I'm going to start out this review by saying this book was not for me. I realized that fairly quickly into it, but because I did originally get this as an e-arc from netgalley I wanted to push through so I could review it.

White as Silence, Red as Song is one of those books that was a part of Siclit when it came out. I've read several other books in that category, but none have annoyed me as much as this book did. Maybe it's because this book was originally written in Italian and something was lost in translation. Still, none of the characters acted the age of teenagers, nor did they talk like teenagers even 2018 teenagers they did not act like. Which has me thinking that it is maybe because it was for the Italian audience and then later on got translated to English.

At times this book did remind me of Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl, but it was not up to that level of quality or heartfeltness that that book was. Instead, this book is solely about Leo and how his obsession with the girl Beatrice causes him to grow up suddenly because he wants to love her and convince her that he is the perfect one for her. That just made the book not work for me personally. I just couldn't get behind that premise.

I do think others will enjoy it especially if they enjoy other books in the Siclit category.

I did not have time to download and read this book before it was archived, so I'm unable to leave a review.

This novel is extremely beautifully written, with a powerful message to tell. You are to enter a world of a teenaged Leo, who lives his best life, enjoying his friendships with Niko and Silvia, his bike, his music and games, and is loving a stunning girl from afar. Until...a strange professor of philosophy and history starts to provoke his mind - and there are dramatic news about Beatrice's serious illness. Leo, suddenly put into the very deep waters, needs to grow up very swiftly. But how?

The author Alessandro D'Avenia works as a teacher and it shows. Leo is very, very teenage with all the chaos, dreams, attention changes, the need for everything to happen right now, the moods and emotions...the novel has seriously put me into the memory trip back into my own school days!
But D'Avenia's literary skills are what kept me on this fast journey into the adulthood. He simply writes with purity, beauty and something very invigorating in his sentences - his words are evoking the longing to do better, to be better. I do think the author is a great teacher (the kind I unfortunately have never met), because he simply can motivate and elevate.

But yes, as this is his first novel, there are beginner's mistakes, too. Like the parts of Leo recognizing whose female presence really is the key in his life could and should to be better portrayed.

But nonetheless, this is the novel and the author I want to recommend. Not a lazy-breezy read here, and you are to be tested about your own motivations in life (never an easy thing), but it is a well-worth investment of a reader's time and energy. We all need to see more colours in our life.

I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

This reminded me of a mix between The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Fault in Our Stars, both of which I enjoyed. If the romance was a bit more developed and the teenagers spoke like actual teenagers, it might have been more believable.

White as Silence, Red as Song was a bit different than I anticipated. I think that it was a great addition to my school library as it blends morals and modern young adult challenges with strong writing. Thank you for allowing me to review it for my students.

I probably shouldn't have bothered picking this up when I saw that it was described as an Italian the Fault in Our Stars because I didn't enjoy that book at all and this wasn't much different. The characters weren't as annoying as Gus and Hazel Grace but I still found them a bore to read about

It breaks my heart to say this but Try as I might i just cant seem to finish this one.. maybe its me, maybe its the book, maybe the timing isn’t great.. I dont know but I tried several times already.. i dont usually do this if I need to review a book but it cant be done.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

I think this may be one of those books where the reader either loves it or hates it. I don't think there will be any inbetween.

Leo, is a normal 16 year old trying to navigate his way through life at that age and he falls for Beatrice, the girl with a disease.

Its told mainly from Leo's point of view, so there isn't a lot of communication, just Leo's throughts which I liked to be honest.
I may have developed a little bit of a reader crush on Leo's new teacher. Only because everything he said spoke to me on so many different levels.

Its not written in the normal traditional book, but all of the emotions are there and all the feelings are there and wow does Leo feel.

There is much more dimension to this coming-of-age story than might first appear. Hints of something deeper, something just out of Leo’s grasp, weave in and out of his stream-of-consciousness narrative (which the author captures perfectly). Various characters who cross his path, two in particular (Gandalf and The Dreamer, as he refers to them), gently nudge him to think beyond the surface, beyond the not-yet-mature reactions of a teenage boy, to the bigger picture of faith in God and what it means to be a friend. To Leo, white is ‘nothingness’ and silence and scary. Red is passion and love and life - and Beatrice, his unrequited crush. When white and red suddenly clash together in Beatrice, Leo has to quickly make some grown-up decisions. While the writing style may not be for everyone, it is brilliantly done nonetheless and isn’t afraid to tackle tough questions of life, death, and faith.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.

A Fault in Our Stars-type narrative. It makes for an interesting read, but I would have preferred a different character to have followed.

White as Silence, Red as Song is an odd YA story. Leo carries it with a stream-of-consciousness-esque narration, so naturally, it focuses on the aspects of his life: school, soccer, friends, and his crush on Beatrice. At times, Leo comes across immature and makes questionable decisions (he is a teenage boy, after all), but his growth through the story, thanks to injury, illness, and a teacher that makes him think, is interesting to see.

