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sneeps's review against another edition
4.0
The story begins with the day Lydia is discovered missing, and we are told immediately that she is dead. We flip back and forth between the family's past, seeing James and Marilyn's childhoods and romance, and the present, following the weeks after Lydia's death. The climax is learning how Lydia died, which I found both tragic and satisfying. It's hard not to see the tragedy of each of the characters' lives, and hard not to feel a twinge of pain for them all.
As the title implies, this book is all about leaving things left unsaid, and the consequences of doing so. I felt genuine sympathy for each character, I understood why they did things and never thought they were being stupid or foolish. Many mistakes were made, but all were just people genuinely trying their best, and falling short. It was often painful to watch; being intimately aware of the thoughts and feelings of two people and having to watch them stumble through intense interactions where they misinterpreted each other constantly. It was never frustrating to me though, just sad. I never threw my hands up, exasperated, yelling "just talk to each other!" the way I do during other stories (or pretty much half of all posts on r/relationships). I just sighed, and wished they could be braver, or more self-aware. It makes me think about how many times I hold back from saying something for fear of rejection, unaware of how receptive the other person would be.
(really tho i am very tired of stories about straight dudes cheating on their wives, my one criticism here)
As the title implies, this book is all about leaving things left unsaid, and the consequences of doing so. I felt genuine sympathy for each character, I understood why they did things and never thought they were being stupid or foolish. Many mistakes were made, but all were just people genuinely trying their best, and falling short. It was often painful to watch; being intimately aware of the thoughts and feelings of two people and having to watch them stumble through intense interactions where they misinterpreted each other constantly. It was never frustrating to me though, just sad. I never threw my hands up, exasperated, yelling "just talk to each other!" the way I do during other stories (or pretty much half of all posts on r/relationships). I just sighed, and wished they could be braver, or more self-aware. It makes me think about how many times I hold back from saying something for fear of rejection, unaware of how receptive the other person would be.
(really tho i am very tired of stories about straight dudes cheating on their wives, my one criticism here)
meh523's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely amazing! I finished it in almost one day. Beautiful, tragic, and hopeful wrapped into one story
parsnipsnap's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
3.75
marissaquach's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
valko's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.0
dascruggs's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
4.5
catbag's review against another edition
5.0
Everything I Never Told You ✵ Celeste Ng
“It was too big to talk about, what had happened. It was like a landscape they could not see all at once; it was like the sky at night, which turned and turned so they couldn’t find its edges. It would always feel too big. He pushed her in. And then he pulled her out. All her life, Lydia would remember one thing. All his life, Nath would remember another.”
Man, this book hurts. Everyone in it is in pain, and they’re all constantly hurting each other without knowing, until the hurt runs so deep it feels impossible to escape it. To read Everything I Never Told You is to have your heart break over and over as you watch a family rip itself apart because of everything left unsaid.
I wish—” He stopped, swallowing the words back down: I wish I’d had it when I was your age. Perhaps, he thought, everything would have been different; if he’d known how to handle people, how to make them like him, perhaps… He’d have gotten more out of life.
Everything I Never Told You is about James and Marilyn Lee and their three children: Nath, Lydia, and Hannah. It’s told through flashbacks leading up to Lydia’s death and the days following it. With this dual timeline, we’re shown two parents stuck in the past and using past pain as an excuse to act poorly in present days. Both Marilyn and James actively try to shape a chosen child in a way that they believe will prevent the child from experiencing the same things that hurt the parent. But by trying to prevent things that have already happened, both parents end up hurting their children anyway. Lydia and Nath struggle through their lives with their parents’ expectations weighing heavily on them. Every move they make is a consequence of their environment, and they make many, many decisions that only cause everyone else more pain. It’s a horrible cycle to watch and it hurt so much to read.
“no need to tear another hole, even a pinprick, in their lives.”
My two favorite characters were the ones who kept getting hurt by those around them, but who chose to be kind and to minimize the pain they passed on as much as they could. One of these characters was the third child of James and Marilyn, Hannah, and the other was their neighbor Jack. Both were outsiders who were ignored and misunderstood, but at every moment they could have done what every other character did and hurt someone else, they chose to be kind. In the end, it was their quiet understanding that helped me and the other characters find the ability to go on with their lives after all the pain they’d experienced, and I love that Ng gave us characters like Hannah and Jack.
“There is nowhere to go but on.”
Everything I Never Told You is a quiet, introspective novel about the cycle of pain and hurt. It’s an incredibly moving journey with realistic characters that I recommend everyone read.
“It was too big to talk about, what had happened. It was like a landscape they could not see all at once; it was like the sky at night, which turned and turned so they couldn’t find its edges. It would always feel too big. He pushed her in. And then he pulled her out. All her life, Lydia would remember one thing. All his life, Nath would remember another.”
Man, this book hurts. Everyone in it is in pain, and they’re all constantly hurting each other without knowing, until the hurt runs so deep it feels impossible to escape it. To read Everything I Never Told You is to have your heart break over and over as you watch a family rip itself apart because of everything left unsaid.
I wish—” He stopped, swallowing the words back down: I wish I’d had it when I was your age. Perhaps, he thought, everything would have been different; if he’d known how to handle people, how to make them like him, perhaps… He’d have gotten more out of life.
Everything I Never Told You is about James and Marilyn Lee and their three children: Nath, Lydia, and Hannah. It’s told through flashbacks leading up to Lydia’s death and the days following it. With this dual timeline, we’re shown two parents stuck in the past and using past pain as an excuse to act poorly in present days. Both Marilyn and James actively try to shape a chosen child in a way that they believe will prevent the child from experiencing the same things that hurt the parent. But by trying to prevent things that have already happened, both parents end up hurting their children anyway. Lydia and Nath struggle through their lives with their parents’ expectations weighing heavily on them. Every move they make is a consequence of their environment, and they make many, many decisions that only cause everyone else more pain. It’s a horrible cycle to watch and it hurt so much to read.
“no need to tear another hole, even a pinprick, in their lives.”
My two favorite characters were the ones who kept getting hurt by those around them, but who chose to be kind and to minimize the pain they passed on as much as they could. One of these characters was the third child of James and Marilyn, Hannah, and the other was their neighbor Jack. Both were outsiders who were ignored and misunderstood, but at every moment they could have done what every other character did and hurt someone else, they chose to be kind. In the end, it was their quiet understanding that helped me and the other characters find the ability to go on with their lives after all the pain they’d experienced, and I love that Ng gave us characters like Hannah and Jack.
“There is nowhere to go but on.”
Everything I Never Told You is a quiet, introspective novel about the cycle of pain and hurt. It’s an incredibly moving journey with realistic characters that I recommend everyone read.
staceycriddlereads's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
ashiscurrentlyreading's review against another edition
4.0
i don’t usually read sad books, but i picked this one up on a whim and i really felt for all the characters. how wanted to yell at them to make better decisions, but i could still understand their actions. this is what happens when no one takes the time to understand each other, and the things they never told each other. absolutely heartbreaking, but i don’t regret reading it, as it opens up a lot of room for thinking and discussions. i can see myself thinking about this book for a long time.