Hello dear Readers,
Below, my book review of Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng.
Title: Everything I Never Told You
Genre: Fiction/Family Life
Author: Celeste Ng
Publisher: Penguin Books
Language: English
Paperback: 297 pages
Book Description
Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos. A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.
*I gave 5/5 stars on Goodreads
This book made me cry from the very beginning. I was touched by this story in ways I was never before with a book. It sure will remain with me for the rest of my life. For a first novel, Celeste Ng delivers such an amazing, well written and magnificent piece of fiction. I could not stop reading it. With every page, I wanted to know more about the characters and got more and more interested in the story.
Everything I never told you is a story of family, love, regrets, forgiveness, fear, doubt, infidelity, racism, and secrets. The story of an American-Chinese family living in 1970's small-town Ohio, and all the events following the disappearance and death of Marilyn and James Lee's oldest daughter Lydia. How each member of the family, Marilyn, James and their other two children, Hanna and Nath deal with Lydia's death and embark in the pursue of the truth of what happened to Lydia.
It is always hard to read books like this but I like how the Author approaches the subject and the way she presents the story. It is sad, but at the same time it is powerful and beautiful. I also like how it goes back and forth in time. We get to know the story of how Marilyn and James meet and when they get married and we also get to know their lives after they get married and start their family.This helps us to understand in more detail what is going on in their lives and how this affects the lives of their children, Lydia, Nath and Hanna.
I also like the complexity of the characters. Marilyn. The mom and the wife. The one that always wants to defy society and what for people is "correct" or "normal". She does not want to end up like her mom and fights her whole life a desire to become a doctor even if it means sacrificing her family. James, the dad and the husband. The one that had to deal with racism, and what others thought of him from a very young age and how he carried all this and his insecurities and how we can see them reflected on his own children, especially with son Nath.
Overall, it is a great read. A beautifully written one. With all the elements you always hope to find in a book. A fantastic plot, well developed characters, a gorgeous writing style, mystery and a structure that allows readers to understand the story. I totally recommend it.
Everything I never told you is a story of family, love, regrets, forgiveness, fear, doubt, infidelity, racism, and secrets. The story of an American-Chinese family living in 1970's small-town Ohio, and all the events following the disappearance and death of Marilyn and James Lee's oldest daughter Lydia. How each member of the family, Marilyn, James and their other two children, Hanna and Nath deal with Lydia's death and embark in the pursue of the truth of what happened to Lydia.
It is always hard to read books like this but I like how the Author approaches the subject and the way she presents the story. It is sad, but at the same time it is powerful and beautiful. I also like how it goes back and forth in time. We get to know the story of how Marilyn and James meet and when they get married and we also get to know their lives after they get married and start their family.This helps us to understand in more detail what is going on in their lives and how this affects the lives of their children, Lydia, Nath and Hanna.
I also like the complexity of the characters. Marilyn. The mom and the wife. The one that always wants to defy society and what for people is "correct" or "normal". She does not want to end up like her mom and fights her whole life a desire to become a doctor even if it means sacrificing her family. James, the dad and the husband. The one that had to deal with racism, and what others thought of him from a very young age and how he carried all this and his insecurities and how we can see them reflected on his own children, especially with son Nath.
Overall, it is a great read. A beautifully written one. With all the elements you always hope to find in a book. A fantastic plot, well developed characters, a gorgeous writing style, mystery and a structure that allows readers to understand the story. I totally recommend it.
My Favorite Quote
"There is nowhere to go but on".
Wen
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