Since the snowy night when her family's car slammed into a tree, killing her parents and little sister, Sasha has been unable to speak except through a computer with a robotic voice. Nothing is wrong with her body; that's healed. But, after four years, Sasha's memory, and her spirit, are still broken. Then one day, she's silently cussing out the heavy book she dropped at the library when a gorgeous, dark-haired boy, the kind of boy who considers Sasha a freak or at least invisible, "answers" Sasha's hidden thoughts -- out loud. Yes, Ben can read minds; it's no big deal. He's part of a family with a host of unusual, almost-but-not-quite-supernatural talents. Through Ben's love, Sasha makes greater progress than she has with a host of therapists and a prominent psychiatrist. With him to defend her, bullies keep the world from ever understanding Sasha, he pulls away. Determined to win him and prove her courage by facing her past, Sasha confronts her past -- only to learn that her family's death was no accident and that a similar fate may wait for her, in the unlikeliest of disguises.
(cover from Amazon.com, description from goodreads.com)
I picked this up from my local library because the premise is undoubtedly interesting. And there are certainly good parts about this book. The writing style itself is fairly simple and straightforward, and if you have more of an attention span than I do, it's a quick read. However, the cons outweigh the pros.
There were so many asides that took up entire chapters, and then were promptly dropped, such as the man Jules and Sasha go to see who wrote the book about forgiveness through poetry. I was waiting even until the end for him to be relevant again, and nada. Also, the end came out of left field; the letter Dr. O leaves for Sasha at the tree, about the relationship she had with Sasha's father, was not hinted at at all. The entire thing felt like the author got through writing most of the book, then suddenly realized "Oh. I should probably make someone actually be responsible for the accident now that I've established that... the psychologist did it. Brilliant!" Not only that, but the final chapter felt tacked-on at the last minute. Perhaps Plissner's editor(s) told her that she had to provide closure, and she wrote that up in a rush? I suppose I'll never know.
As another aside, some things seemed researched while others didn't. She took the effort to research the statute of limitations for Connecticut, but other things, such as Sasha over-dosing on sleeping pills and Dr. O faking her charts, didn't seem that well thought-through. Especially negative considering the author bio says Plissner was a courtroom litigator before becoming a full-time mom and writer.
In the end, probably not a book I'd recommend unless you read quickly or have a lot of time to spend reading. There are plenty better.
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