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

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

4.75

Ng writes family dysfunction and pain so well that anyone reading this book who has experienced some form of family trauma is likely to be slightly triggered. Although I certainly had a visceral reaction to the book, I loved it. It was quietly hypnotic and addicting; Ng let the plot unfold methodically yet unexpectedly, feeding the reader just enough to keep them informed yet slightly too little so they were still out of the loop. Ng's writing is flawless; her ability to move narrator within paragraphs without it being confusing or inaccessible is quite remarkable and a style that worked wonderfully for this book. It allowed the reader to flit around the family who, whilst a unit, were not connected; the narration style highlighted this disconnection and allowed us to see each characters' perspective isolated from the other characters, mirroring exactly how the Lee family was living. The book, in this sense, was frustrating and sad with so many instances of poor communication and intergenerational trauma as well as external pressures such as racism. Whilst it is a hard read and one that may challenge anyone who does not have the emotional capacity for the topics it explores, this book is incredibly poignant and moving. It has left me deeply questioning the idea of parenthood, how it has manifested itself in my life, and how I may reproduce this in the future without any real introspection.
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