Review: Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Speechless by Hannah Harrington
Publisher-Harlequin Teen
Release Date- Aug 28th 2012
Pre-order- Amazon / B & N / Chapters

The story of a girl named Chelsea Knot who takes a voluntary oath of silence after her gossip-mongering ways yield unexpected consequences…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: 

Hate is easy, but love takes courage.

There is one of these kinds of people in ever high school. The one that fimly believes that someone elses misery will score them cool points with their flock of friends. 

Chelsea Knot is one of those people. 

Since being Kristen Courteau's best friend- the most poplar girl in school- Chelsea has always worked around Kristen's expectations doing what ever she can to impress her even if it means revealing everyone's secrets or degrading them to social nothingness. 

So when Chelsea witnesses something at a party that is worthy of juicy gossip she goes straight to her friends and spreads the dirt. Only she didn't quite get the reacion that she was hoping for. Instead of laughing it off like she hoped they would, they got pissed. 

One thing lead to another and a boy from school ends up in the hospital after a savage attack. And it's Chelsea's fault. Caught between wanting to keep cool and doing the right thing, Chelsea unexpectedly grows a conscience, dubbing her a rat and a backstabber. 

Ridiculed, threatened and bullied, Chelsea lost all of her friends and social status. 

And yet, she doesn't do anything to stop it. She's always known that she has a big mouth and decides to do the world a favor by taking a vow of silence. 

After all, if you don't have anything nice to say, then you shouldn't say anything at all. 

I've been a huge fan of Hannah Harrington since her debut novel, Saving June. 

So it was a pleasant surprise to hear she was coming out with another book, which I knew I was going to read as soon as I got my greedy little hands on it. This book did not disappoint one bit and I enjoyed it just as much as her first novel. 

I love the way Harrington writes! She has an incredible way of pacing a story by keeping it in constant intrigue. She has a way of provoking intense raw emotions by having you fall for her characters as they face difficult yet realistic situations and still manages to keep it light enough so we are still able to appreciate the good times. 

Speechless is ultimately a story about a girl who made a mistake and to make sure that she doesn't ruin anymore lives (including her own) she takes a vow of silence. Though Chelsea wont talk, she listens and sees how much damage her gossiping inflicted to people at school and finally realizes just how much words can cut when it's turned on her.

Chelsea isn't the kind of character that is easy to like at first. She's your basic mean-girl. Spiteful, cruel and looks down on others who aren't worthy of cool. She's a mindless minion who gets high on the approval of her best friend and thinks it's okay to slam others without thinking about the consequences. Till the one time it becomes all to real. And sorry will never be enough. I'm not exactly sure why Chelsea decided to take a vow of silence. Not speaking and keeping everything in almost feels cowardly. Maybe she did it out of spite - Kill them with kindness but a smile will do. Maybe it was out of guilt, remorse, regret or shame. But in the end, I think it was a little bit of everything. Chelsea proves that she isn't a heartless hopeless soul and with the help of real friends finally begins to understand what person she wants to become.

Funny enough, while Chelsea is our main protag, the secondary characters were the ones who stole the show.  

Asha, Sam and Andy were all genuinely great people. Asha has a wonderful bubbly and lively personality. She sees the good in people and gave Chelsea a chance when no one else would. I love that she knits and I love that she can handle her own. Sam is the kind of guy I'd want on my side. Loyal, protective, sweet and funny. Andy comes off a little harsh when we first meet him, but I think it's exactly what Chelsea needed maybe even deserved. His breakdown was touching and beautiful and sad. It made you feel instantly connected to his emotions, understanding him at a deeper level. 

The romance was very well done. You'd think it'd be hard to connect with a couple when the conversation is pretty much one sided, but Harrington did a phenomenal job delivering just the right amount of sparks that made this a sweet bubbling romance but doesn't take over the initial plot line. 

Bottom line. I really just loved this book. There were times when all the hate hurt my heart and there were even times I wasn't sure if Chelsea could be redeemed, but in the end this became an inspiring story about friendship, forgiveness and finding the real you. 

I may not have liked what Chelsea had to say in the beginning of this book, but when she finally finds her voice, it's worth waiting for.

Beautifully done!

                                                                    4.5 Snowflakes 

                                                      

                                                        
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