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A review by sdb27
Speechless by Hannah Harrington
5.0
Speechless by Hannah Harrington is an emotionally powerful book that dissects the dangerous world of teenage gossip and its consequences. By book’s end, you’ve laughed, you’ve cried, and you’ve found yourself turning your gaze inward as you question the power of words, and their ability to tear an entire world apart.
Chelsea Knot is a mean girl. She’s sidekick to the most popular girl in school, and with great power comes great responsibility—and Chelsea seems to think that it’s her responsibility to the people to let them know anything that she’s found out, regardless of whom that information will hurt. It’s only until after Chelsea accidentally sees something at a high school keg party she shouldn’t see—and then blabs this to the entire high school—that she truly begins to see how the ripples of her actions can have consequences that hurt a lot more than someone’s feelings. Changed, Chelsea decides to take a vow of silence.
The transformation that Chelsea goes through this book is remarkable. Though initially I had trouble warming up to her due to her shallow, mean girl personality, the fact that she decides to come clean and tries to change herself is very admirable. It takes a very certain kind of strength to go against the life you’ve known and the people you are friends with in order to do the right thing. Most adults are too cowardly to do that, let alone a teenage girl. I also really liked Chelsea’s idea to take a vow of silence. I can’t imagine not speaking for a day, let alone months. Even without the situation in this book, it would be a fascinating social experiment to undertake.
Ms. Harrington handles high-school bullying, which is such a prevalent problem, with tact, and an insightfulness that really drives the subject matter home. Chelsea’s voice comes through in every line of narration, really breathing life into the pages and making her seem three-dimensional. It’s like she’s right in front of you, telling her story to you as a friend.
While the ending felt entirely too rushed and neatly wrapped up to be realistic, for me, it wasn’t so much the destination as the journey. I really enjoyed the evolution and redemption of the main character, as well as how the topic of bullying was explored. Ms. Harrington is quite a skilled and evocative writer and I hope to read some of her other works in the future.
An advance review copy was provided to me by Netgalley for the purposes of review.
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For more book reviews, visit my blog The Bookshelf!
Chelsea Knot is a mean girl. She’s sidekick to the most popular girl in school, and with great power comes great responsibility—and Chelsea seems to think that it’s her responsibility to the people to let them know anything that she’s found out, regardless of whom that information will hurt. It’s only until after Chelsea accidentally sees something at a high school keg party she shouldn’t see—and then blabs this to the entire high school—that she truly begins to see how the ripples of her actions can have consequences that hurt a lot more than someone’s feelings. Changed, Chelsea decides to take a vow of silence.
The transformation that Chelsea goes through this book is remarkable. Though initially I had trouble warming up to her due to her shallow, mean girl personality, the fact that she decides to come clean and tries to change herself is very admirable. It takes a very certain kind of strength to go against the life you’ve known and the people you are friends with in order to do the right thing. Most adults are too cowardly to do that, let alone a teenage girl. I also really liked Chelsea’s idea to take a vow of silence. I can’t imagine not speaking for a day, let alone months. Even without the situation in this book, it would be a fascinating social experiment to undertake.
Ms. Harrington handles high-school bullying, which is such a prevalent problem, with tact, and an insightfulness that really drives the subject matter home. Chelsea’s voice comes through in every line of narration, really breathing life into the pages and making her seem three-dimensional. It’s like she’s right in front of you, telling her story to you as a friend.
While the ending felt entirely too rushed and neatly wrapped up to be realistic, for me, it wasn’t so much the destination as the journey. I really enjoyed the evolution and redemption of the main character, as well as how the topic of bullying was explored. Ms. Harrington is quite a skilled and evocative writer and I hope to read some of her other works in the future.
An advance review copy was provided to me by Netgalley for the purposes of review.
____
For more book reviews, visit my blog The Bookshelf!