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A review by monitaroymohan
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
5.0
Wow. This book was something special. It came highly recommended by my sister and I am so glad I listened to her.
The story takes place after a Chinese-American family discover that their child is dead. The events leading up to that moment are dissected from every point of view. The author paints each character with broad, vivid strokes of characterization. None of these characters are perfect but each one is a touching tribute to the struggles of being human.
Ng is so deft in her portrayal of these flawed but understandable individuals, she will move you to tears with her authenticity. If in one chapter you want to shake the character out of their idiocy or stupor, in the next you will want to embrace them with a mutual sense of yearning and sadness.
This book is utterly sad, but it isn’t overly melancholic or depressing. Through the lens of a family in mourning, the book seems to lift itself up from being an overly-wrought tearjerker. Ng’s characterizations don’t feel contrived, which is why the book is so moving.
My one criticism would be the book’s need to end on a positive note - it would have sufficed for the characters to decide to move on or at the most, to accept their grief, but the author seems intent on forgiving her characters all their wrongs. Maybe we should have stopped a few pages before the ending.
I just love this book even though family dramas are not my forte. When they’re written this beautifully though, who can complain.
The story takes place after a Chinese-American family discover that their child is dead. The events leading up to that moment are dissected from every point of view. The author paints each character with broad, vivid strokes of characterization. None of these characters are perfect but each one is a touching tribute to the struggles of being human.
Ng is so deft in her portrayal of these flawed but understandable individuals, she will move you to tears with her authenticity. If in one chapter you want to shake the character out of their idiocy or stupor, in the next you will want to embrace them with a mutual sense of yearning and sadness.
This book is utterly sad, but it isn’t overly melancholic or depressing. Through the lens of a family in mourning, the book seems to lift itself up from being an overly-wrought tearjerker. Ng’s characterizations don’t feel contrived, which is why the book is so moving.
My one criticism would be the book’s need to end on a positive note - it would have sufficed for the characters to decide to move on or at the most, to accept their grief, but the author seems intent on forgiving her characters all their wrongs. Maybe we should have stopped a few pages before the ending.
I just love this book even though family dramas are not my forte. When they’re written this beautifully though, who can complain.