this one was a very slow burn for me. I found it hard to stay engaged with the story & got lost a few times in trying to understand where it was going.

"The Silence in Her Eyes" by Armando Lucas Correa is about a woman named Leah who suffers from a rare neurological condition called akinetopsia, also known as "motion blindness."

Leah has lived with this condition since she was a kid & has developed acute senses of smell and hearing to compensate. She lives a largely isolated life in Manhattan following the death of her mother.

the plot thickens when Leah becomes convinced that she has overheard a violent fight between her neighbor, Alice, and Alice's estranged husband.

Leah decides to get closer to Alice, fearing that she might be the only one who can save her neighbour from harm.

there were more than a few times where I was confused on what was real & what was in her imagination -- something I'm sure was by design but that I didn't love.

the film kid in me sees some parallels between this type of story arc & old Hitchcock movies.

The Silence in Her Eyes by Armando Lucas Correa is a different genre than the other books by this author. I liked his previous historical fiction novels but I felt this one fell short.

Leah, the main character has akinetopsia, or what is known as motion blindness. She only sees still images. Being convinced that her neighbour Alice is in danger, she feels the need to protect her friend. Through everything that happens Leah shows courage and strength with many ups and downs. The ending of the story took me by surprise. Even so it was a little disappointing to me. If you like psychological thrillers then you probably would enjoy this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an advanced copy of this book.

This book sounded so interesting and started off pretty good and interesting. Definitely a physiological thriller. It really messes with your mind . There's lots of twists and turns but it does fall flat in the middle and the story is stretched a bit . But I wasn't expecting that ending. I enjoyed the book and don't regret reading it.

Thank you so much Net Galley for the advanced reader copy of this book! There was a lot I really enjoyed about this book, but unfortunately it wasn't for me overall.

As a visually impaired person, it was interesting to read from the perspective of this main character. Unable to trust what she sees, Leah relies on her other senses. I also enjoy short chapters and how it jumped through chunks of time quite quickly. I was emotionally invested in Leah as a character, and in particular her senior neighbours.

But I found her to be very naive and trusting. I felt like the climax happened too early. The twist at the end was fun and surprising, but the last half of the book dragged on and didn't have enough tension to lead me into that payoff of a conclusion.

I would recommend this to someone who is just getting into the Thriller genre, but this may not be for a more seasoned thriller reader used to particular tropes.

I loved the premise of this book, but it just did not deliver for me. There was some aspects that did not work and just took my attention away from the whole story.

Leah, living with akinetopsia, or motion blindness, lives a quiet orderly life in upper manhattan. Most people assume she is blind, but not only can she see, her sense of hearing and smell are so enhanced she finds it hard not to eavesdrop on those around her. As this eavesdropping seems to take over her life, she finds herself almost obsessed with saving her neighbour.
Very interesting read! Could not put it down. Highly recommended.

* I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada, Atria Books in exchange for my honest review

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy. I loved the premise of this novel by Armando Lucas Correa, and it kept me interested, with a little twist at the end. But overall, the story was a little disjointed. I did however learn about a condition “akinetopsia”, and was interested in exploring it further.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Silence in Her Eyes releases January 16, 2024

For twenty years, Leah has lived with akinetopsia (motion blindness), which has thus heightened her sense of smell and hearing, and helps in creating a descriptive story.

Leah has just recently lost her mother to cancer, and has gained a new neighbour in her building all within the same period of time.

With the smell of bergamot lingering in her home, not only is Leah convinced that there was an intruder, but that it was her new neighbour’s abusive husband.

For a psychological thriller, this left something to be desired; I wanted a bit more suspense and higher stakes. Though if this was treated as a literary fiction title where the main character was navigating the loss of her mother and her disability while gaining independence, then I think there would have been more potential.
But overall, it felt like something was missing. Everything with Mark in the latter half was too sudden and there needed to be more expansion. The large jump in timeline (a year later) added this disconnect and I wanted to get a deeper understanding of Alice’s motives, perhaps through dual pov to break up Leah’s unreliable narration.

I’ve read a few books that featured face blindness (prosopagnosia), but this was my first for motion blindness.
The way the author described her disability was fascinating, really — how each new blink of the eyes would give her a new scene as it was unfolding, which made me correlate that to something like stop-motion animation.

