I really liked this book. Ky Tran was brought up in the Sydney area of Cabramatta, a predominantly Vietnamese quarter. When her brother is murdered in a restaurant, and nobody seems to have seen anything, Ky decides to investigate herself. Interspersed with stories of her upbringing, the story gives a good insight into the life of Vietnamese immigrants, which I particularly liked. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
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This is a fantastic book. The protagonist, Ky Tran is a character desperate to fit in, who believes hard work will somehow help her achieve her dreams no matter the odds.

It’s easy to feel sympathy for Ky. A daughter of immigrants from Vietnam, she’s worked hard to earn her internship at the Herald Sun in Melbourne, and continues to push herself in ways none of her colleagues do. But then she gets a call from home that she initially ignores. Her parents usually ring to ask her something stupid and she’s in no hurry to go back to Cabramatta, the poor and crime-ridden area of Sydney she grew up in.

Then she listens to the call…

Her brother was killed at a restaurant on the night of his high school graduation. Ky had persuaded her parents to let him go out.

In a desperate attempt to find out what happened that night, and why her well-behaved, clever, brother was killed, Ky is forced to investigate the complexities of Cabramatta and the realities of her own past in ways she has thus far managed to avoid. Racism, addiction, poverty and the hardships refugee families face, slowly unstitch her approach to her parents, her brother, and her childhood friend, Minnie, with whom she fell out all those years ago when she started hanging out with the naughty crowd.

It’s one of those books that makes you see things afresh. It’s a gripping, hard-hitting, and thoroughly necessary story not just of Sydney in the 1990s, but for today. I definitely recommend this novel and look forward to reading what Tracey Lien writes next.

Ky comes from a family of Vietnamese refugees who fled the Communist regime to make a new life in Australia. Her parents constantly remind her that to succeed, she needs to work hard, get a good job and marry well, but they themselves miss their own country and struggle to fit in. Ky is glad to escape, to university and then to a job as a journalist, but then her mother telephones to say that Ky’s brother Denny wants to celebrate his high school graduation with friends at a restaurant, and she urges her mother to let him go. Tragically, Denny is beaten to death that night, but everyone present claims to have seen nothing, and it is left to Ky to find out the truth. This poignant novel highlights the difficulties faced by immigrants, under pressure from parents embedded in their own culture but not really accepted into the society they are growing up in. Racism is everywhere, from teachers mispronouncing Asian names repeatedly and schools sending letters home only in English, to the police who assume Denny’s death is related to drugs, even though he is a model student at the top of his classes, and who bring in groups of Asian teenagers for “loitering.” The poverty some of the families live in and the suffering they have endured in their country of origin often results in domestic violence, alcoholism and neglect, resulting in turn in their children turning to truancy, crime, and addiction. It is an incredibly sad story, with Ky learning the hard way to look beyond surface appearences and to understand the vicious cycle which has perpetuated the injustice in her community. It does end with a glimmer of hope for the future, but remains a hard-hitting and powerful book which raises important issues.

Absolutely loved this book, well written and fantastically woven story. Read it!
You will love the time that you gave to the unfolding of this story.

I was intrigued by this book after reading a short excerpt a while ago. The story revolves around Ky, a young woman trying to find out what happened on the night of her brother's death. It sees Ky trying to make sense of her own memories of growing up, her relationship with her family and the community she lived in. The writing is good and the characters are well rounded however at times the pacing felt too slow and my attention drifted. I am interested in seeing what Lien writes next. (Copy received from Netgalley in return for an honest review)

This is a difficult book to categorise as, although at it's heart it's a 'whodunnit and why'? story of a brother who is brutally murdered and a sister trying to find answers for herself and her parents; there is alongside this, complex, difficult insight into immigration and the challenges associated with trying to fit into a new country and culture.

Ky Tran is a young Vietnamese journalist living and working in Melbourne, Australia and she returns to her home town of Cabramatta, a suburb of Sydney when she hears of the death of her younger brother. Cabramatta is described as a dangerous place and certainly seems to be devoid of hope in the 1990's when this story is set.

It's at times a heartbreaking read as we are taken on the journey with Ky as she confronts her past relationships with family and friends and her guilt over persuading her parents to let her brother go to the meal where he was killed. We also see their reliance on her to get them the answers they've been unable to get from the police. There is beauty in the pages and overall I found it to be a decent read. Where I struggled was in the sometimes longwinded dialogue back and forth.

Thanks to NetGalley and HQ for the opportunity to preview this debut book.

