Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson

Thank you to the publisher who gifted me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Melinda is a friendless, outcast all because she bust an end-of-summer party, by calling the cops, so now no one will talk to her, let alone speak to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking. Only her art class offers her solace. Through an art project she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party. Melinda was raped by an upperclassman, who still attends her school and is still a threat to her.

Obviously this book comes with heavy trigger warnings for rape and sexual assault and these should really be taken seriously and into account before reading.

I cannot believe that it has taken me so long to finally get round to reading this incredible book. I was extremely lucky to be sent a copy of the book alongside the graphic novel adaptation that has recently been released. So, I decided to read them both together.

I went about this by reading a semester at a time, first in the book and then reading the same semester in the graphic noel. This worked well for me and expanded the story using visuals that I couldn’t gain whilst solely reading the book.

Both versions tell the story extremely well but I think due to the added visuals I think my favourite of the two has to be the graphic novel. The words in both effected me heavily but with the graphic novel the artwork really brought to life the terrible things that Melinda had to face and how much they affected her.

Laurie Halse Anderson is an incredible writer who has written such a traumatic even into a heart-breaking, eye-opening and terrifying novel that I feel everyone needs to read.

Overall, this novel and it’s graphic novel counterpart are extraordinary and need to be read. Melinda’s story needs to be read and seen by everyone as it has happened and is still happening to so many people who can’t SPEAK out and need this novel in their lives.