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lorilaws's review against another edition
5.0
Speechless by Hannah Harrington hit a little close to home for me. I had a hard time in high school. I had a really close nit group of friends going in but our friendship just seemed to fall apart that first year. Then things just got ugly. I’m sure today it would be referred to as bullying now, but at that time and in a super small school bullying wasn’t something you heard about often. Like Chelsea, I definitely wasn’t innocent. I did my fair share of name calling, but others just crossed a invisible line into being hateful and hurtful. So, that’s my long winded way of saying that Speechless was very real to me and I loved every page.
What’s so great about Speechless is that it’s about some serious topics, but there’s also some undertones that make the story sweet. I loved watching Chelsea make new friends and really come into her own with them. Man, I remember what it was like to pretend to love things just to fit in with your ‘friends’. I also remember how amazing it was when I realized I didn’t have to do that. Being a teenager was the worst, wasn’t it? It was pretty amazing seeing Chelsea make these realizations and really start to be herself. Plus, there’s a pretty adorable and swooney romance.
Chelsea was a very, very well done character. She was so strong. She definitely made mistakes, but she learned from them and came out a better person because of them. She’s the kind of character that teenagers should be reading about. You would be hard pressed to not see a little bit of yourself in her. Her growth throughout the story was extraordinary. She was very admirable and just a pleasure to spend 260 pages with.
Hannah Harrington has solidified her place in the YA contemporary genre with Speechless. It’s a beautiful story with an important message. I can’t recommend it enough.
What’s so great about Speechless is that it’s about some serious topics, but there’s also some undertones that make the story sweet. I loved watching Chelsea make new friends and really come into her own with them. Man, I remember what it was like to pretend to love things just to fit in with your ‘friends’. I also remember how amazing it was when I realized I didn’t have to do that. Being a teenager was the worst, wasn’t it? It was pretty amazing seeing Chelsea make these realizations and really start to be herself. Plus, there’s a pretty adorable and swooney romance.
Chelsea was a very, very well done character. She was so strong. She definitely made mistakes, but she learned from them and came out a better person because of them. She’s the kind of character that teenagers should be reading about. You would be hard pressed to not see a little bit of yourself in her. Her growth throughout the story was extraordinary. She was very admirable and just a pleasure to spend 260 pages with.
Hannah Harrington has solidified her place in the YA contemporary genre with Speechless. It’s a beautiful story with an important message. I can’t recommend it enough.
mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
This was a great book. I loved the idea, a girl who can't stop blurting out everything that she sees or hears takes a vow of silence after something horrible happens. That she kinda of caused, though she didn't know what the consequences were.
Chelsea was a good character, though I didn't really like her in the beginning, I found her untrustworthy, a puppet, blabbermouth. But after all that happened, and her decision of taking a vow of silence, I started to like her. Especially since she keeps to her vow, she never says anything, no matter the situation, no matter how she bullied.
I really disliked Kristen and her "friends". That kind of girl, ugh, disgusting. Always hurting people, not caring about destroying people if they are in the way of your perfect little li(f)e. I disliked how she turned out. Making Chelsea the scapegoat for everything, turning her role into something gold and pure, like it wasn't her fault at all.
I also disliked the gay hate, and that people got beaten up because they are gay. Gays are people to, you know? They just love someone from the same sex, instead of another.
I am so glad Chelsea found new friends (and a boyfriend), friends who like her for who she is, respect her and help her. I loved it.
And awwww at the romance. So happy.
I loved, loved her plan to take revenge on Lowell and Derek. It was awesome and also not dirty.
I loved the ending. I am so happy to see Chelsea learned a lesson, and became a better, wiser person.
In overall, the book is awesome, I would recommend it to everyone.
Chelsea was a good character, though I didn't really like her in the beginning, I found her untrustworthy, a puppet, blabbermouth. But after all that happened, and her decision of taking a vow of silence, I started to like her. Especially since she keeps to her vow, she never says anything, no matter the situation, no matter how she bullied.
I really disliked Kristen and her "friends". That kind of girl, ugh, disgusting. Always hurting people, not caring about destroying people if they are in the way of your perfect little li(f)e. I disliked how she turned out. Making Chelsea the scapegoat for everything, turning her role into something gold and pure, like it wasn't her fault at all.
I also disliked the gay hate, and that people got beaten up because they are gay. Gays are people to, you know? They just love someone from the same sex, instead of another.
I am so glad Chelsea found new friends (and a boyfriend), friends who like her for who she is, respect her and help her. I loved it.
And awwww at the romance. So happy.
I loved, loved her plan to take revenge on Lowell and Derek. It was awesome and also not dirty.
I loved the ending. I am so happy to see Chelsea learned a lesson, and became a better, wiser person.
