Whisper is written in the perspective of Zarina Salin, one of the main characters of the Cities of the Lost series. While being a Polytalentus (wielder of all Gifts), I suppose we can agree with the Peter Parker Principle here, to quote from Spider Man — "With great power comes great responsibility." In Whisper, it's riding smoothly. But perhaps power isn't all it's made up to be.
Zarina falls into the Gifted world (also known as the cities of the lost) with five other kids named Luna, Trina, Ash, Fern, and Lucyna, after their school bus takes a stop and their trip to sixth grade camp begins. She was a normal kid, with nothing so special about her, until the field trip takes the wrong turn to what for them is disaster. As her world — or worlds — accelerate and everyone is left behind, she enters a new life while juggling an old one, trying to figure out what her new talents mean.
Personality
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Zarina Salin | Photo Credit: Ayesha Faruki |
Zarina is the typical nose-in-a-book — with her reading time quite rudely interrupted by stumbling into the Gifted world of the cities of the lost. She's an introvert — she doesn't talk too much unless she needs to. But when she needs to, it'll be hard to tell her to stop. She's kept to herself so far, with a small group of friends when her story begins; but who knows, perhaps that will change as her life unfolds.She's proven to be a little hesitant and indecisive at times, trying to think things through when possible. But now, things are happening fast; and hopefully not too fast for her already-quick mind to comprehend.
Perhaps some things prove to be too much for her head. Stuffing up a bunch of things in one container can cause it to burst — whether it has to do with emotion, thoughts, or even the fire, water, lightning, earth, and air, that were never meant to be together in the Gifted world in one.
Relationships
At the beginning of the book, she has three good friends in school — 
Luna, Ash, and Trina. Knowing Trina since the younger grades, Ash and Luna popped into her life at once when the quartet were in elementary school. But whilst their adventurous affairs in Whisper, the four of them are introduced to Lucyna and Fern, their classmates, when assigned to their group on their trip to camp. Throughout the book, the six girls get a bit closer to each other, as well as begin to know each other.
Other than the five other girls, Zarina has a pretty good and stable relationship with the Quads, four Gifted quadruplets they meet in the cities of the lost. Jasper, Mya, Hylla, and Evan, with their different antics, are quite the helpful hand when it comes to their journey. The Quads are the some of the first to introduce her and the other five to the Gifted world, and help them settle in after the event in Chapter 8 (no spoilers 🤫). However, the outlook is not so good with Dragonendre student the Great Kate Lin. And of course, we can't forget about Roy Salin, Zarina's younger brother, as well as Iliza... whose appearance was... well, interesting, to say the least.
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Zarina on Whisper's cover |
Gift(s)
In the Gifted world itself, there are five types of Gifteds — the Terra (earth), Flames (fire), Aquatics (water), Gusts (wind), and Statics (lightning). But upon her appearance rose one more; the Polytalenti — or more appropriately, the Polytalentus — who can wield more than one of the five Gifts, as defined by Dragonendre Academy (and of course... myself).
She's the first Polytalentus recorded in history, as far as anyone knows. And as a part of the six kids chosen by the Stones, this means a lot to the cities of the lost; at least to those who know what it means.
But of course, Zarina's story isn't complete without the others who she's living it with. Get ready for a feature on Luna, a crowd favorite, next Monday.
If you have any questions, comments on my posts, or suggestions for future posts, feel free to use my contact form. Don't forget to stay tuned for the next couple of posts featuring more Cities of the Lost characters.
See you Monday (1/24/21)!
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