This book is a pleasant departure from Correa's previous books. It's a gripping, leisurely unfolding mystery around a condition you don't read about in fiction. The reader is watching the world through the eyes of a woman who cannot see movement. It's the perfect novel setup, right?

There were a few hiccups, such as Leah making photographer friends that vanish from the storyline. Their inclusion in the story felt a bit like filler and didn't move the story forward. I found a few parts within the novel that felt that way.

However, I enjoyed the premise of this novel and the directions Correa takes the reader.

Armando Lucas Correa crafts a gripping narrative around Leah, a woman living with akinetopsia, a condition that renders her unable to see movement. Despite her unique challenge, Leah's heightened senses of smell and hearing grant her a perceptiveness that extends beyond the visual realm. Her quiet life takes a tumultuous turn when a new neighbor, Alice, moves in next door, bringing with her the palpable scent of anxiety.

The story cleverly weaves together themes of sensory perception, courage, and the impact of trauma. Leah's ability to sense her surroundings becomes a powerful tool as she navigates the complexities of her own life and the troubles unfolding in Alice's world. The author skillfully captures the tension and fear in Leah's experiences, especially when she becomes an unwitting witness to a violent altercation in Alice's apartment.

Leah's decision to befriend Alice, despite the risks, showcases her resilience and empathy. As the narrative unfolds, the boundaries between reality and Leah's perception blur, adding an intriguing layer of psychological suspense. The scent of an intruder lingers, and when Leah hears Alice's plea for help, she embarks on a journey that tests not only her courage and strength but also her grip on sanity.

The novel delves into the complexities of human connection and the lengths one is willing to go to help another. It also explores the fragility of mental well-being and the impact of trauma on individuals. As Leah grapples with the consequences of her decisions, the story builds to a crescendo of suspense, leaving us on the edge of our seats.

I just reviewed The Silence in Her Eyes by Armando Lucas Correa. #NetGalley

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for a review. I thought the pacing was fast and kept me engaged. The twist at the end though!!!

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book ahead of time in exchange for a review. It didn't disappoint! Must read!!

The Silence in Her Eyes is a propulsive thriller with a unique protagonist and is one of the most unique characters I have experienced. Leah is a 28 year old New Yorker who after a traumatic childhood event developed akinetopsis or motion blindness. She uses a white cane to walk since once movement occurs everything she sees becomes distorted and disappears. She often questions her reality and wonders what she sees is in fact real or a hallucination. I loved this character and was fascinated by how she navigated the world with her choppy, fragmented world view along with her extraordinary sense of hearing and smell. Her world is small, with a close circle of family and friends which is growing smaller everyday. When a beautiful and mysterious new neighbour moves in Leah befriends her and her quiet life is suddenly faced with new threats and danger.

I gave this book a resounding 5 stars because I couldn’t put it down, it grabbed my attention right away and didn’t stop until the jaw dropping ending. I loved the posh NYC prewar apartment setting, the unreliable narration that was disjointed at times just as a person with akinetopsis would experience things, the multiple twists and turns, and the WOW ending.

Trigger warning- Gaslighting
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for this eARC which will be published Jan 16 2024.

While I very much appreciate the free ARC in exchange for an honest review, I have to say that this just wasn’t for me. I had a difficult time getting into the story and can’t pinpoint exactly why. DNF at 50%.

I really enjoy reading books by Armando Lucas Correa. "The Silence in Her Eyes" is a fascinating murder mystery, where the star character, Leah, suffers from motion blindness/akinetopsia. Set in Manhattan, with lots of guesses and "obscured vision" for the reader, as we follow this great, surprising, twisted tale. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.

THE SILENCE IN HER EYES
Armando Lucas Correa

Shhh, be still. If you blink your eyes, you'll miss it.

In THE SILENCE IN HER EYES, we are following Leah. Leah suffers from akinetopsia, a rare condition that expresses itself as motion blindness. This condition began when Leah was young. She has had it most of her life and has adapted as much as she can.

We meet up with her just before a new neighbor, Alice, moves into the building. Leah becomes interested in her. Leah's interest soon begins to verge on obsession and the line between voyeur and friend becomes blurred.

Then one day Leah thinks she hears Alice in an altercation with a man Leah has known to visit Alice from time to time. A man who smells of Bergamot. Leah makes an irreversible decision that will change her and Alice’s life forever.

THE SILENCE IN HER EYES is very delicate. If your mood shifts, if you get interrupted, if your second cup of coffee is too hot, if it’s too noisy in the background you will lose the quality of stillness it has. If you set it down for too long you will wonder where the plot is.

To catch this vibe, you must be very, very quiet. If I sat with the horrifying reality of this condition, it was effective. And I can see it being shot for the big screen in shadows, movements in the blink of an eye, and so forth.

THE SILENCE IN HER EYES is an anxiety-inducing, slow-rolling boil. A simmer pot that I recommend for those quiet times by yourself in the morning or in the minutes you steal before sleep takes you.

I gave THE SILENCE IN HER EYES three stars and although I enjoyed most of my time reading, it was just a bit too slow for me to truly dive in.

