Review - Silence is Goldfish

Silence is Goldfish by Annabel Pitcher

What they say: My name is Tess Turner - at least, that's what I've always been told.

I have a voice but it isn't mine. It used to say things so I'd fit in, to please my parents, to please my teachers. It used to tell the universe I was something I wasn't. It lied.

It never occurred to me that everyone else was lying too. But the words that really hurt weren't the lies: it was six hundred and seventeen words of truth that turned my world upside down.

Words scare me, the lies and the truth, so I decided to stop using them.

I am Pluto. Silent. Inaccessible. Billions of miles away from everything I thought I knew.

Tessie-T has never really felt she fitted in and after what she read that night on her father's blog she knows for certain that she never will. How she deals with her discovery makes an entirely riveting, heart-breaking story told through Tess's eyes as she tries to find her place in the world.

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I received a copy from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review!

What I say: I'm going to start by saying I read several reviews before starting Silence is Goldfish. They seemed to either really promote or slam the book - there didn't seem to be any middle ground. I was expecting the book to be the Marmite of the YA world. Was it? Well yes it was, at least to a certain degree.  To be honest I enjoyed the story, but did sometimes find Tess hard to like. 
I enjoyed the language - Tess's snark and inner torment made me smile. I remember seeing a T-shirt ages ago with the slogan 'I come with my own background music' and Tess gave me similar feelings. She's witty and far more switched on than I'd expect from somebody of her age. She's also sort of removed from reality. She exists inside her own mind. The tone of her voice actually reminded me of a teenage Marvin the Paranoid Android.

Snark and wit aside, Tess did sometimes annoy me. Yes she’s an outcast but I did find it hard to always feel sympathy for her. In similar books I've felt drawn to this type of character - in The DUFF I loved Bianca's voice and found her far easier to like.  

What I particularly appreciated was how the book covers a lot of deeper issues. We see Tess battle against the usual teen issues like lack of self-confidence and doubt, but it's her other relationships and problems I found more intriguing.

The goldfish wasn't at all what I was expecting, but I found the idea to be clever and a useful tool. I'm honestly not sure what I was expecting from the story, but it definitely had it's ups and downs. Fans of thoughtful YA contemporary stories, will be intrigued by Silence is Goldfish, which is an interesting and clever read... 

3 - 3.5 Stars in my Sky!