I started out Whisper a little bit unsure. The premise of Whisper gave me a chill while reading the blurb. Not the paranormal part, but the Joy and Jessica part. Something about those few lines detailing their relationship gave me chills.

Strictly speaking my only major complaint was with the unevenness to the narrative. More of the book was spent on watching Joy's perfect world crumble then it was on Joy and Jessica's relationship. Though the effect of Jessica's seemingly unending malice clearly effected Joy's life, and I could easily feel Joy's feelings on this matter, there was only snatches of their former close bond. Memories that flitted around to express just how polar opposite their relationship had become, but weren't fleshed out.

The rest of the book worked really well for me. Having my own polar opposite sister I identified with Joy's unease and awkwardness regarding her relationship with Jessica. Its hard to let go of those years when you felt so close and wanted to share similar ideas and hobbies. Not truly understanding how you went from being everything to each other and then suddenly being strangers seemingly over night. What did I say wrong? What did I do wrong? All those feelings of hurt and unhappiness that both girls felt, I've struggled with them myself. This had the unfortunate effect of making me tear up more often then not, but it made the book seem so much more real.

Despite the slow start, it felt like much of the central plot--helping Jessica--came in excited, rapid bursts between all of Joy's other worries. Hearing her friends' true thoughts, catching on that she was missing something (but not sure what exactly), frustration over the lack of real communication in her household--these things all swirled around as Joy attempted to puzzle out the strange thoughts and images she was getting from Jessica.

Jamie, who has his own family problems, was a good foil to Joy. His and his older brother Ben's relationship was similar to Joy and Jessica's--except whereas Ben (the older brother) could fit in easily, it was Joy (the younger sister) who fitted in well. The bond between the brothers was also kind of different, which I have a feeling has to do a lot with their own family issues, and I wish we could have seen more about them. Fleshed out that whole dynamic some. I also felt that together Joy and Jamie made a good team--quite frankly they were almost perfect for each other.

Joy's family was...I'm not sure dysfunctional really covers it properly. A lot comes out and will need to be talked about, discussed and put right. Not just regarding Jessica, but also regarding the complete oblivious cloud the family seemed to operate under. I think I felt the worse for Joy's father, who used willful ignorance to make it through most days. I don't think either parent was a 'bad' parent per say, or abusive, or neglectful, but Joy's mother tried to impose her views, her choices and expectations on everyone in the house. To varying degrees of failure and success.

This book both terrified and enthralled me. Some of the problems between Joy and Jessica so eerily mirrored issues I have with my sister that my gut clenched in anxiety. But then, that makes a wonderful book. Style can be polished as a writer publishes more novels, emotional connection however--you can't teach that I don't think. Its something you write into your stories without conscious thought and its something Kitanidis does extremely well. ( )

Joy, her older sister Jessica and their mother are of a long line of femaile relatives who can Hear other people's Whispers. In other words, they can hear people's thoughts. Joy uses her power for good, pleasing her friends and classmates by delivering what they want. Cynical Icka (Jessica's nickname) uses her power to deliver hard, cruel truths. The two sisters couldn't be more different except for the power they share. What Joy doesn't realize is that Icka's power has become a burden she no longer wants, and soon Joy finds her power shifting in the same frightening way. When Joy senses that Icka is in trouble, it becomes an opportunity to corral her changing power and reconnect with her sister. This book started out slow and and wordy but becomes suspenseful and compelling once you get past it. It's more than a novel about girls with cool superpowers, though. There's a theme of with-power-comes-responsibility; both girls must learn how to cope with the changes in their abilities and the growth involved comes with pain and emotional angst. Teens who are fans of the paranormal will enjoy this getaway book. ( )

One of those books where the premise is awesome and the execution not so much... but I enjoyed it very much except for the ending which went off in a completely weird direction. If you like young adult books and are tired of vampires/werewolves, this is a great one to pick up. ( )

Recommended

Joy has the gift of hearing “Whispers”. She uses her paranormal gift to make other people happy and to like her. However, now that Joy is 15 years old, she is beginning to get strange headaches. Her sister, Jessica (Icka), has told her that she will soon hear the way people really are. Joy thinks that this is just another way that Icka is trying to ruin her life. All the women in Joy’s family have been able to hear Whispers. Joy has appreciated her gift for most of her life. Joy and Icka are not close at all. Joy is the happy, popular girl with lots of friends and her sister is the dark, gloomy, loner who is mean to other people.

I think this book fits in well with the paranormal urban fantasy genre. Readers will probably reflect on how it would really feel to hear other peoples’ thoughts. Many readers will be able to relate to the realizations that Joy has about selfishness, hypocrisy, friendship and relationships. There are a lot of characters that are introduced in the story and it might be difficult for younger readers to follow. We can feel what Joy is experiencing with her relationships to her parents, friends, sister and a boy. Joy meets a boy, Jamie, who can feel other people’s emotions. It is the first time she can relate to someone outside her family.

Overall, I think it will appeal to the average high school student who enjoys reading paranormal fiction. The main character is well written, the plot is intriguing and the book is hard to put down. It would be a good choice for a book club. There is some talk of sex, but it’s pretty tame. Some readers may find the drug scene objectionable. A planned drug overdose at a drug house in Seattle is a pretty gritty scene.

The book has some twists and turns that make it worth reading. It will make you wish you had your own magical gift. ( )

Cover. The cover is weird and I did not understand the point before or after reading the book. It seems to me that the girls head is floating in space with these weird smoke stuff that forces half of her face off of the frame. I don't get the smoke. It reminds me of cigarettes and although there are some smoking and drug use I don't really see why it was put on the cover the way it is.

Plot. The summary that is given does not really describe the book that well to me. The first two-thirds of the novel is almost a completely different novel than the last third and even though it is the last that is described in the summary I found myself liking the first portion better. Joy can hear people's desires. In the beginning it is only the surface ones that she hears and she can't stop herself from giving in to the desires of the people around her. I absolutely loved the first half. There was so much promise and I really wanted to learn more about the Whispers and how they work. Joy seemed to knowledgeable about them and because her sister was so rude to everyone I found the fact the Joy always went to her mother less strange than I would have under other circumstances. Yet very suddenly everyone changes personality and we are given flashbacks to convince us that they have always been that way. Her friends up until now had been portrayed as an average group of friends are suddenly the popular crowd. The A-List of the entire school and yet they are only in their freshmen year. While I loved the beginning I found that the end of the book just did not keep my attention and I became so very annoyed with how the book ended. It had so much potential and I feel as if I have been let down. Yet I don't regret picking up this book because the premise was so interesting and the author has such promise that I might even read the second book in the series. If there actually is one because to be honest while so many sites said that this was the first book I could not find anything about a second one.

Characters. I didn't have a favorite character because I did not really like any of them. Joy was shunned by her entire family and than they all had the gall to act like it was her fault for not knowing things. I especially despised how whenever the dad talked to her he would only talk about his work and never even tried to get to know Joy. I could not like Joy because of her lobotomy half-way through. I could not like Jessica because she was barely actually in the book. I think that she had a total of three actual scenes that were in the present and the rest were in flashbacks. The book was supposed to be about Joy saving Jessica or Icka as she is called but she is barely in it and Joy only finds out that Icka is missing after a little over 200 pages in. That left 40 pages for Joy to think about doing something, 30 pages for her to do something, and 10 pages for the resolution. So not enough.

Recommend? Yes ( )