Review: Silver by Talia Vance

Silver by Talia Vance
Pages: 384
Expected publication: September 8, 2012 (Flux)
Source: E-ARC from the publisher
Rating: Beam-worthy
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"As I step into the room, a silver flash blurs my vision. Before I can take a breath, the world falls away."

Brianna has always felt invisible. People stare right past her, including the one boy she can't resist, Blake Williams. But everything changes at a house party where Brianna's charm bracelet slips off and time stands still. In that one frozen, silver moment, Blake not only sees her, he recognizes something deep inside her she's been hiding even from herself.

Discovering she is descended from Danu, the legendary Bandia of Celtic myth, Brianna finds herself questioning the truth of who she is. And when she accidentally binds her soul to Blake, their mutual attraction becomes undeniable.

But Blake has his own secret, one that could prove deadly for them both.

Bound together by forbidden magic, Brianna and Blake find themselves at the heart of an ancient feud that threatens to destroy their lives and their love.

My Review

When I began Silver, my immediate reaction was: "I hope this book is different, isn't just another okay read."  And while there were some elements to Talia Vance's debut novel that I wasn't enthusiastic about, overall it is a well-written, heart-pounding novel with a lush mythology and a sweet yet tormented romance that will definitely leave you emotional in the end, and waiting anxiously for the sequel. 


Brianna is your everyday teenager, with one noticeable difference: no one ever notices her.  Literally.  With a hook like this, I had to know more - and luckily, there was definitely much more once you looked past the surface of Silver.  As Brianna discovered truths about herself and her family lineage, I couldn't help but feel for her, as the girl no one ever looked at became the girl everyone wanted - and not always for the best reasons.  Mixed in with undercurrent of danger in this book was also the budding romance between Brianna and her crush, Blake.  When their souls became bound and tangled together, was when Silver really took off, for me. 

I think the reason I dug the romance between Brianna and Blake was that there was so much conflict between them, both external and internal.  A romance where everything falls into place is just boring, but for these two, nothing was simple, and yet there was a depth of attraction and more than that, caring between them, genuine feelings that developed over the course of Silver.  And I also loved that these two actually keenly felt being apart, to the point of sharing emotions and knowing when the other was in danger.  Without all that, I would have brushed this aside as another book that capitalized on insta-love, but Vance set her romance apart from others. Between Brianna and Blake's own loyalties being tested, as well as their personal issues, Silver was rife with the kind of conflict that can make or break a couple.  And I found myself really cheering for Blake and Brianna! 

So, while I did love the mythology and discovering what and who both  Brianna and Blake were, I have to say, I wasn't keen on how MUCH Silver focused on appearance.  Blake didn't notice Brianna until she was unhidden, and of course, beautiful.  Brianna's friends were pretty and popular.  Blake and supporting characters Austin and Jonah were "hot."  Silver has a superficial air to it that I really wish Vance had toned down, made appearance a bit less important.  And while I liked several of the supporting characters, and some even surprised me when things about them were revealed, I also wish several of them were more developed and fleshed-out; instead, they felt somewhat flat. 

However, I DID really like Silver, and became completely invested in Blake and Brianna over the course of the novel.  Even with their lives in danger, they shared some very sweet moments, and they were definitely not your typical couple in a YA novel.  Based on that, and on the awesome mythos and that I want to see where it all goes next, I will definitely read the sequel!


Other books by this author:

Gold (Bandia #2, 2013)
Spies and Prejudice (2013)

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