Don’t you just love it when a good book makes you cry?… Being honest, tears because of what is written on pages is quite rare for me and being even more honest this book didn’t actually reduce me to them but it almost did! And that is impressive enough!
I think the best way to tell you about this book without ruining what is in this book is to tell you about another books that this book reminds me of. The Lovely Bones.
EINTY isn’t about a girl who was murdered by a local man and is on a mission to get justice so that her spirit and family can rest but it is about a girl who is speaking to us, the readers, from beyond the grave. For me; EINTY give us even more than TLB because it explores so many themes within the pages, from race to peer and family pressure. It makes you feel slightly uncomfortable just like TLB because these are things you aren’t meant to know. You’re not meant to be privy to the wants and fears of a teenage girl you never met. Especially one who has died.
The story is about a mixed Chinese- American family whose daughter Lydia is found drowned in a lake pretty early on in the book. I found out whilst doing this review that it took 4 whole drafts and 6 years to write and it isn’t difficult to see why. I think that it is safe to say most parents don’t know exactly what their teenage kids get up to every second of the day but I also think it is fair to assume that most parents have some idea of what their kids lives are like. Well, imagine the worst thing happens and then you find out that the bright, popular, A* student you thought you raised was nothing of the sort. it is a story of self- discovery and a tale that lasts with you for longer than you thought it would. When I finished reading this book I thought that was it but I find my self putting myself in the characters shoes even now, weeks after I turned the last page. I wonder what it would be like for a mother to lose a child, for a father to find out his daughter isn’t who he thought she was. For a brother to have to deal with the emptiness of losing a sister whilst still dealing with all the baggage that comes with being a teenager.
The story may not move as fast as it does in other books and you may be left wanting just that tiny bit more at the ending but EINTY is a great book. True there is no villain or car chase. There isn’t a huge crescendo-ing climax that leaves you shattered to the core. But it does have depth, you are left a little bit shaken and asking a question: how well do you really know anyone?
This book is being awarded a very well deserved 4 worms out of 5! Let us know if you read this title and more importantly what YOU think of Everything I Never Told You.
Be informed. Be Entertained. Be You. 