Review: Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Tags: YA, contemporary, gossip, bullies

Summary

Chelsea Knot has clawed and climbed and gossiped her way up to the top of her school’s social chain. But her reign as the queen bee’s best friend takes a shocking, dizzying fall when Chelsea’s post-party decision has the entire school jumping at the chance to alienate her.

Well, not quite the entire school. Despite her self-imposed vow of silence, Chelsea befriends Asha and several other classmates she’s never spoken to before, who all work at the diner in town. And one of her new friends, Sam, is utterly too cute and sweet. But has Chelsea finally learned her lesson this time about knowing when and when not to speak, and what she’s going to speak up for?

Review

Hannah Harrington’s debut novel, Saving June, was my delightful surprise of 2011, so I had high expectations for her sophomore novel, SPEECHLESS. And while I didn’t like SPEECHLESS as much as I did Saving June, it was still an uplifting and quick YA contemporary read.

SPEECHLESS’ strength lies in its treatment of its protagonist, Chelsea. There is no doubt that Chelsea is a mean girl at the beginning of the book, so caught up in the dangerous thriller of being the first to find and spread gossip, and yet we readers undoubtedly see the potential she has in her for good. And yeah, okay, this is kind of the way that protagonists have to be—they have to arouse our empathy in order for us to want to invest in their journey—but Chelsea is, really, likable. She has a very relatable reaction to her changing social position at her high school, but she has an inner strength that we can admire: this is not a girl who will dissolve into a spineless, quivering, tearful mess in the face of extreme challenges.

That being said, the predictability of the rest of the story made this only a mediocre read for me. SPEECHLESS follows a very basic YA contemporary story format, complete with a budding romance that readers can call from the love interest’s first appearance on the page. While Chelsea’s situation is no doubt cringe-inducing—she’s forced to suffer at the hands of some truly heartless school bullies—it’s all written about in a very straightforward manner, so that you can anticipate everything that’s about to happen. While I don’t always require oodles of surprises and utter originality in my reads, the elements of this book just all felt very…safe to me, and thus ultimately forgettable.

SPEECHLESS’ reformed protagonist, golden-hearted supporting characters, and predictably sweet romance are nothing new in this genre, but sometimes that’s the kind of read you seek. If so, you can’t go wrong with Hannah Harrington’s well-intentioned books.

Similar Authors
Donna Freitas
Morgan Matson

Cover discussion: This is a brave cover. It completely defies all the norms and goes for the ultra-minimalistic look. And it works.

Harlequin Teen / Aug. 28, 2012 / Paperback / 288pp. / $9.99

e-galley received from publisher and NetGalley.

ORIGIN Blog Tour

I am honored to be part of Penguin's Breathless Reads blog tour for ORIGIN, the debut YA sci-fi/dystopian novel by Jessica Khoury. This blog tour is a little different in that, at each stop, an except from Origin will be posted, along with Jessica's thoughts on that excerpt. Here is mine!

I know Uncle Paolo’s eyes are on me, searching for any sign of weakness. It’s all I can do not to wince.

I can’t fail this. I can’t. Of all my studies, the Wickham tests are the most important. They gauge whether I am ready to be a scientist. Whether I’m ready for the secrets of my own existence. Once I prove I’m one of them, my real work can begin: creating others like me. And that is everything. (Origin, page 6)

Thoughts from Jessica:

Objectivity is not a bad thing. It’s necessary in everything from reporting the news to writing a novel. But if done excessively, to the point of immorality, then it becomes a bad thing. Many dystopian stories are set in worlds where objectivity completely rules out emotion. For example, in Ally Condie’s Matched, the government controls everything according to a set of very objective rules which allow no room for emotion, because they believe this will maximize the quality of life for everyone. When we cease to view and conduct ourselves with emotion and morality, we reduce ourselves to machines. Are emotions messy? Yes. Can they lead us to make rash or irrational choices? Yes. But are we human without them?

In Little Cam, the scientists seek to create a new race, and they are fully aware that one of the things which will differentiate the immortals from humans is the lack of emotion they hope to instill in them, as they try to do with Pia. In their minds, this is a strength. They want the immortals to be able to see “clearly,” to make objective, rational decisions. And this is a good thing—but not to the extent that it erases emotion altogether. Our emotions hinder us, but they also define us and make us what we are. Sure, you could try to live a life based only on unemotional objectivity—but that life will be dry and meaningless. We just weren’t designed to function as machines, and in destroying one’s capacity to love, hate, fear, or weep, one’s humanity is also destroyed.

About Origin:

Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home—and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.

Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia’s origin—a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.

Origin is a beautifully told, shocking new way to look at an age-old desire: to live forever, no matter the cost. This is a supremely compelling debut novel that blends the awakening romance of Matched with the mystery and jungle conspiracy of Lost. [summary from Goodreads]

Links
More about ORIGIN! http://origin-book.com/ 
Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmhQtC336ro
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/originnovel

Breathless Reads:
Breathless Reads Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breathlessreads
Breathless Reads Tumblr: http://breathlessreads.tumblr.com/
Breathless Reads Scribd Samplr: http://www.scribd.com/doc/89698531/Breathless-Reads-Fall-2012-Sampler

Jessica on the web: http://www.jessicakhoury.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jkbibliophile
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjessicakhoury

