Reviews tagging 'Death'

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

251 reviews

kimberlydrabik's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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svtephreads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I cried unexpectedly many times

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adriennegg's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Beautiful storytelling by Celeste Ng that takes you inside the world of each of the Lee family members as their story unfolds. Her writing included accurate depictions of racism, relationships, hidden desires, finding one’s place, love and self-loathing. I loved that the book shared each member’s perspective on the events that unfolded and allowed you to see the family’s unraveling from different views. It’s a great study on the pressures parents put on children and the sometimes unrealistic expectations we groom them to live up to. It’s tough to love due to the themes but hard not to in Ng’s portrayal of them. It’s a well-written piece that I’d recommend.

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heidipretzel's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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ks_'s review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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fancyjess_party's review

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emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75


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frey's review

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challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely devastating read, in the best way possible. Not the genre i usually read but by the quarter-way point i was unable to put it down for long. Even as a non-American it was such a beautiful read with beautifully believable characters. The way of telling the story was so well done and my heart hurt so much for Hannah the longer I read.
Not to mention, finding out at the very end that Lydia didn't actually mean to kill herself broke my heart. The last chapter of the book was so beautifully sorrowful that it nearly broke me. The line from Nath's point of view at the very end of the book: "When, a long, long time later, he stares down at the silent blue marble of the earth and thinks of his sister, as he will at every important moment in his life." I still think about this line weeks later. Nothing encapsulates grief better I think in the book than this line. I will never get over it: "I will always think of you in the most important moments of my life" is grief in its most beautiful form.

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alexandra__rae's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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barnowllette's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Dealing with the complexity of what we hold back, this book tackles on the unsaid in a way that is resonant. The writing style is simple, but describes the intricacies and subtleties of racial hierarchies and double consciousness in a way that leaves the reader examining their own relationship with, not only their identity but also how they interact with others. 

One of the things I look forward to in most novels is character growth and the “act of withholding;” this novel has both in spades. The characters are utterly human, selfish and unconcerned and complex and trying their hardest to be better than what they grew up with but can’t seem to get over themselves. Emotional repression and expectation is a major theme in this novel, culminating in a great message of seeing people for who they truly are and not just who we want them to be.

Lydia, is both a main character but not, almost entirely absent in the first quarter of the book, yet her presence is keenly felt throughout. I love stories like that, with semi-Absent Protagonists (I.e Achilles in Song of Achilles, Thomas Hamilton in Black Sails, or even Michael Berzatto in The Bear).

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adeavila's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
This book is so incredibly emotional. I cried genuine tears for the characters and I felt their pain. All of the characters have complexity and weave a story that creates a beautiful tragedy. 

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