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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Everything I Never Told You in Books

Feb 8, 2018

Everything I Never Told You

Celeste Ng | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry

7.7

(14 Ratings)

Book Rating

I forget where I saw a recommendation for this book (who am I kidding, probably <i>People</i> or <i>Entertainment Weekly</i>, about the extent of my "literary" reading these days), but it wasn't quite what I expected. Less mystery surrounding a disappearance/death and more "human interest" about a-- truth be told-- rather unlikable family.

The novel chronicles the Lee family, who wakes up one day to find their eldest daughter/sister, Lydia, missing. Eventually Lydia's body is found in the local lake, and the family is turned upside down.
It goes without saying, but it's really a rather depressing book. Lydia's parents, Marilyn and James, are just awful, and not just because they are grieving. I found very little to like in them. Lydia's siblings, Nath and Hannah, aren't nearly as bad (Hannah is truly the redeeming one in the family), but still. It's hard to root for a family that you don't much care for. There are also some strange side plots involving the siblings that never really seem resolved.

As a parent, I found aspects of the book interesting -- the way Lydia's mom pushes her so much to attain a dream that really belonged to Marilyn. In addition, the family is still reeling from Marilyn's brief disappearance before Hannah was even born. Ng does do a good job of showing how much this impacts the family, especially the kids. It's a little frightening, really, as the sinking realization of how every little thing you do can follow your children, even 10 years later (though in Marilyn's case, she really does some damaging things).

Still, those redeeming moments couldn't salvage the whole book for me. I liked it well enough, but I was left at the end feeling a little depressed and annoyed and wishing more loose ends were tied up.

Kudos

The Godmother's Secret

Elizabeth St. John

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

What if you knew what happened to the Princes in the Tower. Would you tell? Or would you forever...

Biographical Historical Fiction Historical Mystery

ALilLacey (2 KP) rated After Impact (After Impact #1) in Books

Mar 4, 2019

After Impact was a great start to a new thought provoking series. Avalon brought interest to a new look of how the world may handle an asteroid destroying life on earth. I liked actually reading a book where a younger girl actually acted appropriately for her age and that she was intelligent. The book keeps you wondering how society will not only function being the last few thousand alive on earth and waking from cryo-sleep hoping to find the outside earth environment liveable. In addition to that, we work through a mysterious illness and disappearance of some of the lower class residence. Of course we also have a good mix of love interests too. Overall an excellent young adult book and it's a clean read! Definitely recommended. I can't wait to read the next in the series.