Review: Speechless by Hannah Harrington

 

Speechless by Hannah Harrington
August 28th, 2012 · Harlequin TEEN Australia
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 268

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.

When I first heard of Speechless I was excited just by the fact that it was written by the amazing, Hannah Harrington. I then read the blurb and was further intrigued and after devouring Speechless, I am happy to say that it doesn’t disappoint.

I loved Saving June, but I must admit that it did take me a while to warm up to it. However, this wasn’t the case at all with Speechless. As soon as I started reading, I was thrown straight into the story. From beginning to end, Speechless had me in a page flipping frenzy; I couldn’t read fast enough.

Chelsea is your stereotypical popular girl, who loves the limelight – but then one night she goes too far. I won’t go into details but because of Chelsea’s love for gossip, secrets and being the centre of attention, all of a sudden, she’s been ditched by the popular crowd and even ridiculed by her “so called” friends. In the beginning, I didn’t like Chelsea but as the story progresses, and she starts to become a better person, the girl she once was, I began to really care for her. The secondary characters are what really make the story and whilst they are all amazing I especially loved Sam, Asha, and even though they weren't mentioned nearly as much as I would have liked, Noah and Andy.

Hannah has done it yet again! Gut wrenching, honest and real with the perfect amount of romance, Speechless left me feeling content and full of hope.

4/5

P.S - I think it’s really important that before you read Speechless, you remind yourself that this isn’t Saving June, it’s a completely different story but still an amazing one. It’s easy to compare and expect similar things from a certain book after being blown away from an author’s previous work. I’ve done it myself and the result usually ends in a disappointed reader. It’s not the books fault; it’s just that the reader has set unbeatable expectations. If you open up your mind and accept this, I have no doubt that you’ll love Speechless.