Review: Speechless

Hannah Harrington 
288 pages
Summary (from Goodreads):
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.
(Thanks to the publisher for sending us this book via NetGalley)

We meet Chelsea, she's the second most popular girl in school, best friend to the most popular girl in school, Kristen.

That is, until she stumbles across something she never thought she would see when she walked into the guest room looking for a toilet to throw up in at Kristen's New Year's Party...

Drunk and confused, Chelsea can't help but spill the hottest piece of gossip she's seen all year, but at a crowded party, everyone hears, which Chelsea is fine with, until she sees the consequences.

Then she is faced with an even bigger secret, one she's not sure she can live with, but telling would mean betraying Kristen, losing her popularity and the friends she knew.

Blaming herself for everything that happened, Chelsea takes a vow of silence. And meets a couple of people she would have never given a second glance at before.

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This is a book that I really enjoyed, and by the end really liked. Though at the start of the book Chelsea isn't all that relatable or too be honest completely likable, she's believable. And I think that's one of the book's strong points, it's believable. Chelsea's popular, and she likes it, she has power, and as a teenage girl, yeh, she uses it.

All righty, now I want to talk about some other characters. Sam, who can pull off a "retro navy sports jacket with patches over the elbows", yep 'nuff said... he's lovable, sweet and a good friend, but can be pretty tough. Asha, a sweet girl who doesn't know how to be mean. Noah, a boy caught on the end of the consequences. Kristen, the popular girl you'll love to hate. And Brendon, Chelsea's crush.

Speechless also brings up some serious issues, and it does this well. It can be hard for a book to sometimes go into the issues this book does, bullying, peer pressure and prejudices kids face because of their sexual orientation in high school, but not be too obvious and still keep the reader's interest.

What I loved about the character's was that they were real, and each had layers, they weren't just one dimensional. They were well developed, so reading about them was genuinely interesting and not completely predictable.

As much as I loved the book and the humor and the romance, there was a moment where I felt a particular scene written in the book was unnecessary, and slightly too dramatic. And ok yeh, there were some parts between Chelsea and I-won't-say-who-cos-yeh that were a tad cheesy, but what can I say... it was actually pretty sweet...

Speechless is a book I would definitely recommend, it's believable, includes humor and a little romance, and also touches up on some serious issues in high school. Interesting and funny, I loved it, just missed out on 5 stars...
FOUR 1/2 STARS