Speechless

Review Time! Speechless is Hannah Harrington, author of Saving June's sophomore novel! Saving June being one of my favourite debuts of last year I was so excited to read Speechless! Speechless will be available from 29 August online at Harlequin and in bookstores nationally for RRP AUS $19.99. You can also purchase online at Fishpond | The Nile | Booktopia | Dymocks. Thanks to Harlequin Teen for the review copy!

(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's has taken a vow of silence--to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting everyone else. And if she thinks keeping secrets if hard, not speaking up when she's ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse.

But there's strength in silence, and in 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.

The Short Story? - Harrington's latest YA novel confronts real issues that affect the lives of teenagers growing up everywhere. A beautiful and poignant story about the secrets that change people's lives and the guilt and grief that haunt you when things fall apart. A protagonist who is not all that she seems to be on the outside and the heartbreaking journey to self forgiveness and moving on. A novel about friendship, betrayal, self discovery and redemption, Speechless is a beautiful encore to Harrington's debut, Saving June!

The Long Story? - Speechless was a great novel! Saving June is still my favourite out of the two but Speechless was nevertheless absolutely amazing! Taking a overdone and cliched plot, Harrington has added depth and complexity to it and turned it into a beautiful and poignant novel about love, loss, grief and guilt. One of my favourite aspects of the novel was the confrontation of real life issues throughout the story, Harrington explores several pressing issues such as sexuality, homophobia, friendship, morality, dealing with guilt and learning to forgive yourself. It's a short book and yet there is so much packed between the pages. Beautifully written, Harrington does not hold back as she addresses the ugly reality and pains of growing up. If you liked Saving June, Speechless is definitely one you should check out!

The characterisation was really well done. I loved the representation of Chelsea throughout the novel and how she develops as a character. Chelsea started out as quite a difficult character to connect with, she was shallow and mean - your cliched popular girl, always seeking an audience and approval. However as the novel progressed and Chelsea took the vow of silence, she really goes on a road of self discovery and that's when I really felt myself connect with her. She realises the consequences of her actions and on her road to self forgiveness she meets so many wonderful people who change her perspective on life. Speechless has absolutely beautiful character development and all the characters we meet along the way - Sam, Asha, Andy, Noah and all the rest are absolutely amazing supporting characters!

Lovers of Hannah Harrington's Saving June will definitely find Speechless to their liking as while the plots are very different, the premise of the novels both fall back on dealing with grief and self forgiveness. Speechless is a spectacular dark contemporary that really go into realistic issues without making the novel depressing to read. Bittersweet, funny and poignant, Speechless is a novel about how one action can change everything and how self forgiveness is the key to moving on.

What's it Worth? - Hand Over the Paycheck

Badass Bookie xx