This Splintered Silence

Written by Kayla Olson

Narrated by Andi Arndt

From the author of The Sandcastle Empire comes a sci-fi thriller that’s equal parts Illuminae and One of Us Is Lying.

Lindley Hamilton has been the leader of the space station Lusca since every first generation crew member on board, including her mother, the commander, was killed by a deadly virus.

Lindley always assumed she’d captain the Lusca one day, but she never thought that day would come so soon. And she never thought it would be like this—struggling to survive every day, learning how to keep the Lusca running, figuring out how to communicate with Earth, making sure they don’t run out of food.

When a member of the surviving second generation dies from symptoms that look just like the deadly virus, though, Lindley feels her world shrinking even smaller. And as more people die, Lindley must face the terrifying reality—that either the virus has mutated, or one of their own is a killer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Nov 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9780062988263

Kayla Olson

Kayla Olson is the author of two books for young adults and The Reunion. Whether writing at her desk or curled up with a good book, she can most often be found with a fresh cup of coffee and at least one cat. Find out more at KaylaOlson.com.

Reviews for This Splintered Silence

[bella_roell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

*I WAS PROVIDED WITH A PHYSICAL ARC BY THE LOVELY AUTHOR FOR AN HONEST REVIEW. THIS DOES NOT AFFECT MY HONEST OPINION*Kayla Olson has been the slayer of words since The Sandcastle Empire released, and even maybe before that. Her books have always brought about the one, main questions: what would happen if this were to be our future?This Splintered Silence is focused solely in space. Teenagers—of all people—are living aboard a space station that has been plagued by death and grief. A pathogen named CRW-0001 took the lives of their parents and mentors, rendering them helpless."One hundred stars have gone out in the past six weeks, extinguished and smothered and choked and simply--whoosh--blown out--by the CRW 0001 pathogen."Thank God the captain and her team had children, am I right?Lindley—already known as a badass character just from how she’s described—is the new captain of the ship. She is one of the oldest (I believe?) and the one most put together from what we can tell. She was born to be a leader, as most would say.But every leader has their faults, and it’s important that they know and face those faults.Throughout the first few chapters, we learn what happened to the original wave of station workers. But then we learn that one from the second generation has joined the ranks. This is where things begin to slow down a bit.I had a hard time getting through the chapters after the first second-generation born was found dead, but quickly found things speeding up within no time. Lindley and her team are brilliant, some of the best in their class.I had a feeling this book was mostly character-driven, and I believe I was right. This is a good thing, though. While the plot was amazing and I absolutely love how it was coordinated and executed, I loved how the characters really drove things forward. Every turn you took on these pages, another person went up in your suspicions. Another worry was added here and there, and I loved how the ending turned out.It was a thrilling ride to take, and I wouldn’t hesitate to take a second one.My rating for This Splintered Silence is 4.5/5 stars.