Review: This Splintered Silence

This Splintered Silence
by Kayla Olson

Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: November 13, 2018

Lindley Hamilton is the captain of the space station Lusca, a job she’s always wanted but never knew she would get so soon. Now, because of the deadly virus that killed all of the station’s adults including her mother, Lindley must run the ship as their struggle to survive intensifies. Still, Lindley believes that the worst has passed, and while they still must figure out a way to not run out of food and to communicate with Earth, morale remains high. That is, until a member of the surviving second generation dies from what looks like the same virus, the very virus the second generation thought they were immune from. Struggling to survive, Lindley must find a way to save the station before it’s too late, especially when clues point to one of their own being the killer.

Spooky, suspenseful, and powered by an amazing female main character, THIS SPLINTERED SILENCE is not a book to miss. From page one, I was sucked into Lindley’s story. The author blends past and present beautifully together, making everything seem like it's happening in real time. I loved how Olson continued this throughout the book, mentioning memories of Lindley’s mother, a character we never meet but who feels just as well constructed as any other character. This masterful storytelling is also present through the setting of the book, the space station Lusca, and the struggles it faces. Olson builds a well-thought-out world around this little station and makes sure that there are no gaps for plot holes. Everything that she mentions is carefully described and accurate to what people in that position might be dealing with. Often when books are set in space like this one, everything seems beautiful and technologically perfect. But for Lindley and her crew that is not the case, and I feel like this little dash of realism in this sci-fi novel makes it so readers can relate and immerse themselves in the story much better than they might have otherwise.

Throughout the whole book, the characters struggle with real problems while dealing with the space station. Working through these problems are Olson’s cast of characters, each more realistic than the last. At the top of the list is Olson’s main character, Lindley Hamilton. It was hard not to love Lindley from the start. A scientist in her own right, Lindley is the recently-promoted captain of their station, the role her mother used to occupy until a few weeks ago. This is a fact that Lindley doesn’t let readers forget as the story progresses. She does this through subtle things: mentioning her mother’s secret stash of chocolate, and stories about the sky she used to tell Lindley. I love how Olson didn’t do this in a way that was annoying or repetitive. Instead, she does it with grace and sadness, in a way that makes Lindley’s grief feel real. Often when books deal with grief, they force the idea of it down the reader’s throat, but in THIS SPLINTERED SILENCE that is not the case.

If you love realistic-seeming sci-fi where disease and deadly secrets lurk behind every corner, you will not be let down with THIS SPLINTERED SILENCE. This sci-fi thriller is perfect for people looking for a good spooky read.