Review - A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard

Title: A Quiet Kind of Thunder

Author: Sara Barnard

Pages: 320

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Release date: 12th January 2017

Blurb from Goodreads:

 

Steffi doesn't talk. Rhys can't hear. They understand each other perfectly. Love isn't always a lightning strike. Sometimes it's the rumbling roll of thunder... 

Steffi has been a selective mute for most of her life - she's been silent for so long that she feels completely invisible. But Rhys, the new boy at school, sees her. He's deaf, and her knowledge of basic sign language means that she's assigned to look after him. To Rhys it doesn't matter that Steffi doesn't talk and, as they find ways to communicate, Steffi finds that she does have a voice, and that she's falling in love with the one person who makes her feel brave enough to use it. 

The stunning new novel from the bestselling author of Beautiful Broken Things is a love story about the times when a whisper is as good as a shout. 

 Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

My Review:

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley*

 

Steffi struggles with selective mutism and panic attacks but this year is going to be different - this year Steffi must try to speak more to prove to her parents that she will be able to cope with university.

Then Steffi meets Rhys who is a new student and deaf. Assigned to look after Rhys, Steffi uses her limited sign language to talk to him.

Steffi and Rhys soon grow close, but can they have a future together?

So far it seems to be a theme with Sara Barnard's books that I'm slightly, well, underwhelmed after reading them.

Obviously, I found it interesting that A Quiet Kind of Thunder was about a selective mute and someone that was deaf, but that was really the best part of the book for me.

For the most part I liked Steffi. I felt sorry for her - having selective mutism for most of her life must have been really hard.

Rhys was okay but he annoyed me at times.

I liked Tem and Steffi's relationship with her.

The plot was alright but I predicted certain things that happened and lost interest a few times.

I wasn't a huge fan of the romance but I thought Steffi and Rhys were cute together.

Overall this was okay read.