The Words We Whisper

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Manufacturer: Mary Ellen Taylor
Brand: Historical Fiction
Brew: Ebook
Steeping Time: 343 pages
Tea Service: Amazon First Reads
Strength:

Synopsis: As a hospice nurse, Zara Mitchell has already seen more death than most people will experience in a lifetime. So when her older sister asks her to help care for their ailing grandmother, Zara agrees—despite strained family relationships.

Though pale and tired, Nonna has lost none of her sharp mind. She’s fixated on finding something long forgotten, and she immediately puts Zara to work cleaning out the attic. Unexpectedly, amid the tedium of sifting through knickknacks and heirlooms, Zara also reconnects with a man she’s attracted to but whose complicated past makes romance seem impossible.

But then Zara finds what Nonna was looking for: a wooden chest, an emerald broach, a leather-bound journal. As she immerses herself in stories of heroism and loss set against the backdrop of war-torn Italy in 1943, Zara finds answers to questions she didn’t know she had. And they change everything she thinks she knows about love, regret, and seizing the day.

You had me at war-torn Italy in 1943. But you lost me a little along the way…

Historical fiction, particularly WWII-era historical fiction, is easily one of my favorite genres. So when The Words We Whisper showed up on Amazon First Reads, it was a no-brainer for me. Click. Done.

Overall, I liked the storyline and many of the characters. Nonna was hands down my favorite of all. She is quick-witted and fast to throw a kindly insult, which seems to be her love language. I loved her quirky one-liners and felt that she seemed the most well-rounded character out of everyone, even though we mainly see her as an elderly woman with secrets. She is also what made the present-day scenes worth it for me. I enjoy stories that follow dual timelines between past and present, but 99% of the time, I crave the past timeline the most. Nonna made me excited for the present-day bits, so she definitely stole the show.

As far as Nonna’s secrets (no spoilers, don’t worry), I figured out some, but not all, which I love. I’ll be the first to tell you that I am no detective when it comes to figuring out twists. Generally, I don’t even try because I like to just let the story unfold. But The Words We Whisper had me going back and forth, thinking I knew the answers one second and then completely backtracking in the next. Oddly, even though I had suspected certain things in my many theories and predicted parts correctly, the big reveal was a bit of a letdown. I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but instead of having an ‘Aha!’ moment, I had an ‘oh ok’ moment.

My biggest negative about this book is that I thought it went too fast for relationships to fully develop.

I’ll get into this in more detail later (where there WILL be spoilers), but I felt like all of the romantic connections were rushed and, therefore, not as genuine as they could have been. I’d have been happy to read another dozen chapters and see the connections breathe and grow into something more substantial. Instead, I disliked certain characters because the lack of development made them seem pushy (again, I’ll delve into that later).

I liked the setting of The Words We Whisper, mainly because I haven’t read many WWII novels set in Italy, and I liked the overall story. I simply wish I could have gotten more of it instead of the bare bones. It was harder to truly invest in the characters, and because of that, I found myself wishing the book would wrap up so that I could move on to something else.

I know, I know. Why not DNF?

I have an incredibly hard time not finishing books, and ultimately, I wanted to know how this one ended. Oddly, The Words We Whisper sort of ramped up towards the end and nearly made me forget all of the things I disliked about it, so I’m glad I finished it.

I did have a huge pet peeve throughout this book. It doesn’t have to do with plot or character, and I didn’t let it ruin anything for me (as some other reviewers have), but it did irk me every time I read it. There is a prevalent piece of jewelry throughout the entirety of the book. It’s a brooch, and it is mentioned a lot. But it is misspelled as broach, and it drives me absolutely nuts.

HERE THERE BE SPOILERS! TO CONTINUE TO SAFETY, SCROLL TO THE NEXT HEADING.

Ok. Last warning. SPOILERS. Still here? Alright. My BIGGEST complaint of the entire novel is about Riccardo. Maybe this is just me because I specifically went and read other reviews to see if anyone else mentioned him and didn’t find anything, but I found him to be pushy and more of an aggressor than an interested lover. In practically their first time ever meeting, he tells Isabella that he wants to take her to dinner. She says no. He says he’s going to. She, again, says no. Not tonight. He accepts but tells her he will walk her home instead.

Isabella doesn’t know this guy at all. The only knowledge that she has is that he abandoned his sister when she fell pregnant (and then she goes through a traumatic birth that ends with a stillborn)—a real stand-up fella. And now, out of nowhere, he’s back. After work on the same day as this encounter, when she doesn’t see him outside her shop, she’s…disappointed? Because she finds him attractive? Even though he doesn’t listen to anything she says? But don’t worry. He’s around the corner, waiting for her. They walk. He tells her she looks lovely. She says she can’t have dinner. The banter continues with him talking and Isobel shutting him down, and then he pulls her into the shadows of an alley.

He says he wants to kiss her. She says she has to go. He, again, says he wants to kiss her. Just one, and he’ll release her. She replies that she doesn’t know him. Riccardo answers with ‘of course you do.’ She says nothing. AND THEN THE BIGGEST RED FLAG FOR ME COMES NEXT. A direct quote: ‘I did not speak or move, and he took that as consent.’ And then he kisses her roughly. And she likes it. WHAT?! I get that the whole ‘I shouldn’t but I want to’ vibe is a thing and that it can be very attractive and all that jazz. But this…this just didn’t work for me. If Riccardo was written to be mysterious and endearing, the mark was severely missed, in my opinion. Their interactions together rubbed me the wrong way, and the quoted line above didn’t sit well with me either.

The fact that this is supposed to be the big love story in the 1943 timeline baffles me. In my opinion, there was nothing loving or romantic about it. Not to mention that they have one other long encounter together where they have sex. And that’s the entirety of their relationship. For Isabella, this is the romance of the century, so to speak, but for me, there was no substance.

IT’S ALRIGHT. YOU MAY ALL COME OUT.

Spoilers are over; you’re in the clear.

To wrap up, I enjoyed the concept of this book, but I found parts of it problematic or lacking, and it isn’t one that I’ll be actively recommending to others, so I decided on a 2 Cuppa rating. I don’t hate it, and I won’t discourage others from reading it by any means. We all have different interests and tastes. The Words We Whisper wasn’t the book for me, but it might be for you. If you’ve read it and have differing opinions, please comment below. I’d love to discuss and see things from another perspective!

Have you read The Words We Whisper? Leave a comment and let me know what you thought about it! Want to read it for yourself? Click here to get a copy of your own.
Cheers,
Lydia