Silent Echoes

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The rusting makes these pieces look alive, as if they can breathe the air around them and age. Though the natural processes that instigated the rusting have been neutralized, they have left their mark by making the pieces look aged and animated. Shown together there is movement between the delicate and the solid, the transient and the tactile. The reliefs made of miniature baked clay bricks and concrete slabs installed on the walls appear to be receding into the distance as compared to the sculptures on the floor creating a matrix of memories laid out for the viewer to escape into.

The distance is crucial to the interpretation of these artworks in the form of a landscape of events and experiences. There are very few instances where artworks engage with the gallery space and create such dynamics. The artist believes it is not only the artwork that does so, it is the dynamics of constructive team work that makes his works connect so well with the installation space. We think these are very useful tools, and hope you enjoy them and find them helpful as well!

But disclaimers aside, we think it is still very useful, for Echo aficionados and skill developers alike. To get started, you will need login with Amazon. This allows Silent Echo to create a virtual device linked to your Alexa account. This is a beta release, and we are still actively improving the service. Additionally, we are bound by limitations of the Alexa Voice Service itself, which this is based on. Additionally, you can invite it into a channel to allow for group interactions.

When in channel, it will respond to any messages addressed to silentecho. More information at our FAQ. I have never read a book like this before, but I am so happy I did! Portia is such an strong and courageous character but at times can be quite creepy. The love triangle between Felix and Max was perfect. At times I was a little anxious and aggravated because of the way she acts but I understand why she was like that. Elisa, keep up the amazing work because you haven't disappointed me yet!

This review can also be seen at http: Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book Silent Echo has some really good things going for it. One of them is the interesting take on the story of the sirens from Homer's story. Only two of the original sirens are evil, one of them just goes along with the whole luring sailors to their death thing , because of a promise she made to her mother. See, her mother loved her best because And she'd heard from a seer that if her beloved daughter didn't go along with her sisters' nefarious plans, that they would kill her.

So the mother made her promise while she was dying to go along with whatever her sisters wanted her to do. And that's how we ended up hearing the tale of three sirens who liked to eat sailors. Then along comes Portia. She's been mute her entire life, and has given up on ever being able to speak. She has wonderful parents, goes to a great school, and has good friends. Especially her best friend, Felix.

He's deaf, and the the two of them have come up with their own special form of communication over the years. Life is pretty good, considering. Well, it is until strange and scary things start happening to her body, including coughing and feeling that her throat is closing up. Lots of odd things happen, but long story short, she turns into a siren. But I'm guessing you already knew that, right?

Enter the new boy, Max. He's hot, he's sweet, he's charming, and he's got musical talent oozing out of his pores. He's also head-over-heels for Portia. But what about poor Felix, you ask? Felix has changed over the summer, and turned into a pretty good-looking boy himself. And he's also in love with Portia. There's no avoiding this one, folks. She loves Max, she loves Felix. I personally don't care who she ends up with, but I'm sure some of the fans out there will have t-shirts printed up by the time they finish the book. Even with a love triangle, I still thought the plot was fresh and interesting.

In fact, I only have one real complaint. Unfortunately, it's a big one, and the reason that I just couldn't bring myself to rate the book any higher. The book is about sirens. It's their superpower, right? But this book is filled to the brim with these kids singing to each other. Max sings to Portia, he writes songs for her, he sings her to sleep via webcam , he even pulls an impromptu song out of his ass in the freaking lunchroom about how badly she is treating him.

Portia sings to Max, she has some sort of an Epic Rap Battle in the mirror with an evil siren, and she even sings to boys in the hallway. Speaking of the hallway songs She actually asks one of the boys to beat-box to 'Bust A Move' so that she can impress them with her vocal styling. The list goes on and on. By the end of the book, I felt like I had just had to sit through High School Musical or some other tween Disney movie with my girls And ya know what?

It's fun to watch those campy movies with my eight year old, because she and my five year old don't know any better. They actually think teenagers run through the hallways battling it out vocally. But in reality, that doesn't happen. Well, unless high school has dramatically changed over the years. Somehow, I don't think so. However, if you are currently in high school and you and your chums run around having West Side Story song battles in the cafeteria?

Feel free to correct me and leave your comments at the bottom. I've got a son heading into ninth grade soon, and if that's the case, I should probably get him in with a voice coach now Dec 12, Silanur rated it really liked it Shelves: To anyone who is reading this: It just contains a summary of this wonderful book, some quotes from the book that really touched me, and my overall thoughts on it.

