The Silent Blade by Jesseca Wheaton

Hi guys! It’s time for a review of The Silent Blade by Jesseca Wheaton! I’m a proud member of her blog tour, and today is my scheduled posting day, so I’m posting when I wouldn’t usually (according to my new schedule … which I should mention to you sometimes includes no weekend posts unless I’m publishing a novel). You can also find an interview with Jesseca on Reveries Reviews.

The Silent Blade by Jesseca Wheaton

Dromiskin, Ireland. 925 A.D.

Eira has no greater desire than to see her life returned to what it once was—before her older brother Kevin’s sudden disappearance four years earlier. But the simple life she hoped for seems unattainable; on the contrary, her life is about to get all the more complicated.
 When she suddenly finds herself and Willem, her twin brother, taken captive by someone who claims to be Kevin’s enemy, things go from bad to worse. It soon becomes clear that she and Willem are to become bait in a trap set for Kevin, and Eira knows she must try to warn him. But how, when she herself is a captive?
 As mysteries of the past are unveiled, and loyalties are revealed, Eira realizes how precious her friends truly are. And when mortal danger threatens those nearest to her, will she be able to trust God with the lives of her friends and family?

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Although I don’t usually read novels set in medieval times, I made an exception for The Silent Blade after hearing great things about it from the beta-readers. I’m glad I did; it was a very good book! I liked it a lot more than I thought I would, and there were times when I definitely didn’t want to put it down, even to eat. Unfortunately, my mother does not look favorably upon reading at the table. 😀
The plot was intriguing, full of twists and turns. It was an adventure novel, another genre I rarely read. Again, I was pleasantly surprised by The Silent Blade. The action vs. dialogue was well-balanced (although I felt that there could have been a little more description), and I wasn’t forced to read through fight scenes in great detail, although I certainly understood what was going on.
I loved the characters. There were quite a few of them, but they were all distinct and I never had trouble keeping track of them. And the names! If you know me well, you know I love names – especially Irish names – and the names were, I’m ashamed to say, one of my favorite things about the book! Eira, Casimir, Cian, Aeden, Rowen … awesome names. They were pretty awesome characters, too.
I liked Eira. She was different than most strong heroines you read about – feminine and soft, but never weak. I enjoyed her thoroughly.
I think Casimir was my favorite character. He was witty and intelligent and a good swordfighter and caring and … awesome.
Kevin was the most awesome big brother ever! I was almost in tears sometimes. Me: “I want a Keeeeeviiiiin!!!” *sobs* (not really … but kind of)
Willem is another character who I really enjoyed. He was always so calm! This, perhaps, could have been played a little more (so some room for character development), but I still got the idea.
And I must say the thing with Henry was so … unexpected. A little too sudden, too easy, perhaps? Like Kung Fu Panda 3? (“I hope you find your son.” “I hope you find your father.” XD)
I believe I talked about the writing a little up there already (sorry, guys … I didn’t mean to make this review so messy, but there it is!), which was pretty good, if a little confusing at times (at the beginning, for instance). As I said before, the description could have used work, but the action vs. dialogue was pretty good.
I do have one big problem with this novel, and that was the way the characters spoke. At the end of the novel, the author noted that the character don’t seem to speak with an Irish accent because, technically, they would be speaking in Gaelic. While I understand not writing out accents, the modern language they used (even “okay” several times) really threw me off. It took away a lot from the novel. In the future, I’d advise the author to at least use a little less modern language in her historical novels.
I enjoyed the sibling-banter between Willem and Eira. It was cute and great character development. And, of course, every word Casimir said was … <3 I’m sorry, Rylan, I’ve found a new boyfriend …
Because of the lack of description, I didn’t get a really good grasp of the setting. However, the author knows her stuff about the time period. As far as I could tell, besides the dialogue it was all historically accurate, and what I did hear about Ireland in that time period was pretty cool. I want to go to Ireland soooo badly! I don’t even need a time machine; I’ll happily go there now! *worst Irish accent ever* IRELAND ME HOMELAND!!!

Content

1.5/5, ok for all ages. There is some romance, but there were no descriptions of kisses or touching or anything – very sweet, clean, and innocent. There was also violence, but no blood or gore. No language.

Rating

4/5 stars. An amazing novel that could use just a little improvement.
~Kellyn Roth

About the Author

Jesseca is an 18-year old daughter, sister, and a child of God. Her days are spent reading, cooking, spending time with siblings, or playing piano.  And writing, of course! At an early age words fascinated her, and her love for the printed page has only grown. She lives with her parents and seven siblings in the sunny state of Kansas, and she’s convinced there’s no place like home.

You can find out more about Jesseca Wheaton and her works on her blog, Whimsical Writings.