I was not prepared for the emotional roller coaster that I experienced whilst reading this book.
The novel is so now, the topic of pregnancy and abortions and religious pro-lifers and rape is all so relevant and even with American schooling choosing to rather discuss abstinence than sex can lead to harmful affects and choices on those involved.
Nicole Maggi also discusses abusive relationships within the novel which is another thing that needs to be brought forward more.
This novel is so powerful and left me in tears, and brought forward conflicting thoughts and feelings on such a controversial topic.
Thank you.

Lovely, insightful, and thoughtful. I really feel like a good chunk of young women would appreciate a book like this. The writing style of journal entries and notes as well as alternating perspectives keeps things interesting as well.

Content warnings: rape, sexual assault, rape resulting in pregnancy, pregnancy, talk of miscarrying, abortion, description of abortion, victim-blaming, unsafe home environment, misogyny (challenged), homophobic behavior (challenged), anti-abortion rhetoric (challenged), religion, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, grief, threats of violence

What They Don't Know might appear, on the surface, to be an "issue book" focusing solely on a main character's experience with teen pregnancy, rape, and abortion. And while these kinds of stories are undoubtedly important, What They Don't Know feels to me, at its core, to be a friendship story above all else. 

This book is told exclusively through diary entries from two different girls connected only by the fact that they were childhood friends, then grew apart. They each write these journals to their English teacher as part of a class assignment, and the journals quickly become the only place the two can confide their secrets. Mellie is the daughter of the uber-conservative mayor of their small Colorado town who's hiding a huge secret, while Lise is an outspoken feminist with a heart of gold. One day, Lise sees Mellie crying in the school bathroom and quickly realizes she needs help, and that Lise herself is in a unique position to help Mellie.

Some might think of this as a spoiler, because the blurb is quite vague, but I think it's important to know what you're getting into when you go into a book, so I'll say it anyway: Mellie is raped in her own basement by someone close to her family and her church, and this rape results in her becoming pregnant. It's a traumatic situation for anyone, let alone someone who is constantly having to deal with anti-choice, victim-blaming rhetoric in her home and her church. Something I think What They Don't Know conveys wonderfully is that you truly never know what decision you might make in a certain situation until you are in that situation. And, although Mellie does ultimately decide abortion is the only viable choice for her, this book emphasizes above all else a woman's right to make her own choices about her body. It in no way glorifies abortion or presents it as the right choice for everyone. Additionally, despite the traumatic sexual assault, it's a very sex-positive book! We see Lise and Mellie coming to vastly different conclusions about sex and working out where they stand on it without pressuring the other girl to change her own mind. 

The subject matter was heartbreakingly timely, what with a woman's right to choose constantly under siege from (cis male, ahem) lawmakers. And it's heavy, undoubtedly. Mellie agonizes over her decision, and above all lives in constant fear of her parents finding out about her pregnancy or her plan to terminate it. What makes it all the more gut wrenching is the knowledge that, for many young women, growing up in hostile home environments like Mellie's is reality. It so often seemed like there was no clear path, no right answer for Mellie.

This brings me to the friendship at the center of the story, which provided the hope such a bleak narrative needed. Lise is an incredibly caring, supportive friend who never gives up on Mellie. And she's not just there to function as Mellie's support; she is a character with hopes and dreams and opinions and  thoughts of her own that I so enjoyed reading about through her journal entries. Lise's mom, boyfriend, and friends were also all total angels and I loved how supportive they were of one another-- not just of Mellie, although of course that was great and much-needed! But it's also wonderful to see characters who support each other in small ways as well as big ways. 

Overall, I think What They Don't Know did an excellent job of approaching such sensitive subject matter carefully and thoughtfully. Plus, the epistolary format was effective and helped the reader really get inside each character's head. The friendship is one I'll remember for a long time, and this was an excellent example of the importance of having and finding a support system. If you can handle the subject matter, I highly recommend giving this a try!

Have you read What They Don't Know?

What They Don’t Know’s storyline and beautiful, gripping characters are nothing short of heart wrenching. The subject matter of rape and abortion may not be for everyone due the triggers they can cause but this book is excellent and ranks way up there with Girl Made of Stars, The Lovely Bones, and Thirteen Reasons Why.

Mellie Rivers was raped and now she’s pregnant. Mellie’s awful position is only further worsened by her membership in an uber conservative and religious family that is headed by none other than the city mayor. She can tell no one of what happened to her. Mellie withdraws into herself and away from her family and friends as she struggles through flashbacks of her attack and weighs her options of what to do with her pregnancy. Abortion has never been on her radar since her family is staunchly opposed but now it seems like her only option. She can barely stomach carrying her rapist’s child for nine months let alone raising it.

