The Raging Quiet

4.5 stars. I never imagined I would enjoy this as much as I did. This book has been on my mental TBR list since long before I even had a account, because it seems that everyone who reads it recommends it to me and yet it's taken me so long to get around to it. I would guess The Raging Quiet struggles to find an audience when historical fiction is not very popular in YA, and especially the ones that don't feature corsets and dramatic love affairs.Possibly the first thing I noticed and loved abou [...]

It isn't often that I begin writing a review with trepidation and insecurities, thinking that my thoughts and feelings can't possibly do the book justice. This isn't because I have a great esteem for myself; no, it is because, while a lot of what I read I enjoy, I'm not fooling myself into thinking that the majority of it is what most would consider quality literature. It is with those kinds of books that I figure that whatever I type should suffice. But there are those times, like when I review [...]

The Raging Quiet is without doubt a Rey-The-Teen-Years book. Which is not to say it is not a Rey-Now book, (it is), but this is the sort of novel I would have adored without reservation in high school. As a teenager that read almost exclusively classics and historical literature of any kind, and possibly had somewhat overly romantic ideas about life, I would have been completely enamoured with Jordan’s sweeping story of love triumphing over evil.The deliberate ambiguity of the setting and time [...]

The Raging Quiet is a teen-oriented mix of The Scarlet Letter, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and The Crucible. A story of a woman who dares to be different and has to be punished for it.Marnie has had it coming. First, she marries a wealthy older man (who cares if she does it only to save her family from poverty) and moves with him into his decrepit and allegedly cursed house in a seaside village populated by ignorant bigots. When Marnie's husband suddenly and accidentally dies, all attention focuse [...]

Chapter OneThe afternoon Marnie came to Torcurra, the villagers were whipping the devils out of a mad boy. She knew he was mad by the way he cried, his voice high and unnatural, with no words but only strange, wild sounds.Witnessed by the sixteen-year-old, there was nothing she could do. After all, it was her wedding day. Her new husband, the much-older Isake, stopped their wagon to purchase an ale before heading to their cottage on the beach. Marnie watched at a distance while a priest came run [...]

I think this book was "moon-good beautiful." The characters grabbed me from the first page and kept my interest all the way through. I thought they were well-developed and grew in lots of great ways during the course of the story. I couldn't read it fast enough, wanting to know what happened next.The characters of Raven and Marnie, both injured in different ways from the world they live in, each struggling to make a life, are people you want to see succeed. All the various threads are pulled tog [...]

What a beautiful book! I thank my pals for recommending this gem of a book which takes place a very long time ago, when people believed in witchcraft and faeries.Marnie is a young woman of sixteen years who is forced into marriage with an older man to save her family from certain poverty when her father is struck down by illness and can no longer perform his duties as overseer on their lord's estate.Luke Isherwood, Marnie's husband, is one of the lord's sons and his inheritance is an old, rundo [...]

A Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordon is such a flawlessly written novel. I was truly captivated by the characters, plot and setting. Despite the setting of the novel being historical, the message resonates to any time and place. This book is about people's prejudices and ignorance, and about a girl being wrongly accused, where her only crime is being different than others.Marnie is a newlywed girl of sixteen who is taken to a seaside cottage by her husband, Isake, who is more than twice her age and [...]

The Raging Quiet is a book I never would have read. The cover is juvenile at best, cheesy at worst. It's a romance and I'm a tomboy. Yes sometimes I have girly moments (Archer Cross, Peeta Mellark, I'm looking at you) but I didn't think I could read a straight-up romance. My friends on told me to read this book. They said it was a romance, but it wasn't that type of romance.They were right.The Raging Quiet is not like the romances I've avoided. The characters are well developed and the romance [...]

4.5 stars! Just so we're clear, I had NO idea what this book was about. I didn't read the synopsis, I didn't read reviews, nothing. I think part of that is why I liked the book so much. I came in with a clean slate, not knowing anything (other than I didn't like the cover), and I really believe it was a bonus. Everything was new and a surprise. I personally think the synopsis gives away a lot. Especially the jacket flap, if you get the hardcover version DO NOT read the flap, it practically tells [...]

This book really took me by surprise on many levels. It's highly simplistic - there's Marnie, Raven, and the priest who are all open-minded and then there's everyone else, who are all ignorant as the day is long. The black and white nature of the characters did prevent me from really buying into this book completely, but I think it's meant to be more of a fantasy. It's a bit like a fairy tale, but I've always been a sucker for those and I totally fell for this one too. The romance is sweet and i [...]

The Raging Quiet is a beautiful treasured story that is written with passion and grace.It's a story about people who don't understand those who are different and how prejudice can be judged harshly and cruelly. It's story about acceptance and the power of love.I absolutely feel in love with Marnie and Raven. Marnie is so kind and loving and what she did, what's she's done for Raven was inspiring and heartwarming.Raven is such a joyous character, so tender and kind. No doubt, one of the sweetest [...]

It's been so long since I've just sat down and stayed glued to a book until I reached the last page. One of the best friendships I've read in a book. The characters are what really hook you into this story. The setting is also vivid and atmospheric - evoking serious prosy envy. Recommended to anyone seeking really good YA.

A sweet, if kind of scary, story of two misfits who find true love. What was scary was the ignorance and maliciousness of most of the villagers towards anyone the least bit new or different. The book takes place in an era where the "Christian" people are all too eager to beat the devil out of a seemingly crazy boy and to accuse a girl of witchcraft on nothing but hearsay. Fortunately, the village priest was kind and did his best for the boy, the girl, and even the villagers.One thing that I thou [...]

