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Title: Unspeakable
Author: Abbie Rushton
Narrator: Madeleine Leslay
Format: Unabridged
Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
Language: English
Release date: 02-05-15
Publisher: Hachette Audio UK
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 33 votes
Genres: Teens, Fiction & Literature
Publisher's Summary:
Megan doesn't speak. She hasn't spoken in months. Pushing away the people she cares about is just a small price to pay. Because there are things locked inside Megan's head - things that are screaming to be heard - that she cannot, must not, let out.
Then Jasmine starts at school: bubbly, beautiful, talkative Jasmine. And for reasons Megan can't quite understand, life starts to look a bit brighter. Megan would love to speak again, and it seems like Jasmine might be the answer. But if she finds her voice, will she lose everything else?
Members Reviews:
Fast paced debut you won't be able to put down
4.5 of 5 stars
Wow.
Megan hasn't spoken since her best friend Hana died in an accident seven months ago. She's bullied by her mean and popular former friends. Luke is her only friend, until she meets the bubbly, talkative Jasmine and the two become best friends. But, Megan worries about hurting her new friend, just like Hana, but finds herself wanting to get closer. Then Jasmine starts receiving threatening letters and danger seems closer than ever.
Wow. UNSPEAKABLE is a fast paced book that drew me in from the first page. I wanted to know everything--how Hana died, who was stalking Jasmine and if Megan was more disturbed than she seemed. Debut writer Abbie Rushton has created a complex character in narrator Megan, broken and grieving. Until the end of the book, I was never quite sure whether she felt guilty or was guilty about Hana's death. Jasmine was such a likable character, although she had fewer layers. All of the characters were believable. I loved the plot from beginning until end and I didn't guess what really happened until near the end.
The only negative, and it's a picky one, is that the writer didn't capture Megan's muteness as well as she could. At times she seemed unable to speak, at other times unwilling and forcing herself not to speak. In the USA, she'd see more than a school psychologist for her PTSD. Not sure about the UK, it's hard to believe she wasn't getting more psychiatric care.
THEMES: grief, remorse, mental illness, LGBT, forgiveness, friendship, bullying, parent/child role reversal.
Wanted to like it more than I did
I wanted to like this more than I did. It has some strong emotional beats, and good interactions between Megan and Jasmine. But there were some misfires.
First, Jasmine's infatuation with the local bad boy. I hated that part. By bad, I mean seriously screwed up. Megan's mom tries telling Jasmine he's trouble, and I'm like, "Shut up, shut up, shut up! Her stupid teenage brain is translating that as 'Makes a good first baby daddy.'"
Second, having Megan write things was a cop-out. Check out Interference by Zoe Reed if you want to see a selectively mute lesbian character done right. Wow, there's more than one of that very specific type. Anyway, it stretches credulity that all it takes for Megan to be willing to talk to someone is if she can write the words down.
Third, and worst of all, the school counselor. He finds a weak point, and keeps digging. Megan very clearly doesn't want to go there. She's breathing heavily and clenching her fists, on the verge of panic. He keeps at her. She loses it and strikes him. Frankly, I thought he deserved it. She's made to apologize. He isn't. Well, fine.
