Member Reviews
Thank you so much to the publisher, the author, and netgalley for sending me an e-ARC to read. I gave this book four stars.
All The Things We Never Said was a book that I definitely had to be in the right frame of mind to read and I finally was. I wasn't sure what to expect from the book as I hadn't seen a lot of things about but when I finally did get to reading it, I was very surprised about where the story was going to go and how much I loved it. The relationship between the three main girls was really compelling and I fully was involved in the story, especially at the end. The characters also have really different backgrounds so seeing them come together and support each other was touching. I also loved the conversations around mental health and I can't wait to see what Yasmin Rahman writes next.
First things first, there may be trigger issues with this book, worth a little check before hand. With that being said, it’s handled brilliantly and Rahman’s writing is beautifully executed. The three main characters are individual in their own rights but their stories weave a tangled and believable web.
I honestly couldn’t put this down once I started it and would highly recommend this YA novel. 4.5 stars!
Um so this is my book that i downloaded to see how it looked as an ebook....this is awkward.
It's a great book tho...you should totes read.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.
After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.
I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.
Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.
All the Things We Never Said is a much darker YA novel than I'm used to reading. It follows 3 girls who decide they want to end their lives. They are thrown together by a sinister website that brings groups together to organise and prepare for their 'termination date'.
I hope there are kids/teens out there who read this and feel a little less alone because it really does do a good job of discussing suicide and depression whilst also being life-affirming and showing that there is always something or someone worth living for.
I'm giving this a 4-star rating, only because the dialogue on occasion felt a little 'off', for what was supposed to be 3 teenage girls. Nothing major but it would definitely take me out of the moment when one of them would say something that didn't feel like their own voice. Also dropping it down because I think the general structure of the book could have remained almost entirely intact without the need for the website playing the villain.
The girls could have been brought together so many other ways and it would have been more interesting to me to have had their actions be as a result of their own desires rather than the directions of an outside party. I think it would have been more impactful to the conclusion of the story had that been the case.
I'd definitely warn people who are struggling with their mental health that this does deal with it head on and it could potentially be a trigger if you're feeling particularly vulnerable. For me, it was nice to see how far I've come with my own mental health; that I could relate so much with the girls and their struggles but also see how much I've grown from that since my own teenage years.
Thanks to Bonnier Zaffre and NetGalley for providing me with a copy for review.
This was a good read, a book that covers some really important themes yet felt very real and necessary. I flew through this very fast, it's such a heartbreaking story. There's always need for books covering such topics as depression and anxiety, talking about these issues, and it's portrayed well in this. Well-written and dark, a real page-turner.
Trigger Warning: Suicide, Self-Harm, Abuse, Rape, Death
This is one of those soul-crunching novels that absolutely destroyed me – in the best possible way. It is a raw, emotional book that truly packs a punch. I can not recommend this book highly enough. It looks at mental health, friendships, disability and support in such a wonderful and sensitive way. It is quite simply a book that you do not want to miss.
As you may know by now, one of my favourite things to read about in a book is friendship – particularly strong friendships – and this book really shows how wonderful and important friendship is. It is the tale of three girls who are on the brink of their lives, finding each other and realising that with each other, their lives are better. They all discover their own worth while relishing in each other’s at the same time. It was just such a realistic portrayal of friendship and I absolutely loved it.
As it all of that wasn’t enough, Yasmin Rahman has also created these amazing and fantastic characters that I completely admired. I loved how sweet Mehreen was, how strong Olivia was, and how feisty Cara was. They all seemed to help each other in the best ways. I also really loved how each of their voices came through, and I especially loved how Olivia’s chapters were written.
All The Things We Never Said is a powerful, moving, and emotional novel that I honestly wish I had had to read when I was a teenager. It might have given me the hope I needed that I would someday find my people, just as these three fantastic characters did. An absolute must-read.
This book was weird, in mostly a good way. I enjoyed how dark it got, and how emotional, though at the beginning I wasnt sure it was realistic enough; I'm still not sure.
I really enjoyed a cultural perspective from Mehreen's character, and the fact that each character had such differing issues was a plus.
I think Olivia's chapters were a little too flowery and creative for me, though tbh did make for quick reading.
Overall a really good read - just a couple of personal issues with it that stopped a 5 star rating.
Beautiful and timely, with characters you can't help but root for and a powerful, pacey plot. I loved the chapters in verse, and wanted to draw out reading it because I couldn't get enough.
Yasmin Rahman is one to watch out for. I can't wait to see what she writes next!
