Kai (1)

Friends?

They’re best friends and have been for years. They just get each other. After a hard day he can’t wait to turn to her for a listening ear. Being a new mother isn’t easy but she knows she has him to rely on. What they have is special. They’re married…just not to each other.

Kenya and Terrance’s relationship has not gone unnoticed by their mates. Lani, Terrance’s wife, and Christopher , Kenya ’s husband, just deal with it until things culminate. Kenya and Terrance are off doing god knows what in the middle of the night and Lani and Christopher only have each other to console.

Kai’s sophomore effort puts two strained relationships under a microscope, exposing all the strengths and weaknesses. Covering a very short span of time, Kai focuses on the emotional ramifications of all parties involved. In doing so, readers get to know the characters intimately. But also, in doing so, the story is stretched and repetitive as the characters are just basically on an emotional merry-go-round and the same feelings are expressed over and over again.

There is some awkwardness to the flow. Lani’s back story, instead of being carefully placed into the storyline, seems forced and out of place, though relevant. As a result, it loses its effectiveness. Also awkward is the slight introduction or brief detour of two more characters (Christopher’s sister and husband) and their story. It just didn’t fit and lacked enough relevancy to warrant inclusion. There are editing issues such as your/you’re confusion and lack of proper punctuation.

Off of the heels of a stellar debut, I couldn’t wait to read Kai’s next novel. While by no means a bad story, I expected more. Kai clearly has skills and shows her versatility by taking her second novel in a totally different direction than the first. However, “The Loudest Silence” would have been a better read had it been one complete novel. Doing away with the repetition would have allowed for the author to deliver one story instead of not concluding this book and forcing readers to wait on a sequel to find out what happened. To address those issues, I recommend the assistance of a development editor for a smoother flow as well as a copyeditor for the editing concerns.

That said, I look forward to Kai’s future endeavors.

Reviewed by: Toni… (lisätietoja)