Speechless Review
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Title: Speechless
Author: Hannah Harrington
Genre: YA Contemporary
Format: Paperback, 288 pages
Publication Date: August 28, 2012
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Source: EGalley received from Publisher via NetGalley for an honest review
Rating: 2/5
Goodreads Synopsis
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's has taken a vow of silence--to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting everyone else. And if she thinks keeping secrets if hard, not speaking up when she's ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse.
But there's strength in silence, and in 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.
My Thoughts
First off I will say that the concept for this book was very original. The idea of a girl who runs her mouth off too much taking a vow of silence after her gossip took a bad turn, is quite good. But that is where my love for this book ends.
I was not impressed with many of the characters in this book, especially at the beginning of the novel. I felt that they were models of stereotypical teenagers that you see everywhere, that are obsessed with shopping, their looks and boys. My first impression of the main character, Chelsea was not a good one. When we first meet her at a New Years Eve party she is dressed is a quite revealing dress, and is obsessed with drinking too much and trying to get with a guy. Not exactly a way to revere me to the character.
Once the vow of silence begins i found that the story got a little more interesting and we got a glimpse of a different side of Chelsea. But to be honest I still couldn't get around the writing style, and I kept hearing myself scoff at some of the lines that were written because they were so unnecessary and and borderline offensive. At times the writing was underwhelming and a little juvenile for this type of subject.
I felt that the story line as a whole was very predictable, there were no surprises at all in this books. There was one possibility for a plot twist but it was left in the air and never talked about after the first mention. I also felt that the "torment" that Chelsea received at school was not as harsh as the characters in the book made them out to be. I just wanted so much more out of this book, that it became very frustrating for me to read.
I will say that the message that this book tries to get across is a very good one, and one that is not normally addressed in YA literature. I commend the author on tackling a very sensitive subject that deserves more attention.
4 comments
Oh wow. I expected this to be good. I would have written off the part of their acting like stereotypical teenagers if the main character grew like Before I Fall but I don't do offensive lines. When I read a book I need some part of it that I can either relate to or I need to actually like some part of the character. This has me thinking... thanks for the honest review.
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Thanks so much Adriana! I really wanted to like this book more than I did because I think the subject matter deserves to be recognized but it just fell flat for me. Thanks for commenting!
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ReplyDeleteI've been reading about this book in the blogosphere and mostly the reviews are positive so it's interesting to read a dissenting opinion.
ReplyDeleteRecently, some of my favorite adult fiction authors(Jodi Picoult & Harlan Coben) have ventured into the YA genre and I think they've done a decent job. But every author can't pull off writing young. Either it sounds juvenile and stereotypical/cliche or the characters come off sounding precocious. There has to be a balance. YA authors need to keep up in terms of language, interests, values, emotions, social mores...