by Hannah Harrington
Publication date August 28th 2012
HarlequinTeen, 288 pages
Find the title on Goodreads
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.
- Goodreads.com description
Oh, wow, Hannah Harrington did it again. I've read Saving June a few months ago and I absolutely loved it. So when I've heard about Speechless I knew I needed this book. And I wasn't disappointed. This book was perfect.
I really enjoyed it because the main point of the book is accepting diversity - in this case - people who are gay. And I felt it was so beautiful and incredible that Harrington thought about putting this big problem of acceptance in such a perfect story with so many incredible and adorable characters. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being gay.
Chelsea is such a bitch at the beginning. I mean, she is the best friend of the most popular girl at school, which makes her popular as well. And she gossip a lot. But after the tragedy at New Year's Eve party everything changes. She decides to take a vow of silence. And I think it is really brave. She doesn't break it and she sticks to it. She is such a strong character. It was fairly easy to connect with her.
And the book also points out the meaning of friendship. Someone who's your friend just because she/he needs something from you or uses you, that's not friendship. Friends are people who accept you for who you are and they love you because of that.
The author in the end says something really beautiful that I want to share with you:
Chelsea is such a bitch at the beginning. I mean, she is the best friend of the most popular girl at school, which makes her popular as well. And she gossip a lot. But after the tragedy at New Year's Eve party everything changes. She decides to take a vow of silence. And I think it is really brave. She doesn't break it and she sticks to it. She is such a strong character. It was fairly easy to connect with her.
And the book also points out the meaning of friendship. Someone who's your friend just because she/he needs something from you or uses you, that's not friendship. Friends are people who accept you for who you are and they love you because of that.
The author in the end says something really beautiful that I want to share with you:
Words matter - how we use them and how we don't. Sometimes it is really difficult and even scary to speak up for what you believe is right, but it's important to do. At the end of the day you answer to yourself, no one else, so you'll be happy that you did.
Speechless is a beautiful novel that captures how hard is enduring peer's pressure even when you know you're doing the right thing. It difficult to stand your own, especially when you're on your own. But Chelsea demonstrated with her choice and will, that it is in fact possible.
No way am I giving them the satisfaction. These are the same people who two weeks ago envied me and clamored for my attention, and now I'm supposed to, what? Get on my knees and beg for their forgiveness? Embrace the role of whipping girl they've designated for me? That is so not happening. Their opinion of me never mattered before, and it's not going to matter now. Nothing has changed. I'm still the same Chelsea Knot. Buw down, bitches.
As far as silence go, it is pretty comfortable - it's the kind of quiet shared between two people who don't feel the desperate need to fill every second with the sound of their own voices.
Except that night didn't change my life. I changed it. I have to stop acting like I have no control over these things. Like I'm letting them just happen to me. These are my choices. For better or worse.
