I wouldn't usually pick up a book written in verse, but I found myself pulled in bit by bit to this melodious kind of haunting story. Azadeh is at an expensive private school due to her exceptional musical ability. Her social situation is very different to that of her schoolmates, but she seems to be grounded and has a great relationship with her Dad. But her mum is struggling mentally and witnessing and living with this starts to affect Azadeh and bring drown her world as she tries but fails to cope. She shuts out her friends and retreats inside herself. Finally with the help of her violin and music she manages to find herself and rejoin the embrace of her friends and manage her mum.
For anyone struggling with mental health issues within their family, it's an excellent book to relate to, to see where Azadeh took a path of lonliness even though her friends were there for her and how her mum's behaviour and the trying to cover up and hide this took their toll on her own mental health.

I enjoyed the reading experience but I feel ass though this type of book isn't for me. The writing style was good and it was an interesting read. Just not for me

I received an advanced reader copy of this book in return for my honest opinion. Thank you to Jion Sheibani and Hot Key Books for giving me the opportunity to read The Silver Chain before its release.
The Silver Chain is a book that is so completely different to the other books I have read so far this year that I was genuinely worried that I would not be able to appreciate it in a way I would have when I studied at Uni.
I am so glad that I was wrong, the Silver Chain is such an important and evocative look into mental illness and the stigma that is often attached to it. Azadeh is a budding Violinist who is working hard to balance all the elements of life as a teenager; changing friendships, grades and expectations. When her mother’s mental health begins to worsen Azadeh’s life begins to spiral out of control; torn between hiding the illness from everyone she knows while continuing her life everything begins to come undone.
What really made this story great however was the formatting and creativity shown within the presentation of the piece. I felt swept along by the story and the literal flowing of the words on the page was extremely aesthetically pleasing.

I wasn’t prepared for how beautifully heartbreaking this book was going to be. It perfectly encapsulates the struggle of having someone you love become unrecognisable due to mental illness. Dealing with that on top of the struggles of school, friendships and exam stress etc. is overwhelming. I love how it’s written in verse, it makes it more emotive. This is the type of book I’ll think about for a long time, I’ll definitely be buying a copy once it’s released.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Jion Sheibani and Bonnier Books UK for proving me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

"You're never alone, dear, not when you have music."

An absolutely beautiful and heart wrencing book about mental health, music and finding hope in the dark.

This story is a coming of age novel following Azadeh, a young violinist and her journey to fit in at the private school she attends, keeping a straight face to not alert others that in reality, not everything is okay.

Azadeh's mother's mental health has been steadily declining and it has been taking its toll on Azadeh. Her dad tries to put on a brave face, stop Azadeh from beating the brunt of her mother's illness, but there is only so much that can be done until it affects Azadeh more and more.

This story is about family, friendship, mental health struggles and music.

Music plays a key role in Azedeh's day to day life and the story in general. I this I it was very clever how the author incorporated music and verse into the novel and it made the story that bit more impactful.

As someone who also struggles with their mental health I did find that I had to take breaks from reading the book. Sometimes it just mentally drained me but i honestly did really enjoy it.

Thank you so much to the publishers for providing me with an eArc in exchange for my honest review!

Trigger warning: mental illness, suicide attempts

I really enjoyed this and loved that the story was in verse with illustrations intertwined. This is a gorgeous story following Azadeh. She attends a private school and feels like she doesn’t really fit in because she attends on a scholarship and her family are no rich like everyone else’s. This leads to her feeling embarrassed of her parents and feeling like a charity case around her friends who often cover her financially. Her friendship group often leads to her feeling excluded due to differences amongst them and this only worsens as her best friend begins to spend more time with the others. At the same time as all of this, Azadeh’s home life isn’t going so well. Her mother has been acting strange recently and her father isn’t getting much work. This leads to feelings of anger, guilt and shame.

Throughout the story music plays a big part. Azadeh plays violin and has regular lessons with Margaret. Her love of the violin occasionally waivers due to her life challenges but in the end music brings everyone back together.

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any further novels by this author as well as exploring more novels in verse in the future.

I had no idea what to expect from this book and was definitely drawn into the cover. Perhaps I expected some kind of beautiful journey about someone learning to take flight but I’m so glad I went to The Silver Chain as blind as I did.

Azadeh is a violinist with a scholarship at a prestigious school and at 16, she is simply trying to fit in at school and do well. Her mother’s mental health starts to spiral and she and her father are struggling to keep their heads above water. Azadeh’s friendships seem to be fading and it seems that the violin is the only thing that is pushing her towards the future and happiness again.

There are some beautiful pictures in this book that capture Azadeh’s emotions so well. The story is full of heart, tears, anguish, hopelessness and powerlessness but music never leaves Azadeh. I literally gasped on seeing this particular image of Azadeh falling through musical notes, unable to grasp on to anything and feeling completely out of control. It’s a powerful thought and visual that caused me to become fully drawn into the pages.

The book is written in verse, so it has a lyrical, poetic character. It also has a rhythm and I suppose you could read it as a song. As music is such a powerful force in the novel and is perhaps a great saviour by the end, I think we are in fact, supposed to read it as a song that will hold us safely until the very end.