16 year old Mahreen’s Anxiety and Depression has taken over he life and she can’t bear it anymore, Joining MementoMori a website that matches people with their partners and allocates them a date and method of death she meets Cara & Olivia.
Meeting up with people who understands how she feels and what she’s going through she develops a close knit bond and friendship and together they start to understand that life actually might be worth living,
This book is about friendships, strength, mental illness and most importantly survival.
This is a story that will stay with you for along time, it took me ages to find the words I wanted to say to write a review, this book struck a chord with me.
Told by all three girls POV, and Olivia’s character being written in verse, this book is dark and heartbreaking.
Thank you to NetGalley for a ARC of this book
Written in a triple narrative, All The Things We Never Said tells the emotional story of 16 year old girls Mehreen, Olivia and Cara who meet after each signing up to suicide website MementoMori.com.
Given a 2 week termination date, the website requires the girls to take part in tasks in preparation. After taking part in several tasks, the girls start to find a friendship in each other that provides them with solace and acceptance.
Touching on a number of issues such as anxiety, self-harm, depression and rape, the author writes in an informed detailed way that may cause triggers which are identified at the beginning of the book.
I found this story heartbreaking to read, listening to the individual narratives of the girls who feel suicide is their only option. However as they gain an understanding and friendship in one another, I felt relief that the girls were able to support each other and make decisions away from suicidal thoughts.
I would definitely recommend this book but please be aware that some topics may cause upset.
Trigger warning for anyone struggling with mental health. The self-harm sections made me particularly squeamish despite never struggling with that myself. Despite this, I really enjoyed this book. It's so different to a lot of YA at the moment and the way the three girls are written so differently is brilliantly done. Yasmin is definitely one to watch.
I loved this - brilliantly realistic, flawed and empathetic characters, sensitive handling of a range of issues, and a gripping storyline to boot. Really looking forward to reading whatever Yasmin Rahman writes next.
Thanks to Hot Key Books and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.
In the introduction to this book the author Yasmin Rahman talks about how she wanted to write a book for young people, a book that would resonate with teens who feel the same way she did as a teen. I'd definitely say she has nailed that aim, this 100% feels like a YA book with its audience firmly in mind.
We have three points of view in this novel: Mehreen, a young British Muslim, Cara, a paraplegic wheelchair user and Olivia, a privileged, yet abused, private school girl. All three girls suffer from depression and contemplate taking their own lives. In order to facilitate this, they sign up for an online suicide pact matching service and from this, are put in contact with one another.
Mehreen was probably the best written and most well-developed character of the three. I think the author possibly wrote a lot of her own experiences into Mehreen and her character gave a good insight into the life of a modern British Muslim teenage girl. Speaking personally, I enjoyed Olivia's point of view the most. I thought the way it was written really demonstrated the tension and fear she felt about her situation and her sense of hopelessness. I thought Cara was a pain in the arse if I'm being completely frank. I know she was supposed to be abrasive and annoying, but I thought she was a spoilt brat and my opinion didn't really change over the course of the novel.
Some deep themes are explored in this story including, but not limited to, sexual abuse and rape, depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicide and cyber bullying as well as happier themes such as female friendship and family bonds. I struggled to take the whole website thing seriously, and considering the plot as a whole, I guess I just felt like I knew what was going to happen pretty much from the beginning.
Overall, this is a decent read that raises some important issues that affect young people today. Definitely one for the school library.
All The Things We Never Said tells the story of three girls; Mehreen, Olivia and Cara as they struggle to cope with what life has thrown at them, forming a pact to commit suicide after meeting in an online forum. After forming a strong bond, and realising they have so much to live for, the girls decide they want out of the pact. But the forum has other plans, and starts playing the girls off against each other in order to reach its ultimate goal.
I thought this was a rather unique contemporary with a lot going for it. It never shys away from presenting a variety of mental health, disability and religious view points, presenting information in such a way that I found to be respectful and highly researched. In particular, I appreciated Mehreen’s character and her Muslim background. It’s an intrinsic part of her life, and feels important, yet is never overly done. It feels right for the character, and I enjoyed the different perspective. I also enjoyed Cara’s chapters, as she delves deeply into what it’s like to be a wheelchair user following a car accident. Her chapters in particular are rather heavy going at times, with a lot of reflection on depression and feeling helpless, but again I think the author handles the topic well (minus the comments about invisible illnesses and the dismissing of them as ‘less than’ compared to ‘real’ disabilities) . However, I found Cara’s voice to never feel false, but more like an honest reflection on what depression can be like. I wish more YA books dealt with topics like this, because I know as a younger teen I would have appreciated someone else’s perspectives on what it is to feel like this. Olivia’s chapters I didn’t enjoy as much, if only because of the format. Her chapters are written in verse, and to me, disrupted the otherwise steady pacing and flow of the story. I could have done without it, although again I truly appreciate the subject matter (sexual abuse) and the sensitive handling of it.
