This was hard to get into and I had to continue to reread. The character is hard to identify with. It was also hard to follow. I struggled to finish this one.

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books for the copy of The Silence In Her Eyes by Armando Lucas Correa. It was fascinating learning about akinetopsia and I loved seeing Leah’s life through her eyes, including her inner fantasy life. I really liked how she was able to get around and live on her own and the people she surrounded herself with. The book didn’t really feel like your typical thriller, so if that’s what you’re looking for you should be prepared. The ‘thriller’ elements were slowly and expertly woven in and the ending was a shocker! If you’re looking for a beautifully written story with well-drawn characters, this is the book for you.

Protagonist Leah has a neurological condition that means she can only see the world as snapshots. Philosophically, this is an interesting perspective. She has to fill in blanks and rely on her other senses to figure out what’s going on. It makes her vulnerable, but it also makes her isolated and naive, and this comes across in her boring, repetitive narration that leaves the reader feeling like they’re also only getting snapshots. Because we really don’t know much about Leah, I found it hard to connect with her or this book.

There was a unique concept that I hadn't encountered before in the thriller genre within this book. However, the writing could have been improved. The protagonist has a unique perspective in which she can't see motion but can still see. She likes photography and reading, which surprises other characters, but this theme became repetitive early on. Although the author created some thrilling moments, they were often brushed over and important details were left out for several chapters.

I found this story very predictable, and there have been several like it where the main character is not technically blind, but has some vision distortion. There have been stories about women with 'face blindness', who can't see peoples' faces, fall in love, and then are miraculously cured by the end. In this book, Leah has 'akinetopsia, or motion blindness, so all her images are static. Granted all of these conditions are real, they just get portrayed sometimes as convenient for the circumstances. Leah has had this condition since she was 8 years old as a result of an accident at home. Her mother has cared for her all her life, until she passes away when Leah's story begins.

Leah lives in a beautiful pre-war apartment in upper Manhattan. As you can imagine, all her senses have been heightened to compensate for her vision distortion. She can smell people making tea next door, their anxiety, their passon, the drying of their tears, and she can hear everything, no matter how minute.
The story gets intriguing when Alice moves into the apartment next door. Leah befriends Alice and soon learns she has an abusive husband who will not give her a divorce. As Leah gets more involved in Alice's life, disastrous things start to happen and you begin to question if you really do know Leah at all.

First of all, I found Leah's medical condition interesting, and learning about how she compensates for it. Secondly, it gets pretty implausible quickly after the departure of Alice's husband, and Leah's romance with Mark. The ending felt rushed as we didn't see much previous evidence building up to it, only suggestions. I didn't believe that Leah was capable of doing what was described, and that everything ends up fine in the end.

This book was really fascinating it took a concept I had never heard of before and really ran with it. What made it even more interesting was this condition of motion blindness is an actual disorder where people, just like our main character suffer from a neurological condition that makes them unable to see items in motion. This book follows our main character, Leah, who suffers from the previously mentioned condition as she tries to live her own independent life. Leah lives on her own and is very independent and that is how she likes it. She is perfectly normal except since she can't see movements her world becomes a little blurry at times however she is used to this. When Leah is suddenly convinced that someone was in her apartment is when the story really takes off. Since all movements are a blur to her she is unable to see who this person is or what they are in the process of doing. Desperate for answers she tries to figure out what is going on. With the intruders scent following her everywhere and then her friends voice begging for help through the walls Leah is convince she has to help. I really enjoyed this thriller because first of all it was all about something I had never heard of before but also because you were able to have it told through the main characters point of view so you got to see it through the eyes of a woman with a disability. This also lets you view the book and try along with Leah to figure out who is behind everything and what they really want. Take an unreliable narrator, a story full of tension and suspense, and a possibly intruder, mix them all together and the result is a book that will have you hooked. This was the first book I've read by this author and I'm happy to say I was a big fan it was amazing for me to believe that this was his first thriller book when I noticed all of his others were historical fiction. There were so many twists in this book that I found myself holding my breath sometimes just waiting for the outcome. I
really liked how the author made Leah very self-sufficient and extremely functional considering she was dealing with such a crippling disability. It was nice not to have to see her rely on everyone in her life like is sometime portrayed in other novels. This was a very fast-paved novel that I found myself unable to put it down. I loved the pace and I was desperate to find out the truth behind everything. this was a very different book than I was used to reading however I enjoyed it very much and I'm very glad I was given the opportunity to check it out. If you want a book that will keep you on your toes than this is definitely one for you.

The Silence in Her Eyes is a solid thriller. It is not told at breakneck speed, as others have noted, but is well worth the time.

