FlumeAward – Soundless Soundless by Richelle Mead
This is a fantasy with an element of Chinese folklore. It has a strong female character who possesses great artistic ability. She lives in a mountain village where everyone has lost the ability to hear and some are going blind. The plot is pretty thin and the book’s resolution seems abrupt and unsatisfying. There is the requisite romance, but the male character is much less developed than the female protagonist. I suspect that younger readers of fantasy may like this book, but I don’t think it would be a good candidate for the Flume list. Ann, NHSL