Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today with another book review. I know, two in a row. What gives? Well, I was on vacation last week and was able to get some reading time in as well as work on the fourth book in “The Starlight Chronicles.” I’m excited about this new series. :)
Anyway, I took a break from my usual young adult reads and focused on an adult title. I first saw this on a Goodreads ad and the ad stated this book was a lot like “The Lovely Bones.” That caught my interest and it was an incredible story. The book is titled, “Everything I never told you” by Celeste Ng. The cover and blurb are below.
Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet . . . So begins the story of this exquisite debut novel, about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother’s bright blue eyes and her father’s jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue—in Marilyn’s case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James’s case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party. When Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart. James, consumed by guilt, sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to find a responsible party, no matter what the cost. Lydia’s older brother, Nathan, is certain that the neighborhood bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it’s the youngest of the family—Hannah—who observes far more than anyone realizes and who may be the only one who knows the truth about what happened. A profoundly moving story of family, history, and the meaning of home, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, exploring the divisions between cultures and the rifts within a family, and uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.
I must say, I absolutely loved this book. It’s the story of a family dealing with their teen daughter’s death. It’s incredibly sad. It illustrates how parents can become so wrapped up in their children’s dreams that they lose focus on the child. FYI…spoiler alert. :)
The moment it all starts to unravel is when Marilyn the mother becomes dissatisfied with her life as a stay at home mom. She planned on going to medical school before she met her husband. She became pregnant and they got married. She put her dreams on hold to take care of the family. When she has two small children she decides to leave her family and pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. She just leaves. She tries to leave a note, but can’t bring herself to do it and tears it up.
No one knows where she went. Then she finds out she’s pregnant with their third child and she has to come home. The family welcomes her back and she pins all of the dreams she has had to give up on her young daughter Lydia.
The story revolves around this and each member of the family’s reaction to it. Nathan feels ignored. Lydia feels this overwhelming pressure to please her mother or her mother will leave again. Finally, unable to stand the pressure any longer, she offers herself to a boy who’s gay. He rejects her and stinging from that rejection she drowns herself.
This is a moving tale. It’s also a great illustration of what parents do to their kids even with the best of intentions.
I recommend putting this one on your TBR pile. It’s an awesome read! Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Do you have any book recommendations? Leave a comment! I’d love to check them out! :)
