Sadly this book just didn’t grab as much as I hoped it would. I put it down and picked it up multiple times but I just couldn’t connect with it. Super bummed.

This book was amazing, I cannot recommend it enough! Really amazing historical fiction and I appreciated the dual timelines. Such a great mystery, I could not put it down.

This was a good WWII novel, but I've read a lot of them and this isn't as good as most, in my opinion. However, it was an easy and enjoyable read and the characters were likable. If you enjoy romance, WWII stories, and don't mind a bit of predictability, this one's for you!

I was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying this. The Alina narrative was by far my favorite and the strongest. The Alice POV felt slightly unnecessary and some of the autism representation made me feel a little uncomfortable. While there is a wide spectrum, autism is not something that needs to be fixed. And after living with someone with a debilitating disability, perhaps I’m a bit sensitive to disability caregiver narratives 😂

“War breaks us down to nothing more than our most selfish will to survive-but when we rise above that instinct, miracles can still happen.”
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This book!...WOW!! I am honestly at a loss for words for how much I absolutely loved this book!! A story of love, survival, and hope-in a time when it was needed the most.
This book bounces between two time lines-WWII and now. I fell in love with all these wonderful characters and their stories. If you loved The Nightingale-I think you’ll definitely love this too!

When you love a book so much...it is difficult to write a review that you feel will do it justice. So, to avoid procrastinating any longer, let me share what I tell I’ve been excitedly telling every historical fic reader I meet:

I adored the writing so much that, not even 20% into the arc, I purchased a hard-copy because I knew it would forever need to live on my bookshelf.

I’ve never been so equally invested in a dual-timeline story, and couldn’t stop reading—I needed to know what happens next! The mystery of figuring out how both timelines were linked had me hooked.

The Things We Cannot say is beautiful; it made me sob (a lot), but it also left me inspired and filled with hope.

Thank you, Kelly Rimmer, for my favourite read of 2019!!

Poignant and emotional novel about family secrets in WWII. The WWII chapters were my favorite, following the suspenseful time of Alina and Tomas. I thought it was a very exciting story of survival. I wish the WWII chapters were more lengthy. The current chapters are a bit stressful with the family dynamics. I had a fascination with the ability of the author to balance the past and present voices. I enjoyed the stories of the WWII Polish resistance and the people who made sacrifices for their families. I did find it a bit predictable for what happened to Tomas. I liked the relationship between Alice and her grandmother. It was a sweet relationship.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This story - what can I say this book had me sobbing. I immediately fell in love with the characters and the story. This does go from telling Alices story of the present time and her struggles in life and her grandmother Alina, ill in the hospital to Alina living in Poland during WWII.

I so wanted to love this book because I do love Kelly Rimmer’s writing and I know this was inspired by her own family history .

But .. this book just didn’t work for me and I found myself skimming thru most of it .

This is a WWII story, and there are so many of these now that I have very high expectations of these novels. I enjoyed the different perspective - the story follows a Roman Catholic Polish family , who are so close to Auschwitz that they can see the smoke and smell the burning, although they are in the dark as to what is goi go. There, and are just trying to stay alive themselves.

The characters of Alina, Hanna, and Alice, all just got on my nerves to be honest. Alina was so spoiled, self centred, and ignorant to what was going on around her for the most part. I could not understand how her parents would leave a so “in the dark” of everything that was going on, so I just didn’t find these family dynamics believable.

Alice I had some hopes for, but all her whining and complaining about her husband just annoyed me as well.

Overall, there’s a good story here, but it was just lost with these characters.

Kelly Rimmer did the Historical Fiction genre right. What a wonderfully written novel. One of my favourites from the year. The two narrators and the present and past narration kept the book moving and really brought me into the characters as the reader. She did an excellent job bringing me into this world. THIS IS A MUST READ!

❝Life has a way of shattering our expectations, of leaving our hopes in pieces without explanation. But when there's love in a family, the fragments left behind from our shattered dreams can always be pulled together again, even if the end result is a mosaic.❞⁣
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War stories have a way of breaking me apart and putting me back together with a heart more wholesome and filled with much gratitude—gratitude for the life I have and the people within it. This book left me weeping at the final page and many times before it’s ending, yet there’s something so grounding about history.⁣
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I highly recommend this story. It has been officially added to my list of favorite historical fiction reads. ⁣

This story was amazing. I couldn't put it down and it was one of the best historical fiction narratives I have read.

The story follows two related heroines: The life of Alina Dziak, who was a Polish teenager in the midst of the Nazi invasion. It follows her family along with her childhood love Tomasz as they hide and eventually try to escape to a non-occupied territory for safety. Second voice we follow is Alice, who is raising a 7 yr old autistic son Eddie and his 10 yr old sister Callie.

At first, I was trying to figure how what they had to do with each other, but rest assured that it would become readily evident. Both women are trying to remain strong and adaptable in an environment where so much is out of their control. Alice and Alina touched me and moved to tears. Their perseverance and how they handled life's adversities were so admirable.

Many of us have read historical fictions but hearing the harrowing escapes and the ingenuity people use to evade the Nazi soldiers never gets old for me. It is a constant reminder of how hard people fought to survive despite how scared they were. The writing was so engaging, riveting and intense. There was such sadness and such happiness too. It always amazes me how resilient the human spirit truly is. I love this book, the message and ending gave me peace. I will recommend this book to anyone who loves Historical Fiction books like Amy Harmon's novel From Sand and Ash. It's on that level awesome.

