Friday 24 August 2012

Review: Speechless by Hannah Harrington


  Speechless by Hannah Harrington
  Publisher: Harlequin
  Publication date: 28th August 2012
  Source: NetGalley
  My rating: 4 stars 

 
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.

This book has seriously left me speechless, what I enjoyed most about going into this book was that I had no real idea what the book would be about. The main reason for picking it up was because it was by Hannah Harrington; I adored Saving June so couldn’t wait to get my hands on more of her books. I liked how the synopsis hardly gave anything away and the cover was simple yet so beautiful. I liked the fact that I had no expectations what so ever (this made me realise I should do this more often when picking up books).

Chelsea is best friends with the ever popular Kristen. Everyone wants to know Kristen, so having the merest association with her brings up ones reputation dramatically. Everyone looks up to you, but at the same time everyone is also afraid of you, they know never to get on your bad side. So when one night at Kristen’s famous New Year party Chelsea puts her foot in it. Chelsea has the reputation of being in the know of the latest gossip and for not being able to keep her mouth shut. On the night of the party she ends up seeing something never expected. Because of the shots she’d had earlier on she’s a bit slow at processing what’s she’s doing and instead of just telling Kristen in private she blurts it out in front of the entire football team. Before she knows it some of the football members get so heated up and decide to take things in their own hands. Everything’s escalated out of control because Chelsea decided to open her mouth. Chelsea feels totally responsible and decides to take a vow of silence, because everything that normally comes out of her mouth gets her into trouble any way.

One thing I’ve quickly come to realise about Hannah Harrington’s writing is she knows how to get under your skin. With Saving June there were so many parts which were raw and achy and left a huge lump in my throat. Harrington was quick to do the same with Speechless. Her writing flowed effortlessly that before I knew it I was more than half way through the book. She has a beautiful way of pulling you in and reaching out to you, so each word just plays with your emotions. Her writing also has a magnetic feel about it that it led me to form such strong connections with the characters. I wish I could go on and describe how Harrington’s words affected me but I think my explanation would fall way short.

The main character Chelsea I found I could hugely relate to, she’d found herself in such a tough situation and left totally helpless. She was an interesting character’s head to be in; having to deal with the backlash and then suddenly to come to the realisation of what kind of a person she really was. She did however surprise me with her humour; despite everything going on she was still able to see the funny side to things. However I was also sort of conflicted about her through the book, it was because of Chelsea and her big mouth that the unexpected event took place, and I understood that’s why she felt that she couldn’t talk afterwards, but at times I found it infuriating that she didn’t talk, because did she think that by not talking it would make everything okay again? But then at other times I felt for her because of all the crap she had to deal with afterwards, she didn’t once open her mouth to giving a biting comment back, it certainly would have alleviated her situation a lot more, but by not talking she made herself an easy target.

The secondary characters that emerged in this story I hugely adored, Asha, Sam and even Andy against their better judgement were there when needed. They easily showed that sometimes friendship can be found in the most unexpected places.

Speechless was such a captivating read, it’s the first book in so long that I took everywhere I went, I just couldn’t bear to put it down. It was a book where the characters displayed depth, and I ended up truly admiring each and everyone as they brought something different to the story. Harrington is another great author whose books I finally decided to pick up this year, she has truly impressed me with her books so far that I cannot wait to pick up more of her future work soon.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for the opportunity to read this book.

Also thank you to Leanne for reading this with me! If you haven’t already you can check out her awesome review here.


21 comments:

Sam (Realm of Fiction) said...

I'm glad you enjoyed this, Jasprit. I plan to read it soon and can't wait! I understand what you mean about Hannah Harrington's writing style. I felt that way with Saving June. I'm sure if that particulate story had been written by someone else, I wouldn't have felt as connected to it. Brilliant review as always! :)

Jessica@Booked Up! said...

I also loved Saving June, so am really hoping to read Speechless soon. It's great that you could connect with all of the characters. That's such an important factor when reading. Thanks for the lovely review, Jasprit! :) xxx

Unknown said...

Speechless sounds like a very powerful story. I keep reading the reviews and I know this book is for me. I haven't read Saving June yet, but I have it on my shelf. I am adding this to my tbr. Thanks for a great review!

Keertana said...

Amazing review, Jasprit! I'm so glad you enjoyed this one!(: I think the fact that Harrington makes her characters so three-dimensional and easily to relate to is one of her greatest strengths as an author. I can't wait to see what she writes next! :D

~Keertana
Ivy Book Bindings

Jenny said...

