Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Title: Speechless
Author: Hannah Harrington
Age Group: Teens
# of Pages: 272
My Rating: 5/5

Chelsea Knot loves to gossip. She can't help it. Once she hears something, she must tell it to someone. But what happens when she revealed something she shouldn't have that resulted in someone almost getting killed? Chelsea takes on the vow of silence so she will never end up hurting anyone else by her words ever again.

I read Harrington's debut novel, Saving June, last year, which I highly enjoyed. In my opinion, Speechless is even better than Saving June.

The story didn't not take long to develop, which I love. Chelsea caught a classmate she knew having sex at a party. He was with another guy. Thinking that she would get a good laugh out of it, she proceeded to tell a group of friends at that party. She received an unexpected reaction of homophobic disgust, resulting in a couple of the guys to beat up the classmate later on. Originally, Chelsea had that "I don't give a damn" attitude until there was a bad turn of events due to her gossiping habits. I was proud to see that she immediately saw how wrong the actions of her so-called friends were and spoke the truth about it, even though her best friend wanted to pretend nothing had happened. Everything in her life immediately changed and everyone she used to know shunned and bullied her right after.

During her vow of silence, a girl that was friend's with the victim befriended her. Chelsea was unsure about this act of kindness initially, but graciously accepted the friendship. As a reader, you get to see how she internalizes her surroundings and grows as she starts to learn the reality of her "friends" from the past and those who truly care for her. Her being silent allows her to take in so much more than she could ever have known. From start to finish, Harrington created a novel that is truly engaging and would have you think critically about the current issues on bullying and homophobia. It's one of those novels that leaves a lasting impression which gives you sympathy for the protagonist from start to finish.

Speechless encompasses real issues, real characters and a story that anyone can truly connect to.

Review copy provided by Harlequin Teen.