"They Fly Silent" by Barb Lanell offers a compelling and introspective exploration of the complexities of mental illness, trauma, and the enduring power of the human spirit. The narrative follows Cass, a young woman grappling with accusations of involvement in a mysterious fire and a series of bizarre cultist behaviors that have the residents of her small Bible belt town in an uproar. As she confronts her own declining mental state and struggles to piece together fragmented memories, a haunting and emotional journey of self-discovery unfolds, revealing the deep-seated family secrets and generational traumas that have long plagued her life.

Lanell's raw and unflinching portrayal of Cass's psychological turmoil and her traumatic past serves as a poignant reminder of the profound impact of undiagnosed mental illness and childhood suppression. The author's adept handling of sensitive themes such as trauma, sexual abuse, and the lasting effects of familial dysfunction lends authenticity and depth to the narrative, highlighting the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

While "They Fly Silent" offers a compelling exploration of the intricacies of the human mind, the pacing of the narrative at times feels uneven, and certain plot elements could have been further developed to enhance the overall impact of the story. Additionally, the complexity of the themes addressed may be unsettling for some readers, requiring a degree of emotional preparedness to fully engage with the story.

Despite its challenges, "They Fly Silent" remains a thought-provoking and poignant tale that delves into the lasting effects of trauma and the transformative power of self-acceptance and healing. Lanell's evocative prose and insightful exploration of complex emotional landscapes create a compelling narrative that lingers in the mind long after the final page. "They Fly Silent" serves as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring strength found in confronting one's past in order to pave the way for a brighter, more hopeful future.

With a southern gothic vibe and mystical undertones, this seemed like a book I would absolutely love. The book is very character-driven and I didn’t expect the context to be quite as heavy as it was.

In the late 1980s, Cassandra Cleo Collard has been accused of starting a fire and engaging in magic in front of her ex-husband’s girlfriend’s house. In the small town of Pine Log, Texas, this is a crime worse than murder practically, as fear of magic or satanism swirl. Cassandra has no memory of the incident, and a judge orders a psychiatric evaluation.

As Cassandra engages in therapy with Dr. Trish Telford, she begins to resurface memories from her past. Many of these circle around her family, including her relationships with her mother and the strange ritual that Cassandra now realizes she learned from her great-grandmother.

Through therapy, it becomes clear that Cassandra’s memory issues related to deep-rooted trauma from her childhood. On a journey of processing her trauma and healing, Cassandra faces troubling events from her past and finds more broken parts to herself than she realized.

I thought this would be stronger southern gothic and mystery vibes, but it is much more a raw portrayal of mental health. Cassandra is a very fragmented character and while I felt a lot for her, I also found her to be often tedious to read.

The memories around secret languages and mysterious power were the most interesting part, but ultimately I think they needed to be more prominent to lean into the genre.

The story itself is a bit meandering in the delivery. The magic was less witchcraft-y than I expected which was fine but dulled the impact of it. The message about mental health and the constraints on women in this town and time were interesting.

I’m not going to lie the cover is what pulled me in, I’m a sucker for a nice pretty cover. Definitely be aware of a trigger warning for mental health issues before diving in. I’m a nurse and work in mental health so I’m kind of used to it. I tried really hard to get into it this was honestly a DNF for me. My one star goes for the cover.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Interesting story. It sure if it was for me. But someone might want to check it out.

