When I heard Joel Leslie was going to be narrating this book, giving life to sweet William, I was sooo beyond excited- I was completely thrilled! Mr. Leslie is one of my favorite narrators, he never fails to bring all the feels to his performances, and I just knew he’d be perfect for sweet, vulnerable William…and he was! I don’t think there’s another narrator out there who could have done William justice, to be honest. He brought all the uncertainty and vulnerability that I love about William to his performance, and it just made me fall in love all over again.
This book was perfection! I fell in love with James and William in A Light Amongst Shadows (one of my favorite books of 2018) and was so happy to learn that we’d be getting more of their story, as I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. I had no idea, though, that A Hymn in the Silence was the book I needed! And that I needed it in William’s point of view. Oh how I loved being inside his head.
As he and James take on the biggest job of their short career as spirit hunters, nothing could have prepared him for the trials and tribulations they’d be put through- both professionally and personally. William made me FEEL so much, for him and for James, and for everything they went through. Not only was the mystery they were hired to solve keeping me on edge, but William’s uncertainty and vulnerability made my heart hurt for him. And while battling the very real demons set on hurting anyone in its path, with James in the forefront, William was dealing with his own struggles when it came to his addiction, which was once again starting to get the best of him.
I really loved this story, maybe even a touch more than I did A Light Amongst Shadows! The world building in this book was stellar, the story-telling so totally engaging, and William and James completely endearing. I was so wrapped up in these two, in their crazy, creepy, dangerous adventures, it was hard to put this book down. And even now that it’s been a couple of days since I’ve finished, I’m finding it hard to let go. Both this book and ALAS will be ones I’ll listen to on repeat!