Silver Silence (Psy-Changeling Trinity, #1)

by Nalini Singh

[Berls]

Ever since finishing up the Psy-Changeling series last year as part of Anne's Readalong, I've been excited to pick up the Trinity series. This book did not disappoint and I'm thrilled to be back in this world. Anne and I are buddy reading the Trilogy Series for Can You Read a Series in a Month? Challenge and she also gave it 4 stars.

I was happy to see that this book picked up pretty much immediately where Pys-Changeling finished, making for a fairly seamless transition. And I already knew I was interested in Silver Mercant, so I was happy to start with her story. I enjoyed getting to know her better, and even more significantly, the insides of the Mercant Clan. Her grandmother is a delightful mix of ruthless and (surprisingly, for a supposedly silent Psy) loving. Silver is a very strong-willed character, not someone easily intimidated. One of my favorite lines (repeatedly frequently) is "Silver Fucking Mercant" because it is really truly accurate. I loved watching the work she's doing for the emergency response group () - not only because she handles it so skillfuly, but also it's just always heartwarming to see people united for a common good in face of tragedy. It always makes my eyes water a bit.

It was also nice to be in a different changeling group than the two favored in Psy-Changeling - this time we're with the bears. And OMG I loved them. The way they're so rowdy and everyone just expects damage when they are at a party/restaurant - but at the same time they love them and they are always welcome, which speaks volumes to how good natured they are. Valentin is an amazing alpha, especially in dealing with a somewhat broken clan (not to mention his own internal pain and loss). I loved watching him court Silver - he was so respectful of her boundaries and playfully flirtatious at the same time.

I think my only frustration was the larger series arc plot progression. The last book in Psy-Changeling had left things at a precarious point where the Consortium and HATMA were concerned, not to mention the guy at the top of my shit list - Ming. And not only was Ming only mentioned tangentially, but we had very minor progress in the other areas. There was one major plot point - regarding Humans and Psy - that was at least a focal point, even if no real progress was made. I'm guessing as the first book in this new series, these plot points were being reestablished and I'm hoping we'll see more progress on them moving forward.

There were mostly just brief references with the characters that we've grown to love, with a couple guest appearances from Kaleb, Ivy, and Ashaya. I think that was it. I missed them, but I'm excited to grow to love a whole new cast.

I'm really glad this series is also narrated by Angela Dawe. She delivers a truly fantastic performance and her accents (this was in Russia, with some snippets of actual Russian) was very believable. I look forward to listening to more!