I had such high hopes for this one, it really intrigued me but it just fell flat. I kept waiting for the climax but it never seemed to come.. I wasn't expecting what happened by any means but it also didn't suprise me? I think it was just slightly too surface level and left some unanswered questions. Loved the idea of the book though!

Oh my! I’m stunned. The character and plot development had me, but the twists and turns kept me. My so has a neurological condition that causes vision issues, so I must say it was a personally invested read. The ending was so unexpected that I will need time yo process how I really feel about it. But I take that as a sign of a great book.

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did and there were moments when I thought "this is the moment it turns a corner" but, that moment never actually came.

The premise behind this story -- we follow a woman with motion blindness, which means she can't see movement and goes through life essentially taking personal snapshots of the world around her -- is so cool. it is definitely the most interesting part of the story and Correa does a very good job of explaining to the reader what Leah is seeing and how she navigates the world and how her other senses are so heightened it can be both helpful and overwhelming.

But the execution of the rest of the story -- that she gets involved with a new neighbor who is having a domestic dispute with her husband who is an abusive alcoholic -- falls flat. The character of Alice never seems fully baked and her purpose in the story is confusing at best and completely unnecessary at worst. On top of that, some other situations involving a maybe/maybe not break in of Leah's apartment by the husband (for reasons unknown) may or may not even be real OR may or may not have anything to do with Alice's situation.

Its never clear what is real and what is perhaps made up in Leah's mind, which is often a great device, but in this story, especially as it moves towards its conclusion, feels more frustrating than interesting.

There is a time jump midway through the book that is oddly never actually demarcated until a character mentions its offhand. The reasons for the jump are doled out slowly which is interesting but again frustrating because so much is left unsaid. All in all, the structure of this story is a little disjointed and some of the writing feels very stilted. Leah as a character could be fascinating, but at times she just feels like a spoiled child. She makes up situations in her head, particularly about men, that feel awkward and weird. She is a differnet person because of her disability and because she was extremely sheltered growing up, but this just feels odd.

There is an interesting reveal at the end that, when you look back you can see the foreshadowing, but I'm not sure it did anything to service the plot. Especially because <spoiler>it comes at the very end when Leah is witnessing Mark and Alice together and learning about their plots together (which really make no sense). All of the reveals that Leah is some sort of angel of death would have made far more sense if she had an actual, physical hand in their deaths, but she simply startles alice?</spoiler>

While this had such an interesting premise, I found it extremely hard to get into and stay concentrated the first half of the book. I liked the writing style and how it almost replicated the stop motion visual of what the protagonist experiences. While the visualization was perfected, the dialogue wasn't, and it just did not flow. The second half was a bit better and there were a few things that took me by surprise but overall this is one I won't exactly think of down the road. Overall, this was okay and I will give this three Stars.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for this ARC.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Atria Books for an advanced copy of this new thriller which deals with what our eyes try to tell us, our senses can pick up and the evil that exists all around us that uses our blindness to prey on us.

There is a famous French short film entitled La Jetée, that came out in the 1960's and deals with time travel, extinction and well French things. The movie is fascinating even with its short running time and the later movie and television show 12 Monkeys was based on it. I mention La Jetée as the movie is told in still photos, almost like a film stip for those old enough to remember them, or slide show, with narration telling us what is happening. Every moment is frozen on the screen, no motion at all. A wonderful work of art, and a great thrilling movie. However imagine living one's life like that. Nothing moving in the eyes. The world like a photograph, with objects that are moving no present to the eye. Watching a race with no participants. A game of tag with no one to touch, a person moving closer, but the image of the room one knows so well, only the sound of the breathing getting closer, the smell of the person overwhelming one's senses. The Silence in the Eyes by Armando Lucas Correa is a story about not being able to see the threat that is coming for yourself, and your friends, but sensing it and having to find the strength to do something about it.

When Leah was a child, Leah suffered a blow to the head, a head trauma that left her with a very rare condition known as akinetopsia or motion blindness. Leah can literally not see motion, everything is like a still photo, if a person is sitting, that person is clear, motion, and they are gone. Leah has been told that this condition might not be permanent, but twenty years later and with the death of her Mom, Leah has pretty much given up. She roams her neighborhood, going to a local bookstore, talking to neighbors and her housekeeper. A new person moves next door to Leah, and as her senses are slightly heightened because of her blindness Leah gets the feeling that things are not right with Alice, who she becomes friendly with. Noises come through the walls, a smell of something seems to permeate Leah's area, and one night she is sure that someone was in her apartment, though she could see nothing. Leah must dig deep to find the strength that has always been there to find out what is going on, and who might be invading her world.

