Review: Couldn't stop turning pages!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 21, 2014
The epistolary novel may be a form that belongs mainly to our past, but there is still something to the form that is uniquely compelling to a reader.Email and blogging are the new letter writing. We email to share the short pieces of information and the better blogs reveal the thoughts and feelings of the author in a concise, entertaining way.That is what "The Sound of Crickets" does so well. We meet the four main characters immediately - Amelia from Britain, Kelly from New Zealand, Sara from the USA and Charlotte from Canada. Each woman is at a different moment in her life, and together, they build the blog "Life's Too Short for Bad Wine."What follows is a wonderful glimpse at four unique journeys, and the power of words to grow friendships, even around the world. In our information based society, when so much of us spend huge portions of our lives online, is it any wonder that we are capable and eager to form the bonds of friendship - or that they can be every bit as real as people we meet in our daily lives?To speak about any one of the womens' experiences would be to spoil the fun of compulsively peeking into the public diary of four special characters.Marissa Farrar does a great job of giving her main characters a unique voice, and makes us, the reader, an equal part of the action as we are exposed to each new blog post. Comments appear at the end of the articles - and this is one of the only areas that the story falters a little. By giving us reactions to each new piece, the reader is robbed a little of the ability to form their own reaction. However, as the story goes on, we realize that we ARE commenters, and that whether or not we agree with what the women are doing, our opinion is just as valid as any of the others who chime in. (Some of the commenters actually become minor, recurring characters, so their presence is made more and more important as the story goes on.)The other (small) thing I would point out is that, at points, the individual plots line up a little "too" perfectly - each story has its own beats that never seem to falter, but instead march on to a proper and fitting conclusion. However, this doesn't take away from the fun of reading the stories. After all, Romeo and Juliet begins by spoiling its own ending - and the journey is no less interesting as a result. The same is true here - we keep reading because we WANT to keep reading.The Sound of Crickets is at once a fun, quick read in a format that most of us are familiar with outside of books - and a beautiful statement on the growing interconnectedness of our world.