Some of the descriptions were a little far-fetched though… <I>“I can feel my neighbor’s jagged breathing, and, vaguely, smell the scent of tears starting to dry.”</I>
Is that even possible? Through a wall? To smell someone's tears drying?

When I first read the synopsis of The Silence in Her Eyes, I was immediately intrigued. Imagine having akinetopsia, or motion blindness, and having to live and navigate in a busy metropolis such as NYC! Being unable to perceive motion despite being able to see stationary objects makes for a good thriller, right?! And after reading this short novel, I can say it did not disappoint! The story was fast-paced, sometimes with flashbacks of the past. Although the main character’s condition is interesting (she also has super sense of smell and hearing), I wasn’t able to fully empathize with her. She just felt cold and distant to me. Not sure if this was intentional but somehow it worked for the story, especially when you get to the final chapter. If you like short psychological thrillers with interesting neurological conditions then do check this out.

This was such a fun read for me! I loved the unique premise, the weird juxtaposition of lost & heightened senses & the strange relationship between Alice & Leah. There were so many twista & turns i truly did not expect & was such a page turner & was really one of a kind! Loved it and recommend to anyone!

The short chapters in The Silence In Her Eyes made this book a relatively quick read for me. I felt like there were a few times where the story dragged a bit and what was happening didn't add much to the overall novel and kind of took me out of the reading.

The writing had me believing one thing when something completely different was happening. The twist was pretty good, even though I did have an idea of what was going on.

There were some parts of the book that I wasn't sure how they fit in with the rest of the novel. This book did have me turning the pages and the short chapters kept the pace moving along.

It took a bit for me to get used to the descriptions of what the protagonist was seeing and I felt like sometimes this was a bit more description than what was needed for the reader to understand what things were like from the protagonists perspective.

Overall, a satisfying read and the twist and how the author revealed this had me bump the book up to 3/5.

The Silence In Her Eyes was the first book i've read by this author and I definitely look forward to reading more in the future.
This is the story of Leah, a woman who is living with a rare nurolo9ical condition that has left her motion blind and has recently lost her mother. As she tries to find a new normal in her life she befriends her new neighbor Alice.
From there the story spirals into Leah feeling as though Alice is in danger from her estranged husband.
A quick read, this book kept me turning the pages and I read it in a single afternoon.
For a more indepth review please see my attached my spoiler free youtube review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE6k1WYnXsA&t=526s

3.5 Stars

I love Armando Lucas Correa's writing his historical fiction has always been a favourite of mine so when this popped up on NetGalley of course I had to read it right away. This was a very slow burn of a story and while that can work in historical fiction it didn't translate positively in the thriller genre.

I found it very interesting that our main character, Leah, has kinetopsia (she cannot see movement) and being deaf I related to her that way. I loved the short chapters, which helped with the slow-moving plot. The ending was definitely a surprise and saved the book for me. I also loved how strong and smart Leah is despite or maybe because of her affliction. But these positives weren't enough for me to bump this up to four stars.

On a more personal note, I loved that Leah calls herself the blind girl who reads. Even though I can't hear I love going to musicals. I read up on what it is about and I learn the lyrics of the songs. I love feeling the music through my body and seeing the lights, sets and costumes. If my seat is close enough I can even read the lips of the actors.

This is definitely going to be one of my top reads of 2023. We all know Correa can write a great historical fiction novel, but this is proof that he may be even better at thrillers! Correa had me riveted from the start! I love books like that.

The novel is told from the POV of Leah, who has akinetopsia (motion blindness). As the story unfolds, we learn what it might be like to live with this rare condition, and how difficult it might be to really understand what is happening around us if we had the condition. At so many moments in the novel it is so difficult for Leah (and the reader) to know who to trust. If Leah could see motion, would it be easier for her?

For all you thriller fans this is one to pick up when it publishes on January 16, 2024. As the book jacket states, ‘Paula Hawkins fans will devour this.’

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the opportunity to read and review the ARC of The Silence in Her Eyes. Thank you @armandocorrea for making your first attempt at a thriller! I hope there are many more.
.

The Silence in Her Eyes by Armando Lucas Correa

I fell in love Armando Lucas Correa’s writing style in The night Travellers, an historical fiction. He is very well known for his poignant books in this genre. I was so exciting to see him step outside his usual style and write a psychological thriller.

This book was full of mystery and definitely played on many fear. Someone is in the house, how well do you really know your neighbours or your partners, is your home cursed etc.

