Summary from Goodreads:
A girl who can’t speak and a boy who can’t hear go on a journey of self-discovery and find support with each other in this gripping, emotionally resonant novel from bestselling author Sara Barnard. Perfect for fans of Morgan Matson and Jandy Nelson.
Steffi doesn’t talk, but she has so much to say.
Rhys can’t hear, but he can listen.
Steffi has been a selective mute for most of her life. The condition’s name has always felt ironic to her, because she certainly does not “select” not to speak. In fact, she would give anything to be able to speak as easily and often as everyone around her can. She suffers from crippling anxiety, and uncontrollably, in most situations simply can’t open her mouth to get out the words.
Steffi’s been silent for so long that she feels completely invisible. But Rhys, the new boy at school, sees her. He’s deaf, and her knowledge of basic sign language means that she’s assigned to help him acclimate. To Rhys, it doesn’t matter that Steffi doesn’t talk. As they find ways to communicate, Steffi discovers that she does have a voice, and that she’s falling in love with the one person who makes her feel brave enough to use it. But as she starts to overcome a lifelong challenge, she’ll soon confront questions about the nature of her own identity and the very essence of what it is to know another person
My Review:
What I Liked:
Anxiety Representation. The main reason I picked this up was to see how the anxiety storyline was written. And I have to say, Barnard does an amazing job showing what severe anxiety and panic attacks are like for those who suffer from them. I get panic/anxiety attacks in my day to day life so I connected right away to the main character.
Main Character. I was not a huge fan of a lot of the characters expect Steffi. She was a great character that connected with and saw myself in. She was not perfect, she struggled with anxiety, something I also struggle with, and it was nice to see that represented well in a young adult novel.
BSL. I loved how Barnard used sigh language in the main plot but I would have liked some more scenes of Steffi learning the language within the novel. It would have been cool if she put in some images to go along with the BSL plotline so the reader could learn more about it.
Writing. I struggled with the plot/romance but kept reading because of Barnard's writing style. It keep me interested in the story even when I wanted to put it down.
What I Disliked:
Plot. I really liked the first half of the novel, as we got to know Steffi but the other half fell flat for me. It focused on the romance, the one aspect of the novel I did not care for and went too fast in my opinion. I would have rather focused on Steffi and her day to day life instead of the romance.
Romance. The big element that I did not click with was the romance. I liked the two romantic leads, Steffi and Rhys as well fleshed out characters but I just did not feel the relationship. It went a bit too quickly for my tastes and was focused on too much for the last half of the novel.
I recommend checking out this interesting contemporary novel that shows anxiety is a realistic way.
My Rating:
3.5 Stars Out of 5 Stars
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