I was drawn to this book due to the fact it features a disabled heroine: a young girl with hysterical (selective) muteness. Due to a car crash in which she lost her parents and sister, PTSD has rendered her speechless.Wanting to keep people at bay, she uses a robotic voice, drawing lots of backlash and Stephen Hawkings jokes--even from teachers. She's an outcast, a misfit. I understood and sympathized with her.
And she has an incredibly LOL sarcastic humor and wit. I loved it and was all set to give this book a five 'til the hero really entered the picture.
At first I was perturbed by the "I can read your mind" thing. It was just too convenient. Personally, I would have preferred he love her, ROBOT VOICE AND ALL, than be able to talk to her without it. How do we know he really cares for her? After all, she can just telepath her thoughts. Would he love her so much if she was using her hawkie talkie every ten minutes?
Then, he did the inexcusable in my eyes. He told her he wouldn't be with her until she talks again. I don't care if it's selective muteness, she has a disability, and you must accept her for how she is. That would be like my husband telling me "I don't want to be with you until you can hear." I'm deaf. Hello? How rude.
I enjoyed the coming of age tale, the heroine's wit, the mystery of her the car crash, but I did not enjoy or like the boyfriend. Yea, yea, he claims he didn't want to hinder her healing, but I never bought it.
So I both liked and didn't like this. I think a YA book should tell teenagers it's okay to be different. It's okay to be mute, deaf, crippled, whatever. Don't try to change yourself for anyone else. But this book to me sent the other and the wrong message: change so you can have a boyfriend!
I still enjoyed it overall, though. Three bikes. I received this via Amazon Vine.
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