Review: Everything We Never Said

Everything We Never Said

Written by: Sloan Harlow

Penguin Young Readers Group

2024

A dark romance edged with mystery, Everything We Never Said hooks the reader in with a forbidden romance and a diary worth killing over.

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Everything We Never Said deals with heavy themes, suitable for young readers, Harlow delivers a story that is both gripping and addictive.

Storytelling

I was hesitant with this novel mainly because while this is a young adult book, the marketing called Harlow “the next Colleen Hoover.” I understand the marketing practice to appeal to the masses. However, we must remember that Colleen Hoover is not always suitable for teens younger than 16.

So that made me skeptical.

However, after reading it, I can safely say the novel is for books ages 14+.

The story follows Ella, who is still reeling from the death of her friend, a car accident she is partly responsible for since she was driving intoxicated.

While cleaning Hayley’s room, she discovers her diary and uncovers the many secrets her friend had. All while falling in love with her boyfriend, Sawyer, who has just as many secrets.

A dual POV novel, it goes between Sawyer and Elle and includes Hayley’s diary entries, making it partly epistolary. But Hayley never names anyone, calling everyone by their first initial, making her quite the unreliable narrator.

Given how the story unfolds, we don’t know who to trust or suspect, making it quite exciting and engaging to read.

Someone else was there the night of the car accident, but who?

While jumping between voices, we get a sense of these characters, who they were, and the complexities of their lives, making it a well-rounded narrative.

Final Thoughts

Everything We Never Said does deal with some heavy themes, such as mental abuse, physical abuse, and toxic relationships. However, Harlow develops these themes in a thoughtful and not explicit way. It forces the reader to look at the behavior in the book. It allows them to recognize what is bad behavior. It is a book worth reading, from a teacher to a class, to a parent to their child. Recognizing those signs is essential and should be discussed.

Cynthia Ayala

Cynthia Ayala-Bujnicki majored in Writing and Publishing from Emerson College. Editor-in-chief of Cyn's Workshop, she loves to read and write while tending to her pepper plants. She currently lives in South Florida with her husband, two kids Dante and Selene and two furbabies Mr. J the Kitten who Thinks He's Batman (yes, that is his full name) and Nyx.