SILENT ECHOES

This is the overall summary of Silent Echo without spoilers: Portia Griffin, the protagonist of Silent Echo, is mute for her entire life until one day, she mysteriously finds her voice--and it is not an ordinary voice--for Portia's voice is t Final rating: Portia Griffin, the protagonist of Silent Echo, is mute for her entire life until one day, she mysteriously finds her voice--and it is not an ordinary voice--for Portia's voice is the voice of a Siren.

If you did not know, Sirens are creatures from Greek mythology who have the most beautiful voices, but they use their powers to lure in sailors who come near their island. And as you can probably guess, Portia's voice is magnificent as the voices of the Sirens. But following the days after Portia discovers her voice, Portia soon finds out that others are trying to use her--or her voice for terrible things These are my thoughts: Silent Echo, in my opinion, was beautifully written and had a way of capturing my full attention as the story unfolded.

I felt like I was one of the characters, like I was part of the plot, talking with the characters. The love triangle was also gorgeously crafted, although I myself do not know if I would be able to choose between Max and Felix. Speaking of Felix, I was annoyed by him throughout parts of the story, but he redeemed himself in the end. I especially love what Felix says from page Don't worry, no spoilers: Even though I was only eight, I just knew. I knew that I had stumbled onto this, like, monumental discovery.

Everything happens for a reason. Another reason I really enjoyed this book was because it had mythology in it. I love reading books with mythological aspects to it, and Silent Echo is a perfect example for that genre, except with a twist with Sirens, which I thought was really unique. Before this book, I had not read any book with Sirens as an important theme to the story, and I was really captivated by the new twist on mythology.

Silent Echo really reminded me how much I enjoy reading books with mythological aspects in it. Finally, I loved how Silent Echo had a lot of music and singing in it. Believe me, I can NOT sing. But this book made me feel like singing--so if you like music, then you'll love the musical aspect to the story, too! I can't wait to read The Griffin's Call when it is published! Right when I thought everything was resolved, I read that cliffhanger. And I think I have joined the songbird fandom. That's what its called, right? My take to follow Amazon Description: Able to pe My take to follow Amazon Description: Usually when I begin a novel, it takes me a while to get into it.

But in Silent Echo, my attention was captured from the very first page. The visual imagery depicted in that first scene is so vivid, I felt as if I was watching a movie reel instead of reading static words on a page. The characters in the book are all so fresh and original. I loved the unique friendship between Portia who is mute and Felix who is deaf.

So many books these days are written with one-dimensional characters who are superficial. Its important for tweens and teens to read books likes Silent Echo which showcase teens who are "different" yet are thriving and have wonderful, social relationships. I love that the concept of strong families is reinforced throughout the book with each of the main characters. If the book stopped here then it still would have been a great read, yet this author takes it so much further!

Anytime I get to learn something from a book, its a WIN for me. There are so many twists and turns; you don't see them coming and makes the reader truly feel like they are on a fantast-"ical" journey. Which brings me finally to one of the best parts of the book - the original lyrics. Never before have I read a book where music was such an integral part of the story, where I could practically "hear" the songs in my head. That "-ical" scene was absolutely incredible - I won't be surprised if JayZ or Eminem teams up with this author at some point in time. It was that good!!

All in all, a great crossover book; cant wait for my daughter to read it! This is bad, so bad. And this makes it two in one week that I gave up on. I was given a free ebook of Silent Echo from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. What did I think about the characters?

All of them were cliche and stereotypical, at least to me. And the concept and plot? Great concept, poor delivery. What about the writing style?

Silent Echo

Just weird… Nothing inherently bad about it, but Freilich kept interspersing her prose with clips of songs and poorly written ones at that. They were really cheesy and what little suspension of belief I could have for everything went right out the window. I might need to re-read Harry Potter to calm my distraught self. Two books DNFed in one week… The horror! This review was originally posted on my blog, and can be found here.

Silent Echo is one of the top books character wise. They were so developed and I can't see anyway they could be better. So basically we have a mute girl named Portia.

Ever read a book about a mute girl before? I know that this was a first for me! Thumbs up for that. Then what better than to pair Portia with Felix, probably one of my favourite book best friends ever. Felix, is deaf, which means that he and Portia know sign language. Seriously - this book convinced me to try and brush up on my sig Silent Echo is one of the top books character wise. Seriously - this book convinced me to try and brush up on my sign language!

