Review: What I Didn't Say By: Keary Taylor

Title: What I Didn't Say

Author: Keary Taylor

Published: April 30th, 2012

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:

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 Thoughts:

What I Didn't Say is one of the most powerful novels that I have read in a long time and it has stuck with me still long after reading it.

Jake Hayes is just your average teenage boy, on the football team and in love with a girl who has no idea. He seems to have a pretty awesome life, a huge family and great friends. Not to mention he lives on a small island where everyone knows each other. His life was just normal until one night changes everything. The whole high school has shown up to the party on the beach, bon fires and drinking. After getting drunk, Jake's friends convince him that he finally needs to tell his crush Samantha Shay, that he is in love with her. They jump into his friend's truck and set off to her house. But instead they get into a car accident with Jake taking the worst damage. His vocal cords had been severed and he would never be able to speak again, he is mute. 

Jake was such a memorable character for me. I couldn't imagine having to deal with everything that he is faced with. I loved how much we got to really see into his head, we saw him wrestle with how is life was going to change and how he was going to let this tragedy affect him and his future, he felt so real to me and after reading this book I felt so close to him that I could even call him a friend (if he existed lol) You never know what you have until its gone and this story definitely reminded me to be thankful for everything that I have, especially the things that I don't normally think of as being important to me such as my hearing or my speech, things that I take for granted every day.  Even though Jake has gone through such a devastating thing for a person, his accident brought so many different and new people into his life that he may have never gotten the opportunity to be close to like his crush Samantha Shay.

Samantha was also a important and amazing character in this book. She becomes Jake's independent study teacher, teaching him sign language and they become friends quickly. One of the main things that I loved about Samantha was how she treated Jake, she didn't let him get away with anything. She never treated him any different they she would anybody else and she didn't let him feel sorry for himself or even give up. I don't want to give away too much of Samantha's story but, I will say that as you learn more about her and everything she is going through, the fact that she is who she is, was amazing.

Overall, this book was such an emotional read, had me tearing up in parts and really reflecting on all of the things in my life that I need to be more grateful for and everything that I take for granted. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys reading realistic fiction and contemporary, this book was really powerful and I definitely enjoyed it.

Happy Reading!

Kristin