Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I wanted to like this more than I did because the concept was fascinating and very queer. But it took me a while to get into the narrative and to feel enough for the characters to want to continue. Once I got into it, I enjoyed it and was happy for a sense of resolution at the end of the book. The world needs more nonbinary protagonists, and I was happy to read one here!

I really wanted to love this family drama featuring a non-binary teen with a neurodivergent father and an alcoholic mother who abandoned her family and now lives with a woman in Europe but something about it fell flat for me. It was also rough listening to a story that revolves around an almost school shooting right after what happened in Uvalde. I cared about the characters but wish the book had gone deeper.

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the copy to review.

All the Things We Don’t Talk About is a beautifully written and unique family drama. The novel centers around Morgan, a non-binary high school student and their autistic single father Julian. Morgan is exploring their first romantic relationship and trying to maintain their scholarship when Morgan’s alcoholic mother Zoe, who abandoned Morgan on their first birthday, comes crashing back into their life. The novel addresses the complexity of relationships - familial and otherwise - with sensitivity and honesty. I enjoyed it very much and look forward to more from this author. A solid four stars.

I'm in the middle on All the Things We Don't Talk About. I loved the representation. It was fantastic to see a nonbinary lead and I don't think I've ever read about neurodivergent fatherhood in fiction before. While it was conceptually wonderful, the writing itself came off flat to me. I think it might have been better with a tighter scope, perhaps fewer POVs. It also feels a bit more like YA than adult fiction (that is not a negative thing, but helpful for readers to know going in). Overall I liked this, but didn't love it.

I really enjoyed this family drama. Family dramas are one of my favorite kinds of books, and this one had an especially interesting group of characters. Each narrative voice was really distinct as well. I really liked Julian'(the dad)'s voice and I loved how his love and care for his kid emanated from the pages. The author portrayed his neurodivergence with a lot of sensitivity. I also appreciated the story of a non-binary kid, which is one that doesn't get featured in most family stories that I've seen. The story of the mom was interesting but not my favorite of the group. But overall, Amy Feltman did an amazing job of showing the perspectives of and relationships between these characters. A story I really enjoyed overall.

All the Things We Don’t Talk About explores the world of a nonbinary teenagers coming-of-age with the background of intense family drama. Morgan has always felt the loss of their mom Zoe, who left when they had just turned 1, and it has followed them like a shadow all of their life. Morgan’s neurodivergent dad, Julian, has done the best that he can but there are certain holes that only Zoe can fill. Everything changes when Zoe suddenly comes crashing back into their lives, trailing chaos and glitter in her wake.

This book covers a lot - it is steeped in feelings and experiences that feel so real they instantly connect the reader. It is a story of family trauma and betrayal, but also queer and family love and acceptance.

I think this would make a particularly great book club book as there is a lot to discuss and extract here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the Arc in exchange for my honest review - All the Thing We Don’t Talk About is out now!

Seventeen year-old Morgan Flowers feels like something in missing in their life. Being raised by Julian, their neurodivergent father, they have always wondered what their mother, Zoe, is like and why she left when they were a baby. As Morgan explores their nonbinary identity and tries to find footing in their life, they meet Sadie and they fall for Sadie fast and hard. Morgan begins to feel the beginnings of bliss, only to have it come crashing down when their destructive mother shows up after being dumped by her long time girlfriend, Brigid.

This story was a real page turner for me. Told from four perspectives (Morgan, Julian, Zoe, and Brigid), I got a good sense of where each character was coming from. Each of them were complicated in their own way and each of them had reasons why they made the decisions they did. The story was deeply engrossing because I needed to know how it would play out. I had a sense of foreboding from the beginning and I knew that the mother was going to come in and cause some problems for Morgan and their father. I could never have imagined the level of destruction she would bring.

As a child of an alcoholic, I sometimes have a difficult time swallowing stories that hit too close to home, but I didn't feel that way with this book. I found myself getting angry at Zoe while also feeling heartbroken that she was so damaged. The dynamics between Zoe and the other characters were intricate and somewhat unhealthy but that's what it made feel real.

