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A review by katykelly
All the Things We Never Said by Yasmin Rahman
5.0
Important subject, sensitively and honestly handled, with a multicultural cast of adolescents and their varied lives.
A tough subject to read about - young people deciding that suicide is their only way out of their problems - but one that covers the topic with consideration and principle.
With a three-way narration, we discover why three adolescent girls each separately join the Memento Mori website, which matches up those wanting to kill themselves, so they can work together towards the same end. Cara is wheelchair-bound after being involved in a car accident that killed her much-loved father. Mehreen self-harms and struggles to fit in with family and friends, listening to the voices in her head that tell her she is worthless and unloved. And Olivia has a mum obsessed with keeping a boyfriend close, while Olivia outwardly appears in control, she is hiding her own terrible secrets.
The three girls, directed by Memento Mori, are brought together to complete their suicide pact, but find friendship and support along the way, finding someone at last who understands and makes them rethink their decision. But if they renege on their promise, will that be the end of it?
I rushed through these short chapters, the differing perspectives of the three stories that intermingle. Each thread was heart-breaking, seeing what it takes to send a young person down this path. Each family situation showed how a lack of communication and misunderstandings can leave vulnerable adolescents without the network of support and loving care that can make or break a person's psyche and mental wellness.
Each voice sounded real, Cara most amusingly (such a potty mouth!) making jokes about her own disability while frustrated by her overly-protective mother, Olivia is the perfectly-polite fashionista, Mehreen the artist and 'good Muslim girl' who is constrained by her religion and family.
A tense story, we never get a full picture of just how the Memento Mori website works, it is a threatening presence as the young women try to help each other through their obstacles. The author shows the terrible lows of suicidal thoughts, the thoughts that occur that bring someone to that tipping point, as well as the huge change a friend and confidante can make.
This could well prove to be helpful in schools (some swearing aside and sexual suggestions, the content is not graphic), and readers will relate to the characters and their technology-driven lives. The problems here are, unfortunately, not uncommon ones.
There are contacts for helpful websites/organisations at the end. A very well-composed story that handles a delicate topic with the right amounts of frankness, humour and pathos.
For ages 14 and above.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.
A tough subject to read about - young people deciding that suicide is their only way out of their problems - but one that covers the topic with consideration and principle.
With a three-way narration, we discover why three adolescent girls each separately join the Memento Mori website, which matches up those wanting to kill themselves, so they can work together towards the same end. Cara is wheelchair-bound after being involved in a car accident that killed her much-loved father. Mehreen self-harms and struggles to fit in with family and friends, listening to the voices in her head that tell her she is worthless and unloved. And Olivia has a mum obsessed with keeping a boyfriend close, while Olivia outwardly appears in control, she is hiding her own terrible secrets.
The three girls, directed by Memento Mori, are brought together to complete their suicide pact, but find friendship and support along the way, finding someone at last who understands and makes them rethink their decision. But if they renege on their promise, will that be the end of it?
I rushed through these short chapters, the differing perspectives of the three stories that intermingle. Each thread was heart-breaking, seeing what it takes to send a young person down this path. Each family situation showed how a lack of communication and misunderstandings can leave vulnerable adolescents without the network of support and loving care that can make or break a person's psyche and mental wellness.
Each voice sounded real, Cara most amusingly (such a potty mouth!) making jokes about her own disability while frustrated by her overly-protective mother, Olivia is the perfectly-polite fashionista, Mehreen the artist and 'good Muslim girl' who is constrained by her religion and family.
A tense story, we never get a full picture of just how the Memento Mori website works, it is a threatening presence as the young women try to help each other through their obstacles. The author shows the terrible lows of suicidal thoughts, the thoughts that occur that bring someone to that tipping point, as well as the huge change a friend and confidante can make.
This could well prove to be helpful in schools (some swearing aside and sexual suggestions, the content is not graphic), and readers will relate to the characters and their technology-driven lives. The problems here are, unfortunately, not uncommon ones.
There are contacts for helpful websites/organisations at the end. A very well-composed story that handles a delicate topic with the right amounts of frankness, humour and pathos.
For ages 14 and above.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.