the end I didn't really like. The love interest does something that I felt was very out of character not only for the character in general, but felt really off considering how the character had been acting even a page before. It felt like it was added in purely for drama between them, and though we got a resolution, the resolution felt too easy, and i feel like that part could have been cut out and we could have gone straight to the epilogue and had the same, if not better impact on the story.
Maya herself was really hard for me to like. While i liked that she was perfectly happy with herself the way she was and wanted nothing to do with things that could make her life easier, like a cochlear implant, I found her judgemental, sometimes selfish, and pretty unkind, particularly at the beginning. She wants nothing to do with hearing people. She judges people for not knowing how to communicate with her, but also suspects some sort of agenda when they want to learn how to communicate with her. I do understand this is part of her development, and also because of prejudices she's faced in the past. But i felt she was particularly rude and mean to the love interest, and it just really held me back from liking her. she definitely got better throughout the story.
A lot of this story was pretty cliche in terms of really following closely a normal contemporary. there wasn't anything groundbreaking story wise.
"Just because my world looks a little different than yours suddenly that means its not as important?"
The book had a lot of good lines, and as i mentioned earlier I did really enjoy the representation and the writing. The overall plot and the characters were what brought it down a bit for me, but it was still enjoyable and I'd still recommend it, if it sounds interesting to you.
August 6, 2019
**I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
The Silence Between Us follows a Deaf girl named Maya as she navigates a hearing school for the first time in many years. I was initially excited for this book because of the disability rep. The author, Alison Gervais, is hard of hearing, and I think that she did a great job at representing a Deaf main character. There were so many little things that added to the experience, from the choppier way conversations in sign were represented, to how you only were able to read the words that Maya saw while lip-reading, instead of the full sentences that people were speaking. It really helped me get a feel for how Maya’s communication as a Deaf girl differs from those that are hearing.
That being said, throughout the book, I found it very hard to connect to Maya as a character. There are some points of the book where it felt like we were supposed to feel sympathy or sadness, but the writing just did not help deliver that. There was nothing in the story itself that made me care, or want to keep reading very much. The characters and storyline never quite made me want to keep reading more. It wasn’t so much that it was a bad book, it’s more that it was a little bit boring at times.
One part of the book that highlights the underdevelopment of the plot and characters was Maya’s little brother, Connor. Her younger brother was a major character for the book plot-wise, with his cystic fibrosis being the reason the family moved to Colorado in the first place, and his illness being the reason Maya wants to become a respiratory therapist. However, despite all of that, he just wasn’t developed enough to make me feel much of anything. There was never a time that we felt that I felt the depth of his illness and its effects. It was all very surface level.
And as for the plot, there wasn’t much going on. What is mentioned in the synopsis on Goodreads, doesn’t even happen till pretty much the end of the book. This just made the book feel like it dragged on, and like not much was happening, partially because nothing much was happening. The synopsis mentions a romance, struggles with college, and debate over a cochlear implant. Those things don’t really come into play until much later and weren’t as big a deal as I expected.
I know that all these negatives might make it seem that it’s not a good book. But honestly, it’s not a bad book. The main reason why I didn’t give it a higher rating is that it could have been so much better! As I mentioned the representation was fantastic, and the idea of the plot was very good, but I just felt that the execution was lacking.
I still would recommend this book, since it just seems like this was a case of it’s not you, it’s me. While this book fell a little flat for me, I'd still recommend reading it just for the awesome disability representation.
The Silence Between Us follows a Deaf girl named Maya as she navigates a hearing school for the first time in many years. I was initially excited for this book because of the disability rep. The author, Alison Gervais, is hard of hearing, and I think that she did a great job at representing a Deaf main character. There were so many little things that added to the experience, from the choppier way conversations in sign were represented, to how you only were able to read the words that Maya saw while lip-reading, instead of the full sentences that people were speaking. It really helped me get a feel for how Maya’s communication as a Deaf girl differs from those that are hearing.
That being said, throughout the book, I found it very hard to connect to Maya as a character. There are some points of the book where it felt like we were supposed to feel sympathy or sadness, but the writing just did not help deliver that. There was nothing in the story itself that made me care, or want to keep reading very much. The characters and storyline never quite made me want to keep reading more. It wasn’t so much that it was a bad book, it’s more that it was a little bit boring at times.
One part of the book that highlights the underdevelopment of the plot and characters was Maya’s little brother, Connor. Her younger brother was a major character for the book plot-wise, with his cystic fibrosis being the reason the family moved to Colorado in the first place, and his illness being the reason Maya wants to become a respiratory therapist. However, despite all of that, he just wasn’t developed enough to make me feel much of anything. There was never a time that we felt that I felt the depth of his illness and its effects. It was all very surface level.
And as for the plot, there wasn’t much going on. What is mentioned in the synopsis on Goodreads, doesn’t even happen till pretty much the end of the book. This just made the book feel like it dragged on, and like not much was happening, partially because nothing much was happening. The synopsis mentions a romance, struggles with college, and debate over a cochlear implant. Those things don’t really come into play until much later and weren’t as big a deal as I expected.
I know that all these negatives might make it seem that it’s not a good book. But honestly, it’s not a bad book. The main reason why I didn’t give it a higher rating is that it could have been so much better! As I mentioned the representation was fantastic, and the idea of the plot was very good, but I just felt that the execution was lacking.
I still would recommend this book, since it just seems like this was a case of it’s not you, it’s me. While this book fell a little flat for me, I'd still recommend reading it just for the awesome disability representation.
August 1, 2024
Awwwwww, that was adorable. So good.
September 8, 2020
The plot of this book just seems unrealistic. What parents would uproot a kid with a chronic illness and bring him to a high-altitude location that's almost guaranteed to worsen his health? For that matter, what parents would toss their deaf daughter into the deep end of a hearing school when she's only been in mostly deaf communities so far? Honestly, none of this makes sense and it really detracted from my ability to enjoy this book.
*Book received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
*Book received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
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