In overall, the book is awesome, I would recommend it to everyone.
icarriebooks's review against another edition
4.0
Chelsea Knot can't keep a secret for longer than five minutes and after exposing a rather large and personal secret and then seeing the effects it has on people. Chelsea decides to take a vow of silence so she can never tell another secret.
Speechless is one of those books that grabs you from the very first page and doesn't let go until the very end.
The book starts with Chelsea learning of a secret that she sees at a friend's new year party and after spilling this secret and seeing the devastating effects it has on people. Chelsea decides that taking a vow of silence will be the best way for her to never tell a secret again.
Once she starts her vow of silence Chelsea is soon made an outcast in her school and finds out that the people who she though her were friends won't stand by her. However Chelsea soon finds out that there are real friends who will stand by her and she even discovers love.
The writing style of Hannah Harrington makes the book run along at a good pace and there is humor dotted throughout the book. Hannah also manages to portray how difficult being at school while being a teenage can actually be.
Speechless is one of those books that grabs you from the very first page and doesn't let go until the very end.
The book starts with Chelsea learning of a secret that she sees at a friend's new year party and after spilling this secret and seeing the devastating effects it has on people. Chelsea decides that taking a vow of silence will be the best way for her to never tell a secret again.
Once she starts her vow of silence Chelsea is soon made an outcast in her school and finds out that the people who she though her were friends won't stand by her. However Chelsea soon finds out that there are real friends who will stand by her and she even discovers love.
The writing style of Hannah Harrington makes the book run along at a good pace and there is humor dotted throughout the book. Hannah also manages to portray how difficult being at school while being a teenage can actually be.
hdbblog's review against another edition
4.0
To be honest, the very first thing I noticed about Speechless was the gorgeous cover. I realize you might find that a little odd. There are no faces, no swirls, no fancy typeface to draw in the reader. However it is exactly the lack of all those accoutrements that caught my eye. Simplistic. Beautiful. A blank slate. Then, the synopsis. Thank you whoever wrote this! Thank you so very much for not giving away the entire plot in a few paragraphs. I promise you, vague or not, this synopsis is perfection. Speechless holds much more than you are expecting.
Chelsea Knot is definitely not a perfect person. What she is, is realistic. A girl who is flawed, selfish, and raw. Harrington starts out the book by showing us a Chelsea that is pretty easy to dislike. One who spreads rumors, and hurts people. However as she learns the error of her ways, she grows by leaps and bounds. The Chelsea at the end of Speechless is an entirely different person, and just being there for her journey will make you fall in love. In fact, the entire cast of characters that support Chelsea in her time of need are easy to love. I could go on and on about Asha, Sam, Dex and Lou, but I won't. I'll let you meet them for yourself.
What I loved most about this book is that Chelsea's story is full of hope. It is full of growth, and understanding. Speechless touches on tough topics, and it does it well. Instead of relying on angst to draw the reader in, we get to dive deep in Chelsea's head and learn right along with her. There is a message here, that bridges that gap between all ages that might pick up this book. I think Harrington says it best with: "Hate is... it's too easy," he says. "Love. Love takes courage."
Despite it taking some time for me to feel the writing style of the book, I soon became immersed. In fact, a sigh escaped my lips when I reached the last page. A sigh of contentment at how perfectly this book is paced, and executed. Even the romance in this book is spot on, and builds slowly. Gorgeous. Speechless has just further cemented my opinion that Hannah Harrington is a master of her craft.
Chelsea Knot is definitely not a perfect person. What she is, is realistic. A girl who is flawed, selfish, and raw. Harrington starts out the book by showing us a Chelsea that is pretty easy to dislike. One who spreads rumors, and hurts people. However as she learns the error of her ways, she grows by leaps and bounds. The Chelsea at the end of Speechless is an entirely different person, and just being there for her journey will make you fall in love. In fact, the entire cast of characters that support Chelsea in her time of need are easy to love. I could go on and on about Asha, Sam, Dex and Lou, but I won't. I'll let you meet them for yourself.
What I loved most about this book is that Chelsea's story is full of hope. It is full of growth, and understanding. Speechless touches on tough topics, and it does it well. Instead of relying on angst to draw the reader in, we get to dive deep in Chelsea's head and learn right along with her. There is a message here, that bridges that gap between all ages that might pick up this book. I think Harrington says it best with: "Hate is... it's too easy," he says. "Love. Love takes courage."
Despite it taking some time for me to feel the writing style of the book, I soon became immersed. In fact, a sigh escaped my lips when I reached the last page. A sigh of contentment at how perfectly this book is paced, and executed. Even the romance in this book is spot on, and builds slowly. Gorgeous. Speechless has just further cemented my opinion that Hannah Harrington is a master of her craft.
alysses's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
I was drawn in by the cover. You might be thinking it’s plain or simple but to me it’s one of the most powerful covers out there. Just look at it for a while. Powerful.
