Book Review: Speechless

Title:  Speechless
Author:  Hannah Harrington
Where I got it:  From NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review

Amazon 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.

My Thoughts:
Chelsea never meant for Noah to get beaten up.  She just couldn’t help but spread the news when she discovered him making out – with a boy – at the New Year’s Eve party.  While she couldn’t keep her mouth shut about that, when she finds out that her classmates beat Noah up so badly he was in the hospital, she couldn’t keep it to herself.

In her guilt over outing Noah, Chelsea takes a vow of silence – if she doesn’t talk, she can’t hurt anyone, including herself.  But not talking is harder than she expects, especially since her former group of friends all hate her, her teachers and parents don’t understand, and she finds herself becoming unlikely friends with Noah’s group.

This story of discovery is funny, heartwarming, and realistic.  While the idea of taking a vow of silence is pretty extreme, this is an amazing portrayal of the idea that words can hurt – words said in anger, gossip, lies, and threats.  It’s also a story about discovering what really matters in life, and realizing that being popular isn’t one of those things.  This book made me giggle like nobody’s business, while thoughtfully addressing a difficult and common teen issue.