REVIEW: Silver by Talia Vance

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. 

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MY THOUGHTS
I don't like writing negative reviews and I went back and forth about whether I wanted to post this review or not. It has sat in my drafts folder for the last five months. As it is probably obvious, I decided to post this. I do not like adding negativity, but I also needed to review this book for a challenge. And I want to warn others about how problematic this book is. I can honestly say this is the worst book I read this year. It was just a...mess. It was not at all what I expected. It had a few interesting concepts, but all of the characters were horrible people and it just turned out to be a horrible, cliche read.

Brianna feels invisible next to her attractive friend, Haley. But one day at a party her charm bracelet slips, there's a flash of silver light, time freezes, and she finally catches the attention of Blake, a boy who has previously never seemed to notice her. This small moment catapults Brianna into discovering her true origins and abilities.

I admit that when I first started this book I was interested. There were elements I wasn't too fond of, but for some reason, I kept wanting to turn the pages. But it was like watching a trainwreck. I suddenly found myself halfway through and I just kept thinking to myself, what the hell am I reading? By that point, I was too far in to give up. Part of my earlier interest was pure curiosity. I wanted to know what the flash of silver light meant. I thought the book was going into a fantasy direction (I honestly thought this was fantasy based on the cover) and I thought that Brianna would realize that Blake was not a good person to have an attraction to. That did not happen though.

There is so much girl-hate in this book. Brianna calls other girls stupid and slutty. She shames a girl based on her boobs (making the assumption they are fake) and calls other girls strippers, and this is only because they are interested in Blake, a boy who Brianna isn't even dating! There is so much slut-shaming and girl-hate, it just makes me so angry! This was written by a woman and primarily for teenage girls, and it's full of misogynistic crap! There is one point where Brianna is with two guys during a battle and just because she was with them her friends shame her because they assume she was hooking up with both of them. What the heck?! Her friends are absolutely terrible, not caring for Brianna at all. They only care about boys and how hot they look (although, Brianna's the same way). You know how girls are? They only care about themselves, their looks, and catching a hot boy. They will glare at you for daring to talk to a boy they like and call you terrible names. At least, that is the stereotype this book continues to show because THIS WAS EVERY GIRL IN THIS BOOK! I'm not kidding! There is not a single girl in this book who is portrayed in a positive light. UGH! You know what I want in a book? Girls who are in strong friendships with one another and don't give a rat's behind about boys!

Oh yeah, Brianna's character was also all over the place. She would say one thing and do a complete 180. When the book began, at the party, I thought the book was going in a completely different direction. When Blake notices her, she doesn't get immediate attraction, she had complete fear and the need to run away! I thought, cool, maybe a female character that doesn't get into a toxic relationship because she's smart (oh yeah, I forgot, Brianna is apparently a nerd and a super math whiz. Not that it's ever important to the plot). Nope. She falls in love(?) and enters an extremely toxic relationship. Her train of thought just never made sense.

Now, let's talk romance. It is really tough to get me to like a romance in a book and boy was this one terrible. There is a love triangle in this book but both guys were terrible human beings. They were both perverted, with only sex on the mind. I was legitimately scared that one of them was going to rape Brianna. I got that strong of a negative vibe from both of them. I mean, the first time Blake "sees" Brianna he says ""Mine" [hide to view spoiler]This turns out to be a claim to kill her. How fun. By the way, this is the guy we are supposed to ship Brianna with [end of spoiler] Classy, right? They have a back and forth relationship throughout the book which is extremely toxic and mostly physical. I did not want them to get together, at all. Although the other guy was worse if you can believe it. Hooray for romanticizing toxic relationships!


IN CONCLUSION

I really want to say something positive about this book. I guess I liked the Celtic mythology, but everything above took over the story. I am legitimately worried about how many positive reviews this book got because... is this how people see teenage girls? Is this what people think teenage girls should want in a relationship? This book was published seven years ago, which isn't that long ago, but it makes to realize that we have really changed how we write woman characters.

To end on a positive note, I have seen in the past year that more books are coming out that feature positive female representation in YA, and positive examples of female friendships. Do not read books like Silver, read books like Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee (which was one of my favorite reads of 2019). Read books where girls are there for each other. It is almost 2020 at the time of me writing this review and I am hopeful that in 2020 that I will read more books with positive examples of friendships and other relationships.

I hereby give this book

1 Star

Meaning: I did not like it