Everything I heard about this book I heard from friends, who rated it very highly as a lost YA classic. I managed to track down a used copy on Paperback Swap, and was surprised when what arrived was a retired library hardcover, complete with a sticker on the spine and little plastic slipcase. It turned out to be very appropriate, because reading it gave me all sorts of happy memories about poking through the tiny YA section at my local library as a teenager, and discovering titles like Cynthia [...]

I'm astonished to see this book classified as "fantasy" by so many people--I read quite a bit of fantasy and historical fiction, and this belongs solidly in the second category. There's no magic here--well, the story is about two young people who create a sign language and fall in love, which is magical in its own way, but nothing that couldn't happen in our world. And although Jordan claims in the afterward that there's something mythological about this tale because she didn't specify the histo [...]

This book was written in 1999, but the story is really sort of a indefinite historical fiction. The time period is sometime during the 1700's, but the exact location is not given. All we know is that it is set in a small village by the sea. The Raging Quiet would be a great historical peace for the classroom. Elements like persecution, potential demonic possession, and a witch trail are both exciting and fairly accurate historically. This novel would also give students to opportunity to interact [...]

this book is everything i wanted by these ten bones by clare b dunkle to be and then some!book pairings:plain kate by erin bowfoxmask by juliet marillierthe near witch victoria schwabwuthering heights by emily bronte (view spoiler)[ haven't read it myself (yet), but i think its a somewhat good match anyways (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

It reads like classic lore and perfectly captures the hysteria of the period, and yet through that darkness the triumph of the human spirit makes it a really uplifting, hug-to-your-chest kind of book.Full review here:strikingkeys/2016

Wow! Just wow! I couldn't put this book down even for a minute! It's so freaking good! And the real question is: where have this book been all of my life?! It's really beautiful written and the characters just latch at you that you can't get away from them. I'm proud to say that I own this book in my book collection - well it couldn't be complete without it, really. And now I'm going to talk nonsense to strangers and non-strangers alike so it will get through their thick skull that they need to [...]

“It’s got nothing to do with devils! He can’t hear!”This is one of those books that sneaks up on you and honestly, I don’t understand why no one knows about this book! This is so underrated it’s criminal.It discusses what it means to be deaf, to look past each other’s differences and love them for them, and that no matter what happens, we can get stronger.Marnie marries Isake Isherwood, the son of the Lord her family is working the lands in exchange for food and a roof over their h [...]

A novel for young adults, this story highlights the struggle of an ahead-of-her-times girl, Marmie, and her new deaf friend, Raven, who is believed by all of the rest of the ignorant townspeople to be a madman.Marmie meets Raven when she is brought to the town as a young bride on her wedding day, married to Isake, a lord more than twice her age. She notices Raven being beaten by townspeople as she and her husband ride into town on their wagon. While waiting for her new husband to finish getting [...]

Read this one in year 6, primary school. Is a book that has always stayed in my head and have read it a number of times since too. Having thought about it, the content may be a bit disturbing for young children now, but it is still a good read. I think it has stayed with me for so long as it has many points which you can relate to in one way or another. Recommended. update: This book is about the struggle of a young boy who is deaf. A young woman is brought to the village as a wife/slave of a ri [...]

3.5 starsThis was Heidi’s pick for one of our Hidden Gem buddy reads in one of my groups.Honestly, I never would have picked this book up on my own, let alone finished it.The main character Marnie is nothing short of a special snowflake. She can do everything she sets her mind to and fails at nothing. Not only that, but the plot of the story was made just for her. I found this quite annoying, and normally would have marked this as a DNF, but I pressed on.I’m really glad I did.Raver is deaf, [...]

I wasn't at all sure about this book in the beginning but was soon hooked and had that GOTS TO KNOW feeling as the fate of Marnie and Raven slowly unfolded. Village life can be brutal when you start to buck the trend. I also had no idea that author was from NZ (this doesn't have any bearing on the story - just a fun fact)

What a beautiful little story! It wasn't the most ground breaking tale, but very well done, and with stong enough emotion I can give it the full five stars. The themes of friendship and understanding were woven strongly along side hatred, ignorance, and prejudice. You see and understand both sides of the conflict, and while wishing people would open their eyes to their own blindness, you can understand their fear. While mourning with one character for what's happening to and around her, you also [...]

Just amazing. Sherryl Jordan has created a beautiful and simple pair or characters: a recently widowed lass (Marnie) and the mad boy of a village called Torcurra (Raven). They will both protect each other from the hate of the villagers that can't understand the emotional bond they share. The raging quiet is an easy reading - "easy" meaning "quick" and not pleasant, because Marnie and Raven's story will never be described as "easy". Overwhelming and heart-touching, I found it hard to keep up with [...]

Awww, that was such a sweet ending! After starting this book on such a dark note, one that made me depressed even thinking about getting married, it slowly got better. Rarely do books start darkly then get brighter.My only problem was Raven and Marnie's relationship. Normally I root for certain couples, but this one seemed more like friends then anything more and the whole marriage thing that was frustrating. I honestly don't think they should've - right, this is going into spoiler territory, so [...]

I read this book ten years ago, and frustratingly I forgot the title and the author, so I could never find the book again. Hours I spent in the school library, tracing, re-tracing my steps, asking the school librarian to see my past loans (it was so large, it rather overwhelmed me), that I retreated, the plot burning inside my mind, but unable to title it.Then today, 10 years laterToday, it pops into my head. Whenever I've thought about this book in the past, it's with a bittersweet feeling as I [...]

Sherry Jordan's The Raging Quiet clearly describes the values of earlier times while still keeping the readers interest. She takes the old ways and adds a spin to them by putting modern values in a simpler time. The main character, Marine, breaks out off her shell and befriends a boy who is deaf and mute. The village people just think he is mad and With the devil. Sherry Jordan demonstrates how people used to think about someone that was different. The Raging Quiet gives a clear insight on how h [...]