Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng 1/12/15
This book was a welcome relief to read. After Anne Rice's formal characters, it was an easy, casual read. Much shorter in length, this one went very quickly and I was finished in only two shifts. I have begun to measure books in how many shifts it takes me to finish them. My job allows for a lot of reading time and I take advantage of the quiet at night.
Everything I Never Told You was not what I initially thought it would be by the time I finished it. I make it a habit to not read the synopsis or reviews on the back cover before I've made my own opinion. This time it served me well. Celeste forms a story of tragic loss and the aftermath of suicide. She goes easily back and forth from the main story line to the characters individual and shared back stories. She does not leave any vital character undeveloped and does not hide their flaws. She shows the raw emotion and realistic consequences of not only Lydia's choices but all of the charaters choices and how they impact the entire story, She does not shy away from controversial issues like racism, sexual orientation, parenting and remains true to the characters.
Personally, this book made me more than appreciate my own mother and step-father for letting me be exactly who I am and accepting that I am capable of making my own decisions with my life. While my mother and I don't agree on everything, she does not push me to be someone I clearly am not. I have learned as much from what they did raising me as what they did not do. As much as I've been through growing up, it has made me who I am today and that's what I am so grateful for.
If you don't want to have to think about still current national issues, this book may not be for you. But if you are anything like me, this book is more than just a story of loss. I think everyone can relate to the overbearing mother, trying to please everyone and getting nowhere. So many discussion topics I wouldn't have enough time to talk about everything. Celeste does it with such ease in less than 300 pages and it was a joy to read.
Now to wait for the library to reopen.
Thanks for reading,
Stephanie :-)
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