I was then drawn in by the intriguing synopsis. A girl speaks one word too many, places lives in jeopardy and decides to take a vow of silence. I’m thinking, “OK, this is going to be deep! Let’s see what it’s about.” And I did.
I finished this book about a week ago and I’ve been mulling it over, trying to decide how I felt and finding it hard to put those feelings into words.
I felt that the book was written well. There are very strong messages laced within the pages of Speechless. Chelsea Knot is a born gossiper. She loves to talk about everyone under the sun. It’s not until her mouth instigates a beating resulting in one of her classmates nearly dying from that beating that she steps back and realizes that her mouth is dangerous.
Chelsea’s obnoxious and toxic right from page one. On the flip side you feel her remorse almost immediately after she realizes what she set in motion. This is why I didn’t hate Chelsea, but I didn’t like her very much. Imagine my surprise when Chelsea picks up an article where she reads of an individual who took a vow of silence for spiritual reasons and Chelsea thinks a vow of silence is exactly what she needs to set herself straight.
It was interesting to see how things played out from that point forward. Chelsea, losing all of her cool friends as they all turn their backs on her in a most nasty fashion, finds friendship and peace in the most unexpected people and places. I really liked all of the secondary characters. They were well developed, incredibly likable and accepting. They were honest to goodness good people and that too was refreshing. The most interesting secondary character introduced in this book was Asha. Asha had a great soul and a knack for making everyone around her comfortable and wanted. She saw the good in Chelsea, didn’t think she deserved all that was happening to her, and convinced her crew to give her a chance. Unfortunately, we don’t really get to know Asha as much as I would have liked to and although Chelsea admits that she never talks about Asha’s personal life, she never really tries to find out more about her either.
Chelsea’s journey was an impressive one. It was a time for growth and restraint. She kept her vow for a month and knew that she wanted her first words to be important and worth speaking. The story however, fell short when Chelsea finally does speak and goes back to being who she was when she first started her journey. She wasn’t as obnoxious or as nasty but it was noticeable. Disappointing. It could possibly be that the author wanted us to appreciate the steps Chelsea took to improve her character but at the same time realize that you can’t change that drastically within a month's time and that it will be a work in progress for a long time to come. This is me looking at it with a positive outlook. Trying to spin it so that it could be as positive as possible… This is me trying to convince myself… Hmmm…
Another let down was some of the language used in this book. I don’t only read these books for entertainment purposes. I read them in hopes of introducing a great read to my son and my nieces. I personally wouldn’t want them reading some of the words in here and I know for a fact they wouldn’t like to read them either. It wasn’t necessary and could have been edited out and perhaps the final copy will have it taken out. Who knows?
Overall, because of the many positives that our young people can walk away with, primarily that words hurt, tear down and ruin lives, coupled with the great Q&A included at the end of the book that can spark up great conversations, I can’t help but to recommend that everyone read this book.
ARC was provided by Harlequin Teen via NetGalley.
I was drawn in by the cover. You might be thinking it’s plain or simple but to me it’s one of the most powerful covers out there. Just look at it for a while. Powerful.
I was then drawn in by the intriguing synopsis. A girl speaks one word too many, places lives in jeopardy and decides to take a vow of silence. I’m thinking, “OK, this is going to be deep! Let’s see what it’s about.” And I did.
I finished this book about a week ago and I’ve been mulling it over, trying to decide how I felt and finding it hard to put those feelings into words.
I felt that the book was written well. There are very strong messages laced within the pages of Speechless. Chelsea Knot is a born gossiper. She loves to talk about everyone under the sun. It’s not until her mouth instigates a beating resulting in one of her classmates nearly dying from that beating that she steps back and realizes that her mouth is dangerous.
Chelsea’s obnoxious and toxic right from page one. On the flip side you feel her remorse almost immediately after she realizes what she set in motion. This is why I didn’t hate Chelsea, but I didn’t like her very much. Imagine my surprise when Chelsea picks up an article where she reads of an individual who took a vow of silence for spiritual reasons and Chelsea thinks a vow of silence is exactly what she needs to set herself straight.
It was interesting to see how things played out from that point forward. Chelsea, losing all of her cool friends as they all turn their backs on her in a most nasty fashion, finds friendship and peace in the most unexpected people and places. I really liked all of the secondary characters. They were well developed, incredibly likable and accepting. They were honest to goodness good people and that too was refreshing. The most interesting secondary character introduced in this book was Asha. Asha had a great soul and a knack for making everyone around her comfortable and wanted. She saw the good in Chelsea, didn’t think she deserved all that was happening to her, and convinced her crew to give her a chance. Unfortunately, we don’t really get to know Asha as much as I would have liked to and although Chelsea admits that she never talks about Asha’s personal life, she never really tries to find out more about her either.
