lilyrooke's review against another edition
3.0
Gio is a high schooler from a tough neighbourhood whose mother walked out on him and his younger brother a few years ago. Understandably, he has never fully recovered from her abandonment, but he has supportive family and friends, except for the fact his dad doesn't accept his sexuality, and a new boy has just moved in across the street, and his mum has just turned up hoping to reconnect with him.
This was a solid read, exploring interesting and important themes. For me personally, something was missing that prevented me from fully investing in any of the characters. I think the emotional weight of the story mostly felt surface level, in the sense that the importance of Gio's basketball games seemed on par with his mother coming back into his life, or his developing relationship with David, for example, so I think I was missing the ebb and flow of tension in the story.
This was a solid read, exploring interesting and important themes. For me personally, something was missing that prevented me from fully investing in any of the characters. I think the emotional weight of the story mostly felt surface level, in the sense that the importance of Gio's basketball games seemed on par with his mother coming back into his life, or his developing relationship with David, for example, so I think I was missing the ebb and flow of tension in the story.
lqvekanej's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, and Biphobia
Moderate: Police brutality
bbrad86's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
dylmil15's review against another edition
5.0
I truly enjoyed reading this book. I loved the relationship between Gio and David and loved watching Gio discover his worth as a person. The whole story was amazing from beginning to end. Truly a book that I will continue to reread as I get older.
gabriele_queerbookdom's review against another edition
3.0
DRC provided by Scholastic Press via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.
Representation: bisexual Black protagonist, bisexual secondary character, Black secondary and tertiary characters, Black tertiary character with ALS who uses a wheelchair, bisexual Black tertiary character, queer Black tertiary character.
Content Warning: racism, anxiety, biphobia, alcohol abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, mention of suicide, homophobia, HP’s character mention, death, grief.
Things We Couldn’t Say by Jay Coles is a touching contemporary novel about abandonment, feeling free to be oneself, familial, platonic and romantic love, and emotional liberation.
When I started reading this novel, the writing style almost put me off several times and I was tempted to interrupt my reading, but I can say I am quite happy I persevered as the story is moving and engaging (it needed to undergo more rounds of editing though and that is definitely what made me rate this book as average).
My favourite parts of the novel are the relationships between Karina and Giovanni (Karina is the best character in this whole book, no discussion. Despite not being their biological mother, she is in all respects their mother, a loving and supportive pillar in their lives) and the one between the Zander siblings (I got teary more than once when reading their scenes together) as I loved how caring and affectionate they are.
I also liked the short conversation Giovanni and David have about race: it is often an issue with white queers, and I am speaking as a white queer; there is this tendency of comparing the racism Black people are subjected to queerphobia as if they were comparable in any way, and this is especially even more ignorant if the Black person you are in a conversation with is also queer.
Things We Couldn’t Say is a deeply emotional story which I am glad I read.
PS: This is more of a general discourse and not a negative feedback towards the book. I just happened to read it in this book, so I felt compelled to comment on it. It irks me immensely how looked-down adults who still live at home in the States are. The mentality that at twenty, one has to be out of the house for good is so annoying and I hated how the characters in the book talked about July.
Representation: bisexual Black protagonist, bisexual secondary character, Black secondary and tertiary characters, Black tertiary character with ALS who uses a wheelchair, bisexual Black tertiary character, queer Black tertiary character.
Content Warning: racism, anxiety, biphobia, alcohol abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, mention of suicide, homophobia, HP’s character mention, death, grief.
Things We Couldn’t Say by Jay Coles is a touching contemporary novel about abandonment, feeling free to be oneself, familial, platonic and romantic love, and emotional liberation.
When I started reading this novel, the writing style almost put me off several times and I was tempted to interrupt my reading, but I can say I am quite happy I persevered as the story is moving and engaging (it needed to undergo more rounds of editing though and that is definitely what made me rate this book as average).
My favourite parts of the novel are the relationships between Karina and Giovanni (Karina is the best character in this whole book, no discussion. Despite not being their biological mother, she is in all respects their mother, a loving and supportive pillar in their lives) and the one between the Zander siblings (I got teary more than once when reading their scenes together) as I loved how caring and affectionate they are.
I also liked the short conversation Giovanni and David have about race: it is often an issue with white queers, and I am speaking as a white queer; there is this tendency of comparing the racism Black people are subjected to queerphobia as if they were comparable in any way, and this is especially even more ignorant if the Black person you are in a conversation with is also queer.
Things We Couldn’t Say is a deeply emotional story which I am glad I read.
PS: This is more of a general discourse and not a negative feedback towards the book. I just happened to read it in this book, so I felt compelled to comment on it. It irks me immensely how looked-down adults who still live at home in the States are. The mentality that at twenty, one has to be out of the house for good is so annoying and I hated how the characters in the book talked about July.
mscott's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hedgehogreads_'s review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Racism, Abandonment, and Biphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Violence, Grief, Biphobia, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide
lgbtrepinbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Trigger Warnings: Parental abandonment, mention of Blue Lives Matter, drugs, cursing, anxiety, trauma, death of a friend, gangs, blood, drinking, homophobia, social anxiety, PTSD, suicide, racism, cheating, grief, gun violence, sex, death of a parent
Representation: Black, Bisexual, Mental Health, Dominican
Things We Couldn’t Say is a YA novel about a Black, Bisexual boy dealing with grief and finding love. Gio hasn’t heard from his birth mother since she left and is still dealing with the trauma. When she waltzes back into his life with an explanation, Gio has to figure out what this means for him and learns what family can be.
Representation: Black, Bisexual, Mental Health, Dominican
Things We Couldn’t Say is a YA novel about a Black, Bisexual boy dealing with grief and finding love. Gio hasn’t heard from his birth mother since she left and is still dealing with the trauma. When she waltzes back into his life with an explanation, Gio has to figure out what this means for him and learns what family can be.
critter's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. The characters are very well written and developed. The romance was fantastically written. I loved the messages and themes that are discussed in this book. The author delves into topics of racism, trauma, abandonment, biphobia and homophobia, and forgiveness. This is one of the few narratives that I have loved how it treats the topic of forgiveness and when someone is ready to heal from harms done to them. Forgiveness and healing are treated as two different things and we get to see how Gio struggles a lot with his birth mother returning after she abandoned him and his brother. This book is heart wrenching and deeply emotional. It is a fantastic book.
I would like to thank Scholastic Press for providing me with an ARC.
I would like to thank Scholastic Press for providing me with an ARC.