Azadeh feels like she is losing her mother, which she is in a way. She doesn’t know how to reach her or help her and that makes for some heartbreaking, eloquent poems. The book is about realising that you need to leave your parents and their influence in order to become a successful adult. Azadeh is learning this tough lesson throughout the book and feels it more acutely because her mother is literally slipping away.

There are some really powerful sentiments and lines in The Silver Chain. I finished it full of hope and in fresh awe of the power of music. Music has always been there for me throughout my life and I am eternally grateful to it. I think this book taught me that music doesn’t have to be made through instruments and voice -it can be through artfully arranged lines of words on a page too.

The Silver Chain is an inspirational, beautifully written book that literally sings out its story. Azadeh is very easy to root for and I could have followed her journey for a lot longer than I did. It’s a special little novel that I know many readers will get a lot of joy from.

An absolutely stunning novel in verse about mental health and ethnic diversity, featuring emotionally evocative and beautiful illustrations throughout. The first thing I wanted to do upon finishing this beauty was run to my librarian and recommend she stock copies! I think this book will mean a lot for many young readers, and I'll be thoroughly disappointed if I don't see a Carnegie nomination in The Silver Chain's future.

I really enjoyed this novel written in verse. Poetry does not tend to be my reading of choice and I don't profess to know a lot about it. This book however was extremely clever and emotion evoking while being told in lots of different poetic ways. Some verses rhymed, some were written in repeating structures, others written in shapes across the page. It was very unusual to find the story told in this manner.

Azadeh was a teenager with a lot of angst and worries, she used her music throughout the story to cope with the many trials she and her family faced. Being a poorer family and having a scholarship to a rich private school, her dad's work fizzling out, her mum suffering from mental health issues as well as her own cultural identity issues. This book did not shy away from hard hitting topics, it was not all doom and gloom though, as well as the emotional pieces there were some lighter themes which helped break it up.

The illustrations throughout were beautiful and added such a strong element to the story, entwining the music throughout the poetry.

Thanks to Netgalley for allowing an ARC copy of this book to review.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Silver Chain by Jion Sheibani and it is one of those books that will stay with me for a really long time. It incorporates so many beautiful techniques into its storytelling that make it a wonderful piece of linguistic and visual art.

The combination of the verse and illustrations was wonderfully thought out and the images were able to aid the reading and understanding of the character’s story. Furthermore, the musicality of the book was aided by both of these especially through Sheibani’s use of verse and the visual arrangement of the words on the page.
The musical element is a really fascinating layer to this book and added a deeper layer to the story of the character. This element was elevated through the choice of writing in verse. The musicality of the poetry created a palpable feeling to musical scenes within the story. Through the music the author was able to discuss identity in a really interesting and profound way that was completely relatable. There are references that may make more sense to someone with musical knowledge, but I don’t believe that the musical references are a barrier for someone with less musical understanding. The way the music is discussed is relatable to many people as it reflects the way that so many of us rely on music for comfort and meaning within the bustle of everyday life as well as in times of crisis.

The book also handled the realities of living with mental illness in a sensitive but honest way that was incredibly refreshing to read. Sheibani captures so many deeply personal feelings about music, relationships, and mental health and delivers them in a beautiful way that made me as a reader feel seen and understood. Sheibani really captures the essence of humanity in The Silver Chain. Overall, I think this book offers readers a new way of engaging with the subject of mental health and personal growth in such a beautiful format.

I fell in love with several novels in verse last year and so was excited to read 'The Silver Chain' by Jion Sheibani, particularly with music being at this story's core. Azadeh is at the beginning of her A-level studies. A talented violinist, her instrument is an extension of her self, an escape from the everyday teenage troubles of homework, squabbling with friends and falling for a boy. Under the surface, disquiet is bubbling in Azadeh's home life; we see her father's paid work drying up as her mother's mental health spirals. Azadeh uses music as an outlet to pump her emotions, her story expressed in beautiful poetic form.

Sheibani has done a wonderful job with this story, expressing it in such a clever structure. The poetry varies form throughout, rhyming, free verse, acrostic, the words forming shapes, each structure selected to suit the particular mood and narrative moment. This is accompanied by jaw dropping illustrations, music at the essence of every word and image. Reading this was a multi-sensory experience, portraying important messages about mental health, cultural identity, and the power of art. A fantastic read - 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly I did not enjoy this much as much as I had hoped. For me, the story felt somewhat disconnected due to the way that it was written. The concept of writing the book as though it was a collection of chronological poems was clever and original, but sadly I felt as though this led to a weaker plot and less character development. I struggled to connect with the characters and was not invested in the plot. Despite this, the story was emotional and heart-warming and the illustrations were utterly beautiful.

I loved this story - there were lots of beautiful emotional moments. All the artwork is also gorgeous.
However, I felt a bit jarred by rhymes and dialogue that didn’t feel natural. At times the friendships felt a bit disingenuous. But there were other relationships that made my heart sing.
A powerful depiction of mental health, the impact this can have on loved ones and the importance of music.