Reviews

Remain Silent by Robyn Gigl

yoyoitsflo's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

grace_astudentreading's review

emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

This book was somehow both a hit and miss for me, and I wanted to like it a lot more than I did. To start with what I enjoyed: Erin. Erin is hands down one of my favorite main characters. I love everything about her and she is my newest role model and icon. I seriously cannot get enough of her. I also loved the other reoccurring characters of Swish and Erin’s family. And I think I can finally say I genuinely like Mark. But my new favorite character besides Erin is Logan. They are so fierce and awesome and I hope they get to appear in future books! The last thing I loved that I am trying very hard not to let be a spoiler, but there was a very very satisfying conclusion for one character. Now for the things I struggled with: the plot(s). I will say that I was engaged and absorbed the whole time. However, I was also often confused. There was so much going on at once, and even though I understood how it was all tied together, I was still overwhelmed. But overall I did enjoy this book and I continue to recommend the Erin McCabe series.

alexture's review

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Nice trans thriller for cis people. Sometimes (often) focused more on educating the reader than on the story, but the story was still good − although it had _many_ characters.

readinggrrl's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

thisisatestaccount's review

4.0

As a disclaimer, I won this in a Goodreads giveaway before it was published.

This is the first ever novel by Robyn Gigl that I read, and my overall impression is positive. It's fictional, medium/fast paced, and despite the many different scenes, characters, and situations happening simultaneously, it's not hard to follow who is who and what's happening in every chapter. The plot is very engaging, especially for regular readers of legal thrillers. The book has everything, from very insightful and relatable LGBTQ+ themes (as several characters are members of the trans community, along with Gigl herself) to legal, carceral, and judicial scenes. Some characters are not too thoroughly developed, which makes it easier to box them as "good" and "bad" guys, despite lacking some nuance. The structure of the book is a very traditional introduction-climax-resolution but very engaging. The proportion of mystery, thrill, Grisham-like legal scenes, and LGBTQ+ relevance make it a very enjoyable read.

crochanqueen13's review

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Great legal thrillers! Every time you think it can't get more tense it does and it's impressive how it all ends.

momankara's review

3.0

I have never read this series before, but wanted to because I occasionally enjoy LGBTQ+ mysteries and thrillers. The book was well put together and I appreciated the author's treatment of the main character's experience in the world and how others reacted to her. However, I did not feel like I got to know Erin McCabe the person as opposed to Erin McCabe the cause. She was more of a pamphlet. Similarly, the descriptions of the locations in Jersey were cursory. You really didn't get a feel for the place. The legal pieces were good, with several clear explanations of the issues at play and the factors leading to the decisions.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

marcieh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The mystery was so compelling I didn't want to put it down. However I did oc asionally when the secondary story involving a child custody case became too upsetting. Overall this was a great read. I also feel like I learned more about what the transgender community goes through. I highly recommend this book!

wombat_88's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

emilygigs's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0