Of course I can't miss out some of the supporting characters like Max and Ms Leucosia did I spell that right? I went into this story expecting a story about sirens who were like mermaids and that certainly isn't what I got. Not that that is a bad thing.

I quite liked it actually, they were well described and easy to picture. Portia was definitely the right sort of character to pull it off - amazing and strong! Never having read Homer's Odyssey, I can't really compare it to that. It was very interesting to learn a little about it and some mythology along the way. Admittedly, at times I got a bit muddled up with who was who but as a whole I found that I could follow. There were poems and songs galore which I thought to be cool and I loved the language used in them. Some of the songs went on too long for my liking and were too frequent.

They definitely got more frequent towards the end. I didn't have this issue with all of them, just the really long ones. It was a tad slow sometimes I was easily distracted during the song scenes but it was mostly consistent and I really enjoyed it. I think that Silent Echo would be ideal for people who want a story on a familiar topic with a slight twist or even someone who is just looking for a great twist.

An inspiring story about a silent girl with a voice to be heard. You can also find this review at http: This book literally gave me the chills because it was so intense. I must say this book isn't lacking in the mystery and horror department. And the author really did her research, that's what made it so perfect and addictive at the same time.

Elisa manages to make the transition from reality into fantasy smooth, going easily with the flow. This is an admirable skill I like in authors. The story was unlike so You can also find this review at http: The story was unlike so many other fantasy books I've read so far. First, it was higher on the scare factor, especially in the end.

I found that I couldn't stop reading just because of the fact that I was petrified that something would happen if I stopped. Second, the mythology in it is really strong, and not to mention were real. This turns the story into a more haunting one than some stories or myths created by the author himself. The best part in the book though, was admittedly the characters because they gave depth to the story.

It felt like they were shaping it, that the story was affected by their actions and words, not something that's made-up. The story felt like it was really happening and I was a spectator. The characters fit in so well with the story, for example Portia's deaf best friend Felix wasn't influenced by her powers because he simply couldn't hear her. He was clearly meant to help her not get controlled by her powers. And like any good book. It has its twists. Good ones that will certainly leave you shocked and restless. Now, this is what I call a good book This is one hell of a story that will be hard to forget.

Mesmerizing and beautiful, this book manages to exploit music in a dangerous and seductive way, such that I got really overwhelmed and scared whenever I read it. Elisa shows consciousness of her readers and manages to surprise and stun at the most unexpected of times. I don't think it needs any more saying, but I'll say it. What an eerily but beautifully written story. Silent Echo is like an addiction you just can't stop reading and you have to have more no matter the price.

I fell in love with this story from the very beginning and with the turn of each page I found more and more reasons to love this book. The Greek mythology that intertwined with in Silent Echo was done so with such fluid like inspiration. There was no lack of detail as every scene played through my mind. The characters were amazing Portia is the What an eerily but beautifully written story. The characters were amazing Portia is the main character and she in some ways was your typical teenage girl but yet she was so much more at the same time.

She had been mute since birth but she didn't let that hold her back. Portia was an amazingly strong person who needed answers to questions she wasn't sure she was ready for. Felix is an adorable hunky guy who just happens to be Portia's best friend. He has been deaf since he was eight but again it didn't hold him back from being a wonderful, funny, lovable, guy that would do anything for his best friend!

As Silent Echo weaves in and out of a story complete with all of the elements of a siren of Greek mythology essence you must be careful to not fall under it's spell from the glorious songs that only a siren can sing for once you are under it's spell there is no telling what may become of you. Elisa Freilich had me under her spell from the very first page it was if this book called my name and I had no choice but to answer it.

Silent Echoes

I am completely under her spell now and like an addiction I want more and will be anxiously awaiting the next installment to this trilogy! I'm afraid that I, like quite a few others, didn't get on too well with this book. I don't like to give bad reviews, as it's all a matter of personal opinion really, but this book really wasn't for me, which was a shame as the premise was quite interesting. Copy received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dec 18, Maeve Adeline rated it it was amazing. Silent Echo was absolutely amazing! This book made me cry, laugh and it was just beautiful. I cannot wait for The second book! Silent Echo, a wannabe Glee meets Greek Mythology parody tale, is the ultimate modern day coming-out-from-a-loony bin story. It is a thrilling ride that achieves that perfect blend of instalove, no action, absence of humor, psychotic teen angst, apple technology, and most importantly, horrible music-- the universal languag Actual rating: It is a thrilling ride that achieves that perfect blend of instalove, no action, absence of humor, psychotic teen angst, apple technology, and most importantly, horrible music-- the universal language of pathetic Sirens and sissy boys.