THE SILENCE IN HER EYES comes out next Tuesday, January 16, 2024!

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy of the book!

THE SILENCE IN HER EYES…⭐️⭐️⭐️

This novel explores the world of Leah, who is a woman living with a rare condition that renders her unable to see movement. She leads a quiet and orderly life, which soon changes when she becomes involved with her neighbor's nasty divorce.

There was good story building with tension and suspense, particularly when Leah tries to intervene with the neighbor's troubled situation. We get to see her character develop with courage and strength in the face of adversity.

I feel like the execution of the plot kind of fell flat. The pacing felt sluggish and moments of suspense felt like they never really reached the 'climax' of the situation. A lot of the characters also felt very underdeveloped, which just felt lacking to me.

3/5 stars

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

THE SILENCE IN HER EYES, had an interesting plot line. I had never heard of akinetopsia or motion blindness, so I was eager to read it and learn more. Once Leah became involved with helping her new neighbor, Alice, I knew something wasn't right. I'd say the last 30% percent of the story was the best and I had a hard time putting it down. I surely did not expect that ending and it definitely surprised me. Overall, this was a clever book, that I can recommend. I also want to note, this was the author's first thriller and he is mainly known for writing historical fiction. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next in the thriller genre.

Many thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for my gifted ARC.

This review will be shared to my Instagram (@coffee.break.book.reviews) within the next week.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a readers copy of this book. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely given.
The story centers around Leah, who suffers from a form of blindness that cannot see movement. She sees the world as snapshots and only of things that remain perfectly still. She lives alone and has a housekeeper who visits and assists her. As a result of blindness, her other senses are heightened. When a woman moves in next door, strange smells and voices begin to torment Leah. Her efforts to understand the strange occurrences lead her down a sinister path. Who can she trust? Can she trust herself?
I enjoyed the story and the character. Some of my instincts as to what was truly happening were close to correct, nevertheless the story, plot, and characters make it a very compelling read.

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feedback are my own.

I was excited to read this book because the premise seemed very compelling and I've heard that Correa's historical fiction has been very well received. I am so sad that this was such a miss for me.
The story was okay until about the halfway point, probably a three-star read, but the time jump and plot left-turn was a real struggle to get through.

Normally I try to make these reviews have some depth to them, but I'm going to keep this to a bulleted list to keep myself from getting too deep into the weeds on any one point.

- The crux of this book - that the protagonist has akinetopsia - is compelling but ends up not being essential to the plot at all.
- Despite the fact that our protagonist, Leah, can still very much see (all she is lacking is the ability to see movement), she has developed Daredevil-like abilities of hearing and smell that it's too unbelievable for me to ascribe to.
- Similar to the previous point, I simply cannot suspend my disbelief to the point where I'm okay with the fact that Leah can simply stop using her sense of smell on command.
- Our protagonist leaps to conclusions like she's a professional hurdler and yet she is somehow always right.
- I actually called the reveal of this book about 20% of the way in, so I'm glad that it went the direction that it did, but the big twist seemed anticlimactic and poorly executed.
- There is backstory with a specific character that is alluded to have meaning to the mystery/plot Leah is trying to solve, but the point is ultimately meaningless and has no real reason to be included except as an unbelievable red herring.
- In fact, a lot of the subplots in this story (see: the reason for the title of the book) end up not contributing to the plot in any meaningful way, leaving me wondering why they were included in the first place.
I didn't know what akinetopsia was going into this book, but I only needed one explanation to get the idea, and yet Leah uses the same explanations and description for her condition at least five times (probably more) throughout the book. I felt like I was being patronized or like the author thought I'd forgotten.
- The writing was almost painful at points. From a very "tell-not-show" style to laughable scenes (like the one where Leah takes a photo of bergamot, captions it "bergamot" and posts it to Instagram to her 100k+ follower photography page), a thriller that is supposed to be taken seriously shouldn't have points where I'm snorting out loud.

I'll end this by saying that I believe Correa is a talented historical fiction writer, and the premise here could have been promising. This just wasn't the hit it could have been. I could see some people enjoying this book for the mystery and the thrill of the reveal, but overall I don't think I'll be recommending this one.

Thank you to NetGallery for giving me an early release copy of The Silence In Her Eyes by Armando Lucas Correa, this book will come out on January sixteenth of 2024.

Spoiler Free Review:
The Silence In Her Eyes premise is intriguing, I wasn’t even aware motion blindness was a thing, it was an interesting topic to read about. I liked how the author used that when another sense is lost others senses are heightened kind of troupe. Another thing I liked about this book has to be the writing format, it reads smoothly and it looks good.

However my thoughts on The Silence In Her Eyes are that it was just okay. The book really focuses on Leah’s motion blindness as well as some struggles for independence. I thought that Leah got attached to other characters too easily even if she hardly knew them, her motion blindness got brought up so many times that it became repetitive. The thriller/horror element felt more like a subplot that left me some unanswered questions and confusion. Towards the end, it felt like the thriller/horror element was left out until the last chapter. The ending was decent I think it will shock a lot of readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of this book.

