Book Review: Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

 

About

Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet.

Lydia is the favourite child of Marilyn and James Lee; a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue - in Marilyn's case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James's case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the centre of every party. But Lydia is under pressures that have nothing to do with growing up in 1970s small town Ohio. Her father is an American born of first-generation Chinese immigrants, and his ethnicity, and hers, make them conspicuous in any setting.

When Lydia's body is found in the local lake, James is consumed by guilt and sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to make someone accountable, no matter what the cost. Lydia's older brother, Nathan, is convinced that local bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it's the youngest in the family - Hannah - who observes far more than anyone realises and who may be the only one who knows what really happened.

Everything I Never Told You is a gripping page-turner, about secrets, love, longing, lies and race.

My Thoughts

Lydia is dead!!

Lydia a mixed race teen is found dead and her family is left dealing with a very big loss.

I found this book was well written. It dealt with a lot of different themes such as tragedy, grief, family relationships and regret. James was a Chinese American professor who for all his life has tried to fit into an America that did not see him as an equal. He finds love in the beautiful Marilyn, a young ambitious student, who is determined to not be like her homely mother, She wanted to become a doctor and see the world. As their forbidden romance blossomed, marriage comes and then children, Marilyn soon accepts her fate is to be a wife and mother of her three kids Nath, Lydia and Hannah.

Somehow in Lydia both James and Marilyn sees a fresh start. In Lydia, they see opportunities that they didn't have. This put immense pressure on Lydia to excel at friendships and academics. Meanwhile the other two children Nath and Hannah the youngest, were almost invisible to their parents. When Lydia died in a suspected suicide the family members all dealt with the grief in different ways....the question is did they survive??

I think this is an important book.... Very good with a lot of lessons and jaw dropping moments.