Speechless

Author: Hannah Harrington
Goodreads Rating: 4.13
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 288
Reviewed by: Nicole

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.

Apparently this is the week for learning how to behave in school, because this is the second book that I've read that deals with actions having consequences. The chief difference between Speechless and Thirteen Reasons Why (besides the obvious) is that darling Chelsea seems to realize right away that her actions and words have consequences and that she needs to fix her problem.

I know first hand what gossip can do and what its like to be fingered as the gossip, neither side is very fun. I liked that Chelsea realized that, be that it was a bit late, but she realized and took a stand. I don't think I would be able to stay silent for a full  day let alone a month (I know, I've tried). I loved that Chelsea had the will power to stand down and not say anything even as the bullying got to its worst.

I loved the new friends that she made, Asha, and Sam and eventually Andy, the crew from Rosie's seemed to make the social experiment worth it. Not only did Chelsea learn the moral lesson that her words and actions have consequences, but she learned who her true friends were and that real friends forgive.

It was unfortunate that something bad had to happen for Chelsea to realize that what she was doing was wrong, but at the same time it was important for her to learn that lesson. I loved that Andy even said as much to her that Noah (the boy that got hurt) was more than a moral lesson for her, he was a real person with real injuries.

While I don't feel as strongly that this book needs to be in high schools, and mostly thats because of Chelsea's hilarious monologues about Sam or Brendan and how cute they are, I think that this is an important book for teenage girls to read, especially those in high school or middle school because that is where this behavior starts, and its important to prevent it from becoming too much apart of who they are.