As someone who dislikes historic fiction, I found this novel quite enjoyable. I must say I heavily preferred the current-day plot line, as the dynamic of the family was portrayed masterfully. The historic timeline had some weaknesses - mainly the emotional pathos and naïveté of the protagonist and her lover. In the modern time when Alice visits Poland, I found it frustrating how many "misunderstandings" between her and the locals could have been solved by clear communication. In a way, the reader was losing interest as the plot twist had become clear at that point, and was being rehashed in each timeline of the novel. Overall this was a great reading experience I would recommend to fans of historical fiction.

Kelly Rimmer is great at exploring heavy themes within families. This is a story about the war, but it is so much more than that. It is an exploration of family and the things we do and do not share with others. Alina finds herself marrying young and hiding truths for years to come during Nazi ruled Europe. Alice, in present day, is asked to head to Poland by her grandmother. The stories weave together beautifully to bring to light the secrets and emotions that were harbored for so long.

Alice is a mother of two and her son is autistic and does not communicate verbally. The only way she can communicate with him is with an app on their tablet. While life with an autistic child isn't stressful enough Alice's grandmother has a stroke and is rushed to the hospital. And with her stroke she cannot communicate so she also uses the app on the tablet that Alice's son uses so she can communicate with her family. She tells Alice that she wants her to go to Poland where she was born before WWII but she doesn't know why she wants her to go back to Poland. Alice must decide to go to Poland to see what her grandmother.

In 1938, Alina is engaged to Tomaz he leaves to go to medical school and while he is at school the Nazis evade the town Alina is living in Poland. Alina does everything she can to get in touch with Tomaz and when she finally does he is hiding from the Nazis and they must meet in secret. Tomaz is helping hide Jewish families and is in danger everyday hoping to not get caught by the Nazis. Alina and Tomaz are separated again when Alina goes to a camp to hopefully flee Poland.

This book was absolutely amazing! I loved the dual timelines between present day and the past. Usually I like one timeline better than the other and in this book I loved both of them equally. They were both very fascinating. I loved the story about Alina and Tomaz their love for each other was so pure and beautiful. There were two mystery aspects and I really enjoyed that because it left me guessing and made me want to keep reading. I love WWII novels and this one is definitely now one of my favorites. This book left me sobbing at the end! If you love WWII historical fiction with a beautiful emotional love story definitely check this one out!!

This is by far one of my favorite WWII set books and I also really enjoyed the parallel modern day story line. The intricate story lines were written beautifully. I was highly invested in every single character, even the secondary characters. Every character felt very realistic based on when they existed in history and their age and experiences. Every situation felt realistic. I really felt like I was on every journey with each character and this book brought out many emotions, including sobbing at several points in the story. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I have described this book as beautifully tragic. I highly recommend taking time to read it.

This book was WONDERFUL! I loved the characters, I stayed up multiple nights much later than I needed to just because I couldn’t put it down.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy- all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer #partner @netgalley #graydonhousepublishing #jaylammreviews 

“War breaks us down to nothing more than our most selfish will to survive—but when we rise above that instinct, miracles can still happen.” 

This is Alina's story told in dual timelines; present day Alina who is very ill and desperately trying to get her granddaughter Alice to uncover the secrets of her past, and Alina's life in Poland in 1942. This was a very emotional story but is beautifully told. The 1942 timeline goes into the Nazi invasion and the loss of Alina's life as she knows it, while the current timeline goes really in depth into a shaky marriage and challenges of a couple who's child has special needs. Both story lines were equally enthralling. 

Rimmer is an amazing story teller and she has a unique way of evoking emotion from her readers. I could not put this book down and was definitely reading the last few chapters through tears.

If you enjoyed The Nightingale and A Fire Sparkling, you will enjoy this one.

This was an amazing story by Kelly Rimmer. Her writing hooked me right from the prologue and did not let go until I finally finished the story. It is told in dual timelines and both stories mesh together nicely. Alina Dziak is fifteen-years-old living in Poland when the Nazi's invade and occupy the country. She is engaged to her best friend and neighbour, Tomasz, who has moved to Krakow to attend medical school. As the war ramps up and it becomes more and more dangerous, she realizes that if she and Tomasz want to be together they will have to flee to a safer area so they can live the happily married life they had planned. During war, things do not always work out according to plan. The second storyline takes place in modern times, with Alice and her family in the U.S. Alice's Babcha has had a stroke and is in the hospital. She wants Alice to go to Poland, travel to her village and find some people whose names she gives her. There is a bit of a mystery to solve, but Alice is up to the task.

Kelly Rimmer has done it again. She evokes all the emotions in her reader, breaks your heart and puts it all back together again. This story is a combination of historical fiction, women’s fiction, domestic drama and a love story, all rolled up into one. The main characters are amazing, strong, women. Alice has been living an extremely stressful life. She has a son with autism, a daughter who is gifted and a husband who seems to be a workaholic. When her babcha asks her to travel to Poland, her initial reaction is no, but her husband says a few things that quickly have her changing her mind. Not only is Alice in for an adventure of her life, but her husband, who is staying home with the children, is as well. I loved watching him change and realize all the Alice does to keep the family functioning in the style they have become accustomed to. I really enjoy historical fiction, but both of these storylines are compelling and emotional. The ending of this one threw me for a loop. I had expected some of it, but there were definitely some surprises. I was left heartbroken and an emotional wreck, but I still loved this story. I definitely recommend this one to anyone who loved historical fiction and dual-timelines.