Voller was definitely the comedic asshole of the crew and despite him being a jerk most of the time, I did enjoy having him there to kind of break the tension that was hanging over them throughout their time in the Aurora. Nothing like having someone make a terrible joke after seeing the ghost of your dead friend, am I right? Lourdes was super wholesome and I really wanted to protect her whenever she was on the page. Something about her was just so sweet and I really liked how she brought a little light to a dark situation! And sweet Nysus, the tech-savvy sweetheart, was such a good guy. I loved that he was more of a backseat kind of character but that he came in with his obsession with the Aurora to try and help the crew figure out the mystery behind the disappearance of the ship. The four of them worked so well together and I really did grow to love them in a short amount of time.

I’m going out on a limb and saying that the Aurora is also a character itself. Sure, it’s essentially a dead ship that vanished twenty years ago and is definitely most certainly not alive at all, but it has so much about it that really, well,  brings it to life. There are some truly spooky scenes on the Aurora and it gives you the feeling that there is so much more to the ship and what happened twenty years ago than you initially read about. It has a uniquely terrifying personality and really feels like it’s the main character of the story, not Claire. And, dare I say it, I loved this creepy-ass ship so much. The dark hallways, ornate decor, bloody handprints on the wall…wait a second, blood?! Anyway, the Aurora really does shine as a character and I loved uncovering the mystery behind the luxury space liner and all of its ghostly inhabitants!

Writing:
Oh man, my favorite part of this book was definitely the writing. Sure, Dead Silence has a great plot and awesome characters, but all of that would fall flat if the writing wasn’t any good. S.A. Barnes does a fantastic job at creating a constantly looming sense of dread on every page of this book, even when you don’t think there’s anything dreadful going on. She expertly weaves mystery, horror, and even a bit of occasional humor together to create an unforgettable reading experience. You can genuinely feel Claire’s pain at losing her job, her trauma from her past, the terror on the Aurora, and every bump or creak that happens off in the distance. Dead Silence is pure atmospheric horror gold, plain and simple. There were so many instances where I panicked because I was so sure that something was creeping in the corner of my room while I was reading and as someone who is not easy to spook anymore, that's the sign of a successful horror book in my opinion. 

"But I will say this: once you've been in a position to watch everyone you've ever known die, the light go slowly out of their eyes, transforming them from this magic assemblage of quirks, habits, preferences, and dreams to an inert pile of spent flesh and bone, you realize not only that life is precious but also that death is absolutely inevitable. No matter what you do. The people you love will die one day, and sometimes it happens sooner and faster and more horribly than you could imagine. Sometimes it's even your fault."