I don’t know how I feel about this book. There is so much that this book does well, starting with its beautiful prose. It’s loosely a mystery, but more in the ethereal way that mysteries exist in our lives when tragedy strikes. There are some questions that we will simply never know the answers. This book unravels the ambiguities of familial relationships and societal pressures which shaped its characters and leaves us with enough unresolved to feel real, and true. Each character in this family […]
I should have known there wouldn’t be more dialogue in this one…
Well, I guess I owe Ms. Ng congratulations for writing a book that has seemed to appeal to so many people. Because despite the positive reviews and internet hype, I wanted to poke out my eyes with spoons after reading “Amazon’s Best Book of the Year for 2014.” You can go ahead and clutch your literary equivalent of pearls in your hands. I remain steadfast in my assessment. This book made me want to scream when I finished it. THESE ARE THE MOST ANNOYING PEOPLE […]
This book made me think of my family in a different way
Everything I Never Told You (2014) by Celeste Ng is a remarkable novel. I picked it up because it was on my list of21 Books From The Last 5 Years That Every Woman Should Read. I didn’t have any expectations, but I ended up being very impressed with Ng’s quiet characterization and intricate family drama. At first glance, this novel could be a murder mystery. Sixteen-year-old Lydia Lee doesn’t show up for breakfast, and her bed hasn’t been slept in. When her body is later dragged […]
Excuse me while I make some hard-boiled eggs, curl up into a ball, and cry.
Well. This certainly wasn’t the most uplifting book, was it? Buy that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good one. And it’s definitely one that’s going to stay with me for a very long time. It’s going to make me think about some of the parenting choices that ive made over the past 12 years, and make me wonder about some of the decisions my own parents made when I was growing up. And it’s going to make me teach my son to make his own damn […]
A Study of Grief and Dysfunction
Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet. At first glance, Everything I Never Told You looks like a classic thriller. There’s a missing girl, a family with secrets, a lake, and a bad boy who knows more than he’s willing to say. It’s easy to think it’s a familiar story about catching a killer. That’s the first curve ball author Celeste Ng throws at you, but not the last. It turns out discovering who killed Lydia (and did anyone actually kill Lydia?) is […]
“What made something precious? Losing it and finding it.”
This was a thoughtful, well-written and gripping book. It was also incredibly sad — just so, so sad. “You don’t feel like smiling? Then what? Force yourself to smile. Act as if you were already happy, and that will tend to make you happy.” Sixteen year old Lydia dies at the beginning of the book — she drowns in a lake. The rest of the book focuses on her family — her mother, father, sister and brother — as well as events that led up to Lydia’s […]
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