Musical Mondays: The Sound of Silence by Disturbed

This song has been on the radio non-stop lately… (and I love it!)

Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains within the sound of silence 

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp

When my eyes were stabbed
By the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening

People writing songs
That voices never share
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence

“Fools,” said I, “you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you.”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon God they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
And the words that it was forming

And the sign said,
“The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.”
And whispered in the sound of silence

Shut Out (Kelly Jamieson)

From the bestselling author of the Heller Brothers Hockey series comes the first novel of a new hockey romance series featuring a college team whose players are heating things up both on and off the ice. 

The Bayard College hockey team isn’t where Jacob Flass thought he’d be a season ago. He was a rising star in the Canadian major junior league, cruising toward a spot on an NHL roster — until a single disastrous night on the town brought it all crashing down. Now he’s out of options, except for playing well, studying hard, and staying away from girls. He’s not supposed to be flirting with the hottest, sweetest chick he’s ever met. But how could he possibly stay away? 

Skylar Lynwood knows that Jacob is out of her league. She’s just trying to go with the flow, which isn’t easy when six feet and four inches of total hockey hunkiness is making a play for her one moment, then giving her the cold shoulder the next. Skylar’s head tells her that this rugged athlete isn’t worth her time, but her body says something altogether different. Risking her heart for Jacob may be the craziest thing she’s ever done . . . but she won’t let him shut her out.

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I read Shut Out as a buddy read with Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much. I’m trying to totally convince her that hockey romances are the best! 😛 You can check out her review of this book HERE.

I have to say that this book was nothing like I expected it to be. And that’s a good thing 🙂 . I liked the writing, it didn’t blow me away, but it was good. The only thing is that the language was sometimes a bit repetitive, especially during intimate scenes, but hey, there aren’t that many words to express some things.

I liked both main characters, though I think that for the first time in a NA book, I liked the female MC, Skylar, better than her romantic interest, Jacob. But ultimately they both have a good character growth. They’re also very interesting, both struggling with events in the past and trying to overcome it. One thing I really loved was how detailed the hockey scenes were. It shouldn’t be a surprise by now that I love hockey romances, and this one had the perfect amount of hockey in it.

This was yet another “fake relationship” romance, though there isn’t ever a doubt that Sky and Jacob are attracted to each other, and they act on their desires ALL THE TIME. So they’re mostly a real couple who just don’t admit that they’re for real. EHEH! Also, their intimate scenes were hot!

The theme of this book is clear and important: sexual assault, the rape culture, violence within relationships and consent. I really liked how consent is a HUGE theme throughout all the book, and it shows how simple and tricky it can be at the same time. While some situations will be clear as day, others will be gray as hell, and seeing the difference can be hard. Kudos to Jamieson for writing a book about such a difficult topic.

In the end, this was a good new adult read, with interesting characters, a good romance and a very important topic at its core, so I highly recommend it.