Ky and Minnie are school friends, both daughters of Vietnamese immigrants now living in Cabramatta, Australia. Several years later Ky’s younger brother Denny is murdered in a diner! No one will tell Ky what happened and she is determined to put this right, to discovered how and why her brother who was so good, so clever, so innocent should be killed in such a way! This story is superbly told, there is so much empathy, so much attention to detail - I got to know the characters, could picture them in my mind’s eye! The parents, the ‘naughty’ students, the chef, the wedding singer all so alive! A simple story but told with such depth and emotion! I could not put it down and the conclusion brought a tear to my eye! A beautiful, beautiful story!

Set in Cabramatta, a suburb of Sydney, in the 1990s this novel follows Ky as she struggles to find answers to her younger brothers unexplained murder after his graduation party in a Vietnamese society where witnesses won’t talk and the police don’t appear particularly interested. The book is so much more than a pure murder mystery. It’s also an exploration of the Vietnamese culture and of those who have fled their homeland in the hope of a better life for themselves and their children. Life is not what they expected and the pressure on the next generation to succeed and be perfect takes its toil. The family relationships within the novel are portrayed with all their flaws and they are at times harrowing. It is the tale of friendship and love but also poverty,abuse,drug addiction and violence and the choices that are made. The characters are well crafted and their history well told. I applaud the author for tackling this story with such honesty and authenticity. I will be looking forward for her future novels.

Ky Tran, returns home to Cabramatta, a suburb in western Sydney, which is rife with violence and drugs to attend her young brother's funeral. She also wants to know why he was brutally bashed and no one helped or saw him. This takes us on a journey of Ky speaking to all the witnesses she can find, but they all claim to of seen nothing. When the truth is out, it is heartbreaking.

The back and forth between present and memories were sometimes confusing and this could do with a good edit, but it was interesting. Thank you so much for allowing me an early copy of this, please give my personal thanks to the author as well as yourselves at the publishing company. I would love a physical, hard copy of this to show my followers (1400+) on my blog and give recommendations as well as the E-Book. Please feel free to check out my blog on Instagram where I will be discussing this book. My Instagram handle is The_Secret_bookreview. If you wish to contact me via email, my email is thesecretbookreview@gmail.com. If I have not already, all reviews will be posted on my blog, Goodreads, Amazon, and Waterstones. Thank you.

Ky returns to her hometown outside Sydney when her younger brother Denny is murdered. How can Ky and her parents carry on not knowing what happened to Denny on that fateful night. The local police are stumped and have given up but Ky is determined to find out the truth with disastrous consequences.

All That's Left Unsaid is a gripping and vivid novel of life in Cabramatta. While there is a murder mystery at its heart, this is very much a novel about characters, and the Vietnamese refugee experience in 90s Sydney. Told in alternating perspectives, Lien really captures the individual voices of all her characters, as each of them adjust to immigrant life a little differently, exploring themes of community and isolation, identity and survival.

All That's Left Unsaid is an important story of intergenerational trauma - a smart, sensitive and thought-provoking read.

Although initially a murder mystery, this book explores the lives of Vietnamese refugees in an suburb of Sydney, Australia. Seeing life through the eyes of the immigrants was surprising to see how their children were not Vietnamese and didn’t associate with Vietnam but weren’t Australian either, especially in the eyes of many Australians. An insightful and thought provoking novel.

ALL THAT'S LEFT UNSAID by Tracey Lien
Published date - 15 September 2022
DEBUT BOOK

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. The writing & vocabulary was not to my liking and was very distracting and off putting. I might not be in the correct frame of mind at present, but would consider a second read of this debut novel.

I give a 2 star rating only as the book was not for me.

I WANT TO THANK NETGALLEY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY OF READING AND ADVANCED COPY OF THIS BOOK FOR AN HONEST OPINION

Although this book is a murder mystery where a sister returns to her home town of Cabramatta on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia to find out why her brother has been murdered and by whom; this turns out to be incidental to the story which centres around well depicted characters and their relationship to each other. The author clearly understands the difficulties experienced by the Vietnamese refugees when they reached a country whose customs are so alien to their own. This subject is very topical. The story is written from the perspective of the refugees and their families who want to keep their Buddhist traditions and to give their children traditional names while wanting a better life for their children but not always liking the values of their children who are growing up in multicultural Australia.
The story is based in a real town which had a huge drug problem, While trying to avoid any spoilers, drugs play a part in this story but what interested me most was the author’s understanding of relationships. The main character is Ky who is desperate to succeed in Australia. She moves away and becomes a journalist but returns with a mission to avenge her brother’s death and to assuage her feelings of guilt. I think many people and not just immigrants will be able to relate to the battles she has with her parents and in particular her mother. We learn about her friend Minnie who comes from a vey deprived and abusive household and can understand that she has many good qualities and with a different upbringing, her life could have been different. Again readers will be able to relate to the feeling of loss when a lifelong friendship changes and ends.
There is much food for thought in this book which will make it a great book group choice. Thank you Netgalley for letting me read a copy in advance of publication.

