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A review by scsreads
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
5.0
Edited 03/02/16 to add my longer review:
Ok, people, you were right. This book was amazing; just as good as people say it is.
Everything I Never Told You is a novel about grief, family, and so much more. The Lees are a Chinese-American family living in Ohio in the 1970s. When the eldest daughter and favorite child, Lydia, dies, the delicate family balance is broken and each member of the family must come to terms with their loss. We begin with Lydia's death, and then shift back and forth in time to before and after the incident.
It is incredible to me that this was a debut novel. Ng writes with an experienced quality, creating characters that are fully-formed and completely believable. In particular, Ng beautifully captures a wide variety of human emotions.
Ng deftly explores several themes in this short novel, including otherness. She describes how the Lees spend their entire lives feeling different because of their race, and how they are reminded of their differences every day. She also examines family dynamics and how sibling relationships shift when one child is favored above the rest. There are generational questions too, as the parents strive for a better life for their children, for their children not to experience the regrets that haunt their own lives.
I felt that this book was beautifully and truthfully written. I felt connected to it on several different levels, able to identify with a lot of the struggles that the characters faced. I have no idea why it took me so long to pick this up, but I'm so glad I did. I'd recommend it to anyone and I've already named it my favorite read of 2016 thus far.
Edit: Nope, changing it to 5 stars. This book felt particularly true to me.
This novel was utterly beautiful. 4.5 stars.
Ok, people, you were right. This book was amazing; just as good as people say it is.
Everything I Never Told You is a novel about grief, family, and so much more. The Lees are a Chinese-American family living in Ohio in the 1970s. When the eldest daughter and favorite child, Lydia, dies, the delicate family balance is broken and each member of the family must come to terms with their loss. We begin with Lydia's death, and then shift back and forth in time to before and after the incident.
It is incredible to me that this was a debut novel. Ng writes with an experienced quality, creating characters that are fully-formed and completely believable. In particular, Ng beautifully captures a wide variety of human emotions.
Ng deftly explores several themes in this short novel, including otherness. She describes how the Lees spend their entire lives feeling different because of their race, and how they are reminded of their differences every day. She also examines family dynamics and how sibling relationships shift when one child is favored above the rest. There are generational questions too, as the parents strive for a better life for their children, for their children not to experience the regrets that haunt their own lives.
I felt that this book was beautifully and truthfully written. I felt connected to it on several different levels, able to identify with a lot of the struggles that the characters faced. I have no idea why it took me so long to pick this up, but I'm so glad I did. I'd recommend it to anyone and I've already named it my favorite read of 2016 thus far.
Edit: Nope, changing it to 5 stars. This book felt particularly true to me.
This novel was utterly beautiful. 4.5 stars.