Tour Schedule:
Monday 8.27 - The Book Smugglers - http://thebooksmugglers.com/
Tuesday 8.28 - Pure Imagination - http://www.pureimaginationblog.com/
Wednesday 8.29 - Steph Su Reads - http://stephsureads.blogspot.com
Thursday 8.30 - Mundie Moms - http://mundiemoms.blogspot.com/
Friday 8.31 - Forever YA - http://www.foreveryoungadult.com
Monday 9.3 - Novel Thoughts - http://www.novelthoughtsblog.com
Tuesday 9.4 - Page Turners - http://www.pageturnersblog.com
Wednesday 9.5 - Frenetic Readers - http://freneticreader.blogspot.com/
Thursday 9.6 - Bookshelf Banter - http://www.bookshelfbanter.com
Friday 9.7 - The Story Siren - http://www.thestorysiren.com
Monday 9.10 - Green Bean Teen Queen - http://www.greenbeanteenqueen.com
Tuesday 9.11 - The Book Muncher - http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com
Wednesday 9.12 - The Book Cellar - http://thebookcellarx.blogspot.com
Thursday 9.13 - Book Chic - http://bookchicclub.blogspot.com
Friday 9.14 - The Compulsive Reader - http://thecompulsivereader.blogspot.com/

Jamie the Perpetual Page-Turner's Wedding

Earlier this month I went back to the States to attend my friend Jamie's wedding. As most of you know, Jamie blogs at both The Broke and the Bookish and The Perpetual Page-Turner. We started meeting up for bookish events and conversations at IHOP when I was still at Swat. I can't imagine how she runs two blogs, organized her wedding pretty much singlehandedly, and still has the time and energy to remain one of the sweetest, nicest, and most considerate people I know, but that's what she did and that's what she is.

The wedding took place at the First Baptist Church in Doylestown, PA. You could totally tell Jamie planned every detail, from the yellow flower decorations to Vitamin String Quartet playing as the bridal party walked down the aisle.

I took many pics but my camera has been moody ever since I mashed an orange into it last Christmas (there's really no more story to it than that), so unfortunately lots of these pictures aren't as clear as I would have liked. But look closely, and you'll see some beautiful expressions that would make even the most stone-hearted sigh and swoon...

He liked it so he put a ring on it.

First kiss as husband and wife! *CUE THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE AND SQUEALS*

They walked out to Hall & Oates' "You Make My Dreams." What more perfect song could they have picked? How could anyone not love that song?

I love the way they look at each other here.

The reception was subtly bookish. Check out the table decorations!

Jamie even gave us (us being me and April of Good Books and Good Wine, plus a whole table of British male soccer coaches) the quote from Paper Towns by John Green!

April of Good Books and Good Wine, Jamie, and me, representing the bloggers. (We missed you, other bloggers!) I apologize for the awkward arms: I can never get myself to actually do the sorority girl hip thing.

It was, hands down, the best wedding I've ever been to. The music freshened up centuries-old wedding traditions and got everyone smiling and dancing; the reception offerings (literary table decorations! A Photobooth!! Open bar!!!) were thoughtful; and the atmosphere was just genuinely fun, and loving, and real. Jamie outdid herself with all her planning, and I'm so, so happy I got to be there for her special day.

Review: Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield

Tags: young adult, contemporary, death, murder, small town

Summary

Becca is on the brink of leaving her suffocatingly small town—just one summer to go before college—when the appearance of a dead girl’s body shocks everyone. As the claustrophobic community of Bridgeton attempts to figure out the meaning of this death and its impact on them, Becca finds herself clinging to her old life—her old job, her high school boyfriend—scared to see herself in Amelia Anne’s fate.

Review

AMELIA ANNE IS DEAD AND GONE is not really a book that wants you to like it. From the uncomfortable opening sex scene to the way Becca’s plotline ends up intersecting with that of Amelia Anne’s death, it’s like you’re forcibly pressed close to the story and its ugliness, so that every blemish is magnified. If you’re the kind of reader who likes this no-gloss dissection of flawed characters and setting, then great! It wasn’t my type of read, but I can see why other will find this winning.

Say goodbye to your romantic conception of the American small town. Bridgeton is vicious and claustrophobic, its bright spots—such as stars at night and a swimming hole—marred by the harsh reality of tensions between locals and summer residents, people’s desperate desire to escape its black hole gravity. As someone who definitely has a romantic conception of the American small town, AMELIA ANNE’s depiction nearly made me cry, it was so unforgiving. It’s the same with the characters. They gossip and slander and take sides and make poor decisions and say terrible things to one another. But Kat Rosenfield does not apologize for reality—and nor should she. Even I have to respect her for that.

That being said, if you’re the kind of reader who likes a certain amount of happiness in your books, AMELIA ANNE might not deliver. Becca, the protagonist, is not particularly likable: she denies the harshness of reality by retreating within herself, and forgives her boyfriend for his really very heartless act. While in theory I can understand her reactions—she’s on the brink of leaving Bridgeton, exciting but also terrified, when Amelia Anne’s shocking death sends her reeling and petrifies her—I don’t think they were explained as well as they could have been in the book.

In addition, I found the prose too “pretty” in an unoriginal sort of way. Unfortunately I don’t have the book on hand to find examples, but passages that I could tell were supposed to be insightful or beautiful instead left me unmoved. I like turns of phrase that surprise me, a la Beth Kephart or Cath Crowley, but if you’ve read your fair share of lit-er-uh-chur, you’re going to realize that you’ve seen all the similes and metaphors here before.

I wanted AMELIA ANNE IS DEAD AND GONE to be emotionally and literarily earth-shattering, but it wasn’t for me. However, I can bet there’s an avid audience for this book. For those who prefer their YA lit darker and without supernatural delusions of luv, check this out.

Similar Authors
Anna Jarzab
Nova Ren Suma
Kirsten Hubbard

Cover discussion: The muted, desaturated colors match the mood of this book.

Dutton Juvenile / July 5, 2012 / Hardcover / 304pp. / $17.99

Copy received for review from publisher.