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Everything I Never Told You
Everything I Never Told You
Author: Celeste Ng
In a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio, Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, 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 purs...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780143127550
ISBN-10: 0143127551
Publication Date: 5/12/2015
Pages: 336
Rating:
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 118

3.7 stars, based on 118 ratings
Publisher: Penguin Books
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

raksha38 avatar reviewed Everything I Never Told You on + 203 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
A beautiful and heartbreaking tale of a family that quietly unravels in the wake of the death of the beloved middle child, and the events that formed the ways the family members related to each other and inadvertently lead to the circumstances of young Lydia's death. I liked the way the narrative jumps back and forth in time, showing first the events and interactions that were formative for various family members, then jumping forward to show how all that manifests in the ways they act and react after Lydia's death. It never gets confusing, though. A delicately written book.
joann avatar reviewed Everything I Never Told You on + 396 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is a most compelling read about lives that will definitely make you think about how you are raising your children and trying to change them and live your life through them. The whole novel is all about secrets and things that didn't turn out right for some and how this married couple put all of their hopes and dreams into their daughter, never really letting her be who she was.
In so doing, there were two other children that never felt the ability to reach their goals, or to even want to reach them. Everyone's lives centered around Lydia and, technically, everything that her mother was not able to attain in her own life.
The father also put those burdens on his daughter, as he was Oriental, thinking that people always looked down upon him because of his race. Therefore, with his daughter being half-Oriental, he was always trying to teach her to be a sociable, friendly person, to no avail.
This is a really compelling, sad look at a family that was so dysfunctional, yet not the kind of dysfunction that that term presently incurs.
esjro avatar reviewed Everything I Never Told You on + 899 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Well-written does not equal enjoyable.
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mom2nine avatar reviewed Everything I Never Told You on + 342 more book reviews
I read this book in an afternoon. Book is about a couple, one who is Caucasian, the other Chinese heritage. They marry in the late 50's when this was still uncommon. Story consists of their experiences and their children's experiences. It is so much bigger than that, though, as it also delves into parenting and that fine line between wanting more for our children and allowing them to live their own lives.
reviewed Everything I Never Told You on + 215 more book reviews
A heart wrenching story of a blended family that is told so beautifully. The story of Lydia's death and how it came to be through the eyes of her family members. Why parents pressure their children, why siblings lean on each other, why differences make us who we are.
reviewed Everything I Never Told You on + 612 more book reviews
Devastating. A very sad and completely believable portrait of a family that never belonged and never adjusted to one another or to their community. I'm halfway through and not sure I can bear to make it to the end...
kay-coleman avatar reviewed Everything I Never Told You on + 2 more book reviews
I never could get into this book. It was boring & did not hold my attention.

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