As usual, I didn't really know what I was getting myself in for with this book. It's a fictional novel featuring psychological disturbance/illness and repressed memories. But it is also magical, with spiritual elements intertwined throughout. Not magic as in wands or fairies or anything, but an almost tribal, religious magic. It was, I must say, quite a strange read - but not in a bad way.
I want to quickly point out that this does include details of trauma and some general mental health-related issues (such as hallucinations) that may be hard for some people to read about. I've seen other readers mention how they found it quite difficult and those who couldn't even finish reading it due to the nature of the topics covered.
Like many others, I was under the impression that this was kind of a mystery. Which I suppose it was, in a very loose manner of speaking. The book opens with details of a strange fire on someone's front lawn, with witnesses describing a woman acting in a strangely ritualistic way. On the doorstep, they left a bowl of collard greens and an extinguished match. Pretty odd. We are then introduced to a young woman named Cass, the accused perpetrator of this strange crime. After being found at the scene covered in blood and clearly in a bad mental state, she is ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment. Crucially, they want to know if she actually committed the crime - because she can't remember a thing.
With the help and guidance of her psychiatrist, Cass begins to unlock some of the childhood memories that she has kept locked inside herself for so many years. She remembers details about her mother, her father, her sister, and her great aunt 'Maw Sue' who taught her everything she knows about the Seventh Tribe from which her family is descended. She remembers the stories she told and the strange rituals and traditions she showed them. She also remembers how Maw Sue was locked away in a mental hospital for her odd behaviours and beliefs.
Along with all the memories, Cass has hallucinations. It can be a bit confusing to read, as it's sometimes hard to differentiate between the hallucinations and what's really happening, but I suppose that is just reflective of the nature of these illnesses. It's also a little strange but interesting how the religious/mystical beliefs and mental illness interact and overlap.
With the way Cass's memories pop up, it's difficult to keep track of the timeline, too. It jumps between different points of her childhood to her teenage years and back to her adulthood repeatedly. But I think I got the gist of it the further I read.
I felt very immersed in the Southern world of Cass's childhood in this. The only sort of criticism I have of the writing is that it's a bit repetitive, and the author uses a lot of very long lists. The ending was satisfying and neat, with an extra little twist I wasn't expecting that was actually quite nice. 3.5 stars!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me for this arc

The cover of this book really drew me in and it didn’t let down. One book I did enjoy

I really enjoyed reading this book, it had great characters and a great plot. This worked perfectly as a psychological thriller.

Unfortunately this was quite the disappointment. I had high hopes based on the premise but not too far into the book, it took a bad turn disrespecting native customs and beliefs.

I was very impressed with the detailed writing in They Flew Silent. It follows Cass Collard a woman with a history of trauma that has repressed her childhood memories and suffers from amnesia.

The author realistically represents the mental health aspects of the book. Barb really did her research and eloquently described the feelings of fear and vulnerability Cass felt while sharing her story in a therapeutic environment. As someone that has experienced trauma and has been a part of group and one on one therapy I truly related to this aspect of the novel and felt a strong connection to Cass.

Barb writes the story in a way that really put me inside the mind of Cass. Sentences were at times broken, as we fly through memories, therapy sessions and news stories. I felt this style of writing and format really went along with and represented Cass’s fractured mind.

The aspect of magic in this book felt more like spirituality and a reverence to the healing powers of nature. The connection to the earth as a grounding point.

If you appreciate a well written, detailed story about a woman navigating trauma and healing through spirituality, I encourage you to pick this one up.

Thank you to Barb Lanell and Netgalley for my digital copy of the book to review,

A character driven story about a woman suffering from mental illness. The story was beautifully told I loved the authors use of language. The story is told from the perspective of CassWho is dealing with a lot. The fact that the story is told from the perspective of someone suffering from and dealing with a mental illness made the story challenging to follow at times

I’m going to start with the positive here. This book started off REALLY strong. I read the synopsis and was automatically drawn and then the first chapter I stopped, took a breath and buckled up for a awesome ride. However, the ride never took off. I was just trapped mid-air with complete randomness that was never resolved.

DNF @55%

First, I want to say that I adore the cover of this one. It's stunning. I wish it came in poster size!

So, okay. I am throwing in the towel on this one. I *maybe* will pick it up again the in the future because it is an amazingly written book. My issue is that it is super triggering for me. 😢 There are so many similarities to my childhood and relationships that it is bringing past traumas to the surface.

So yeah, not a terrible book at all. Just one that I would recommend people with "mental health issues" tip toe into.

**ARC Via NetGalley**

Barb Lanell’s They Fly Silent is where “mayhem, magic, and madness collide”. I mean, honestly, how can you not be intrigued? I know I absolutely was!

Unfortunately I was unable to get into this book, I tried so hard to complete as I hate not finishing books when the author has put their all into their novels but I'm sorry to say I did not read to the end

They Fly Silent by Barb Lanell - 2.5/5 ⭐️

This story strongly focuses on Cass who is trying to work her way through past traumas. You are introduced to the main character when she is accused of starting a bizarre fire where she leaves a bowl of collard greens. We begin to follow Cass as she meets with a court appointed psychiatrist to work out the reason behind her manic episode. The story alternates between current events and memories that Cass begins to have of her childhood, all of which are centered around her family. Her past memories center mainly around her somewhat supernatural family history and how it has impacted her life.

