Annabel Pitcher always does a great job of creating a very readable story. Even with this one, in parts its not 'nice' to read in parts and perhaps a little too realistic, but I guess I like that too to an extent. Tess kind of reminded me of Holden from The Catcher in the Rye, and so probably not to everyone's cup of tea. She's a classic whiny teenager who doesn't hold back on the whining. Her immaturity makes her leap to conclusions a lot of the time. A big thing that bothered me throughout the book is the severity of the bullying that doesn't get addressed or resolved.

The relationship between parent and child is complex as puberty hits, is something I'm sure we can all relate to one or the other. Tess wants to please her parents but of course she also finds herself disagreeing with them over things and the turmoil of wanting to stand up for herself too. Tess turns to silent conversations with an inanimate goldfish, which brings both humour and insightful details of how Tess is feeling. These conversations are what make the book so thought-provoking and bring some of the most interesting aspects of the book.

I would definitely recommend this title, but I would advise potential readers not to expect an exciting plot but more of a deep reflection on personal relationships and teenage turmoil.

Tess Turner has just discovered something terrible. In six hundred and seventeen words her life changed, and she feels her entire world crashing down around her. She responds to this discovery by retreating into silence.

The theme of the novel is what appealed to me, it was about how our identity is shaped and what constitutes as the ‘real’ parents, is it the one who shares your DNA or the one who raised you. These are questions that are thread through this novel and are dealt with in depth.

However, I couldn’t relate to Tess. She has a strong relationship with her parents but instead of talking to them, she bottles everything up. I struggled with connect to her and her viewpoint.

After enjoying Ketchup Clouds and My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece, I was delighted to be approved for a copy of Annabel Pitcher’s latest YA release, Silence is Goldfish, on Netgalley. Silence is Goldfish tells the story of Tess, who becomes selectively mute when she reads her stepfather’s angry rant about how much he resents her being born. With bullying classmates as well as manipulative teachers taking advantage of her silence, can Tess find the strength to speak once more? I would have enjoyed Silence is Goldfish more if it wasn’t for the weird goldfish torch that Tess kept with her at all times and talked to on occasion. For me, it didn’t add to the story and made Tess appear younger than what she was. I also didn’t like how her stepdad was portrayed at the beginning and at the end of the book; it was a complete change in tone. I awarded Silence is Goldfish 3* at the time as, despite my reservations, I continued to read the book to find out what happened. However, for me, it was nowhere near as good as Annabel’s previous books.

I thought I had downloaded this book on to my kindle, but unfortunately it didn't seem to work, so I have not been able to read this book.