If you are a Percy Jackson fan, please do yourself a favor and do not even attempt to read this. Unfortunately, it happened to me while reading this book. So frustrated that by the end, I was near to shredding the whole thing into pieces. Luckily, I was reminded that I am reading an e-book and the worst that I can do is delete it. But my happiness was fleeting as the numerous flaws of this book gradually overwhelmed me.

She had my sympathy at first and then as the story evolved, I saw the real her. She had this on and off hatred for her mother just because she could feel that her mother was disappointed with her having no voice. The whole time I was reading Silent Echo, I am more inclined to see how her parents loved her. I understand that her mother might be a little disappointed and who knows, might be hurt because her daughter lives on silence, but there was more love there. Her bratiness increased when her powers as a Siren began developing.

She became this b-tchy girl who I just want to slap. Instead, goddess that she might be, she depended on the gods to help her. Even her regrets were superficial. His character development only extends to being good at singing and writing horrible songs apart from being unreasonably kidnapped at the end by Portia. Just forget about the parents, Jacqueline and Charlotte. The latter might have some issues going here and there but for me, this review can still get the message across without mentioning her. And now, for the gods. I pray there will be much time to rejoice. But now, I beg you, tell me how we shall treat the mortals that have witnessed both the horrors and the miracles we have seen here today?

Frankly, Silent Echo has the lamest cast of Olympian gods evah. The ending had me laughing and foaming with rage at the same time. Imagine a whole entourage of powerful gods being rendered useless by three Sirens 2 dead, 1 alive and a wannabe minor god in the person of Proteus. The romance tortured me too. Instalove was another downfall of this book. It was so sudden that I felt I was momentarily unseated.

And without even thoroughly enjoying their instalove relationship, Portia started to hurt Max because of the evil that possessed her. Surprisingly enough, she took to Felix whom she ignored when she was all over Max. Even more surprising was that she told Felix all her secrets but she never told Max even at the end of the story.

Anyway, more on that later. Next, Silent Echo talks a lot about songs. I have mixed feelings about it though because one of the songs was in a way good. Like this one… You have a way, you charge the air, With cobalt eyes and chestnut hair.

See a Problem?

Can one moment produce this draw? And do you feel it too? A current filled with shock and awe. But this one here along with many others had me facepalming and laughing… I am blessed organological, My powers are robotical. I am your diametrical. We started antiphonical, You thought your words demonical. But my verse exorcistical— The real Portia is mystical! The two evil sisters are already dead and serving time in the Underworld when Portia was born. The story is not even about saving the whole world thingy. The only point of the story is that Portia solely existed to defeat Parthenope, Legeia, and Proteus so that they cannot bother Leto anymore these three are already dead, mind you.

Apparently, the author got lost on how to weave a solid story for Portia. I am more than frustrated that I need to vent all these feelings. Silent Echo has the creativity of a slug. The world building sucked so bad. Mytikas the highest peak out of the 52 peaks of Olympus is just like any other mountain. Even the communication system of the gods, no way. I was really thinking along the lines of offering drachmas to communicate to the gods but NO.

Instead the author settled for the good old internet and Macs to communicate to the gods. And by the way, before I forget, this book is an Apple advertiser. Brace yourself for the onslaught of unnecessary information about all the things that you can do with a Mac or with an iPhone. For the love of —— Heavens, save me from this ordeal! Was that even conceivable? How was that even possible? And then here comes an untrained instead of training, she mostly spent her time flirting with boys and manipulating her friends Portia whose only talent is singing awful verses.

As if this book was really determined to kill me by inducing a heart attack, Portia, Athena and Leto decided that Max should forget the whole episode on Olympus, thus, he was unknowingly forced to drink the Lotus flower whatever. But most surprising was that they let Felix decide whether or not he wants to forget what happened. The last pages give us a scene where Portia and Max got back together as if nothing awful had happened.

Your mind must have been unhinged. What sensible characters would do is that they would call a time out and find themselves first.

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