What I Didn’t Say by Keary Taylor

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

Title: What I Didn't Say
Author: Keary Taylor
Published by: Indie
Release Date: May 5, 2012
Format: Kindle Book
Pages: 328
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 Diversity Reading Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Summer Hunt
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:

Blurb:

Getting drunk homecoming night your senior year is never a good idea, but Jake Hayes never expected it all to end with a car crash and a t-post embedded in his throat.

His biggest regret about it all? What he never said to Samantha Shay. He's been in love with her for years and never had the guts to tell her. Now it's too late. Because after that night, Jake will never be able to talk again.

When Jake returns to his small island home, population 5,000, he'll have to learn how to deal with being mute. He also finds that his family isn't limited to his six brothers and sisters, that sometimes an entire island is watching out for you. And when he gets the chance to spend more time with Samantha, she'll help him learn that not being able to talk isn’t the worst thing that could ever happen to you. Maybe, if she'll let him, Jake will finally tell her what he didn't say before, even if he can't actually say it.

My Review:

ON REREAD:
3 stars — You know, I didn’t want to reread this book…or rather, I was afraid to reread it.  It was like some part of me knew that I was a different person, and so I wouldn’t read the book the same way.  And that little part of me was right on the money.  I can see what I loved about it 7 years ago, but the Lenore I am now also saw a crap ton of other things that just don’t work for me anymore.  I was going to give it a half star bump mostly for nostalgia, but after writing the review, I just can’t.

The things that I originally loved were still present, and still tugged at my heartstrings.  I truly felt for what both Jake and Sam struggled with.  The tragedy of the accident was still there, and the despair at dealing with such a large life change was still depicted…and felt relatively realistic for a teenager (though it wasn’t all sunshine and roses, I’ll come back to this).  I also really loved how sweet Jake was in general, his adorable crush on Sam, and the way his caring expanded as a result of things he learns.

BUT.  But.  I don’t know.  It’s like my “self” of 7 years ago just glossed right over a bunch of stuff…like the slut shaming and the judginess of the book.  I mean, for goodness sake, the “evil” girl is nicknamed Norah the Whorah.  UGH.  Which, fine, teenagers are dicks sometimes.  But our supposed sweet Jake is supposed to be the good/kind one, and he still uses the name and thinks bad thoughts.  For example, when Sam brings him to his bedroom he gets nervous about what they’re going to do, and he thinks something along the lines of “Sam wouldn’t do that, she’s not Norah.”  UGH.  I’m, like, so over slut shaming, I can’t even.  Now that I see it, I can’t unsee it.  And that’s not the only judginess, oh no…  After the accident the whole school pledges not to drink alcohol or do drugs again, because, you know, evil.  OR maybe you could pledge not to DRIVE impaired (and tone down the partying).  As with my original review, it annoys the shit out of me that there were no LEGAL consequences to the fact Carter drove IMPAIRED.

And then there’s the way the story deals with Jake’s disability.  *sigh*  This is a fine line that I’m willing to say the book walked, and it just didn’t work for me.  He gets over (and rather quickly) being depressed about his muteness because someone else has it worse than him.  That’s not a great message.  It diminishes the experience of the person struggling with the disability.  You’re allowed to feel your feelings.  And as such, the story basically doesn’t show much about him learning to live with his new circumstances, it focuses more on the Sam storyline.  And, as a side note, the believability of what happened to him, how it was dealt with, etc, was not high.  I sat there thinking “uh, wouldn’t there be a shit-ton more options?  Really, he can already eat?  etc.”

So yeah.  It’s not that I don’t see what I loved, it’s that I can’t unsee all the rest.  And for the grammar nazis out there, it’s not the greatest (she used the wrong past (passed) pretty much every time).  So now I’m bummed.  Thanks Brett, for picking this one.  😛

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
OK, maybe more of a 4.5 stars — I really wanted Carter and Rain to feel more guilty about what they did…but I guess that would have been their story, and not Jake’s eh? So yeah, other than that — LOVED IT! I liked that Jake actually went through a few stages (anger, denial, depression) and instead of coming across cliche, they were never pointed out and were just sort of natural…you could empathize with him. And Sam was a great foil for Jake. Only problem is, after sitting in my empty house reading this for hours…I started to convince myself I wouldn’t be able to speak anymore either…

COYER Summer Hunt: Read a book with a person with a disability as MC — 2 points.