My expectations were really high, wich certainly influenced my opinion, and, while I did enjoy the book, it wasn't everything I was expecting it to be!

In general, I enjoyed the writing and the story telling, there are some quite good passages. I didn't like, however, how a point of view would change almost mid sentence, reverting to the previous one two sentences ahead.

The concept (the façade of the suburbia crumbling when a outsider comes along or when an event occurs, starting a domino effect that unravels people's lives) isn't new, the characters aren't new and while their development is there it also feels like I have seen it before (I have seen similar characters developing in very similar ways). The plot is a bit too dramatic at points, being at the same time mostly predictable and using the miscommunication device to enhance said drama, particularly towards the end - with which, by the way, I was a bit disappointed.

While I didn't connect much to any of the characters, I cared enough to “feel the feels” when they were caught in difficult situations and to want to know more about their past and how their story would resolve.

I liked the moral greyness of the book, the existing different perspectives, the issues the books centers around and the time the author chose to place it, despite thinking it goes conveniently hand in hand with the miscommunication necessary to the more dramatic parts of the story.

All in all, I enjoyed it and was engrossed while reading the story but, at the same time, as expectations were high going into it, I was hoping for something a bit more innovative and impactful.

I will certainly be reading Everything I Never Told You and keeping an eye on future works from Celeste Ng!