A review by megmccreery
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This story opens with Lydia Lee, a 16 year old, in a small Ohio town, being found dead in a lake. The story explores everything that got Lydia and her family to this point, and how their whole family unit implodes with Lydia's death. There's generational trauma with the Lee parents projecting their wants, dreams, and desires that were never realized onto their favorite child, Lydia. There's two other kids in the Lee family, Nath and Hannah, and they have always been backburner children to Lydia. They have to find where they fit in in the family now that the star is gone.
I loved the discussion of not fitting in and being "different." James Lee was born from Chinese immigrants and has been the butt of racist jokes in all the Midwest towns he has lived in throughout his life. He dreams to fit in and have his kids fit in. Marilyn Lee is a woman who has always wanted to be different. She never wanted to have the husband, family, and white-picket home that her mother force-fed her her whole life. She wanted to become a rare female doctor in the 1960s.
The big question is: What happens when you just can't do it anymore? "It" meaning anything, a culmination of things, something you can't describe but only feel. The feeling of something suffocating you, holding you back, or maybe even the absence of feeling or feelings.
It did take me a minute to get into this book because Celeste Ng's writing is more complex and deeper than I'm used to reading, but it was such a heartbreaking, thought-provoking story. My heart hurt so much for all of the characters; I didn't think anyone's feelings or actions in reaction to their feelings were invalid. In conclusion, ouch my heart. Read this book.
I loved the discussion of not fitting in and being "different." James Lee was born from Chinese immigrants and has been the butt of racist jokes in all the Midwest towns he has lived in throughout his life. He dreams to fit in and have his kids fit in. Marilyn Lee is a woman who has always wanted to be different. She never wanted to have the husband, family, and white-picket home that her mother force-fed her her whole life. She wanted to become a rare female doctor in the 1960s.
The big question is: What happens when you just can't do it anymore? "It" meaning anything, a culmination of things, something you can't describe but only feel. The feeling of something suffocating you, holding you back, or maybe even the absence of feeling or feelings.
It did take me a minute to get into this book because Celeste Ng's writing is more complex and deeper than I'm used to reading, but it was such a heartbreaking, thought-provoking story. My heart hurt so much for all of the characters; I didn't think anyone's feelings or actions in reaction to their feelings were invalid. In conclusion, ouch my heart. Read this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Child death, Racial slurs, Infidelity, and Bullying
Minor: Suicide