"Speechless" by Hannah Harrington

NOTE: I received this book to review from Netgalley.

I'm glad to say that my expectations of this book were actually surpassed. To be honest, I had forgotten what the book was supposed to be about. And so I plunged in the story, expecting something paranormal. But it came out to be a contemporary YA! Which, by the way, I was totally in the mood for.

And so it goes. I loved this book. Perhaps the only things I didn't like about it, was the use of cuss words now and then. But, I guess I could overlook that, since the story was pretty good.

The storyline was unique - a teenage gossip girl, who messes up big time (no news there!)decides to take a vow of silence. I've never read such a story, so it totally grabbed me, and I read the book in just one standing. That's how amazingly good it was.

Also, this was one of the books that didn't 'kill' the parents, or have them be absent all the time. Chelsea's parents were actually there, and cared.

So, the characters:
*Chelsea - the girl with the big mouth - was the biggest gossip in the school. So much that she could never ever keep her mouth, eyes, ears and so on shut. Not for even a second. It's what got her in trouble in the first place. But I'm glad that all that stuff happened, because the little girl was sort of forced to grow up in a matter of days. Chelsea had to figure out her mistake, had to realize that her big mouth could (and has) ruin people's lives, and to decide not to use it for gossip anymore. That took courage, determination and bravery, and I can very well say that I came to admire the girl. There were times when the urge to forsake her vow were too great, but she held on, knowing that beeing speechless was sort of a blessing in her case. In other words, she developed. She grew and matured, and I loved how well she turned out.

*Kristen - the 'best' friend, who was actually nothing but a nasty mean girl. She was never a good friend, and she never had real friends. I sort of felt bad for her, because really - even though she was popular, she was actually pathetic. Plunging a knife in your supposed best friend's back is very nasty. I'm glad that Chelsea matured enough to realize that there was no use (need) to stab Kristen back.

*Sam was the sweetest guy. Suspicious at first, he had no clue what Chelsea could be up to with her vow. He didn't take her seriously, and why should he? Her reputation spoke for her. But the more time and interraction passed between them, the more he realized that the girl the whole school hated, wasn't really that bad. She had feelings, she had thoughts, dreams and desires. And she was a mess herself as well. I'm very glad that Sam was there for Chelsea when she needed him. He didn't push her to speak before she was ready. He was that sweet.

*I also liked Andy, who seemed like a pretty hard-core guy at first, but then his exterior shell sort of cracked and his true character shined. He was forgiving and sweet, and I had fun reading about him.

In conclusion I can only say: READ this book, people! You won't regret it!!!

My rating is: