A review by kxtekss
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.25

this book was sad. like so sad I think it might have been to the detriment of the book's overall quality because I'd feel sick reading it. so incredibly sad I thought about tabling it, but Ng is such a great writer that I couldn't bring myself to do it.
this book will leave you feeling hollow, will force you to come face to face with everything in your life that you've done right and wrong, as if there can really be a right and a wrong. as the title implies, you'll think of everything these characters never tell each other and think of all the things you should say but couldn't, and the things you did say but didn't mean. this is my second novel by Ng, and I think this might be her specialty. she can create a story that is just so heartbreakingly beautiful. 
Ng does a wonderful job of switching between the POVs of various characters, showing us what each person was feeling, how others interpreted it, and the reality of the consequences of their actions. I thought this is what made the book extraordinarily special---you were watching everyone's feelings unfold so fluidly before your eyes, and by the time you find out what happened to Lydia, you realize just how preventable it could have been. 
again, it's a sad book, so caution going into it, but I'd suggest. personally, I think Ng might be one of the best contemporary writers out there.
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