Book Review of The Silver Chain by Jion Sheibani

Hi everyone! How are you doing? 💕 Today it’s time for a book review and not just that, it’s an audiobook review courtesy of Netgally! I finished The Silver Chain by Jion Sheibani a long time ago and am only just getting round to reviewing this amazing book now so let’s get to it! (There’s no playing around today I’m just going straight for it by the looks of things 🤣).

Disclaimer: I was given this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review and I’d also like to mention that I’ve tried to make it as spoiler free as I can.

Summary

Uplifting and unputdownable, an illustrated coming-of-age verse novel about family, mental health and the healing power of music.

Azadeh is a budding violinist on a music scholarship at an expensive private school, dealing with all the usual trials of being sixteen: trying her best to fit in, keep up and have fun. Then as her mum’s mental health spirals out of control, Azadeh’s world starts to unravel. Her friendships fall away, and as much as she and her dad try to keep a lid on everything, their problems insist on taking over. Feeling alone, it’s her violin that finally helps Azadeh to find her way back to her friends, herself and even her mum.

A beautifully illustrated, highly important and irresistible novel about mental health struggles and the solace we find in music and rhythm, friendship, family and honesty.

Review

With this being described as a coming-of-age verse novel I think I was expecting a bunch of poems but what followed took me by surprise and I’ve never listened to or read anything like The Silver Chain before. The voice of the narrator (which I loved) flowed seamlessly through the text and truly brought the story to life, making it all feel real. The audiobook shone a light on so many important topics and I was amazed by how everything just fit and was portrayed perfectly. This was my first “verse” novel and it certainly set the bar high I’ll tell you that!

It was a beautiful book that pulled me in and took me as the reader on a long and winding journey through Azadeh’s life. Not once was I disappointed by how the story was told and I couldn’t at all predict where it was going next which I liked. I would for sure read/listen to more books like this where it felt like poetry to my ears. I found myself smiling when it all came to a close because the ending was so lovely and I very much enjoyed listening to the audiobook in the morning, it was nice to wake up to and get lost in. I’d highly recommend it!

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And there we have it! A rather short review but I got everything in that I wanted to say so it comes to a nice and simple close. Let me know what you thought if you read this book and/or if there’s any other verse novels out there you’d recommend, I’d love to know! 🙌

Thanks for reading this post! 😉 I hope you have a lovely day and until I see you again, stay safe, take care and buh-bye 🌊 💕.