Do you ever read a book that makes you think you'll want to come back to it later in life? I think that's kind of what good literature is about. Everything I Never Told You makes me feel like this. It's something that if I revisited in five years, or ten years, or as a mother, or just after losing someone dear me to, I'd read in a whole new light.
Everything I Never Told You tells the tragic tale of Lydia Lee, a Chinese-American teen living in 1970s Ohio. That is, until she turns up dead in the lake near the house. The police are leaning to ruling it as a suicide, but being an A grade student with a healthy home life and a group of friends around her, Lydia's parents quite can't believe this.
As the book progresses, the story is told from all five members of the household: Lydia's parents, Marilyn and James, her brother Nate, younger sister and Lydia herself. We begin to see that maybe Lydia's life isn't as perfect as first thought, but no one in the family thinks that she'd end her life. Even Nate, who knows all about their troubled childhood (he lived it after all), the lies she's been telling about having friends, and her hanging out with the troublesome boy living down the road, doesn't believe it.
The book shines a harsh light on racism, exploring how it can be internalised and passed down from parent to child. It discusses mental health issues in teens, and how they can be concealed even from those closest to you. These topics are SO important, especially as I don't find myself coming across them in adult fiction as much as I do with YA. I'd recommend this to anyone as it's an incredible piece of general adult fiction with strong writing, and an even stronger message. This does come with a trigger warning that there is discussion of suicide.
No comments:
Post a Comment