This was the sample copy - my feedback has previously been provided under the full version.

Thank you.

Review of sampler
Really compelling opening, I always enjoy novels based on notebooks and diaries and can't wait to read more about Rachel of Chalkham and her daughter

After reading this extract I was given the opportunity to read a full ARC of this book and I absolutely leapt at the opportunity. From the very first line, to the very last, this book intrigued and engaged me. I loved the style of writing - like an autobiography with references to events etc - I almost looked them up at one point as the writing style was so convincing.

I felt this book took me on an emotional roller-coaster. As a busy mother of two boys, when Rachel first retreated into her tent I felt empathy for her (and a little jealous of that quiet time!) however seeing the story from Em's point of view turned this onto its head and I felt frustrated and angry with her. This only continued and escalated after the Event, when the Community took her message and interpreted it for their own goals. I found it fascinating watching the development between one woman's message to a global phenomenon which became a money making machine, and the increasing violence and risk that followed the increase in power and money.

It was so interesting seeing this through the perspective of powerful women rather than powerful men, and the different route that the Community took when formed and lead by women, rather than men, and the hatred that this caused within the male community - probably creating sympathy that allowed the Community to grow quicker and wider.

This book created so many questions and interesting thinking points and I couldn't put it down. I will be recommending this to family and friends.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC to review. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Very intriguing sample!

The silence project -sampler by Carole Hailey
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ok so this is just the first couple of chapters and only a sampler and I have been caught out before thinking the first couple of chapters seemed fantastic only to be disappointed when I read more later on but I am completely in love with what I have read.

The silence project tells the story of a daughter narrating from 2003 to 2011 when her mother suddenly stopped speaking. There are hints of cult, fanatics and her mother being responsible for ‘bad things’ but i guess we will have to read more to discover exactly what has happened to her mother Rachel.

The plot doesn’t sound like anything I have come across before and the writing style is very easy to read.
After only a couple of chapters I already connect to the main narrator and my only problem is I’m left on tenterhooks and I can’t wait to read the rest !!

What an interesting premise for a book, and the opening of this one certainly packs a punch. If this one-chapter sampler is anything to go by, I can't wait to read the rest!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for this amazing sample.
The book isn't being published till February 2023 and I genuinely can't wait. I am full of questions and a little in shock from the opening of the book!.
Look forward to reading more ..

I enjoyed this sampler and found it came to an end far to quickly - I'll definitely be picking up the finished copy to carry on reading! There were lots of questions still be answered when the sampler stopped - why did Rachel take a vow of silence - how does it tie to Emilia, does it tie to Emilia? What led her down that path and her extreme actions. Very dystopian/cult vibes.

In all honesty, when I requested The Silence Project on NetGalley, I didn't realise it was only a sampler and a concise one at that.

However, it is a book I’d be interested in continuing to read as it has the makings of an excellent page-turner - so much so that I've preordered it on Kindle, ready for release in February 2023.

The blurb is full of foreboding and dystopian, cultish vibes which I absolutely love.

I read a very short sample of this forthcoming novel - it was an interesting taster and it’s definitely a book I’d be interested in continuing to read. Dystopian/cult fiction with a Bildungsroman/coming of age protagonist. Fascinating premise, easy to read prose, this has the makings of a pageturner. Looking forward to reading it on publication in February 2023. Thanks you @netgalley and @corvusbooks for the brief preview.

This review is based on the SAMPLE I was gifted.

I enjoyed the premise of the book, even thinking that this idea appeals to me in some ways.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this sampler and this style of non-fiction that's impactful and tight and a little bit spell-binding as it draws you in to it. Has defintely made me want to read more if I had the chance

As a sampler it was good, I would be interested in reading the full work.
Would have been nice to have more of the story available as I’m desperate to continue reading.
Cant wait for the full release so I can dive into the story

Loved this sampler, hope to read soon the rest of the book as it's very promising and I'm curious
Highly recommended

I received a short sample of this work, and I am very excited to read the rest. The Silence Project looks like a cult or religious phenomena book, but one that's very rooted in British culture and British wonder culture. The showmanship and evangelism of much American revival religious groups is stripped away, and instead, we get a very real, almost mundane narrative that is nevertheless beautiful in its mundanity.

The Silence Project is also an example of ficto-biography and maybe found document, as it grounds itself in the residual notebooks of a mother and perhaps prophet who started a religious movement by refusing to speak. Again, the mundane of notes made by Rachel asking her family to bring her things are mixed with the extraordinary, as she starts to reveal her philosophy. The juxtaposition is very enjoyable, especially when related in Emilia, Rachel's daughter's, rather cynical narrative.

I think this book will be of interest to those who enjoyed The Power by Naomi Alderman, although it feels like Hailey's novel will be more intimate in scope, and definitely enjoyed by those who loved The Rapture by Claire McGlasson.

With thanks to the publishers and Netgalley.co.uk for sending an advance sample.

Enjoyed this sample and would definitely want to read the rest! It was really interesting and intriguing. Would like to read the rest of the novel!

In short, this sampler was RED-HOT. I knew from the blurb alone that I would want to read it. Just listen to this:
'On Emilia Morris's thirteenth birthday, her mother Rachel moves into a tent at the bottom of their garden. From that day on, she never says another word. Inspired by her vow of silence, other women join her and together they build the Community. Eight years later, Rachel and thousands of her followers around the world burn themselves to death.'
Say no more, honestly I was sold by the first sentence. Having found out how long it is til this book's release I decided I just had to have the sampler because I simply could not wait til February to get a taste of this story. I also wanted to know if it was even worth the unbearable anticipation of waiting for its release.
Well, I am both happy, and not to report that it is in fact worth the wait. The reason I say I'm not happy, though, is quite simply because I do not know how I will wait til February to read the rest of it.
I love that this book is all set around the mother's diaries, I think it's so clever and I can say with full honesty that if someone were to tell me that this was based on true events I would believe you no questions asked.
I also loved that we're discovering things along with the main character; this really made me feel for her and put myself in her shoes. It also upped the tension because, and I realise this is a strange way of putting this, neither one of us knew any more than the other.
Finally, although I usually find reading about childhood, to put it quite frankly., boring, I read this sampler in one eager sitting and in fact thoroughly enjoyed reading about the main character's childhood. There was this bizarre disconnect between what was relatable and that which was so obviously distanced from anything I'd ever experienced that I'd say made me feel for the main character even more as it even more firmly placed me in her shoes.
I think needless to say at this point, I am rather desparate to read this book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the early sampler of The Silence Project.

I have just read a sample of this book and cannot wait to read the full thing. The scene setting was amazing and I immediately had many questions. Such a strong opening and I wish the whole book was already available 🥲

As samples go, this one has definitely pulled me in. I have SO MANY questions and cannot wait to see the full text. Definitely looking forward to the release of this one!

Thank you Publisher and Netgalley for the sampler!

I was initially drawn in by the blurb of this book, the kind of story I would normally gravitate to!

This sampler had me hooked. I already adore Carole Hailey's writing style and even reading this first small section, I can tell it will be a strong read for me! Cannot wait until next year when this is out, will be picking this up on the release date!!