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3.13 AVERAGE
3.13 AVERAGE
I received an advanced audiobook copy of Everything We Never Knew. It combines women's fiction and supernatural/speculative fiction. Having been a fan of Julianne Hough for many years, and having background of her own personal story, it has a lot of similar plot and themes.
It wasn’t your typical read and had a unique and unusual storyline, but it was fairly easy to follow as an audiobook, and an added bonus was that it is read by Julianne herself!
It wasn’t your typical read and had a unique and unusual storyline, but it was fairly easy to follow as an audiobook, and an added bonus was that it is read by Julianne herself!
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Grief
This book was weird. Conceptually, I was rolling my eyes a lot. Very curious how closely this resembles Julianne’s life. Wish it was a memoir. A little too far of a reach for me.
I went into this book blind, and due to the fact that I wound up liking it would suggest I'm an outlier.
Why I almost didn't read this once I started:
• It deals with spirituality, healing, and auras which I am curious about, but rarely like to read about as fictional topics
• I only knew one of the co-authors through her appearances with Derek Hough on the TV show So You Think You Can Dance and I was already pre-disposed not to like it, thinking it might be a vanity project.
What I liked about it:
I don't know how much was conceptualized by Julianne, who seems to be multi-talented, or by her ghostwriter Ellen Goodlett, but I thought the fact that they were able to turn a based-on-true-life experience into a cohesive narrative was well done. The descriptions of healing made me long to see auras myself. The Bea character, the owner of the local "oddities" shop, was well drawn, and it was so easy to visualize her. There was the backdrop of the Mormon religion which played well against the idea of Lexi's life crisis brought about by the Saturn return, a concept I had never heard of before this book. There were also interesting takes on how the people in Lexi's life related to her new abilities.
This book is about so much more than spirituality; it's about repressed memories and the lifelong damage they can inflict, about longing for something more, abuse, families, friends, and hope through spiritual awakening.
Overall, it was a well-written book about a difficult to describe topic. I love that there are interviews in the back with both authors, and there is a QR code to take you to a quiz for finding which elements you relate to, as well as a soundtrack written by Julianne.
Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advance reader's copy.
Why I almost didn't read this once I started:
• It deals with spirituality, healing, and auras which I am curious about, but rarely like to read about as fictional topics
• I only knew one of the co-authors through her appearances with Derek Hough on the TV show So You Think You Can Dance and I was already pre-disposed not to like it, thinking it might be a vanity project.
What I liked about it:
I don't know how much was conceptualized by Julianne, who seems to be multi-talented, or by her ghostwriter Ellen Goodlett, but I thought the fact that they were able to turn a based-on-true-life experience into a cohesive narrative was well done. The descriptions of healing made me long to see auras myself. The Bea character, the owner of the local "oddities" shop, was well drawn, and it was so easy to visualize her. There was the backdrop of the Mormon religion which played well against the idea of Lexi's life crisis brought about by the Saturn return, a concept I had never heard of before this book. There were also interesting takes on how the people in Lexi's life related to her new abilities.
This book is about so much more than spirituality; it's about repressed memories and the lifelong damage they can inflict, about longing for something more, abuse, families, friends, and hope through spiritual awakening.
Overall, it was a well-written book about a difficult to describe topic. I love that there are interviews in the back with both authors, and there is a QR code to take you to a quiz for finding which elements you relate to, as well as a soundtrack written by Julianne.
Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advance reader's copy.
Oh! And then she tells her mother she loves her and wants to have a healthy relationship with her despite this?!?!? The sexual assault felt like it was just for shock value :/
Also if my friend was acting like the narrator I would have them committed, but the only character that showed a sliver of concern was her husband who’s made out to be the villain???
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment
2 ⭐️ This was one that started out so promising. The initial discovery of a magical ability opened the main character up to a world of connections. It very quickly devolved into battling pseudoscience and the demise of ab underdeveloped relationship. The self-discovery aspect was a nice concept but took too long to develop for it to have made an impact on this read.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Audio
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A beautiful story about a woman who reaches the point in her life where she has to face her shadows. There is no doubt that when you start questioning life you are faced with a bit of resistance from those that are close to you. This was a beautiful composition of the leaps of faith that are necessary to truly feel the truth within you.
emotional
medium-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry