Speechless
by Hannah Harrington
Summary: Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can't keep a secret
Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast—and nearly got someone killed.
Now Chelsea has taken a vow of silence—to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting anyone else. And if she thinks keeping secrets is hard, not speaking up when she's ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse.
But there's strength in silence, and in the new friends who are, shockingly, coming her way—people she never noticed before; a boy she might even fall for. If only her new friends can forgive what she's done. If only she can forgive herself.
Source: I purchased a paperback
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Review:
Speechless was amazing. It was sort of mixture of Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. When Chelsea took her vow of silence, it opened her up to entirely new interactions. Losing everything she was familiar with gave her the insight into her life that she needed. And by staying silent, she learned to listen to others. Both Speak and Before I Fall were amazing teen issue novels and Speechless is right up there with them. It was hard hitting. I think a good contemporary teen issue novel should make you think, make you reflect on your teen years if you are an adult, and make you question yourself and the people around you. Speechless does exactly that for me and I definitely recommend reading it.
When I first started the book, I had no idea what to expect, but I’m glad I wasn’t given too much information. The synopsis only tells us that she shared a secret that endangered someone and made her unpopular. I could not figure out what kind of secret it would be, but once it happened, I understood perfectly. I’m glad that, unlike Melinda in Speak, Chelsea’s silence was healthier and much needed after being the kind of person who told everyone everything. Chelsea needed to stay quiet because she told too much all of the time, but she spoke up when it truly mattered, while Melinda’s silence wasn’t the same in Speak.
I loved watching Chelsea grow and change and the story had bigger themes than just keeping secrets and listening to others. It was about acceptance, too. I loved Sam and Asha and thought they were amazing supporting characters. I wish I could go on about the major theme, but I preferred not really knowing what it was about, so I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.
I highly recommend Speechless. I love the cover and I love that the synopsis doesn’t give too much of the story away. I cannot praise the book enough and I had a really hard time putting it down.
Labels: contemporary, Issues, Review