There were parts of this story that I enjoyed, I found the plot of the characters past traumas interesting enough that I wanted to finish this book. I liked the idea of the southern gothic family history, but wished there had been more explanation about it. However, the writing style of this book made it hard for me to follow. I didn’t feel very engaged in the book until close to the middle and then lost interest again and just skimmed the rest of the book. In my opinion the book was too long and didn’t flow well.

When I was asked to participate in a book tour for They Fly Silent by author Barb Lanell, I thought it sounded like a book I would enjoy. I’m sorry to say, it was not. It took a long time for me to make any kind of progress in reading. I was really confused and lost by it all. I was only about 1/3 of the way into the book and the tour was cancelled. I have decided not to finish reading it. It was just too much of a struggle for me. The Tour was cancelled due to some problematic content around Native Americans. Since I didn’t finish the book, I wanted to explain how I felt.

They Fly Silent is truly unlike any book I’ve read before. This is an impressive debut. I found the characters interesting and well developed. I appreciate the honest look into the world of therapy and trying to heal past traumas. Saying all this, the actual story just wasn’t for me. The style in which is was written didn’t resonate. I hope it finds the right audience as I do think it’s overall message is important.

This book is about the dark descent of a person into mental illness. To read this is to get inside the mind of a mentally ill person. Although it is a fascinating read, you might want to consider reading the content warning first as they might potentially induce anxiety or distress. Because it’s about how an unstable mind works, there are a lot of streams of consciousness and repetition of thoughts. The timeline might be an issue for some as it jumps from past to present to back again in no particular order. It’s very character-driven, so I enjoyed how Cass transformed from a deeply troubled person into a mentally stable individual who was able to face her past trauma/fears with the help of intense psychotherapy. It was really interesting to read how her painful experiences in the past ultimately led her to have psychotic breakdown, which in turn forced her to face her demons. This novel also explores how the general population react to people with different beliefs/behaviors. Too often we shun what we don’t understand and blame it on being ungodly or say it’s the work of the devil. I think the author did a great job in writing this novel. As I mentioned earlier, this is not for everbody. But if you are open to trying something different, this might be for you.

TW: mental illness, rape, dysfuncional family, arson, self-harm, emotional abuse

Thanks to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for my gifted eARC.

This book is extremely character driven and explores Cass’s mental health as she tries to work through traumatic experiences with her therapist. I felt like I went on an emotional and confusing journey with Cass, and the author’s writing style really made you see the depths of Cass’s mental illness. It follows Cass’s thought process from childhood to the present (age 25). As a child, she was rambunctious and highly imaginative. Her thinking was magical and she believed the stories her great grandmother told her were real. Cass’s yearning for her mother’s love and approval was utterly heartbreaking. As a teenager, she was trying to navigate life and hide her mental illness. There were pivotal moments that sent her spiraling and acted as the catalyst for her mental breakdown. Going from present to past and back to present showed how everything came full circle. Even though this was a sad story, I liked how Cass ultimately came to terms with her past, herself, and her family. Some parts were a little too out there for me and I felt like it was unnecessarily repetitive at times, but the writing was incredibly beautiful and artistic.

TW: mental illness, rape, molestation, emotional abuse, domestic violence, death, self harm, dysfunctional relationships

I honestly don't know where to start with this book - I found it to have a really slow start and I almost stopped reading it at about the 20% mark but once it picked up, I really enjoyed it. This is a very talented writer who plays with language to create layered meanings that really pull on your heart strings.

This is a book about mental illness: depression, anxiety, mental breakdowns, memory, trauma, grief, loss, memory repression, family relationships and the damage they can cause. It shows how the human brain can only deal with so much trauma before it stops and retreats into itself. This book has several trigger warnings to say the least (rape, sexual abuse, self harm, suicide attempts, mental illness, depression)

But as well as this, this story is about growth and healing and forgiveness and letting go. Making good your losses. There are some incredibly poignant scenes in this book that I'll never completely shake off: The Petal People and lipstick kisses spring to mind. And Edna's house at the end of the book 😭

The women in this book face so much trauma but ultimately they find their freedom through forgiveness, understanding and compassion. By realising that their past does not have to define their future, these women "make lovely their losses" and, yes, I did cry at the end.

This book is not for everyone. But this book will blow the right reader away and I am so glad I committed myself to finishing it!