Lise Grant can tell that something is wrong with Mellie even though they haven’t been friends since they were in Girl Scouts together a decade ago. She follows her around in an attempt to figure out what’s going on and eventually reaches out and earns her trust. With Lise’s friendship, Mellie can stop blaming herself for the assault and work towards a solution. Lise has strong convictions and is very outspoken but she’s also the kindest and most supportive friend I’ve ever read.

Through their narratives, we witness as Mellie and Lise learn about feminism, womanhood, and the right to choose. Each girl is forced to analyze her beliefs–especially Mellie whose entire belief system is in shambles. These girls are beautifully written and exhibit major growth in this dark, intense coming-of-age story.

"What They Don't Know" was quite an emotional ride. What the summary doesn't state but what you find out within the first couple chapters is that Mellie was raped and has just found out she is pregnant (and is considering her options). This is something you may want to consider before picking up the book. That being said, it was definitely worth the read and is pretty much as emotional as you'd expect considering rape, pregnancy at 16 years of age, and abortion as topics. This is not an easy read but it was, in my opinion, worthwhile.

Mellie is one of six children, and her father is the mayor, running for the state senate. To add onto that, her family belongs to a strict Christian church which is aggressively pro-life. In fact, it's the members of her church that stand outside the women's health clinic in town all day every day to yell at the women entering it. Mellie has always thought pregnancy and her virginity was her choice, and she has followed her family's beliefs, as most children do. The rape and subsequent pregnancy have really opened her eyes to what her family's beliefs really mean. She is suffering in her pain, and completely alone- all her friends are those her family approves of from her church. Her parents even say that abortion is unacceptable even in cases of rape and that pregnancy from that is very unlikely (at political rallies, her father emphasizes his stance on abortions). However, things are not as black and white as they seem to her family (and they did to her before this happened).

Lise is fierce about her beliefs, women's rights, and trying to make a change. She volunteers at the women's health clinic to escort women past the protesters. She wants to make a difference in the world. She and Mellie used to be friends before the child of two gay men joined and Mellie had to leave. Since then, she has loosely watched Mellie from a distance. However, lately, she notices that something is wrong and Mellie seems to be alone. Lise tries to figure it out in order to help her.

Both girls have a school assignment to write in a journal and both end up using the journal to talk about what is most on their minds- Mellie's problem. The book is told in alternating entries between the two girls. The journal idea was interesting in theory, but in practice, it felt like alternating points-of-view without a journal premise- conversations and dialogue are told in detail and the feel of the writing/writing style is very similar between the two sections. I could have done without the journal entries (and I am surprised that they would have submitted to their teacher what they are writing- these deep secrets seem surprising in the context of a journal for a class project. Then again, maybe they are bursting at the seams and willing to share in what feels like a safe space. They just don't quite read like journal entries. However, this is a small complaint. The overall book is hard to put down and so engaging and emotionally charged that it was quite the read.

The characters are also really strong and felt very full and real. We see Mellie's internal debates and emotions and fears. She is a very strong and well built character. Lise's life is less well-built, but we get glimpses through her interactions with family and her boyfriend. She provides an interesting outside perspective, and together, we really see the power of friendship and caring for people who may not make it easy to do so. It's really the power of thinking about another person and taking actions to help them- which is true friendship.

This book was more than I expected and I really think it was worth the read. Emotional, engaging, and a valuable discussion to be had. Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I believe the message in the book is an important one, but I don’t know that I agree with the execution all that much. Everything in the book seems to be so black and white. Which is kind of ironic because one of the things in the book that Mellie realizes is how many shades of grey there are in pro-life vs. pro-choice argument.

Mellie’s family are devout Christians and are about as cliche as you can get, where Lise’s family is the exact opposite. Mellie’s family is painted as the bad guys, Lise’s the good. As someone who is a huge supporter of the pro-choice movement, as well as an atheist, it surprises me how annoyed I got at how religion is portrayed. It shows the absolute worse parts of Christianity without showing any of the good parts. I wouldn’t mind seeing the bad stuff, if it was just balanced out a bit.

I did feel reallly bad for Mellie and it pains me to know that her story does happen all the time. I did appreciate seeing how Mellie grows throughout the book. I enjoyed how compassionate Lise was.

