I am truly surprise by how much I did not like this one. Celeste Ng is without a doubt a talented writer, but holy cow was Everything I Never Told You deeply upsetting.

In Little Fires Everywhere, Ng does a great job realistically showing how a lack of communication can foster bitterness and misunderstanding. It should have been no surprise that this theme would also be present in a book literally titled Everything I Never Told You, but in this case it was maddeningly frustrating and really did not serve a greater purpose. There was no grand cathartic revelation of a character that spoke to the human condition to make sense of the suffering. Perhaps this was intentional, but it made the novel hard palate on the whole.

I also cannot get past how much I hate James. The scene with him and Nath at the pool and James’ treatment of his son afterwards transformed his character from a flawed individual to a terrible, cowardly, pathetic excuse for a father. I have little sympathy for parents who are intentionally cruel to their children. For all the bad Marylin does to Lydia, I felt by the novel’s end James was the true villain of the tale, even though I’m pretty sure there was not supposed to be an antagonist in the traditional sense.

Having grown up in a biracial family myself, there was a lot written that I can say rang true, in the novel’s defense. I know what it’s like to be the most ‘exotic’ family on the block, and the feelings of loneliness and isolation that can arise. All of this is captured well and with great authenticity.

What I cannot get past is how little agency Lydia and her family are allowed. Again, perhaps this is done intentionally, to shed light on the realities of injustice and unfairness. But then all that was left was bad things happening for the sake of bad things happening. I just can’t accept that as artistic, and it definitely was not enjoyable.

Overall, this was a letdown for me. I don’t think I could recommend it.