The book really flourishes under the friendship of these three characters, and it was delightful to watch their relationships grow organically over the course of the book. The ability to bring hope and joy to another individual is played out well here, and is only enhanced by how well the characters are developed. All three really channel a lot of emotional depth throughout the novel, and are wonderfully complex in nature. The interweaving of their personal stories within a sort of mystery setting is decidedly unique in concept, with the overall threat of the Internet forum propelling the narrative forward. The ending feels slightly ambiguous, but I can accept that given how much the girls change and develop over the novel as a whole.
Diverse, hard hitting YA that’s heavy going at times, but definitely worth it for the messages it carries.
Important subject, sensitively and honestly handled, with a multicultural cast of adolescents and their varied lives.
A tough subject to read about - young people deciding that suicide is their only way out of their problems - but one that covers the topic with consideration and principle.
With a three-way narration, we discover why three adolescent girls each separately join the Memento Mori website, which matches up those wanting to kill themselves, so they can work together towards the same end. Cara is wheelchair-bound after being involved in a car accident that killed her much-loved father. Mehreen self-harms and struggles to fit in with family and friends, listening to the voices in her head that tell her she is worthless and unloved. And Olivia has a mum obsessed with keeping a boyfriend close, while Olivia outwardly appears in control, she is hiding her own terrible secrets.
The three girls, directed by Memento Mori, are brought together to complete their suicide pact, but find friendship and support along the way, finding someone at last who understands and makes them rethink their decision. But if they renege on their promise, will that be the end of it?
I rushed through these short chapters, the differing perspectives of the three stories that intermingle. Each thread was heart-breaking, seeing what it takes to send a young person down this path. Each family situation showed how a lack of communication and misunderstandings can leave vulnerable adolescents without the network of support and loving care that can make or break a person's psyche and mental wellness.
Each voice sounded real, Cara most amusingly (such a potty mouth!) making jokes about her own disability while frustrated by her overly-protective mother, Olivia is the perfectly-polite fashionista, Mehreen the artist and 'good Muslim girl' who is constrained by her religion and family.
A tense story, we never get a full picture of just how the Memento Mori website works, it is a threatening presence as the young women try to help each other through their obstacles. The author shows the terrible lows of suicidal thoughts, the thoughts that occur that bring someone to that tipping point, as well as the huge change a friend and confidante can make.
This could well prove to be helpful in schools (some swearing aside and sexual suggestions, the content is not graphic), and readers will relate to the characters and their technology-driven lives. The problems here are, unfortunately, not uncommon ones.
There are contacts for helpful websites/organisations at the end. A very well-composed story that handles a delicate topic with the right amounts of frankness, humour and pathos.
For ages 14 and above.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.
All The Things We Never Said is a book that aims high in terms of topics being explored. Abuse, depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicide, on-line bullying...all feature in some way, and at times I couldn’t help but feel anyone trying to deal with all these things would find life tough. For these reasons, this will be a book that some won’t like.
The story focuses on three characters - Mehreen, Olivia and Cara - who are paired together by an online suicide pact. They meet and are set a series of tasks to complete to help each other in their bid to end their lives. The unknown organisers of this site become increasingly manipulative and start to show their sadistic and damaging tendencies.
The concept behind the site and the way this panned out didn’t quite ring true. I can’t help but feel that if the police were aware of the existence of such a group that such vulnerable people would not be left to their own devices as they are here.
That gripe aside, the book was interesting for not shying away from some difficult topics. The friendship that developed between the three girls was well-depicted and it showed the importance of talking to those around you.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with access to this prior to publication.
Trigger warnings: suicide, self harm, depression, anxiety, sexual assualt.
All The Things We Never Said was a book that I'd been excited for ever since I heard it was coming out. As someone who suffers from poor mental health I am always intrigued to see how it is tackled in YA and let me tell you this book literally blew me away!
First thing I will say is that this book gets very deep and certainly doesn't gloss over the effects poor mental health can have on the person suffering and the ones around them. It was written in such a beautiful yet, raw way. It broke my heart at times and it really did make me think. The themes mentioned throughout the book are happening right now and it really is upsetting to think about but it's also important to be made aware of them, and how we can help others who are potentially suffering with them.
