Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Everything I Never Told You

The characters are unlikeable with zero redeeming qualities, there's so much abuse and trauma being inflicted that was triggering for me, and in the end it feels like there's no real resolution and no accountability for what these people did to one another.

Content Warnings

adriennegg's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

heidipretzel's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

frey's review

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings