About the Book

Book: Seeing Voices

Author: Olivia Smit

Genre: Contemporary Young Adult

Release Date: April 15, 2020

Skylar Brady has a for her life—until a car accident changes everything.

Skylar knows exactly what she wants, and getting in a car accident the summer before twelfth grade isn’t supposed to be part of the plan. Although she escapes mostly unharmed, the accident has stolen more than just her hearing from her: she’s also lost the close bond she used to have with her brother.

When her parents decide to take a house-sitting job halfway across the province, it’s just one more thing that isn’t going according to plan. As the summer progresses, Skylar begins to gain confidence in herself, but as she tries to mend her relationship with her brother, she stumbles upon another hidden trauma. Suddenly, she’s keeping as many secrets as she’s struggling to uncover and creating more problems than she could ever hope to solve.

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MY REVIEW

At first I had a hard time getting into the book. I had figured out that Skylar had been in an accident but I thought the book was moving too slow. Oh how wrong I was. I’m glad I didn’t give up on this story because it is truly a powerful story about guilt, forgiveness and finding God. Skylar is dealing with an accident that has cost her more than she realized. How do you cope with suddenly losing your hearing? I liked how the author takes us on a journey where Skylar will come face to face with experiencing the love of God. I can understand why she is so angry at God. It seems like her life will never be the same and she blames God.

Many of us are familiar with the scripture that says,”What the enemy uses for bad, God will use for good.”(paraphrased) I think this is a perfect story to represent this scripture. The enemy wanted to tear a family apart. What I really liked the most about this book is watching the dynamics between Skylar and Mike. I kinda guessed that Mike felt like it was his fault about the accident. The closeness between brother and sister are fractured and Skylar sees her brother slipping away into a path of self destruction.

It was interesting to read about Skylar working at a library. I worked at a library for fifteen years and loved every minute of it. God always has a plan and Skylar working at the library had her cross paths with Cam. Now I think Cam is pivotal to the story because he made Skylar feel at ease and began to let her guard down a little. Getting to know Skylar better , Cam is able to relate to her because his sister is deaf. He is a constant in her life and shares his faith openly.

The story is a great look at what happens when an accident has a ripple affect in a family. I wondered sometimes if the parents knew how guilty Mike felt about the accident. His behavior gets out of control and that is the defining moment in the story for me. Will Mike and Skylar finally open up to each and talk about the accident? Does Cam find the right words to help Skylar see how much God loves her? It is a good story that peels away the ugliness of guilt and anger while bringing healing to the hurt.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.

About the Author

Olivia Smit loves baking, visiting small towns, and writing stories that face hard truth with hope and encouragement. Olivia has an Honours Specialization in Creative Writing, English Language, and Literature and lives in Canada with her family. Seeing Voices is her first novel. Learn more at https://oliviasmit.ca/

More from Olivia

Although “Seeing Voices” is not the first book I ever wrote, it is the first one that felt like it held a little piece of my heart. Skylar and her older brother, Mike, popped into my head one afternoon, both coping with the aftermath of a car accident in totally different ways. It took me ages to figure out what kind of story they belonged to, but right from the beginning I knew it would be a story about siblings and families, pain and guilt, and also (perhaps most importantly!) togetherness and love.

In so many ways, “Seeing Voices” was for me, before it was for readers. I wrote the rough draft when I was 18, fresh out of high school and still figuring out a few tricky situations within my own family. As I wrote about Skylar and Mike, I poured a lot of my own confusion and emotion into the pages, trying to make sense of my own feelings of responsibility, frustration, and ultimately, hope. Words from the book still float through my mind when I’m in certain situations, little reminders of lessons I learned once and need to hang onto with both hands.

I prayed my way through the writing process, trying (and failing) to find a story that fit with Skylar and Mike, who felt so much like real people. I prayed through querying, trusting that if God wanted this story out there in the world, He would find it a home … and if He wanted Skylar and Mike to be a story just for me, I would be okay with that, too. In so many ways this process has been a team effort, and I feel convinced that this isn’t my story, after all — it’s God’s, and I’m just doing my part to help tell it.