The Everything I Have Lost is a powerful book that I found hard to put down.
The diary format pulled me into this narrative of resilience, loss, trauma, friendship, family and artistry.

Read it, you will never forget it! I recommend this book for ages teen to adult.

I truly enjoyed this book. Our heroine is a young girl living a very isolated life in Mexico, until one day she is sent to live with her aunt in El Paso, Tex. Life is very different and since she is so young the adults keep most of their truths away from her. This book is a diary, along the lines of Anne Frank. It's very honest and the place she put her fears.
#NetGalley #TheEverythingIHaveLost

I was granted a copy of this audiobook by Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion.
The narrator of this audiobook was great.
We follow a perspective through diary entries of our POV 12 years old character, Julia that goes throw a lot, it’s is tough, this novel explores heavy topics along with the hard challenge that comes with being a teenager, and we see everything throughout the eyes of a young girl. The novel itself was very engaging and interesting to follow through. It became very emotional to see the relationship between mother and daughter.
I surely recommend this has a audiobook and book whatever your preference is, But surely the audiobook made it more intense for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for this ARC

This had me hooked from the word go, what a great story!

This book, told in diary entries from the POV of the young main character, deals with a lot of heavy stuff. As a white American, I often try to glimpse the realities of other cultures and nationalities through fiction and this book held no punches in giving me exactly that. Any ignorant person who wants to pretend that life on the border is easy.

The only drawback was that, since we see the story through a sheltered 12-15 year old, it often felt like we were missing out on important details about the things that were happening to her family.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook. I enjoyed the narrator and this story told in a unique diary format. The main character went thought some troubles hard for her age, but matured gracefully as the book went on. I am glad I listened to this one.

Thank you so much to net galley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book! I really enjoyed this book and loved the diary aspect. This story feels like the story of many people alive today!

I was worried that this novel-in-diary-entries was going to be hard to take, given the immaturity of the narrator in the first few entries and the heaviness of the topics teased on the book summary, but the author did a great job of showing how Julia matures and her worldview and understanding of her parents matures over the course of the book. There are some very heavy topics either glanced a or addressed head on and when you add it to the normal heavy issues of adolescence, you end up with an engaging, interesting novel. And it's a good reminder that as a parent the choices I make don't only affect me.

I enjoyed this story. However, I think I would’ve liked it more if I read the actual book instead of listening to the audiobook.

This is a hard-hitting contemporary middle-grade, told through a young girl’s diary entries. I found this to be a very impactful story that deals with some serious topics. The narrator did a wonderful job bringing the main character to life, and I felt all of her emotions. I knew going into the story that it would be sad and touching. It gave a look at the differences between living in Juarez, as compared to El Paso, which was interesting to hear about.

This one does a pretty solid job of blending dark, serious topics with the frivolous stuff that fills a standard middle school kid's diary. There's a lot of the basic stuff we expect - crushes, wanting cool clothes, feeling like your parents won't let you do anything interesting. That fills most of the first third of the book. There are moments where we wee that all is not right in the world, where someone mentions girls going missing and the dangers outside of the house,. The constant foreboding that accompanies the father's job. Those elements gradually take over the focus of the book until that is basically all that is addressed. Not one I'd want to leave a kid to interpret on their own.

Cute, funny and an amazing story to listen to. I loved that this book didn't shy away from any kind of familial troubles and I loved watching Julia grow. This book flew by and I am really, extremely glad I took the time to dive into it.

I always get surprised when I came across a random title here in NetGalley which highlights stories featuring another culture and this novel delivered all the goods and the bads about Mexico.

The Everything I Have Lost is a straightforward novel featuring the coming-of-age story of the main character as she grow up in a chaotic society.

Such an amazing experience!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Everything I Have Lost is a pretty rough book to read and I didn't really like it.

It deals with a lot of though subjects that don't feel developed enough. Also, I could not take most of the things in this book seriously because the narrator did a bad job narrating a child's voice

A New Point of View

I honestly picked this one up because it was something I'd never seen before. I thought that the story sounded like it was going to be interesting and the point of view was going to be different than the typical books I read. I was right on both counts. The Everything I Have Lost was, at some times, an absolutely heart breaking book, but it was also a book that taught me a lot about things that I've never heard of before or never thought of - so for that I'm happy it's broadened my horizons.

Zeleny does a great job writing this from a child's perspective. Sometimes the "diary" aspect of this drove me a bit nuts - but I understood and I'm glad that Zeleny stuck with it. Especially because of the age of the character - a 12-year-old is going to be the most honest with her diary compared to her friends or family. Especially with everything that was going on.

Throw in the narration from Lori Felipe-Barkin and it's a book that, while not my normal genre or style, really stood out. I'm glad that I picked this one up and I feel like the "will he disappear forever" aspect, even as an adult is super relatable. Sure, mine might be for different reasons, but I've lost friends to cancer already, and I'm the age where people will be here one day and gone the next. That feeling, while different for me compared to Julia in this book - but it made me relate in a way I didn't expect.

This middle grade on the other hand it was kind of a big let down. It had so much potential but I just can't get over the sexist and fat phobic comments. This is a translated book, it was originally published in Spanish.

It follows Julia who is 12 to 13 throughout the book and it's written entirely out of her diary entries. Her family lives and Juarez, Mexico and they travel back and forth between El Paso Texas and Juarez. Her father is into some illegal shit trying to earn money and even though Julia her mother and her brother are all US citizens technically, her dad is not and so they end up staying in Mexico. There's a lot of discussions about the unsafe situation and violence.

There is a huge push about periods for some reason and the fact that when someone gets theirs, they're automatically a woman and this was repeated over and over and over again and I wanted to scream. Not only is it super transphobic to say that, but children who start their periods at 11 to 13 are not adults. A bodily function does not make adulthood.

There's also a single fat character in this entire book and of course they are a bully and they are only referred to as Fat Nelly. there are pieces of the story that I really appreciate and that I liked but there were others that just irked me to no end.

12-year-old Julia keeps a diary about her life growing up in Juarez, Mexico. Life in Juarez is strange. People say its the murder capital of the world. Dad’s gone a lot. They can’t play outside because it isn’t safe. Drug cartels rule the streets. Cars and people disappear, leaving behind pet cats.

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the digital audiobook arc in exchange for an honest review.

this is an important read, definitely a must for everyone. it really explores what it’s like for julia to be torn between two while still just being a child. it made me so sad to read and i hope we get more stories rendered like this.

Not only is the story powerful, the narrator of this audiobook captures the experience of a teen girl who is coming of age in both a privileged and dangerous situation. Well done!

This is a title that the Evergreen Committee is considering for its 2023 nominees.

I received an advanced copy of this audiobook from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. The narrator did a fantastic job reading this book. The pacing of this book is good. The friendships and family relationships are good. I highly recommend this audiobook to anyone and everyone. I can't wait to read/listen to more books by this author and narrator. It is in stores now for $10.99 (USD).