Trigger warning: anxiety, panic attacks, grief.

It took 5 pages for me to develop a crush on A Quiet Kind of Thunder, one that built quickly but consistently into adoration. By the end, I was in love. This could very well be my favourite contemporary YA of all time. It has left a warm glow about my heart that continues to linger past the closing of the final page.

I made my way through the book with a giant stupid grin on my face, despite reading it partly on the train and in class during the break (I couldn’t resist!). In fact, I got to the halfway point on the train on the way to class and burst into the classroom exclaiming my love to anyone who would listen. I can think of nothing I didn’t love about this book.

The story is told from Steffi’s point of view, a standard first-person narrative interjected with lists, chat transcripts and text messages. Steffi has selective mutism and severe anxiety, but she wants to go to university and needs to prove to herself and her parents that she’ll be able to handle it. Starting sixth form without her lifelong best friend beside her, she’s got an uphill battle, but the appearance of Rhys, a new kid who happens to be deaf, shakes things up a bit. As they bond through multi-modal communication, Steffi learns to speak up, but also to realise that she’s not alone in her uncertainty. But don’t get me wrong, this book isn’t about the boy saving or fixing the girl; it’s about everyone doing the best they can.

I think A Quiet Kind of Thunder captured several things really well. First of all, the anxiety was extremely relatable. Medication was discussed in such a way that it wasn’t The Miracle Drug That Fixes All, just something that some people find helps them cope. Sex was brought up without slut-shaming or making it seem like this magical, perfect thing, especially during your first time; in fact, there’s a bit where Steffi and her best friend Tem talk about it that I want everyone to read and believe. I think young love was definitely portrayed well, when everything seems monumental and potent and so incredible but also scary. I want to relive that! And finally, the parents: flawed, varied, concerned, loving, at times overbearing HUMANS. Including the step-parents, FYI. They were people, too, and they weren’t Evil.

Can we just talk about Rhys though? He was a freaking SWEETHEART. He was so genuine and caring and lovely towards Steffi, understanding and appreciating her with all of her quirks. But even greater was that he was so patient with people. He faced lots of awkward questions (5-year-olds are BLUNT) and patronising pity, but he handled it all in such a mature manner. He educated people without making them feel stupid or berating them for being rude. He was perfect, and when his imperfections were finally revealed, I loved him all the more for them.

A Quiet Kind of Thunder made me question myself. Having anxiety, I could relate a lot to Steffi. BUT just because you have one type of disability doesn’t mean you understand all others. That’s the thing about diversity: it’s not binary. The whole point is that we’re all different and can’t understand and speak for each other. So I found myself wondering how I behave around people from the Deaf community, especially while reading all the well-meaning but ultimately condescending behaviours of people that Steffi and Rhys encountered. Reading about Rhys and Steffi’s relationship made me want to learn sign language, but then I got to a section with Karam and wondered if I was being “noble”. I still don’t know where I fall in this, but I think that’s the point. The book has made me think rather than continuing on blindly. (I still want to learn sign language, though, because I agree with Rhys that it would be great if more people could communicate with each other.)

Then the end. At first, I thought it wasn’t as dramatic as Beautiful Broken Things, but the more I read and thought about it, the more I realised how BIG what happened was to the people it happened to. Maybe others would have been able to deal with it easily, but that wasn’t the case for Steffi and Rhys. They were both challenged and both had to come to terms with their own internal and external struggles.

I feel like this story reflected the real world without exaggerating anything for the sake of the story. There weren’t huge disasters or dramatic twists that would be highly unlikely in real life; the story didn’t need that. It did what it set out to do and did it well. Now that it’s over, I feel understood and hopeful and empowered and SO MANY THINGS.

A QUIET KIND OF THUNDER is a fantastic young adult novel in which the main characters are not what readers will be used to. This is one of the reasons I really enjoyed this book.

We need more diversity in all levels of fiction writing. It is rate that disabled people take a starring role in young adult novels, and when they do appear in books, they are too often portrayed as objects of pity. It seems like most writers seem to think that teenagers with disabilities live their lives spending 100% of their time focusing only on their "disAbility.'

I love that author Sara Bernard realizes that disabled teens are just like every other teenager in more ways than they are different. It doesn't matter that Rhys is deaf, he is still a teenager looking for what all teenagers want ... Love and acceptance.

In the young adult fiction category, I rate A QUIET KIND OF THUNDER as 5 out of 5 Stars

3.75*

A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard was absolutely lovely. Some parts were slower but it was a cute story overall. I did find some things annoying but I guess I can understand why they were there. I liked learning about anxiety and deafness more. Thank you NetGalley for the free ebook copy.

DNF

Mini review:

I received this E-ARC via Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Judging by the synopsis I was convinced that I would enjoy this. It sounded like a sweet story that would be enjoyable. Unfortunately I couldn't stand how rude the main character was. It wasn't that she was outright rude to people it was something about her thoughts and how it read. Maybe it was just me but I felt that she was extremely rude.

Still recommend.

A Quiet Kind of Thunder tells the story of Steffi and Rhys. One who has been a selective mute for the greater part of her life and the other who is Deaf. Steffi, who also lives with severe anxiety, has a basic knowledge of sign language and is assigned to help Rhys transition to his new school. As their relationship develops Steffi finds that she does have a voice, and that she's falling in love with the one person who makes her feel brave enough to use it.

A Quiet Kind of Thunder is a book about friendship, love, diversity, and acceptance. Realistically depicting social anxiety, relationship issues, and the bonds of friendship, this novel presents wonderful characters that the teenage audience should find relatable.

