Review: Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton


Some Quiet Place
Kelsey Sutton
Series: Some Quiet Place, #1
Release Date: July 8th, 2013
Publisher: Flux
Rating: 3 stars
Word Rating: Meh
Reviewed by: Melanie

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I can’t weep. I can’t fear. I’ve grown talented at pretending.

Elizabeth Caldwell doesn’t feel emotions . . . she sees them. Longing, Shame, and Courage materialize around her classmates. Fury and Resentment appear in her dysfunctional home. They’ve all given up on Elizabeth because she doesn’t succumb to their touch. All, that is, save one—Fear. He’s intrigued by her, as desperate to understand the accident that changed Elizabeth’s life as she is herself.

Elizabeth and Fear both sense that the key to her past is hidden in the dream paintings she hides in the family barn. But a shadowy menace has begun to stalk her, and try as she might, Elizabeth can barely avoid the brutality of her life long enough to uncover the truth about herself. When it matters most, will she be able to rely on Fear to save her?

'People are so complex. They want to hear the truth, but they want you to lie to them.'


This month hasn't been a happy month for me. Some Quiet Place is just another addition to the 'meh' pile. While the cover and synopsis scream with brilliance, in the collection on my thoughts, this book could only be summarised as insipid and inconsistent. Here's just a few teasers: love triangle, cliché school crap and poor execution.

Elizabeth Caldwell is dead to the world. Or she may as well be. Ever since a tragic car accident, Elizabeth has changed greatly--she doesn't feel or show any genuine emotions. Not because of the trauma or shock though, it's actually due to something more paranormal and mind boggling. Something no one is sure about yet, even now. Attempting to juggle along with her best friend's cancer, Sophia's--mean girl at school--glares and mocks, and tight tension at home, Elizabeth commences to unravel the truth behind her change of personality and character.

Nothing about Elizabeth struck me as outstandingly remarkable. Yes, her disability to not sense or react with emotions was fascinating, intriguing and eye-catching for a short span of time. Yet soon, this was lost in the sea of boring words. Thankfully enough, I could take time to appreciate Kesley Sutton's effort in building unique and touching family relationships. All held different types of moods and were highly complex in the sense that they all contained a second meaning within. There's Elizabeth and her mother, the connection is wary and even foreign, yet bittersweet all the same. Elizabeth's father stood a more viscous and broken connection. It was compact of fire and guilt. And lastly, Elizabeth and her brother. It's short lived, light but swaying.

What I feared most appeared in Some Quiet Place. It always does. The love triangle. No matter how much I try to rub it out with an eraser, it's still there glaring back at me. I want to erase it because it's a mistake. That is the point of the love triangle here? Our two love interests, Fear and Joshua, are rather trite in the sense that their ego is the same as every other YA paranormal novel. I wasn't awfully invested in either relationship but Fear was much preferable for me. He was clear minded and filled with emotion--a great contrast to our MC.

The writing was what kept me driving though Some Quiet Place. It was beautiful and picturesque in descriptions that just seemed to flow out effortlessly. Kelsey Sutton's words created an ideal setting and powerful mood. In contrast, the weakest link was the stereotypes being thrown about here. The major one was 'mean girls'. I don't get why every main character needs to have a girl bitching about them. It's irrelevant and shifts us readers away from the main plot.

Some Quiet Place is an atmospheric novel intertwined with great writing skills for the most part. Yet many small points lead me to dislike and bore over this novel. Like many others have said, this is much like Another Little Piece. So if that was your cup of tea, this could be your next book to highly anticipate.

21 comments :

  1. Fantastic review, Melanie. Is there a choice of just buying the cover? LOL. I mean, the dress...

    I like how you describe the family relationships, they all sound well thought and twisted in their own ways. Ugh. Another cliche character problem? I seriously don't understand them either. They ruin books completely- especially when I'm reading a PNR novel.

    I think I'll place this lower into my TBR pile.

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    1. Yeah, the cover was basically what dragged me into reading this in the first place. I really need to stop the habit, bleh. Glad you agree, Amelia!

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  2. Ugh!! A typical mean girl and a love triangle. The premise do sound interesting though and I'm almost done with Another Little Piece and really liking it, so if it's comparable to that I might like this one. Great review!!

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    1. Another Little Piece fell flat for me just because it wasn't my type of novel- I was confused multiple times. I gave this one a higher rating because of that. I'm quite sure you'll like this more than me

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  3. I really enjoyed Another Little Piece, so I guess I could end up liking this :D

    Great review!

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    1. Yup, look forward to your thoughts. Thanks!

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  4. It must be really hard to get a YA novel WITHOUT a love triangle published or something, because man are they ever shoehorned in all the time! What a bummer.

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    1. It is. I recently read Seventeen & Gone and there are no love triangles, it's beautiful inside and out.

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    2. I actually really LIKE love triangles pretty often--they just have to make sense within the story, you know?

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    3. I see. But I'm no fan, it's rather rare for me to find one that's bearable.

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  5. I'm sorry you've been having such a 'Meh' month, Mel. :/ It sucks that this one was just another addition to the list! I'm seriously disliking all the love triangles present in YA, along with the mean girl stereotype. I feel like the book would be really strong without the whole mean girl thing. The concept itself sounds so cool, though, and even with the love triangle, Fear sounds pretty dang awesome. ;)

    Fabulous review, Melanie! <3

    -Aneeqah @ My Not So Real Life

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    1. Thanks, Aneeqah! If the concept was given more effort, I think I would've enjoyed this much more.

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  6. High School steroetypes should just be banned completely- like you said. It's a mistake. Huge one might I add. If you didn't find Elizabeth that intriguing or likeable, I'm considering on passing this one now. Nice to hear the writing was a strong point. Well written review, Melanie. :)

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    1. I highly doubt you'd enjoy this one as you DNF'd Another Little Piece and Pretty Girl-13.

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  7. Beautiful cover, and it sounds like it could be cool. I do love some paranormal YA, but I would also love to see this as an actual medical drama, you know?

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    1. I look forward to your thoughts if you end up reading this, Lyn!

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  8. You mentioned love triangle, probably my worst enemy when it comes to YA books!
    I'm sorry this was a "meh" book for you, but I can see from your review why. I probably would dislike this too.
    I wasn't intrigued by this book, so I don't think I'm going to want to read it after your review.
    Lovely honest review, Melanie!

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    1. Thanks Nick! Haha, worst enemy- that's one way to put it.

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  9. Gasp!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE ELEANOR AND PARK!! It was amazingly good!! Am finishing ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE now and I'm enjoying it!

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  10. I'm sorry to hear this didn't really work for you, I adore the beautiful cover so its a shame there are a few things that let it down. I'm not a fan of love triangles or clichéd school dramas so I might pass on this one.

    A wonderful, honest review!

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  11. I just absolutely loved this book. I am the exact type of person for it. I finished it a week ago and it's still lingers with me. Cannot wait to read another of Kelsey's books.

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