ARC Review: Whisper by Lynette Noni

Title: Whisper (Whisper #1)
Author: Lynette Noni
Genre: Young adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Source: Edelweiss 
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Publication Date: May 1st, 2018

Summary:

For two and a half years, Subject 684 --- "Jane Doe" --- has been locked underground in a secret government facility, enduring tests and torture. In that time, she hasn't uttered a single word. Not even her real name. Jane chooses to remain silent rather than risk losing control over the power within her. She alone knows what havoc her words can cause. Then the authorities put her in the care of the mysterious Landon Ward, and Jane is surprised when he treats her like a person rather than a prisoner. Ward's protective nature causes her resolve to crack in spite of her best efforts to resist. Just as Jane begins to trust him, though, a freak accident reveals the dangerous power she has concealed for years. It also reveals that the government has been keeping secrets of its own. Now Jane's ability is at the heart of a sinister plot for vengeance, and she has to decide whom she will trust ... and whom she will help.

I have extremely mixed feelings on this book. On one hand I really enjoyed it and loved the idea and the characters and on the other hand I felt like the story was underdeveloped and awkwardly put together at some points. It isn't that the idea for Whisper was horrible, it was quite opposite actually but it felt very rushed and underdeveloped in certain spots.  

Jane Doe or subject 684 has been silent and locked up in an underground government facility, Lengard, for the past two and a half years. With her time running out and all other attempts with other Lengard personal having failed the Director of the facility sends in his nephew, Landon Ward in to get Jane Doe to respond. What surprises Jane the most is the fact that Ward treats her like a human rather then an animal like the other personnel at Lengard do. After a freak accident Jane reveals her Speaking ability and is thrown into a whole other side of Lengard that she didn't even know existed. 

The idea for Speaking was really cool. After failed drug trails in the past subjects who had taken the drug started to develop Speaking powers, which are is when ever they speak something with intent and it happens. Years after when these subjects began to have children of their own those children also developed Speaking abilities which brings us to our current set of characters. Though Speakers can create objects, influence people or heal them they are only confined to Speak in their category. For example Cami can heal people, Crew can injure, ect. My only confusion is how these abilities developed, I feel like they are more fantasy based rather then science fiction. Its only a small detail but it was something I thought about often enough through out the entirety of the novel. 

I liked Jane Doe (We do learn her real name in the novel. But I don't want to spoil anything.) There is definitely character growth through out the novel, even if its all mostly towards the end. For the secondary characters in Whisper I found them to be underdeveloped. I liked them, don't get me wrong on that part but I feel like they could have been expanded on. Ward is one of the main character and as the reader I feel like all I know is his Speaking ability and that is it. I like having a feel for the characters and Whisper fell a little short on that aspect. 

I also loved that this book was not focused on Jane Doe having a love interest. I can see that happening later on in the series and for there to be a possible love triangle. But it was nice seeing a YA novel that wasn't focused on the relationship of the characters rather then the actual story. 

Here is where my review is going to get a little more negative. Some of the plot points I found where awkwardly thrown together, and that could have just been the way the book was formatted meaning: there were a few time gaps, a couple of days, a few weeks, a few hours. I felt like the story was a little fragmented in that part. Also, nothing really interesting happens until about half way through the book. I kept on reading because I was curious about what made this book a sci-fi (Plus, I love sci-fi) but it did move slow and then after the half way point more picked up. 

Overall I didn't hate Whisper. I did enjoy it, (despite my previously stated issues) and I do plan on continuing on in the series when the next books are published. The book has a lot of potential to grow from the point it is at right now. This was a quick read, so for those of you who are looking for something that isn't crazy long this is definitely a good option! 

(3.5 Stars!)