3.5 Stars

A Quiet Kind of Thunder is a realistic story about a deaf boy and a mute girl that will really touch the reader’s heart. I enjoyed the lack of stereotypes in the book and the main character’s compassion and relatable awkwardness. I do, however, feel like the story became boring after a while, and didn’t find it as enjoyable as it could have been.

This book has such an inspiring concept! A girl with selective mutism meets a deaf boy. Before reading A Quiet Kind of Thunder, I didn’t know much about selective mutism at all, and I’m glad that this story is able to educate its readers on this topic in a way that is entertaining and pretty adorable. The primary method of communication in the book is sign language, and there are a few signs scattered throughout the book so the reader can learn a few simple phrases along with Steffi. While I am neither deaf nor a selective mute, I feel like Sara Barnard did a good job of avoiding stereotypes in her novel. The way this story is written comes across as respectful, which is exactly how a story about health should be.

I really enjoyed Steffi’s character. She is so caring and tries to remain positive, even though her anxiety makes it difficult. What I especially liked about Steffi is the fact that she makes a lot of mistakes around Rhys. She forgets sometimes that he can’t hear her favourite songs, and Rhys is understanding of that. All this makes the book more believable and relatable.

Although I enjoyed A Quiet Kind of Thunder, there were certain points where the pacing bothered me. Once Steffi and Rhys’s relationship was established, the book got pretty boring and repetitive. The beginning was amazing, but halfway through, the story just fell flat. Because of this, I was unable to enjoy it as much as I would have liked. It really has the potential to be a 5 star book.

A Quiet Kind of Thunder is an entertaining and educational book about a deaf boy who meets a selectively mute girl. I loved the concept and the main character’s personality, but the story became boring about halfway through. I didn’t love this book as much as I had hoped I would, but it is definitely one worth checking out.

A Quiet Kind of Thunder is a teen romance between a Deaf boy and a girl who has Selective Mutism. As a former Sign Language Interpreter, the addition of the Deaf character was the reason I picked up this book in the first place. Unfortunately, the book is only told from Steffi's point of view so we don't get a great representation of Rhys, the Deaf teen.

Steffi suffers from anxiety and Selective Mutism - a debilitating condition where she is unable to speak in social settings. But, over the course of the book, it didn't seem like her mutism effected her daily life as much I would have expected. There were a few instances where she was unable to speak to people but, for the most part, she seemed to be able to overcome her social anxiety and mutism without much trepidation. Steffi's behaviour could be explained by medication and therapy - I just thought there would be more issues surrounding her condition. With Selective Mutism being new to me I wasn't sure if this was an accurate portrayal.

This was a slowly paced story about a sweet teen relationship but I was expecting their communication issues, social anxiety and Deaf culture to play bigger roles in the plot. Instead the focus was on the teen romance which had that sweet, first love feel to it. Ah, l'amour! That said, I felt their connection developed too fast with their bond having an Insta-Love vibe to it. And while I applaud the author for including BSL (British Sign Language) into her book I felt that Steffi picked up BSL unbelievably easily - we're talking about a whole new language.

This book addresses several relevant issues - mental health, teen sexual health, first love and a strong nod to relationships with parents and best friends. I liked seeing the different ways in which Steffi and Rhys' families dealt with issues surrounding Deafness and Selective Mutism as well as Steffi's relationship with Tem, her BFF. These secondary relationships were well drawn and added diversity to the cast.

Overall, this was a decent, slow burn kind of read which gives readers a general idea about being Deaf in a mainly hearing world as well as what it's like for someone living with Selective Mutism and social anxiety. I think other readers (who have more romantic souls) will enjoy this book more than I did.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to MacMillan's Children's Books at NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary e-book copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

“It’s not up to you to make my world smaller or bigger,” I say. “That’s up to me. But I want you to be in it. And I want to be in yours.”

You might think that you have this book all figured out. Steffi and Rhys. Mute and deaf. Bronze and Gold. But there is so much more to it than that.

The representation in this book is phenomenal. The main characters (and their friends) are all either mixed-race or POC. And as if that isn’t amazing enough, our two protagonists are selectively mute and deaf. The diversity is commendable, but I certainly hope this was written for people who can identify with these characters, as opposed to being written with the intention of coming across as “something different”.

Others have said this better than myself, but it goes without saying that I am neither deaf nor mute. Although I loved the diversity and representation in this novel, I have no right to say whether or not these circumstances are handled accurately and respectfully. I can, however, say that the depiction of anxiety and panic attacks are very accurate and portrayed authentically (speaking from personal experience). Besides that, I would really like to know how other readers (who are represented in this book) feel about the portrayal of selective mutism and deafness. I feel like it raised some very important issues about how people are treated by society when they do not communicate like the majority. It has also rekindled my love and appreciation for sign language. We can speak our thoughts without using our voice. We can listen and understand without using our ears.

So, yeah, you could say that this book is about a lot more than selective mutism and deafness. It is about love. Love is loud and explosive and quiet and soft.

Steffi and Rhys are all of the above. They want to take care of each other so badly that it hurts my heart. It’s so cute. But do not be mistaken, they don’t fall in love because they are both different. Being deaf or selectively mute is just a part of who they are. Falling in love just happened naturally because they are both lovable people.

I feel like it’s also worth mentioning that the romance did not overshadow the important issues discussed in this book. Instead, it highlighted them. Both Steffi and Rhys questioned why they were attracted each other, and they raised some very important thoughts in the process. It’s very enlightening. I personally thought it was fantastic.

Basically, I just really loved this book. It’s insta-love and fluff in all the best ways. And it’s diverse as heck! Does it get any better than that?