Sound is an abstract concept for most people. We spend our lives blocking out the static in order to focus on what we believe is important. But what if, when the clarity fades into silence, it's the obscure background noise that you would give anything to hold on to?
I've always been a fighter. With parents who barely managed to stay out of jail and two little brothers who narrowly avoided foster care, I became skilled at dodging the punches life threw at me. Growing up, I didn’t have anything I could call my own, but from the moment I met Eliza Reynolds, she was always mine. I became utterly addicted to her and the escape from reality we provided each other. Throughout the years, she had boyfriends and I had girlfriends, but there wasn't a single night that I didn’t hear her voice.
You see, meeting the love of my life at age thirteen was never part of my plan. However, neither was gradually going deaf at the age of twenty-one.
They both happened anyway.
Now, I'm on the ropes during the toughest battles of my life.
Fighting for my career.
Fighting the impending silence.
Fighting for her.
Every night, just before falling asleep, she sighs as a final conscious breath leaves her.
I think that's the sound I'll miss the most.
5 Shattering Stars
All the reviews are justified. Fighting Silence is a fantastic book. It’s emotional, gripping and there was never a dull moment.
Fighting Silence is a standalone and is part of the On the Ropes series.
I loved it.
Till and Eliza don’t have the ideal childhood. Till is extremely poor and doesn’t have the best home life. His mom is neglectful and he ends up taking care of his two younger brothers often. Till is a player and lives it up in high school. Eliza is poor as well. She’s a spunky girl and is the opposite of cool.
What I enjoyed the most is the pace. Fighting Silence reads from start to finish and I gobble these books up like mad, there’s slight foreshadowing in the beginning, but I got over it quickly (this has always been a pet peeve of mine).
The beginning starts with Till and Eliza as children. They first run into each other at the apartment complex and Till uses Eliza’s to “escape” from his rough living situation. They just hang out and talk. It’s incredibly endearing and cute.
Eliza loves to draw and is usually found sketching and keeping to herself. Till is curious by Eliza and forges a friendship with her, but only in private. When they are in school, Till ignores her. Eliza is fine by this. She starts to form a mild crush on Till, but doesn’t act on it because guys like Till don’t go for girls like Eliza.
I like the mild requited love and I like how Eliza doesn’t ever pursue her feelings. The friendship they form is like I said, sweet, cute and very entertaining to read. Eliza betters Till and Till does everything he can to keep Eliza in his life, but in a platonic way.
Overtime, they grow and so does the friendship, but the books starts to shift and it gets a little angst and a little intense and I liked it a lot.
I love the little brothers as well. I loved that everyone works as unit and as a big “happy” family. There’s a lot that goes on and I was just on edge the whole time. Till eventually falls into boxing and it becomes his outlet, but not everything is as easy as it seems and the problems they face take the book to a whole new level.
Fighting Silence worked for me because I liked the relationship between Till and Eliza. I liked his protectiveness, his roughness and all the crazy in his life. I like how Eliza grounds him and is always kind and gentle. I liked all the obstacles the couple faces and how important family is to them.
It’s a great book. I recommend.
Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, Aly Martinez is a stay-at-home mom to four crazy kids under the age of five- including a set of twins. Currently living in Chicago, she passes what little free time she has reading anything and everything she can get her hands on, preferably with a glass of wine at her side.
After some encouragement from her friends, Aly decided to add “Author” to her ever-growing list of job titles. So grab a glass of Chardonnay, or a bottle if you’re hanging out with Aly, and join her aboard the crazy train she calls life.
alymartinez.com
Maverick “the Avenger” Cage wants to rise to the top and become a legend in the ring. Though he keeps his identity well guarded, he's known on the fighting circuit as the new kid with a chip on his shoulder and a tattoo on his back that marks him as trouble. He's got a personal score to settle with the Underground's one and only Remington "Riptide" Tate.