When I picked up White as Silence, Red as Song, the comparison to The Fault in Our Stars helped me to have an idea of what type of story I was entering—and kept me from fully investing emotionally with the characters, I think. Even so, I found that Alessandro D’Avenia’s novel had enough differences to make it unique. It’s a quick, thought-provoking read that YA readers could enjoy.

Honestly this was DNF for me...I couldn't the protagonist was super immature...I am also not a fan of John Green at all. This is supposedly is an Italian version of Fault in our Stars..

White as Silence, Red as Song by Alessandro D’Avenia
Sixteen-year-old Leo has a way with words, but he doesn’t know it yet. He spends his time texting, polishing soccer maneuvers, and killing time with Niko and Silvia. Until a new teacher arrives and challenges him to give voice to his dreams.
And so Leo is inspired to win over the red-haired beauty Beatrice. She doesn’t know Leo exists, but he’s convinced that his dream will come true. When Leo lands in the hospital and learns that Beatrice has been admitted too, his mission to be there for her will send him on a thrilling but heartbreaking journey. He wants to help her but doesn’t know how—and his dream of love will force him to grow up fast.
This titled was hailed as Italy’s version of Fault in Our Stars. It is similar that a boy falls in love with a girl who is dying. The premise is interesting and draws fans of John Green’s well loved book into the story. However, maybe because it is translated from Italy, the poignancy of the story is not as pronounced. It is a struggle to read and just doesn’t hold the emotion the the Fault in Our Stars does for readers. The redeeming thing for this read is learning more about a person who see things through color. This reader was facinated by Leo’s perseption of his world. The romance was sweet but just not captivating. I would only hand this read to a teen who likes books written from another country and likes to see the world from a different perspective.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

White as Silence, Red as Song sounded like a very interesting read to me. Unfortunately as hard as I’ve tried, I haven’t been able to read the book.

Leo is an annoying main character. His lion’s main hair obsession is making me wonder if he ever even washes it, and I’m not enjoying being stuck in his head. His obsession with Beatrice, the supposed love of his life is very stalkerish too. At this stage I’m not sure she even knows he exists.

I have decided to DNF at 17%. Thank you again for the opportunity to read this book, it just unfortunately wasn’t to my taste.

An unusual read from NetGalley. A hit in Italy, but I think this will be one of those Marmite books.
Leo is 16, in love with a girl in his school that he’s never spoken to and a bit of a slacker. He seems to hate school, but then a philosophy teacher comes as a substitute and helps him start to make sense of life.
Throughout the book it was obvious he wasn’t in love with Beatrice, but the idea of her. He was totally insensitive to Sylvia and her feelings for him, but I suppose things worked out okay in the end.

FTC DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I DNF'd this book. I'm not sure if it was the horrendous formatting of the eARC, the translation or the book itself. It read very choppily and the formatting had the title and author name spread in the middle of the text. I got to 25% of the book and just gave up on trying to read it.

The concept is great, but Leo is pretty unlikable, and Beatrice hasn't really appeared as a true character yet, she's seen once or twice by Leo and never says anything, she's also talked about a bit, but other than that, I can't really say. Leo is pretty negative, and just seems like a bit of jerk to me, he doesn't see that Silvia is in love with him (or that's my guess) and he just uses her to make himself feel better, he says he cares about her but it doesn't really seem like it. Leo also seems self-centered even for a teenager!

At 25% of the book, none of the characters were truly developed. The Dreamer sounds like a cool guy, but other than that we don't know much about him besides his appearance. We have Leo but even with just his thoughts and a few observations by him, he doesn't really seem like a 3-Dimensional character.

It took me while to "get into" the story. I didn't connect with the characters as much as i'd like. The writing and most particularly all the metaphors or talking about colors seemed off and unnatural (they're suposed to be teenagers not art scholars)
I didn't like how the book is supposed to be emotional when in reality that type of story line has been used and abused so many times that it's like seeing behind the curtain of a play: the magic is gone, and honestly it has been done before, probably better so...

Sixteen-year-old Leo has a way with words, but he doesn’t know it yet. He spends his time texting, polishing soccer maneuvers, and killing time with Niko and Silvia. Until a new teacher arrives and challenges him to give voice to his dreams.

And so Leo is inspired to win over the red-haired beauty Beatrice. She doesn’t know Leo exists, but he’s convinced that his dream will come true. When Leo lands in the hospital and learns that Beatrice has been admitted too, his mission to be there for her will send him on a thrilling but heartbreaking journey. He wants to help her but doesn’t know how—and his dream of love will force him to grow up fast.

This book was being compared to The Fault in Our Stars and I was pretty intrigued. But upon opening the book, I was not under the impression that this would be the next Fault in Our Stars.

The writing itself was beautiful with stunning prose and great language. The overall story was nice, but I couldn’t see this being anywhere near as successful as The Fault in Our Stars.

This just wasn’t for me, sadly. While this might be interesting and exciting for many, this just wasn’t that great for me.