The format of the novel was pretty neat too. It’s framed as a school assignment. A journal assigned for an English class.

I probably wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone. I’m sure there’s better books out there that deal with the subject matter in a better way.

I couldn't stop reading this book. Mellie and Lise come together in a heartbreaking fashion, each with a secret that no one else knows. I loved the format of each chapter being a journal entry, and seeing the world through the lens of these girls. I felt the topics discussed were relevant, not just for young adults, but for adults as well. My heart ached for both girls, but especially for Mellie as she attempted to navigate a world that had become unfriendly overnight.

*2.5*

Let me start out by saying the message of this book is so important and I stand by it completely. The novel follows two girls: Mellie, who suffers a rape that results in pregnancy and struggles with what to do about it due to her family's fundamentalist Christian/extreme anti-abortion views, and Lise, who represents basically the opposite, pro-choice, very feminist and openminded, etc. When Lise realizes that something's off with her once friend Mellie, she decides to step in and try to help her.

I loved the message of learning to realize that your body is your body, and the overall pro-choice themes. I also loved the theme of friendship. Lise reaches out to Mellie even when she's certain her advice and offers are unwanted. She stays beside her through everything and is so, so understanding. I'm such a fan of supportive friendships and this was absolutely one of them.

My problem comes with the execution. It just felt so poorly done to me. First of all, everything was way too extreme. I understand that there are likely towns like this, with mayors like Mellie's father who act this way. But it just felt like it made the whole situation too dramatic, the drama of how her family will disown her and go around town looking for her. It took away from the message, which was the most important part of the story. It would of made for a more interesting, and perhaps realistic, dynamic if things weren't so extreme on both ends.

Even more so than that, however, I didn't like the journal style. I'm not sure why, but it just didn't work for me. For one, it's hard to believe that a teen would realistically write all of this to a teacher (especially when Lise would talk about her near-sex encounters with her boyfriend). Also, there were times where they had written an entry, and the timing of it felt so strange. It just didn't work for the way this story was being told, especially at the end. Maybe it would of been better to use a mix of journal entries and traditional narrative, or change the timing of the entries and the fact that it was all to a teacher, especially since there were a couple notes and letters here and there that weren't written to the teacher, so how they fit into the novel just didn't make sense to me.

Overall, the message of this story is so important, which is why it makes me sad to rate this so low. But the execution just wasn't there.

My review is scheduled to appear in the September 15, 2018, issue of BOOKLIST Magazine, a publication of the American Library Association.

The writing style certainly adds the the emotion of this story. An interesting and thought provoking take on several difficult topics.

I love contemporary ya, and I throughly enjoyed this. I think it will be a natural pairing with Jodi Picoult's A Spark of Light!

This novel, about a sixteen year old who becomes pregnant doesn't break any new ground, but the two girls are so well drawn and although the ending is pretty upbeat, it is realistic and it was really refreshing to not have everything "solved."

Also, bonus points for outstanding work with a really positive female friendship experience between the mcs.

The format--all journal entries aside from the ending--made me a bit nervous when I first started because it can be so cliched, but it really worked here.

As for the critics who will complain about the way that religious families are portrayed--yes, some are loving and supportive. And some aren't, and I appreciated the look into what can be a painful situation for a teen who is in a family that would rather blame than help because that is the reality some face.

What They Don’t Know packs a huge emotional punch. I was sad, I was PISSED, and I even cheer at certain points. Mellie is strong as hell. I could have loved her more. Her story was heart wrenching and inspiring. Not every act is a “gift” and she choose herself. Lise was incredible, she was brave and wonderful. She’s the kind of friend as girl could only hope to have. What They Don’t Know is heartbreaking, raw and real. I loved it and I hated it. I only hated it because it’s of the narrowed mind people who exists in real life. This book is just spectacular and poignant.

An intriguing novel told through the journal entries of two girls in high school. Meli is the daughter of the ultra-conservative mayor of their town and is recently raped by a man who knows her family. Lise is the daughter of divorced parents who is an escort at a women's clinic in town that does abortions. As Meli is wrestling with what to do with her growing baby, she understands that Lise is the only person she can trust with her biggest secret. I couldn't put this novel down and wouldn't stop reading until it was finished, because I was so vested in the lives of these two characters.

Former friends Mellie and Lise have secrets that intersect. Mellie is dealing with a secret that could upend her future and have her shunned by her family, and LIse’s secret could be what saves her.

