Title: Whistlers in the Dark
Author: Victoria Williamson
Genre: YA / MG Historical Fiction
Page Count: 200
Rating: 4 / 5
On one side of the Antonine Wall, thirteen-year-old Felix is trying to become a good Roman soldier like his father. On the other, twelve-year old Jinny is vowing revenge on the ‘metal men’ who have invaded her Damnonii tribe’s homeland. At the Damnonii’s sacred circle of standing stones, her planned attack on Felix goes badly wrong, awakening a legend that threatens to bring fire and destruction down on them all.
Can Jinny and Felix overcome their differences and soothe the stones back to sleep before it’s too late?
Before I get into a proper review, I just wanted to thank the author and TheWriteReads for giving me a copy of this book as part of a book tour in return for an honest review.
Okay…enough of the pleasantries.
This book was a blast, through and through.
Good ol’ Andrew came out to play, and I left this book unread for far too long and ended up finishing it at about 2:00 this morning (the day of my turn on the tour)..but I am kind of glad I did. It added to the thrill of the story.
I loved so much about it…so let’s get into a proper review now.
I’m a recently developed fan of historical fantasy, so my other HF reads are mostly limited to Outlander. Dipping my toes into the world of Ancient Rome…I was pleasantly surprised by it all.
This book was a fun source of information. I felt like it could have been a genuine moment in history, taken out of time and put into a book for us to read. It was informative without being an essay, but also humanized without being too fantastical.
I’m no expert in Ancient Rome, but it genuinely felt like a fun history lesson with all of the information on Ancient Rome that we got.
I also loved that the story blended the fantastical “gods” of that era with the grounded reality of what happened. It was a great immersion into the mindset of the characters, and I think the author did a wonderful job of letting the reader step into the main characters shoes.
We aren’t given a proper answer on what happens at a certain point in the story (trying to stay spoiler free)…so the reader can interpret it. I loved that moment because, like the characters in the story, we are left wondering. What really happened? Is it something grounded in reality, or is there a sense of the gods at play? We won’t know…and I am okay with that.
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One last quick note…Williamson did a great job of making the characters feel like they belonged in that time. Their dialogue isn’t modern, in fact it’s not even the English we all recognize. It feels perfectly unique to this area of the world and time in history, and although its such a small detail, it really helps to elevate the story that much more.
This 200 page read will fly by if you get your hands on it. I generally don’t read MG books (though this might borderline with YA because it does have some darker moments) but honestly, it didn’t bother me at all. I loved The Whispers in the Dark, and if you’ve read it too, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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