The premise of this book immediately drew me in. For one, I am a huge sucker for 1. a good mystery and 2. a book with a main character who has a disability. I am a moderate-severe special education teacher and I am always going to grab anything to help me understand my students more, or understand a less mentioned type of disability.

Akinetopsia or motion blindness, was not a disability which I had previously heard about, so I immediately wanted to learn more. In this type of blindness, the brain struggles to compute motion, and instead gives a person freeze frame images of motion- almost like a slow gif where placement of objects or people change when the individual blinks. From what I was able to understand from a little extra research, it looks like an individual can be born with it or develop it from brain trauma, like our main character Leah. I found it fascinating that Leah can actually see very well in fact, but only stationary images.

Leah was quite a fascinating character, and I kind of wanted to be her friend. She is somewhat reclusive, but also really wants to have positive relationships and good friends. When her new neighbor Alice moved in, the readers get to know some of Leah's real strengths. She not only has excellent hearing, but also has an innate ability to sense other's feelings and emotions (almost aura like). Alice, her new friend, is in trouble, but how? and why?

Not only is Leah worried about her friend, and what trouble she is in, but Leah also has a stalker who leaves behind the peculiar scent of bergamot. Leah knows this person has been into her apartment, as his scent lingers where he's been. But why has he come into her apartment, and why can she smell this scent in Alice's apartment too? Is the person behind smell of earl gray tea to blame for Alice's bruises and anxiousness?

The twists that this book takes are insane. As soon as I though I had figured out what was going on, I obviously had not. I did not put the full picture together until the last page, and wow.

This book was a quick read, as I wanted to figure out what the heck was going on and who this dangerous scented man was. Not only that, but I was worried for both Leah and Alice throughout the book.

If you want a book that will keep you guessing until the end- pick this one up. You won't regret it.

The Silence in Her Eyes by Armando Lucas Correa was a great suspenseful thriller.
I thought this story was very different and unique.
I liked the writing and characters.
The storyline and characters were excellent. Kept me up and turning pages way past my bedtime.
The suspense and plot was very well thought out with lots of twists and turns that ensure you won’t put the book down.
My only complaint would be is that it was slow. Other than that I enjoyed this book.

Thank You NetGalley and Atria Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I am a fan of Correa, The German girl, A Daughter's tale and especially The Night Travelers. I fell for Armando Lucas Correa’s writing style in The Night Travelers, 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.

The character Leah has a syndrome called Akinetopsia, in which she can see but cannot detect movement, which I found quite fascinating. The book is somehow written how I imagine akinetopsia would be to experience, choppy, a little confusing, and disturbing.

This is one of those books that started strong and then fell off. The narrative style was confusing, and it removed me from the story. I was surprised by the twist at the ending, and for that reason I'm rounding up my rating to 3 stars. 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.

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

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of The Silence in Her Eyes by Armando Lucas Correa in return for an honest review.

The Silence in Her Eyes was a mixed read for me. A very unique premise became distractedly confusing as the story progressed, but finished strong with an interesting twist. The main character, Leah, suffers with motion blindness and lives an orderly, insulated life, but things change when a new neighbor, Alice, moves in next door. Alice is in the middle of a messy divorce from an abusive husband, and as a result of their friendship Leah is tested like she never has been before. 3.5 stars.

This review contains spoilers.

Armando Lucas Correa has been one of my favorite author’s since reading his first book, The German Girl. The Night Travelers, The Daughter’s Tale and The German Girl were all more than five star reads for me. I was so excited to get an ARC of the Silence In Her Eyes and though I did enjoy it, it is not my favorite by this author. I absolutely love, love the cover, it is perfect for the book. I did enjoy reading this and learning about the neurological condition called akinetopsia, which is motion blindness. Mr. Correa did an excellent job writing what Leah would see while dealing with this condition.

This is a very dark book, filled with tense moments. I couldn’t put it down. I would have liked a happier ending. I thought it was going to be and was surprised at the turn.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 50%.

I was really disappointed in this book. The concept sounded so interesting--a suspense novel about a woman who can't perceive movement, and is therefore an unreliable narrator--but the execution was awful. Even halfway through, I felt like nothing had happened. The author never made me care about any of the characters and I had trouble following the plot for most of the book. The narrator's condition makes her unreliable, which is the point, but this was so unreliable as to be unreadable. I felt like the whole thing was a fever dream. The writing was very choppy, uneven, and confusing, and I could not tell what was supposed to be happening and what was possibly in the narrator's head.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The writing is great and kept me turning the pages! This is about Leah and her living with a motion blindness. Leah sees and has a really good sense of smell and hearing. She is friends with her neighbor named Alice. Alice is in the middle of a divorce from an abusive husband. Leah begins to hear stuff late at night in her apartment.

I loved the character of Leah. She is so strong and has lots of courage. The story of her living with this illness is great!
Strength, Courage, and Smart! 3.5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy! This book is set to release on 1/16/24.