I really enjoyed Amy Feltman's writing style in this novel. It was the kind of writing that made me feel everything that was between the lines in the deepest sense. The dialogue in this story was honest, raw, and helped develop each character in my mind.

This is an absorbing coming-of-age story with lots of family drama that I really enjoyed. I'm going to be processing this one for a while, I know it.

⚠️: mention of cancer & fatal car accident, death of a loved one, abandonment, alcoholism, doxing

Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review!

*This review may contain slight spoilers*

I saw a fellow bookstagrammer raving about this one so I instantly went and requested it. Overall, it was a good story. However, I found it to be a little superficial. I wish we would have gotten more detail about the relationships between Morgan and Sadie and Morgan and Julian. I wish we saw more depth of the struggles that come with having an autistic father and being non-binary.

The book did pick up around the 80% mark but I just didn’t find the ending to be redeeming.

I enjoyed the premise of the book and the story was good but I just didn’t find it to go deep enough for my liking.
I would recommend this book to those looking for LGBTQIA+ representation and for fans of family drama

So, I think I’m learning I personally enjoy plot-driven stories will well-written characters, rather than more character alone driven stories. I think that’s why Sally Rooney’s books haven’t really worked for me either, though they are massively popular. The people in this book were certainly interesting but I just kept waiting for something to happen! That doesn’t really happen until about 80% in. I did enjoy Feltman’s writing, and the characters were interesting. I liked this one, but didn’t love it, and I think that’s more about me than the book.

Read this one if you really love:
- character driven stories
- coming-of-age tales
- queer love stories
- family drama

One important note, I was thankful to read this book because of the non-binary representation. One of the main characters uses they pronouns. I’m someone who wants everyone to live a life most authentic to themselves and am happy to do my small part to make that happen. I don’t have many non-binary people in my life and haven’t practiced using they pronouns much. This book was like moving to a foreign country to immerse yourself in a new language, and helped me get used to they pronouns.

Amy Feltman’s writing really is beautiful, but the story just did not move me. This book was a ‘not for me’ book— but I do think there is an audience for it out there somewhere!

This was such a wonderful and intriguing book! It starts dramatically with a student who brings a gun to Morgan and Sadie’s high school. Luckily, the weapon is confiscated, but the students are shaken up after having been evacuated. It’s during their evacuation that Morgan and Sadie strike up a friendship – both on financial aid. Morgan identifies as nonbinary and lives with her neurodivergent father, Julian, after their alcoholic mother, Zoe, left them and headed to Europe when Morgan was only one. Soon, Sadie and Morgan develop feelings for one another, disrupted by Zoe’s sudden return to the states and Morgan and Julien’s home. What Morgan doesn’t know is that their father has developed an epistolary relationship with Brigid, Zoe’s ex. Having their mother back in Morgan’s life is beguiling, dangerous and confusing. This is a unique book about family and relationships and navigating messy truths about life. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

“The shadowy flatness that usually accompanied them everywhere had receded like a pincushion punctured. The sudden emergence of happiness-a happiness that fely wiggly, an eel that couldn't be grasped within fingers…”

I loved these characters and had a hard time saying goodbye to them. This story follows Morgan, Julian, Zoe, Brigid, and Sadie through the ups and downs of the mundane to the dramatic. Told in alternating first-person chapters, you get to see struggles with identity, self-actualization, and what it means to love and be loved. I loved the vulnerability and warmth Feltman uses to portray this very relatable family saga. Definitely one of my favorites of the year so far!

4.5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and @grancentralpublising for the early advanced copy.

So I really enjoyed the first part of this book, with the introduction of Morgan, Julian, and Zoe. It was well-paced and all the context was incredibly engaging, but when their stories started to intersect, I honestly found myself uninterested despite building anticipation for what their interactions would be like. It's not until the final chapters where I think serious and real discussion is had.

