Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

76 reviews

borrowmybookjacket's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

It's a great book, but Ng tells very human stories and that can weigh on you as you read sometimes. There are good resolutions ultimately, not much is left hanging except for I guess the potential of a relationship. It's a book that you can feel the hurt coming from, but you actually feel satisfied with it in the end. Not happy. Satisfied.

<spoilers>
I found it so easy to relate to everyone here. Not as much the father may be as much of his struggle was racial and let's be real, I'm a squishy white woman, but my parents have a strained dynamic, I have these kind of relationships at varying times with my mother, my father, and my siblings. I am the youngest, tip-toeing around and listening to what was happening in the house. Can't be noticed, won't be noticed. I am the ignored brother with unrealistic goals even though I was clearly working well toward them without people seeing. I am Lydia, struggling under pressure to be Good and Correct and Doing What Is Expected. My parents didn't know I didn't have friends like that and I clung to moments of attention. I think many folks have. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Physical abuse, Violence, Suicide, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, and Infidelity

Minor: Murder, Vomit, Alcohol, and Blood

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

michaelion's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

Heartbreaking in a way that makes you smile? Or maybe I'm just a little skewed. It's so real. The beauty of the writing style alone hooked me but the story? Too real.

There's a paragraph where mom is thinking about Lydia and how she can mold her future and everything her daughter is going to be that she couldn't and in the middle Hannah is mentioned, as mom is pregnant, and so quickly is she forgotten. She is sandwiched between Marilyn and Lydia, in story and in sentence, just barely acknowledged, but nothing more. That's only ONE example of the writing that had me hooked much earlier than that scene.

So painful. And despite everything that happens the family loves each other so much, in a bad, terrible, abusive and abused way, but as the title shows, none of them know how to tell each other that. None of them know how to be better to each other, but they all want to. I fucking love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Abandonment, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexism, Xenophobia, Death, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Misogyny, Blood, Physical abuse, Body horror, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Outing, Alcohol, Suicide, and Vomit

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

jollymama's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Abandonment

sophia2203's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Bullying, Death, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Grief, 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

kelley_beth's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-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

5.0

A strong start to the new year. This was lovely. And so heart wrenching and I couldn’t put it down. The nuance of family relationships and the weight of expectations. It almost had an element of “murder mystery” that made you wonder if how Lydia died is how Lydia really died. But it’s mainly about the family dynamic and how hard and fraught those relationships can be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Racism, Sexism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Abandonment

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A novel about missed opportunities and words that were never said, this book is sad and thoughtful. It makes you question what you might do differently if the people you love were suddenly no longer here with us. Ng’s books are well-crafted — full of beautiful prose. I can’t wait for her newest novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Racial slurs, Stalking, Child death, Xenophobia, Outing, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Classism, Suicide attempt, Racism, Infidelity, and Grief