Love when I find a book I physically don't want to part with when real life intrudes on my reading time, and I find myself carrying it with me everywhere on the off chance I'll have a few minutes to read it:) This sounds like such a brilliant story, and I love how much growth we seem to get from Chelsea. Beautiful review Jasprit, I can't wait to read this one!

Eunice said...

I love how Hannah Harrington wrote her characters, very flawed but utterly realistic. This will be my next read after The Assassin's Curse and with all those positive reviews coming I'm really excited to start this! I'm glad you enjoyed this. Lovely review, Jasprit!

Rachel said...

Sweet!!!!! I also love how easy it is to get lost in the prose of this book, its hard to put down. I read it in 2 hours and was surprised when it ended. Terrific review Jasprit! It was frustrating how she didn't talk for so long.

Isa said...

I've read so many great things about Hannah Harrington’s, it makes me all the more excited to read her books. I'm intrigued by the concept of the book and I love that the characters have dept. I'm happy you enjoyed it, great review! :)

Jasprit said...

Hannah has the best way of developing characters, these are ones you will definitely like easily, I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this or Assassin's Curse I'm going to pick that up soon! :)

-Ria xo said...

The secondary characters were so SUPER-DUPER amazing.<3 Like, woah.<3 Asha! I agree, I found Chelsea really relateable, but then not talking doesn't make up for what she did! At first it seemed as though she was just feeling sorry for herself, and I think she realised that too [or maybe I'm reading wrong signals], but wanted to save the use of her voice for a really worthy time.

Also, I love how you talked about the plot, that was so detailed and flowing!(: Wonderful review, Jasprit.<3

Suzanne (Parabooklover) said...

Glad you enjoyed this one so much Jaspirit. I haven't read anything by this author yet but I've seen a lot of good reviews for this one and Saving June. Great review. Maybe I'll pick it up sometime.

Aneeqah said...

Lovely review, Jasprit! I agree with just about everything that you said. I loved the fact that we knew so little going into the book! I too need to try that again, because so many things influence a person's thoughts of a book before they open it. Anyways, I agree about how addicting this book is! It's rarely happened to me with contemporaries, which I don't find as compelling as a dystopia book or fantasy. But this book pulled me in and refused to let go! Like you, I didn't even realize how far I was into the book. When I looked down, I was nearly done with the book! This usually doesn't happen to me.

Fabulous review Jasprit! I'm glad that you enjoyed this book just as much as I did. =)

Blueicegal ♥ said...

i love how you so clearly loved this. the thing with me is that i felt conflicted with her first book so i don't know if that's something that would come with this one were i to read it. i like the sound of it though ! :)

Anonymous said...

As I commented on Goodreads, I adore your review and am so thrilled that you loved this book, Jasprit! I hope Ms. Harrington writes more fantastic novels in the future. :) Let me know if you want to do another readalong anytime. :)

Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings said...

Achey writing that leaves a lump in your throat...I really liked that desxription. I think the whole concept is fascinating...I mean how many teenage girls can go without speaking, I really need to try Ms. Harrington's writing.

Michelle Chew said...

This book sounds really good! I'm so tempted to get the book right now and I know I'll get it eventually. Thanks for sharing your review!

Rebecca said...

I absolutely ADORED this. It was beautiful and left me feeling happy and full of hope. Seriously, Hannah out did herself yet again. *happy sigh* Sam and Andy were my favourite secondary characters. They made such a cute couple. <3 Absolutely can't wait for Hannah's next book. Great review :)

Shirley said...

YAYYYYY! I'm SO GLAD you enjoyed this! I only just finished reading it, and WOW. I loved it so much :) Harrington's certainly one amazing author, eh? heheee Fab review Jas!!!

Anonymous said...

Speechless really does sound GREAT! I still have this to read and I've never read a Harrington book so I don't really know what to expect.

I'll be looking forward to getting around to this shortly.

Great review! :)

Vegan YA Nerds said...

It's so funny that you mention taking this book with you, I did the same, I had it in my handbag so it was in the car with me and at work, I'd get it out at every stop light and every moment that I was alone in the office. It was brilliant!

I know how you felt about Chelsea, I really liked her but at the same time she did need to learn a lesson from the mistake she made and I was happy that it wasn't magically fixed by her vow of silence.

Wonderful review!

Wendy Darling said...

So happy you enjoyed this, Jasprit. I didn't love it as much as SAVING JUNE, but I still liked it a lot. :)

Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

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