The aspects that I did enjoy is just the writing and the representation in this book, like the thing I appreciate most about this is just the diversity and the experiences that this book holds. It also was extraordinarily raw and heartbreaking, it deals with topics of identity, addiction, family, what it means to love. It's beautiful in a way, but it always feels like you're waiting for something monumental and extraordinarily insightful and it kind of comes. Yet watching the ways the relationships evolve and the characters change is beautiful in-of-itself. It's a bit jumbled at times, but I think it's worth a read if any of the representation or topics covered spark something within you.

I have to be honest...this one was just very boring to me. There wasn't any real plot line, just a jumbled account of a teenager's relationship with their alcoholic and not-so present mother.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

"All the Thigs We Don't Talk About" is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I loved being able to change perspectives and discover how the different character's brains worked. The writing was fantastic, the character building and evolution was, once again, incredible. I will definitely read this again and recommend it to everyone.

I haven't read a literary fiction that I've actually enjoyed in a long time, but I'm pleased that this book delivered. Following a family so full of pain and trauma is certainly depressing, but it felt raw and REAL. We touch on topics of identity, addiction, and love all while the drama unfolds. I loved hearing about Morgan and Sadie's relationship, especially the detail of the ASMR YouTube channel. There weren't any real plot twists, but that's kind of how life goes. Overall a beautiful book that will make you hug your loved ones a little closer.

*Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

There are only a few books that I dragged to finish because I was loving it so much I didn't want it to end.

This book is one of them.

5 stars

I still have a warm feeling in my heart when I think of the characters.
Such messed-up loving people. I wish I could hug them.

Morgan is a nonbinary teenager. They are starting to get a crush on Sadie.
Their father, Julian, is neurodivergent and he loves Morgan and wants to protect them from all the evils in the world.

Morgan’s mother, Zoe, left them when she was just a child. Zoe is the most messed up character I’ve ever met. Seriously.

And now she’s feeling the unstoppable need to be closer to Morgan. But Zoe’s comeback messes everyone’s lives catastrophically.
This book is to be read slowly and feel all the feelings.

At every page turn I thought something bad was going to happen and I’d start sobbing.

I wish I could read this book for the first time again. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Thank you Grand Central Publishing for allowing me to read and support this modern take on a family drama (and thank you for being a publisher who sees the value in inclusive stories). I loved the intersectionality of this book, that it was about so many forms of identity and yet was also about daily life and struggles; it bridges what can be seen as a divide between diverse or underrepresented identities and majority or dominant groups/narratives and shows that at the heart of many strong stories and daily lives are similar struggles with mental health, family strain, and a desire to be understood. This is a YA focused book, which is appropriate and important, but the connections to a wider audience are strong as well. I hope that many will take the time to appreciate that this book celebrates diverse identities but also celebrates the messiness of life.

I really enjoyed this heartfelt and very real, family saga. I cared for the characters, and felt sad for the things they had to face. Morgan is the non-binary daughter of Julian, their autistic father. Morgan's mother Zoe, an alcoholic, had left them, and when she comes crashing back into their life, there is plenty of drama that follows.

I thought the author did a fantastic job here! Showing the struggles of these main characters, such being autistic, coming out as non-binary, and dealing with alcoholism. I loved reading this beautiful and emotional story. I think this would make a great book for book clubs, as there Is much to discuss.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Even though I was eager to read ALL THE THINGS WE DON'T TALK ABOUT based on its description, I struggled to connect with the story and the characters. I really appreciated the different representations of gender and sexuality; that's one of the reasons I will recommend it to my students. The portrayal of this group of people as connected to one another with varying relationships is another reason I'll recommend it; we don't get enough stories like this, especially with LGBTQ+ and neurodiverse characters. I'm not sure what it was that kept me from connecting the way I wanted to, but I look forward to discussing it with my writing students and seeing how they responded to the characters.

These neurodivergent and nonbinary characters will steal (and break) your heart. I was drawn in immediately and concerned about what would happen next. This family saga is highly recommended for fans of well-crafted literary fiction. Feltman does a wonderful job at crafting characters who seem real and their challenges are not easily overcome.