This was such a beautiful story.

A family of Vietnamese refugees forced to flee to Australia, Ky returns home in the event of the horrific, violent murder of her brother, a straight-A student, top of his class - Mr Perfect. We follow as she, frustrated by the seeming lack of action by both her parents and the police, attempts to gain her own sense of justice - uncovering what truly happened that night.

This was just phenomenal, and it’s a hugely important story to tell. The actual murder mystery element took a back seat (which I didn’t mind) in order for the true tale of the book - this is the story of the struggles of being a first-generation immigrant, the struggle to understand the sacrifices of your parents whilst trying to fit into a culture that does not embrace yours. From having to translate the police interviews because they didn’t bother to get a translator, to watching your parents accept that the country they fled to as a safe haven is the one who took their sons life - ‘all that’s left unsaid’ is a raw exploration into inter generational trauma.

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC.

Ky returns to her home town following the brutal murder of her beloved younger brother Denny. Denny the youngest of the Tran family of Vietnamese refugees is the first to be born in Australia; the glimmering hope of a better life that they all had but also a beacon of goodness and kindness. Following his death no one will talk of what happened and so it is left to a shell-shocked and distraught Ky to sift through the pieces and find the truth and a way through the grief.

I'll be honest it took me until the end of the first chapter to really get into this book. I found the internal dialogue a little stilted and clumsy but by chapter 2 this book really hit its stride and my god did it pack a punch.

As a half-asian woman living in a Anglo country this is the first book I've read and really felt seen. Where I could fully immerse myself in the struggles of not just Ky but many of the characters depicted. I think for this reason alone this book is so important - that sense of belonging and justification in feeling a certain way but that you are not alone. From the great big moments where it is so clear you are seen as an outsider but also the smaller hollow moments that you can't quite place if you just aren't liked for who you are or if there is something larger at play. The feeling of fitting yourself into the small cracks of society to not stand out so you can fit right in and be accepted. Lien so perfectly articulated so many of my experiences with such nuance that it didn't feel preachy.

This was a fantastic book with a riveting story line and rich 3 dimensional characters. The depictions of who these people were and how they came to be the people they are now just blew me away. I will definitely be recommending this book to all and looking for more books by this author. I'm also so intrigued to read reviews by readers who have not had their lens coloured by shared experiences of these characters. I would hope this book would have just as much impact and hopefully help bridge gaps in understanding and compassion. But removing all the societal/economical parts of this at its heart this is an incredibly tragic and moving story of sister working through grief to try and gain a sense of justice.

Five stars!!!

Even away from the 'story' of the mystery of who killed Denny, the younger brother who's death his sister Ky sets out to investigate, this is a careful and insightful exploration of the complexities and conflicts of multigenerational immigration - not only on families, but friendships also. The story - and storytelling – strengthens as it progresses and Ky gets closer to both her lost friend Minnie and the truth. A strong debut. 3.5 stars.

This beautifully told story is set in Sydney  and follows Ky as she tries to uncover the truth about her brother's brutal murder in their hometown.

This is so much more than the tale of a murder. It pulls you straight into the depths of Ky's grief as she struggles to make sense of what has happened. What makes this book so brilliant is how it looks at the family relationships and friendships involved.

For me the location was a huge part of the story and I loved learning about the community in which it was set.
Overall a great read - fantastic writing and characters.

Once I got my head around the names and translating I got into ease to follow the story. I learnt a lot you become part of the book .

The story is set in a deprived area in Australia and centres around the brutal murder of a young Asian boy at a local diner. His parents have completely shut down in their grief leaving his sister to attempt to uncover the truth of what happened by interviewing everyone who was there that night. Her task is not an easy one as, despite the restaurant being occupied, no one seems to have seen anything.

This book gives a real insight into the lives of immigrants who are trying to make their way in their new world and the pressures often put on their children to succeed. As spectators, we are introduced to a community wary of white people and fearful of what might happen if they speak out. The effects of a troubled upbringing are at the core of this novel along with the loss of identity often experienced by immigrants.

The ending raised this from a 3* to a 4* read for me. The author didn’t go down the expected route but chose an honest, difficult path to conclude this novel.