Interesting but a bit heavy-handed story line. This story goes farther than any I’ve read in its exploration of an unwanted pregnancy, Nicole Maggi tries to put many human faces on abortion - sharing varied stories of why women may choose to terminate a pregnancy,
I appreciate and applaud the pro-choice perspective, but I do worry when pro-life characters seem one-dimensional and rather villainous. The humanness of the pro-life camp is absent, and I think ultimately it does a disservice to her message.

I think there is a way to be religious and pro-choice, and while this story does a good job with sharing a pro-choice message, I’m eager to find stories that have more progressive, nuanced believers.

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of What They Don’t Know by Nicole Maggi for review purposes through NetGalley, so thank you to them.
What They Don’t Know is a story about two sixteen year old girls, Lise and Mellie, who both have a pretty big secret that they’re hiding. Mellie is from a very conservative and religious family. Her father is the mayor of their small town and he’s running for state senate on that pretty typical platform of pro-life, family values, and so on. Mellie is described as the perfect daughter and friend, always toeing the line and doing what she’s supposed to. She wears a purity ring and would have waited until marriage if she had been given a choice. Unfortunately, she wasn’t. At the start of the story, you find out that Mellie was raped and now she’s pregnant. Lise, on the other hand, seems to be Mellie’s opposite. She’s a feminist, organizes a Women’s Fair at her school, and volunteers at the local abortion clinic as an escort. She is deeply caring and loves to help people. She’s also the only person who seems to notice that Mellie is drowning and that she needs help, and Lise does everything she can to try help her.
The novel is told in epistolary format, as the it tells the story from both Lise and Mellie’s perspective primarily through entries in a journal given to them by their English teacher, Ms. Tilson. The story switches back and forth between these two perspectives, allowing the reader to get to know both girls and to understand where exactly they are coming from. The girls tell their stories in their own words and it is deeply moving. The journals are private to them, they are apparently only supposed to turn them in at the end of the school year, so the girls feel safe writing down exactly what they are going through and what they are feeling. I say this because based on what they were divulging, a teacher would have been obligated to report this to a counsellor. However, even though the journals are private, they feel reluctant to reveal even the deepest secrets until later on in the story, which leads the reader to feel suspense as they try and predict who it was that raped Mellie and also to try and guess what Lise is hiding that she can’t even tell her best friend and boyfriend.
Only a few months ago I was kind of turning up my nose at contemporary books, dismissing them as cutesy reads that didn’t do anything for me, but I feel chagrined about those thoughts now. There is so much more to this genre and I shouldn’t dismiss it because I think it’s cutesy, and even if this book had been cutesy, which it wasn’t, why would that matter? This book sucked me in and if I hadn’t asked to read it simply because it wasn’t a fantasy novel, I definitely would have missed out. This novel is definitely one of my favourite books that I’ve read this year. The subject matter is very serious because it deals with rape, an unwanted pregnancy and the decision of whether or not to get an abortion. The book deals really well with this subject matter and sort of shows the perspectives coming from both sides of the debate on abortion. I would say that the bias does lean towards the pro-choice side, but as that’s where I fall on the spectrum I really related to it. I also appreciated the journey that Mellie takes as she tries to make her choice.
I really enjoyed the characterization in this book. Both of the girls have unique voices and a unique perspective that they bring into the story. Their voices don’t get too mixed up and it’s usually easy enough to tell who is writing this particular section based on what they are talking about. I quickly grew to love the girls and deeply felt for the things that they were going through. I also found that even the side characters were well developed in this novel, which isn’t an easy task.
I don’t want to reveal too much about what actually happened in the book later on, because it’s better if you’re not totally spoiled, but I want to say that the female friendships were really fascinating to read. The author depicted all kinds of friendships, the good and the bad, and the good hit me like a punch in the gut, but the good ones made me so happy to see such positive representation.
I also had a deep emotional reaction to this book. It made me cry many times, and although I am the type of person who frequently gets emotional over books and movies, I always consider it a good sign when a book gets me so invested that I tear up. It packs a punch and I felt like it did it in a way that was easily relatable. I definitely consider this novel an important read and I highly recommend it.
What They Don’t Know by Nicole Maggi comes out on October 1st, 2018, and I highly recommend that you check it out when it hits the shelves.
Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read it prior to publication, and thank you to the author for writing an awesome story.

Things I enjoyed about this book: 

This book sucked. me. in. I had a hard time putting it down, not just because I wanted to know what happened, I NEEDED to know. I loved the letter format of What They Don't Know. It allowed for character development on a deeper level, which I appreciated. I always enjoy when a heavy topic is tackled in a book, and this my friend is a HEAVY topic. I admired the two girls friendship and quickly felt like I could be their third wheel.

