Book Review — Fighting Silence by Aly Martinez

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.

• Buy FIGHTING SILENCE (Kindle)
• Buy FIGHTING SILENCE (Paperback)

From the moment I read the blurb, I knew I had to read this book. I mean, c’mon! Doesn’t that tug your heartstrings?! Plus, I’ve literally loved every book that Aly Martinez has written so… I had to dive right in!

Till and Eliza met by chance one night in an abandoned building at age thirteen — each seeking an escape from their lives for one reason or another. Over the years, they kept meeting there every few days and became close… more than friends, but not a couple either. They were simply vital to each other’s lives.

“It had become more and more difficult to stop myself from kissing her, touching her, claiming her. But I knew that, if I did, I would eventually lose her. Relationships didn’t work in high school. Something would have happened, we would have broken up, and then I would have lost her completely. I needed Eliza too damn bad to ever chance that.”

With his dad in jail and his mother more concerned about her nails than caring for her children, it fell on Till to take care of his two little brothers from a very young age in order to keep them out of the foster system. He cared for Eliza more than anything but couldn’t bear to start a relationship with her for fear of losing her friendship. In his eyes, what they had was almost magical and he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that.

“Till and I both knew we had a strange relationship. It was more than a friendship, but there wasn’t romance or sex. There was definitely love though. Immeasurable amounts of it. I knew that Till had this grand fantasy about me. But what he didn’t realize was all that he gave me in return. He was the only thing I’d ever had that I honestly though I couldn’t live without. Till Page was my soulmate on every level.”

Sadly though, their lives were split one fateful night. But then, several months later they were given a second chance and this time, things were different…

“You’ve always been forever for me.”

My heart really broke for Till. This amazing guy worked himself to the bone to give his brothers the best life he could. He worked at a boxing gym every waking hour, fuelling a dream of one day going pro which would finally give him the money he needed to truly provide for his family.

“I believe you’re going to set the boxing world on fire, because every time you put on those gloves, you’re doing it for them. Say yes.”

Adding to all the pressure was the fact that he was slowly going deaf and there wasn’t a single thing he could do to stop it. It was scary — terrifying even — that he’d one day never be able to hear Eliza’s voice.

“I miss your voice. I miss listening to you talk… I’d give anything to hear it right now.”

I read this book in one sitting start-to-finish. The ending was a thrill ride wrapped up with a great epilogue which both concluded Till & Eliza’s story and set up the next one — which I can’t wait to read!

Aly Martinez is definitely one of my go-to authors. I’ve read all her books and loved each one. Her stories are always unique and have strong, sexy, heart-racing romances with a thrilling edge to them.

THIS book can be read as a complete standalone. Even if you’ve never read any other book by this author, you’re safe to dive right in and you’ll be satisfied with the ending. However… as with all of her books, this one does have tie-ins with her other books. Slade (the hero from Among The Echoes) is featured heavily in this book as a side character but you do not have to have read his book first in order to appreciate this one. That being said, if you were to want to read his book as well, then I’d actually recommend reading the complete Wrecked & Ruined series because technically Slade’s book should be read as #3 in that series.

Bottom line: this book can be read on it’s own. But, if you want to have the full experience of meeting all the characters in this world, then read them in the order I’ve listed below. This authors’ books are very cleverly set up so that you can read any of them alone BUT you’ll of course get even more out of them if you’ve read them all. So it’s really just up to you. You won’t go wrong either way. I promise 🙂

Rating: 4 stars. Can be read as a standalone.

• Buy FIGHTING SILENCE (Kindle)
• Buy FIGHTING SILENCE (Paperback)

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*** ALL THE BOOKS ***
Interconnected standalones.

CHANGING COURSE
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

STOLEN COURSE
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback| Read my Review

AMONG THE ECHOES
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

BROKEN COURSE
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

FIGHTING SILENCE
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

FIGHTING SHADOWS
Buy for Kindle