Soundless by Richelle Mead

Genre:  YA Fantasy

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Description (taken from Richelle Mead's website):

For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village, where rocky terrain and frequent avalanches prevent residents from self-sustaining. Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom.

When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink and many go hungry. Fei’s home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.

But soon Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon.

Richelle Mead takes readers on a triumphant journey from the peak of Fei’s jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiguo, where a startling truth and an unlikely romance will change her life forever....

Fei is a prestigious painter in her village on top of the mountain.  She paints the daily events for the rest of the village to see and as a record for future generations.  The village has no way of growing its own food, but a zipline from the village in the valley provides food as long as they give it precious metals from the mine in the mountain.  But when food supplies start to dwindle, Fei questions whether the current system will sustain her village.

Li Wei is a miner who has known Fei since they were young.  With his father's increasing blindness, the mine has become unsafe.  And he's convinced he can change the current system if he can only get down the cliffside into the valley's village.  And when Fei hears of his plans, she wants to accompany him and help.  Together, the two of them will change their village's way of life.

This book contains fantasy, romance, mysticism, bravery, and it's all based off of folklore.  And while the intriguing storyline had me excited to read this one, I found it kind of boring.  I tried really hard to like this book because the two main characters are just so easy to fall in love with.  And as the story progresses, we see injustices as well as fantasy.  But I just got really bored with it.

This definitely isn't one of my favorites of Richelle Mead's.  And I'm definitely happy it's not a series.  But I think you should read other reviews before deciding against this one.