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bookfanab's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.5
rowena_liber's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
deschatjes's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent and sensitive transfer to graphic novel of a topic that needs to be spoken about.
marcosbedbooks's review against another edition
5.0
This book was sent to me as a part of the Teenreads.com Teen Board.
SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson is a novel about our main character Melinda Sordino, who at the end of the past summer, called the cops on a party she was at. Due to this all of her friends have stopped talking to her, and just about anyone who knows she called the cops on the party hates her. Now Melinda is trying her best to move on from the party and the events that took place that day, but something happened that night, and if she continues to ignore her past, then her life will come crashing down around her. Laurie Halse Anderson has written countless of Young Adult and Middle-Grade novels, but SPEAK is her most famous to date. Now, I read SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson over a year ago; I would say that it was around January of 2017. It has become one of my favorite books of all time since then, so when I heard there was a graphic novel version of SPEAK being released, I knew that I needed to get my hands on it right away.
First, I want to say that this book has a huge trigger warning for rape, and if you are not comfortable reading about rape, then you should stay away from this book. While I love SPEAK with all of my heart, the scenes of sexual assault are extremely graphic and raw (especially in the graphic novel), which while it does make it a powerful novel, it can also be harmful to those who are not in the right mindset while reading the book.
The artwork in the graphic novel version of SPEAK was absolutely breathtaking; I don’t know how, but Emily Carroll was able to masterfully transfer the novel’s dark tone into images. In fact, I think the images enhanced my overall reading experience. Clear and crisp, the haunting artstyle only made me love the book more than ever.
The story itself was wonderful as it had originally been; the graphic novel stays close to the original plot-wise, and while there were a few changes in the story, it is still heartbreaking and tragic. Because the original novel was published in 1999, making it almost 20 years old, the changes made in the graphic novel version were used to modernize the story. This included mentioning smartphones, Nutella, and social media such as Instagram. I think this made the story more relatable to me personally and was the right decision to make when creating this new edition.
SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson is perhaps one of the most important novels to ever be written for young adults; it was one of the first books ever to deal with a topic such rape and sends the message that one should never be afraid to speak up about sexual assault or rape. SPEAK: The Graphic Novel stays true to the original, and the artwork intensifies the story and manages to capture the feeling of despair from the first page right to the very ending.
SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson is a novel about our main character Melinda Sordino, who at the end of the past summer, called the cops on a party she was at. Due to this all of her friends have stopped talking to her, and just about anyone who knows she called the cops on the party hates her. Now Melinda is trying her best to move on from the party and the events that took place that day, but something happened that night, and if she continues to ignore her past, then her life will come crashing down around her. Laurie Halse Anderson has written countless of Young Adult and Middle-Grade novels, but SPEAK is her most famous to date. Now, I read SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson over a year ago; I would say that it was around January of 2017. It has become one of my favorite books of all time since then, so when I heard there was a graphic novel version of SPEAK being released, I knew that I needed to get my hands on it right away.
First, I want to say that this book has a huge trigger warning for rape, and if you are not comfortable reading about rape, then you should stay away from this book. While I love SPEAK with all of my heart, the scenes of sexual assault are extremely graphic and raw (especially in the graphic novel), which while it does make it a powerful novel, it can also be harmful to those who are not in the right mindset while reading the book.
The artwork in the graphic novel version of SPEAK was absolutely breathtaking; I don’t know how, but Emily Carroll was able to masterfully transfer the novel’s dark tone into images. In fact, I think the images enhanced my overall reading experience. Clear and crisp, the haunting artstyle only made me love the book more than ever.
The story itself was wonderful as it had originally been; the graphic novel stays close to the original plot-wise, and while there were a few changes in the story, it is still heartbreaking and tragic. Because the original novel was published in 1999, making it almost 20 years old, the changes made in the graphic novel version were used to modernize the story. This included mentioning smartphones, Nutella, and social media such as Instagram. I think this made the story more relatable to me personally and was the right decision to make when creating this new edition.
SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson is perhaps one of the most important novels to ever be written for young adults; it was one of the first books ever to deal with a topic such rape and sends the message that one should never be afraid to speak up about sexual assault or rape. SPEAK: The Graphic Novel stays true to the original, and the artwork intensifies the story and manages to capture the feeling of despair from the first page right to the very ending.
debbiemeow's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
entropyseeker's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
3.75
Definitely a read the content warnings book. I wish we had more time to sit with her because it felt like she just decided to get better. The passage of time was rather quick.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Blood and Vomit
lillie444's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
it was great but I don’t like a lot of the things they did different from the original book.
abigailelizabethhuxley's review against another edition
5.0
5 stars ⭐️ A really incredible adaptation of the book dealing with such a serious topic but expressing it so well and being able to capture Melinda’s feelings throughout the book. As a trigger warning the story is about rape and isn’t very graphic but does show the situation in which she was raped but I think it handled it very well and very maturely. The original novel was written by a survivor of rape so it’s written by someone who understands what the protagonist is going through. I think everyone should read this graphic novel it is incredibly moving but also educates about the feelings of someone who goes through this.
memoriast's review against another edition
4.5
I read the original Speak in high school, but I remember not liking it much. Then again, I was in high school. Either way, I think this graphic novel adaptation is a wonderful new take on the story - the entire story is about Melinda not being able to verbally express what happened to her, and Emily Carroll does a wonderful job portraying Melinda's state of mind visually.
mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
WOW. WOW. Ik vond het boek (normale) OK (3 sterren), maar dit? Dit was gewoon weg een emotionele roller-coaster dankzij de fantastische art door Emily Carroll (even mijn favoriete illustrators). Het verhaal voelde soms erg gefragmenteerd maar toch op een manier paste het. Het verhaal werkte echt zoveel beter als graphic novel, echt zoveel meer. Het einde voelde zoveel meer compleet en waar ik bij het boek de revelation van wat er was gebeurd/de opbouw wat te lang vond werkte het hier zoveel beter omdat je al zoveel hints ziet, je ziet veel beter de emotie en de schade die is gekomen door wat er is gebeurd.