This is such an interesting premise, but the execution keeps feeling slow to me. Like, i love the fairy tale elements and the way the women come together and I’m definitely curious about several elements, but I keep struggling to keep reading.

A powerful, feminist, dark fairytale reimagining of four women each cursed by the same abusive man to be silenced against the harm he has done to them. TW: Parts of this were tough to read (themes of sexual assault).

Silenced is an important story that rewrites the passive women from the classic fairytales we grew up knowing, into strong women reclaiming their power.

DNF - I didn't really enjoy this book, it just wasn't for me, unfortunately. Hopefully it finds its audience

Four women who work for the same company have experienced sexualised violence by the CEO. This is a man who will use all of his considerable power to silence the women he assaults.

“He’s counting on us not telling anyone because we’re afraid they won’t believe us.”

Jo, Abony, Ranjani and Maia have all tried to find ways to be heard but each has been constricted, by fairy tales of all things. These are definitely not the Disney sanitised versions with songs and adorable talking animals.

This is a difficult but important read. It highlights the many ways people who have experienced sexualised violence can be silenced by not only the perpetrator but also the systems we expect to help victims of these crimes.

“If you weren’t so scared that people would believe women, why have you tried so hard to silence us?”

It also clearly explores trauma responses and how the impacts can vary from person to person and across time. These can include the inability to say the words and the shrinking of your world.

There are scenes that describe the violations the women have experienced. While they’re not especially graphic, they don’t allow any doubt about what each woman has experienced so please tread carefully if you are likely find this content difficult to read.

Content warnings include addiction, dementia and sexual assault. Readers with emetophobia may want to skip this one.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. The concept of someone being cursed with the punishment of fairytales and using less well-known fairytales really sparked my interest to request this. I like the POV switches between each of the cursed women which then extended into a larger universe. It is marketed as fantasy which works as the events are fantastical but is a realistic fantasy with the conclusion. Seeing these women come together to not only help each other but fight back against the patriarchy was powerful to me. I also really liked the fairytale discord channel topics to connect to the story but also offer more details and context to these stories we accept in their Disney sanitized versions. I would highly recommend this book.

3.5 upped to 4
There an important idea behind this story, there's a cast of well developed characters and good storytelling.
It started very strong and then it became a bit confusing and I wasn't able to understand how the magic worked.
I think that some more details and world building would have helped.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

This title wasn't something I could get into, so I won't be finishing it. I really hope that others enjoy it.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy of silenced. this was a wonderful read about the strength of women when they join together and lift each other up.

Silenced is a powerful, allegorical story of four women who have been assaulted by the CEO of their company and given fairytale curses in order to stay quiet. These four women, all of whom come from different backgrounds, are drawn together by their refusal to stay silent and desire to ensure that their curses end.

The way that Ann Claycomb weaves together the very real experiences of these four women with the very fantastic fairytale curses placed upon them, most of which have their origins in Hans Christian Anderson stories, is both intelligent and deeply felt. I particularly loved the inclusion of the "fairytale Discord" boards after every couple of chapters, which helps the reader piece together clues as to how the women can regain their power and also opens up a dialogue about how fairytales have long maligned women (seriously, what's with the lack of female friendships in fairytales?).

The women themselves each have well-realized arcs and are easy to root for, and I especially love some of the side characters, such as "good witch" Chantel, whose magical treats help the women to realize their inner strength.
I also admire Claycomb's choice not to name the CEO. As a nameless, faceless, evil entity, he can symbolize the patriarchy at large -- but denying him a face and a name also takes away HIS power, like he tried to do to these women. The final scene at the end--I won't spoil anything--was absolutely breathtaking and the ending was so satisfying. Although women unfortunately cannot always reclaim their power in the real world, I'm delighted to have read a fictional happy ending.

I'm docking one star because the comp titles in the blurb for my copy--Ninth House, Malice, and The Sisters Grimm -- feel a bit misleading. I agree with The Sisters Grimm, but otherwise, I'd say this is more in the vein of the feminist magical realism of Naomi Alderman's The Power, which is not a knock against Silenced at all (I DEVOURED The Power and thought about it for days afterwards, and Silenced is similarly staying with me).

Many thanks to NetGalley, Titan Books, and Ann Claycomb for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm always nervous when a book is billed under the #MeToo movement in 2023. While I obviously identify with the roots behind the movement, in modern times I feel like its current usage reflects moreso white feminist ideals than more modern intersectional equivalents. While I think this book overall did a good job reflecting the importance of striking down outdated heterosexist norms supporting abuse and silence, it also somehow managed to feel frustrating surface level, noting the racial injustices that play into patriarchy but not giving them nearly as much attention as they deserved. I think the type of people that will like this book are also the type of people that buy "crush the patriarchy" stickers for their water bottles, if that makes sense.

Wow, what a retelling! One man connects four women, each by the same curse. Relating to many current events, the feminists piece will leave you charged! These women are fierce and powerful!

