Collect Louder Than Words Compiled By Laurie Plissner Textbook

articulated in teenstyle writing underdeveloped themes and overlying message, This book was just okay for me, I'm a speechlanguage pathologist and I enjoy young adult fiction, so I thought a book about a girl who cannot speak but instead uses a computerized voice box might appeal to me.


This book felt like it had too many stories going on, It felt like part teen love story, part mystery, part psych session and that none of those stories were fleshed out as well as they could have been.
Sasha is not a very likable character at first, She is hurt and sarcastic and a "bad girl", She has a wonderful best friend, Jules, who has stuck with her through the tragedy of her family's death and for the pastyears since then of Sasha's mutism.
Then Sasha meets Ben and the story plays out like Twilight for a little while, He's perfect, beautiful, gentlemanly, and has a supernatural power he can read minds, Then after a little while of lovely perfectness, he pulls away from her and she spends the rest of the book trying to heal herself to win him back.


It's typical teenage story/behavior where the teens find a problem and decide that they have to solve the mystery themselves rather than telling any adults about it.
So, it's full of situations that aren't entirely believable aside from the mind reading of things teens would be able to get away with on their own.


The ending wasn't anything spectacular to me, I didn't find it to be any big twist and wasn't surprised by anything, I didn't predict all of the details per se, but I didn't find any of them very surprising or intriguing either.


When it ended, I felt like I was missing some details still, like there were some unanswered questions.
Ben's mom, for example, was never fleshed out more, We know that Ben comes from a "unique family" and that she also has some kind of "special power" but we never learn what it is.
Also, the scene where Ben was home with his parents and acting like a jerk to them and also said later that he didn't want to talk about his mom, we never find out why.
Why would the author even bring those things up if they weren't going to add to the mystery/story at all It didn't make him seem like a "normal teenager" at all.
I don't know, I just feel like I want to know more about his family and his sixth sense.


Overall, it was a light, fluff teen fiction, This book was a quick read I read it indays, but I'm sure someone else could read it in one day.
Interesting premise, but not fleshed out enough for me, Although Ben was just a character in the book, I almost started to fall in love with him too.
Her boyfriend was very grownup for his age and he understood her on a higher level than most.
If it wasn't for him saving her all the time, where would Sasha be I devoured this book in two days on my Kindle.


Seventeenyearold Sasha is still mute four years after the tragic death of her family in an auto accident.
She has one friend and can only communicate via a voice synthesizer, As you can imagine, high school is a living hell for this girl, When she's saved from gang rape by a mysterious boy named Ben, Sasha is surprised to learn that he can actually read her mind.
. . and what a witty sarcastic mind it is! I enjoyed going along for the ride as Sasha develops a relationship with Ben and revels in her first romance.
When Ben eventually decides they must separate for Sasha to recover her voice, the stage is set for Sasha to unravel the truth behind the accident that claimed the lives of her family.


Laurie Plissner's debut novel is a fastpaced medicalthriller/teen romance that will keep you turning pages.
The premise, writing style, internal dialogue, and sexual tension are great, I notice that the story has been criticized for the degree of sexuality, however no lines are actually crossed.
I think it's an honest representation of what many high school teens discuss and think about.


My only criticism is a perceived plot hole: I wanted to see the four bullies get their just desserts.
I can understand Sasha's reasons for keeping quiet about the attempted rape, but I wanted to see the jocks get nailed for drug trafficking, versus Ben just alluding to it.


On the whole, "Louder Than Words" is an explosive debut novel with a strong voice no pun intended.
I look forward to reading future YA works by Ms, Plissner. Kudos! 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 jokeseven 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.
Okay so I think the summary above does little to make sense of this novel, First it's Sasha's older sister that is killed in the car crash, Sasha goes to live with her mom's sister and her husband who had decided not to have children because of their law careers.
But lucky for Sasha, they are kind and loving people who, if they don't get it right it's not for lack of trying, it's more for lack of knowing how.
Charlotte, her aunt, tends to be neurotic and a bit dramatic but Stuart, Charlotte's husband always seems to be able to say one word to bring her back to sensible reason and he can talk her out of any kind of kooky scheme like talking to Ben when Sasha and Ben break up.


So while we're on the subject of Sasha and Ben, yes, Ben can read minds.
There is a funny little scene in the library where he dares to invade Sasha's private little sofa area and then she's trying to look at him on the sly and with every thought about how sexy he is his smile grows despite the rather serious book he's reading by Sartre.
At this point, and throughout the book, her only forms of communication are through a computer generated voice box and a piece of paper and pen.
She leaves in a huff at his apparent amusement only to make a stupid girl mistake, walking through a park in the dark alone.
This is the second book I've

read where this happened, Are teenage girls really that dumb And when Ben rescues her from something truly frightening she finds out about him being able to read her mind.
Also, she doesn't report the incident he rescues her from like she should, Again, I know it's traumatic but why let them get away with it, They picked her because she couldn't tell, because she was mute, It left me uncomfortable, especially when Ben told her she was beautiful afterwords, Creepy. They do begin a relationship which Sasha has no experience with and is clearly not ready for.
Her hormones are leading the charge very inexpertly and with a guy that can read her every desire it's very awkward.
Thankfully, Ben is more of a gentleman than most men and he keeps things at a slow and chaste pace until the breakup.


Sasha's biggest problem is that she can't talk, She can't remember the accident nor anything leading up to the accident including her childhood, The renowned PTSD psychiatrist working with her has had no success with her after four years.
But then Sasha starts doing a few things on her own and discovers some secret notes at the crash site and fresh flowers and realizes that maybe there was another car there.
She has a wonderful best friend that I would have loved to have seen more of but what I did see was someone that was loyal to a fault.
This girl was very popular, head cheerleader, boyfriends by the handful, but she pushed all that away to stand beside her friend and never minded the talking machine she used.
Jules never gave up on the idea that Sasha would one day get her voice back.
She went on stake outs and fact finding missions with her, She was as loyal as a hound dog,

And Ben, though he had the best intentions when he broke up with Sasha, finally realizes the error of his ways.
But I didn't like how all over the place he was, He seemed too good to be true, but then he played with Sasha's emotions,
But he did come through in the clutch, And his mother was a wonderful healer for Sasha and mother figure for her,

In all, I really enjoyed the book except for the fact that attempted rapes aren't reported as I've seen in several other books.
Why I think this encourages girls to keep silent, NO! Speak out. Don't stay quiet. It really bothers me that the police didn't get involved although some revenge was exacted upon them.
The mystery part of the story lead somewhere I hadn't even thought about so that part was well done.
I hadn't even considered that person being involved in the crash, So that was a complete surprise, And again, this one is a nail biter to the very last sentence,

I'd recommend this one to contemporary readers that don't mind a dash of magic with their romances.
All the questions about sex and flirting and relationships with the opposite sex were difficult for even me to answer so I felt Sasha's angst.
And I could only imagine her pain at the loss she suffered, In all it was a solid story, just a few pet peeves touched on,

Definitely for a mature YA reader as a lot of focus on sex,

I received a copy of this novel from Merit Press through NetGalley, I was not compensated for my review,
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