A very different kind of narrator, an unreliable narrator who can't see certain things, and can never be sure of what is going on. Combined with a tight thriller, and interesting characters this makes for a fascinating book. There is a little learner's curve getting into the story. The chapters might seem choppy, until on realizes this is how Leah sees the world, choppy, frozen moments. And the characters really make one interested. I enjoyed the approach to Leah's problems, and how she really lives a rich life, one that she enjoys, though others might want more from here. Leah could have been a whiny character who finds herself, but Leah is a lot more than that. A lot of good ideas, with a clever hook that keeps readers intrigued to the end.

Recommended for Ruth Ware and Rachel Hawkins fans. Also for readers of Ruth Rendell and who enjoy books that start with a different kind of psychological hook, and that keep readers on the edge. This is the first book by Armando Lucas Correa but I am looking forward to reading more.

I devoured this book. I actually really liked the shorter ‘choppy’ chapters (as other reviewers have called it.) I think it was a quick read and sucked you in. I felt like the main story line ended in the middle of the book but continued somehow without intertwining everything until the very end. The twist at the end was unexpected and overall an enjoyable story about a lesser known topic.

Leah lives in a world most of us can't fathom. She has had motion blindness since she was a child. Most people who see her with her white stick tapping front of her assume she's blind, but she not, at least not in the way people assume. Plus, her other senses are heightened and work better than most people's.

When Alice moves into the apartment next door, Leah can smell the anxiety from her. Worried, she befriends the woman, finding out that she's in the middle of a messy divorce. Then one night, Leah blacks out, and in the morning wonders if she dreamt that someone else was in her apartment.

This was a fun read for me. I love the unique premise, the weird juxtaposition of lost and heightened senses, and the bizarre relationship between Leah and Alice. There were lots of twists and turns I didn't expect. The writing felt a bit 'off' to me sometimes, but I don't know if that was deliberate for the tone of the story. If so, it kind of worked. 🙂 Overall, great quick read if you are looking for a fast, unique page-turner!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

This was a good story! I didn’t love the flow of the writing, I felt like it was a bit choppy and disconnected. I really liked the main character in the beginning but towards the end she kind of annoyed me.
That being said, I would still read more from this author because I think they have potential for a great book!

Thank you NetGalley and Atriapublicity for providing the arc in exchange for my honest review!

In the vein of Paula Hawkins and Ruth Ware, a bold and suspenseful psychological thriller about a young woman with a rare neurological condition who is convinced her neighbor is going to be murdered.

A great spin on the "Rear Window" trope. Well written and well realized.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

It was definitely terrifying to step into her shoes and imagine what it would be like to experience the events of the story with her condition. I did appreciate the commentary on individuals with disabilities. It’s twisty and definitely gets a little wild. I love the unreliable narrator trope. I always enjoy trying to puzzle out what is really happening. The writing style is a highlight of the story. The author’s experience with typically writing historical fiction carries over into this story and shines through in the tone. It did give this story a unique feel in the thriller genre. I wanted the plot and pacing to be a little tighter, particularly in the first half. But overall, this was a great read and I do recommend it! I can see this book being very popular upon its release. If you are looking for something dark, suspenseful, with a unique POV, this is the thriller for you!

Leah can’t see movement, a condition called akinetopsia, after a head injury sustained when she was eight years old. People see her with a walking stick and think she’s totally blind, but she can see things like snapshots when she blinks her eyes, and if people and objects are still, she can see them just fine. What a unique thing to put into a book!

Leah’s parents are both gone, and her primary friends are two elderly women who live in her building, a bookstore employee who she has a crush on, and a woman who has taken care of her for years, Antonia. She has a Bookstagram account, @blindgirlwhoreads (great name!) as books are stationary and easy for her to see, and she’s ironically interested in photography. She also has VERY heightened other senses…

Alice is Leah’s neighbor, though they hadn’t met until Leah hears arguing one night and wants to make sure Alice is okay. She’s working on divorcing her alcoholic and abusive husband, but the wealthy and volatile lawyer isn’t making anything easy. Leah is also worried that the man has been breaking into her apartment, as she can smell a strong smell of bergamot at unusual times. The two women form a strange friendship, which is severed by an unthinkable act.

This started off pretty straightforward, then got a bit trippy towards the end (in a good way!). This has a lot of elements: thriller, horror, mystery, crime - but it ends with a suspenseful shock. Actually, a few shocks. This was a completely quirky and unexpectedly good read, and I’m so glad the author was able to get it published outside of their regular genre. 4.5 stars, rounded up.

(Thank you to Atria Books, Armando Lucas Correa, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on January 16, 2024.)

#theartofseeing

Admittedly not my favorite read, which is a shame, because the premise sounded nice. I didn't like the writing and the characters were rather weak. Some aspects of the story were cliched and predictable. I'd give this author another chance in the future, though.