Leah has a rare neurological condition called akinetopsia, or motion blindness, brought on by an injury she received as a child. Her visual impairment has kept her from attending school, getting a job, or leaving the home without a cane to assist her. Her condition though has helped her to develop other senses, for example she can hear the conversations of her next door neighbours.

I loved this book. For one the writing did not disappoint. Two, there were so many twists and revelations along the way that I didn’t expect. I loved getting glimpses of Leah’s character and her past

I had a hard time wrapping my head around her illness though and her doctor seemed sketchy!

This is a fantastic quick thriller, I’d recommend it if you like a little more character development in your thrillers than just plot!

IG post to come

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. So the summary and title of this book really made me excited to read it. I expected from the summary that there would be a bit of mystery with it and there wasn’t at all.
The book was ok but there was just nothing in it that I had expected to find. I kept reading expecting something to happen but nothing did. This one just wasn’t really for me.

“We all spy on people, don’t we? It’s only human.”

Since Leah was 8 years old she has been living with akinetospia, a neurological disorder that causes motion blindness. After the death of her mother, she now is alone in her upper Manhattan apartment, but nothing is as it seems..

Her life changes when Alice moves in next door and hears a violent fight erupting with mysterious man. Worried, she befriends Alice and discovers she’s in the middle of a messy divorce for her abusive husband. Can she truly trust Alice or is she truly alone?


⭐️⭐️
As someone with a neurological disorder, I was really intrigued to learn that Leah also had a neurological disorder and I wanted to dive into this mysterious thriller!

The word style was a bit difficult and confusing like when it says that Leah can smell the scent of her tears.? How when they’re divided by a wall..

The cliffhanger was what got me I was shocked and didn’t expect to see that coming. I had few possible ideas and suspicions but didn’t imagine this twist!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Armando Lucas Correa, and Simon & Schuster Canada for the opportunity to read “The Silence in Her Eyes” for an honest review.

Thank you, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley, for my ARC of The Silence in Her Eyes.

Akinetopsia: “A rare syndrome in which a patient specifically loses the ability to perceive visual motion following bilateral cortical lesions outside the striate cortex.” Essentially, imagine an individual seeing the world as a series of freeze-frame images.

Following a traumatic event and head injury, Leah was diagnosed with Akinetopsia at eight years old. Now, at 28, her mother has passed away, and she is learning to live more independently. Things take a turn when a new neighbour, Alice, moves into the apartment. With Leah’s heightened senses making up for her motion blindness, she can smell Alice’s anxiety and hear troubling noises from her room. Leah also wakes to a man in her room and experiences multiple break-ins as the man’s bergamot scent lingers in her apartment. Worried, she befriends Alice, discovering she is in a messy divorce with an abusive husband. Leah wants to help Alice and knows she needs to rely heavily on her other senses and personal feelings to piece together the situation before someone gets hurt.

I enjoyed this book. It was fun learning about a disorder that I didn’t have much knowledge about before. And the fact that two of my favourite things were combined (science and thrillers), I was in my happy place. The author did a fantastic job explaining Leah’s day-to-day vision, making a complex concept easy to visualize personally.

To appreciate this book, I think it is essential to try and better understand Akinetopsia. This book was fascinating because any so-called “cons” I can develop make sense. I sometimes found this book choppy, and some details were brushed over. However, this is similar to Leah’s vision. It does not flow, and it is like a camera snapshot. At times, the storyline is confusing, and I felt some disconnect, again mimicking Leah’s vision. You are meant to feel distorted. Although this writing style may not be for everyone, I think it served its purpose.

I recommend this read with its interesting perspective and shocking end. I haven’t read anything like it before. The author typically writes historical fiction, and this was his first go at a thriller. I think he succeeded ☺️🎉

Publication Date: January 15, 2024

This book! Where do I start? Superb. Let's star there! This book was superb!

The writing, the pacing, the characters and oh that twist at the end!

I did not know that motion blindness was a thing.

Everyone, this is a must read! If you love thrillers, this book is for you!

Armando Lucas Correa, I know you mostly write historical fiction but you need to write more thrillers!

It was really interesting reading from the point of view of a person living with akinetopsia - motion blindness. The descriptions of how she saw things, and even how the story was told, really helped establish the characteristics of motion blindness and did it often to ensure we, the reader, kept within the character's environment.