Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

47 reviews

jaidenmarie11's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

MY GOD. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Death, Racism, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

allygator's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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

This is an exceptional mystery-shrouded family drama. Celeste Ng, best known for Little Fires Everywhere, is an expert at writing characters so complex and realistic it feels like they could walk off the page and function perfectly normally in society. There are a lot of unlikeable characters, if only because they are making the mistakes that so many people do. They cheat on their partners, they force their problems onto other people, they start fights, they break promises. However, none of them are bad people, just people who make bad decisions and regret them and try their best to make things right. The tragedy of the story is that none of them will ever know exactly what happened to Lydia, despite how hard they try. They will grieve her for the rest of their lives. The fact that they all think they know what happened to her when she died just like they all thought they knew what she wanted in life was heartbreaking. I only wish that the narration was a little less convoluted -- I got lost a few times because I lost track of which characters were being followed when, and when in the timeline we were.
For a debut novel, this is beyond impressive. I can't believe it took me so long to read this and I can't wait to read more of Ng's work in the future.
(Very special shoutout to Jack Wolff because he reminds me of Steve Harrington and therefore he is very precious to me and I wish him nothing but the best.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, Racism, Racial slurs, Child death, and Infidelity

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Pregnancy

sharebear431's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Alcohol, Death of parent, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

beegster16's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Infidelity, Child death, Misogyny, and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide and Alcohol

emherrick's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, and Medical content

Minor: Sexual content

mx_sunshine's review against another edition

mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, Racial slurs, Abandonment, and Infidelity

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual content and Bullying

cell0girl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism and Drug use

I loved the exploration of race in this book, as I learnt more about Chinese culture, as well as the interesting sub-plots about immigration, illicit affairs and school life. Though, it can be hard to follow at times due to the constant flipping before and after Lydia’s death.

microbemom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is one sad family!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Racism, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Death, Racial slurs, and Sexism

Minor: Infidelity, Vomit, Sexual content, and Alcohol

allidone's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexism, Child death, Infidelity, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Death of parent and Misogyny

vedpears's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-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

5.0

I think I have become a Celeste Ng fan girl now. The writing is beautiful and mesmerizing  - such great storytelling! I disliked every character except Nathan and Hannah (spelling? I consumed this book via audiobook). Narcissists all around. I recognized so many scenarios from my own family dynamics and those of my friends'. I find it interesting that some reviews I have read said these characters weren't believable. I whole-heartedly disagree with that sentiment and am certain that those reviewers aren't paying attention to others in their lives, are like one of the parents in the book themselves, or live very fortunately charmed lives. 

I think Celeste Ng does a great job threading context/ characters' histories into the current narrative. That story telling tool often irritates me but she does it so well that it doesn't feel like an interruption. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Grief, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Murder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Suicide, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

Minor: Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Alcohol, and Vomit