Chelsea’s journey was an impressive one. It was a time for growth and restraint. She kept her vow for a month and knew that she wanted her first words to be important and worth speaking. The story however, fell short when Chelsea finally does speak and goes back to being who she was when she first started her journey. She wasn’t as obnoxious or as nasty but it was noticeable. Disappointing. It could possibly be that the author wanted us to appreciate the steps Chelsea took to improve her character but at the same time realize that you can’t change that drastically within a month's time and that it will be a work in progress for a long time to come. This is me looking at it with a positive outlook. Trying to spin it so that it could be as positive as possible… This is me trying to convince myself… Hmmm…
Another let down was some of the language used in this book. I don’t only read these books for entertainment purposes. I read them in hopes of introducing a great read to my son and my nieces. I personally wouldn’t want them reading some of the words in here and I know for a fact they wouldn’t like to read them either. It wasn’t necessary and could have been edited out and perhaps the final copy will have it taken out. Who knows?
Overall, because of the many positives that our young people can walk away with, primarily that words hurt, tear down and ruin lives, coupled with the great Q&A included at the end of the book that can spark up great conversations, I can’t help but to recommend that everyone read this book.
ARC was provided by Harlequin Teen via NetGalley.
eloisejune's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing eye opening interesting book. The book has very good morals ie. You don't need to speak to be heard, always be nice and that it is never to late for a second chance. Great book to read if you love love and romance and drama.
5/5 - teens
5/5 - teens
eatingwords's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this story!
I didn't even really know what this was about and the blurb doesn't give that much away.
I just knew that Chelsea had a secret that she told everyone and that it almost cost somebody his life and that's why she doesn't speak anymore.
But this story is so much more.
I think that the characters' development was great and how Chelsea became more and more likable throughout the story. She is just not a very nice person at the beginning, she does know that somehow, but she still acts like she does because she wants to belong to the popular kids and that changes pretty fast.
I loved all the characters and their relationships and I just wished that there would be more story. I just didn't want it to end.
Such a great novel to raise awareness of anti-LGBTQ bullying.
I didn't even really know what this was about and the blurb doesn't give that much away.
I just knew that Chelsea had a secret that she told everyone and that it almost cost somebody his life and that's why she doesn't speak anymore.
But this story is so much more.
I think that the characters' development was great and how Chelsea became more and more likable throughout the story. She is just not a very nice person at the beginning, she does know that somehow, but she still acts like she does because she wants to belong to the popular kids and that changes pretty fast.
I loved all the characters and their relationships and I just wished that there would be more story. I just didn't want it to end.
Such a great novel to raise awareness of anti-LGBTQ bullying.
chrisrin's review against another edition
4.0
I really didn't like the narrator at the beginning but that changed as I read further.
I read some other reviews that complained about having a book narrated by a white, cis female speaking about the outcome of a hate crime against lgtbq characters. However, I think it's important to note that this book wasn't about Noah's experience, it was about Chelsea's experience and I think that there is room and a need for her perspective as well.
I read some other reviews that complained about having a book narrated by a white, cis female speaking about the outcome of a hate crime against lgtbq characters. However, I think it's important to note that this book wasn't about Noah's experience, it was about Chelsea's experience and I think that there is room and a need for her perspective as well.
theeclecticreview's review against another edition
5.0
“Words matter–how we use them and how we don’t.”
Chelsea learned the hard way. Her words almost ended up killing a fellow classmate. When she outed a boy at a party, her “friends” decided to beat him and send him to the hospital. Her conscience made her rat out those friends and all hell broke loose. Due to the incident and her actions, she decided to take a vow of silence which changes her life forever.
This is a frightening, true-to-life, story that we see way too often in our world and Ms. Harrington, again, finds a very real way of bringing this raw view of bullying, peer pressure and friendships into the 21st century. The story is riveting and the characters are well-developed and engaging. A must-read for young and old alike.
Thank you to Ms. Harrington, Harlequin and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.
Chelsea learned the hard way. Her words almost ended up killing a fellow classmate. When she outed a boy at a party, her “friends” decided to beat him and send him to the hospital. Her conscience made her rat out those friends and all hell broke loose. Due to the incident and her actions, she decided to take a vow of silence which changes her life forever.
This is a frightening, true-to-life, story that we see way too often in our world and Ms. Harrington, again, finds a very real way of bringing this raw view of bullying, peer pressure and friendships into the 21st century. The story is riveting and the characters are well-developed and engaging. A must-read for young and old alike.
Thank you to Ms. Harrington, Harlequin and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.