The Things I Didn’t Enjoy: 

While reading this book, I had to put aside my personal and political views on abortion. The information throughout the book was hard to resinate with and I am guessing there will be a lot of people who will have a problem with it. I also had a hard time with how the religious people were portrayed, I felt it was a little too generalized. 

MRS BIRDS WORDS REVIEW

Nicole Maggi deserves 4 out of 5 bird feathers for her novel "What They Don't Know." Again, my review required me to set my beliefs aside and rate it solely on the writing and ability to keep me hooked even though there were parts so hard for me to swallow, but I kept reading. I think I would have been better prepared for this if the synopsis had included it was about abortion, also for trigger warning purposes. I loved the characters and how much of their souls they shared with me. I also enjoyed reading an opinion that differs from mine, it allowed me to "listen" and just accept. I only recommend this book for young adults and co-reading or discussion with an adult figure.  It is deep stuff. This book reiterating how important it is to have open communication and endless love for your children. Overall, great read but I don't recommend it everyone.

Parent’s Guide:

What They Don't know does have swearing, rape, sex talk, abortion is a common theme discussed, and stressful family relationships.

This is an extremely difficult review to write. This story is an important one, and the message there is something that I think is extremely important. I think the message behind it is vital, so my review is weighing on me. The story is good, I just think there are some elements of it that outweigh the good of the story.

I politically ally with the message of this book, however, I felt like the book went to far down the road of extracting the exact worst case scenario poster child situation and exploiting it into a story. I felt like the story could have been much more impactful if some of the extremes were drawn in.

Mellie is the child of an out spoken right wing politician who is running for senator. They are in a deeply religious Christian church. They believe in women doing women work and men running the world. They wear long flowy skirts and chastity rings. And protest outside of abortion clinics. She used to agree with them, until her sister's finance rapes and impregnates her.

Here's my issue. It makes everything a cliche. The dad that "just knows" how to track them and the family that is unloving and throws them out. It's just too much like a bad infomercial shoving the story down faces. When someone that whole heartedly agrees with it thinks its too much, I think the average teenage reader will just take this message the same way they take right winged messages. It's just too much of a doomsday story.

I think the portrayal of all these Christian people as terrible people and the constant rattling off of statistics just turned me off of the message. It could have been so moving, but it just fell short for me.

An important book about abortion, religion, and the choices we have to make in this world. I loved every bit of this wonderfully sad and hard book.

WOW this book was way better than I thought it was going to be! I thought the journal entry style that it was written in wouldn't encompass the whole story and all the feeling of the characters, but I was SO wrong. This is a very real look at the life of a teenager from a very religious, pro-life family, who has been raped and then finds out she is pregnant. Mellie is one of six kids and her father is mayor of her small town. They go to a very conservative church and adhere strictly to the beliefs of their religion. Most of the community seems pretty conservative, which is actually the same type of town I live in now. Mellie does not know what to do. She is LOST until an old friend of hers, Lisa notices her odd behavior and starts following around and talking to her, trying to help. Lise is such a kind caring person and she helps Mellie as much as one friend could possibly help her in this situation. Throughout the story, Mellie grows stronger and becomes more firm in her belief that having an abortion is the right thing to do for herself, her body, and her life. I dont want to ruin the story but she ends up on the other side of this situation in a much better place than she started in. Although I would never wish this on anyone, obviously, I think that the author did a great job in portraying this type of strict religious family and how their beliefs affect the children (who also believe) but need to know that their parents will be behind them if something bad happens as in this case. Mellie is raped by a man who is very close to their family and she is terrified of him. And of anyone finding out. She is right that the fallout will be bad and it is, but she comes through it a changed person...for the better. Very emotional but highly recommended! Great writing, story and characters.

WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW delivered an emotional and deep story about heavy topics like rape. Honestly, I wasn't expecting this story to be as deep as it was, but it was a very good read nonetheless.

I loved the fact that the book was written through diary entries. I felt as though I could feel the emotions as I was flying through the pages. WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW was a phenomenal read. It will make you angry, sad, hopefull, speechless, the whole nine yards.

The only real fault that I found was the changing of POV simply because it confused me a bit in the beginning. I felt as though the first few diary entries sounded very similar as if Mellie and Lise had similar if not the same voice.

WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW is a powerful novel that will take you on an emotional rollercoaster that you cannot prepare for.