The book is written through 3 separate POV's from our main character Mehreen, Cara and Olivia. What I loved about this was that each character had their own different style of telling the story - I especially loved Olivia's chapters that were written in verse, such a unique and gorgeous way of telling a story. Also, through having different POV's we got to see how each girl dealt with their problems. It also goes to show that we can all go through mental health in a uniquely different way to someone else. Having a deep insight into the lives of each girl made me feel equally as close to one as the other. I don't feel like the story could have been told through a single POV, it wouldn't have had the same effect.
The plot itself was heart-wrenching, gripping and rather emotional. The idea of a website that matches people to suicide partners is something that I have read about in the news, and the way it was dealt with in All The Things We Never Said had such a huge impact on me. How could anyone get joy out of it I'll never know? As you get further into the story things start to get pretty terrifying for our girls and this had me fearing for them like they were my own friends. They really do get into your head and you do start to care for them deeply, well I know I did. It's scarily realistic and I think that was the way the author intended it to be.
The diversity within the book was perfection! We had a muslim character, a disabled character and an LGBT character. Diversity in YA is highly needed and this was another reason why I loved this book so much. It also goes to show that anyone of any race, religion and sexuality can suffer from mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Also, the relationship between Mehreen, Cara and Olivia was inspiring! It was a joy to see how three girls on the cusp of ending their lives could find friendship and love through something awful.
All The Things We Never Said was a beautifully written book about the struggles of mental health and how it can affect not just the person affected by their loved ones. It also shows us that beautiful things can blossom from a situation that seems hopeless.
I really enjoyed this book. Three teenage girls, each with their own problems, join a website to assign them partners and a method of death. Three very different girls, with very different circumstances, but all of them want to die. The main character, Mehreen, is beautifully drawn. A British-born Bangladeshi Muslim, her battle with anxiety and depression is beautifully written. Her religion is neither a problem nor a talking point, just a part of who she is, which was really wonderful, and something we need to see more of in YA! Her suicide pact partners are Cara, a sarcastic, acerbic, vulnerable teen who's trying to put her life back together after a terrible accident ten months previously, and Olivia, a posh, privileged girl whose perfect home life is definitely not all that it seems.
The three girls meet and start to complete the tasks assigned by the website to prepare for their mutual death. But, ironically, meeting each other turns out to be the thing that gives them the strength to carry on. The friendship between these three damaged, fragile girls is something that helps all three of them to move forward, and they decide not to go through with the pact.
But the website has other ideas, and things start to go terribly wrong for all three of them. With the website ramping up the tension as the assigned date approaches, will the girls find a way to move past this?
There was lots of really great stuff in this book - representation of a very diverse group of girls, all of whom had their own mental struggles. There was also a really true to life depiction of how mental illness can make people act, really, not very nice. Mehreen's Chaos, as she calls it, is visually depicted on the page, and the irrefutable, constant screaming of the voice is both hard to read (because it's so powerful) and feels very true. I also liked that the book depicted the non-linear process of dealing with mental illness. Meeting each other was a turning point for all three girls, but that doesn't mean that they're all magically cured, and the narrative of the book shows this very clearly. All three girls felt fully developed and very real, with rounded characters and fully fleshed-out personalities. There was one passage in the book where Cara, who is a wheelchair user, dismisses invisible disabilities, which I found surprisingly adamant, but it was in keeping with her characterisation, which is quite bitter and dismissive of others.
The typesetting of this book was a thing to behold - Mehreen's Chaos is angry and scratchy, taking up space on the page and drowning out everything around it. Olivia's thoughts read like a free verse book, tripping along the page, growing and shrinking with the emphasis she places on different thoughts. There is an audiobook version of this book, but I think it would lose something by not having the visual impact around these girls' thoughts.
The ending of the book felt a little rushed - there was a lot going on, and it all seemed to come together at the same time. I was particularly disappointed that we didn't hear more about the operators of the website - they were just dismissed in a throwaway comment, really, and I would have liked to see more about that. I'm also fiercely curious about who Cara's mother was talking to on the phone - I don't think we ever found that out.
Overall, though, this is an incredibly powerful debut and a searingly honest portrayal of mental health struggles. It has enough extra moving parts to make it feel like more than just an issues book, and really shines for its lack of love interests for any of the three girls. The emphasis on friendship, support, and recovery makes this book a beautiful, heart-breaking read which deserves a place in the annals of important UKYA. I also look forward to seeing what Yasmin Rahman does next - clearly a very talented author, I expect great things to come.