Review: Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Release Date: August 28^th, 2012

Number of Pages: 288

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Source: NetGalley 

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. 

I had fallen in love with Hannah Harrington’s writing in Saving June, probably one of my favorite book last year. Of course, when I heard she had another book coming out this year, I was dying with anticipation. Maybe all that anticipation affected my view of book, maybe I was expecting this new book to be even better than Saving June, but I wasn’t left Speechless by her new book (yes, it was easy. I’m not sorry.) This doesn’t mean I didn’t love the book. There was simply a little something missing, for this book to be really unforgettable.

One thing for sure with Hannah Harrington, she seems to know how to write that you simply can’t put down. I read it in a matter of hours, simply because her characters really get you into the story. You need to know how everything will end for the characters you love, or even those you love to hate. My biggest problem with the book was that I felt like an action that Chelsea seems to be all about the consequences of her words, and how what she said affected people around her. Yet, I found that her vow of silence was a little more selfish than that. I felt like her reaction was brought by how her ex-best friend and all her old gang start treating her after she told the police the truth. That’s probably the one thing that bugged me in the book. Doesn’t mean I didn’t like Chelsea as a main character. I actually loved her, and loved the interaction she has with Sam and Asha.  I really was glad to see Chelsea grow and learn from her mistake, and mature from all she went through. That was part of the good stuff about the book.

Once again, Hannah Harrington’s writing doesn’t fail to impress. This book may not have been as amazing as her debut, but it is still a hell of a book. To me, the one thing that slightly irked me was the feeling I got like I was supposed to see Chelsea’s vow as selfless. Maybe I’m the only one who saw it that way, but I still got that little voice in my head, even days after I’m done, telling me I missed something in the book, because I shouldn’t feel like she was selfish. Yet, I do, and I’ll probably still do in a couple of days. Am I still making sense?

Overall, Speechless was worth reading. If you still haven’t read her debut, you should also check it out, because Hannah Harrington is simply an amazing writer.