Title: White as Silence, Red as Song
Author: Alessandro D’Avenia
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Publication Date: September 4, 2018 (originally January 26, 2010 in Italian)
Genre: Psychological thriller
Source: Young Adult, Contemporary

Goodreads

Rating: 1 star

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.

Having already sold over a million copies, Alessandro D’Avenia’s debut novel is considered Italy’s The Fault in Our Stars. Now available in English for the first time, this rich, funny, and heartwarming coming-of-age tale asks us to explore the meaning—and the cost—of friendship, and shows us what happens when suffering bursts into the world of teenagers and renders the world of adults speechless.

Review:

*DNF at 49%

It’s rare I DNF a novel. And I mean incredibly rare. Sometimes I put books down, but I know I’ll get back to them when I’m in the mood for it so I don’t consider that a DNF because I’ll finish it eventually. I’ve only legitimately DNFed a novel once before. And that was a long time ago. Well, I’m here to say that today I DNF my second novel.

I tired to get through this. Trust me, I did. Especially because I received an advanced copy and I take those opportunities very seriously. But oh my god this was bad. Awful.

Leo is creepy as hell. If this was a psychological thriller, ok sure, it’d be awesome. His weird stalker tendencies would be perfect for that genre. But this is supposed to be a contemporary romance compared to The Fault In Our Stars? What? Who decided that? Like let’s have a chat about that because no, it’s not even close.

I would just like to point out that at 49% through Leo and Beatrice haven’t had an actual interaction between them. He’s watched her from a distance and sat beside her while she slept in her hospital bed and wrote her a letter and gave her blood, but SHE HASN’T EVEN SPOKEN TO HIM YET. WHAT.

Here are some of incredibly stalker-ish quotes from Leo just to help prove my point a little bit:

I went to her birthday party last year, and it was a dream come true. I spent the entire time hiding behind something or someone so I could stare at her, so I could record her every gesture and movement in my head.

And another one:

But wasn’t I a lion in my previous life? That’s why I don’t give up. I lurk in the first and, when the moment is right, I jump out from the trees and seize my prey, cutting off all escape routs by forcing it into a learning with nothing to hide behind. That’s what I’ll do with Beatrice. She’ll find herself face-to-face with me and will be forced to choose me.

Anyway, I think you guys get the point I’m trying to make here. This was just so not my kind of book. At all.