I received this advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. I found this book particularly interesting, and I'm certain a great number of readers will enjoy it. There are some likely trigger heavy subject matters brought up, which the author provides an introductory note about at the very beginning. Regardless of the potential for some readers to be uncomfortable with the content, I felt this was a pretty ingenious way to demonstrate the way that rape silences women in our society, whether or not it's done using supernatural or magical purposes. Highly recommended!

A dark, magical tale of men preying on women and abusing power to keep them silent. While magic runs rampant between the pages of this book, some interactions hit a little too close to home. Overall, an important must-read, for everyone to understand what happens when women refused to be silenced.

This was a book that intrigued me a lot and I expected probably too much. I love fairy tale symbolism, retelling, modernisation, new context, analysis... and I have obviously read a lot of all of those, for children, for teens, for adults etc. And while the idea of this book is very good, because fairy tales, being moral stories, have reflected very problematic values, it fell short of my expectations. I am always happy to have an adult fairy tale re-take, but I didn't get into the writing style.
I am good at suspending belief with magic, I love speculative fiction, so I didn't need explanations, I take fantasy facts and just run with it. But for me the characterisation was just a little off. Everyone seemed just too aware of themselves, the problems they faced and their flaws, it felt all very on-the-nose and that kept me at bay from the story. I wasn't let to "feel" what they felt but was dictated what to think.
I am sure many will really like the takes on those fairy-tales and will probably not mind the style, but that just wasn't for me.

Silenced was an interesting read. From the very nature of the story it is fiercely feminist and owes a lot to the MeToo movement. The way the fairytales were woven into the narrative worked well and the book is perhaps better described as magical realism than out-and-out fantasy. While I applaud the fact that the story showed abused women stepping forward and reclaiming their agency, and its message overall was a positive one that deserves to be heard, a part of me was a little over the heavy-handed feminism by the end. I tend to like my messages within literature more on the subtle side, but that's just a personal preference. Suffice to say the message in this book is projected loud and clear and that may appeal to some readers but not to others. The way in which the story is told is clever and captivating though, and it will likely also appeal to general readers of fairytales retold. It gets four stars from me.

(My review will go live at the two links below on 1 May. I will then also share across social media.)

Brilliant and painful and upsetting and so powerful. Feminist fairy tale and uplifting story of women coming together to reclaim their power and their lives. Please pay close attention to the content warnings before reading.

Fierce feminist fairytale - hell yeah! I don't know what I was expecting when I requested this; sometimes books with SA and triggering behaviors can be tough - while tough, this was quite unique. I love books about kick-ass women & taking back their power. This was definitely a book I couldn't put down.

Headlines:
Feminist, fantasical and fierce
Cursed and silenced
Revenge is sweet

What a clever and great book Silenced was. It started with some tough subject matter which I've put down the bottom in the content warnings. The themes were so important and related to male-female power and disempowerment, going full circle. The story was set in the contemporary with fantastical elements, magic and use of fairy tales as analogies for real world experiences. I enjoyed seeing the vilification of real world men who deserve only our disgust and distain.

The story brought four women together, bonded by assault and curses placed on them. The curses were weird for some, hideous for all and shocking; the fourth curse, really took me by surprise. The introduction of characters came slowly and reveals of their experiences were shared. There felt to be authenticity in the narrative of these characters and I warmed to them all.

The story took the reader for a walk in the shoes of life after assault but with a twist of living with these curses. The chapters were interspersed with discord threads of contemporary takes on fairy tales and the patriarchal/misogynistic leanings of these tales.

The vilest characters award goes to the CEO...it's hard to find words but sticking around to see what happened was page-turning.

This was such a great read and considering the themes, it didn't feel heavy at all. The writing was engaging and intelligent and I would seek out Ann Claycomb again, I'm definitely interested in what else she'll write.

Thank you to Titan Books for the review copy.

Content warnings: rape, sexual assault, body horror, bugs and snakes.

3 stars

This book just was not for me. The writing was good it’s just the subject matter that I dont care for. I’m sure tons of people will love it though.

I found this book utterly fascinating. Fairy tales meet Me Too in a thoroughly real environment. Six women assaulted and cursed by one man need to find themselves and fight back against misogyny and sexism to reclaim their lives and break the spell/ they’re under.

Super topical, loved the characters, really liked the idea of it. Great understanding of the problem with fairy stories. Sensitive understanding of fairy stories. Interesting plot.

My only criticism, is that I found the whole real magic, vs. allegory, vs metaphor confusing. I found the whole idea that magic exists throwaway, and it jarred a bit, because it wasn’t explained well enough.

That said I was intrigued, I loved reading it. And it was super interesting. I just thought something didn’t quite add up.

Great side characters. Loved the stepmother character, and Jo’s missing girlfriend. Loved the mains too. Loved the exploration of sexism in fairytales. A lot to like. Not perfect. But worth a read.