Find my reviews on Blogger ~ Reviews by Bookish Sarah 
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 Chelsea Knot is all about secrets and gossip. She loves to spread it around like wildfire. Being the right hand of the most popular girl in school makes her untouchable and leaves her to spread gossip and walk all over her classmates without consequences. 
 Until now. 
 One night, at a party, Chelsea sees something she just cannot keep to herself. She decides to tell the juicy secret to everyone at the party. This turns out to be the biggest mistake of Chelsea's life. It effects not only her future, but many others. The fallout forces Chelsea to take a good look at herself and how her gossiping ways can hurt others. This is when she decides to take a voluntary oath of silence. If she can't say anything nice, she just won't say anything at all. 
 "You can be surrounded by people and still be lonely. You can be the most popular person in school, envied by every girl and wanted by every boy, and still feel completely worthless. The world can be laid at your feet and you can still not know what you want from it." 
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 I absolutely adore Hannah Harrington. I was floored by her previous novel, Saving June, and this one left me feeling exactly the same way. 
 Harrington writes about very touchy subjects; subjects that are difficult and terrible, but very relevant to present society. She handles these subjects with grace and perfection. I simply love her ability to grab hold of your heart and mind with her words and not let go from beginning to end. 
 Chelsea was a character you had to dislike in the beginning. I mean, who loves a girl that spreads life-altering gossip; a girl who looks down on her classmates because she is BFFs with the most popular girl in school? No one. This story was obviously about growing to love Chelsea as her journey progressed; as she changed who she was and who she surrounded herself with. This is exactly what happened for me. In the beginning, Chelsea was the exact type of girl I despise. By the end, I loved her. She saw what she was doing wrong and changed it. She stood up to the people who were hurting others and made a difference at her school and in her own life. Her journey was a very moving one. 
 I have to say, I LOVED the supporting characters in this novel. Sam - the love interest. He was pretty much perfect. He and the other group working at the diner, Rosie's, were quite the colorful bunch. They were fun and completely endearing. They showed Chelsea a whole new way to behave and to think. She obviously learned a lot from them. I absolutely loved Dex and Lou with their playful banter. Asha was the sweetest girl you could ever meet. She totally showed Chelsea what a true friend should be. Sam, Noah, Andy... loved each of them equally. 
 There is one thing I have to point out about this novel. Something that impressed me beyond all else. The moment. That moment where Chelsea finally decides to break her vow of silence. I was so surprised that the moment wasn't wasted in the most cliche, banal, and cheesy way possible - on Sam; on speaking to the boy she is falling for. This would have killed me. Instead, Harrington decided to have our protagonist use this moment to help someone else; to stand up for something. It was just an average moment, no audience there to make it this big, dramatic event... but it was still an extremely powerful moment. I can't even accurately portray how much I truly appreciate and understand why she did it this way. I applaud it, and I take my hat off to her. 
 "Hate is easy, but love takes courage." 
 Romance. I want to talk about this for a moment before I wrap it up. Yet another thing I loved about this book. There wasn't an insta-love deal going on. In fact, I don't think Sam even LIKED Chelsea to begin with. They were partnered up together on an art project and he wasn't happy about it. Eventually, he and Chelsea began to form a friendship. It was tentative at first, but blossomed into something beautiful. I completely enjoyed seeing that perfect transition from friendship to love. 
 Overall, Speechless left me speechless. I went into it with high expectations and it exceeded all of them. This book touches down on hard subjects. It covers bullying, hate crimes, sexual harassment--it teaches you how words can hurt people, how what you do can effect others, and how accepting the consequences of the actions you take can change your life for the better. Words are powerful. This novel is the perfect example of that. The characters are raw, they're real. The story will tug at your heart and maybe even change the way you think and see things. It's deep and it's beautiful. It was superbly written and executed with perfection. Hannah Harrington is an amazing author! I recommend this book for everyone! It's something each and every one of you should read. I promise you'll enjoy it. :) 
 *Contains profanity and mild sexual situations.* 
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 Book source: NetGalley 
 Publisher: Harlequin Teen