This was a whole new perspective for me highlighting the Vietnamese-Australian immigrant experience.

A multi-dimensional family drama with a mystery element!

This was an engaging #ownvoices debut, and I’m glad I read it!

ALL THAT'S LEFT UNSAID is a deeply moving debut that follows young Vietnamese-Australian woman who returns home to her family in the wake of her brother's shocking murder, determined to discover what happened.

I loved that the audiobook was narrated by multiple narrators, which always makes a story more exciting, and easy to decipher between each character, and further engage with the story.

*many thanks to Harper Audio for the gifted copy for review

Part family drama, part murder mystery, part immigrant story - this was a moving and entertaining read that taught me a lot about the Vietnamese/Asian experience in Australia - something I knew very little about. Great on audio and perfect for fans of Daughters of the New Year by E. M. Tran. Much thanks to the publisher, NetGalley and Librofm for an ALC copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you, NetGalley, for an audio-ARC of All That's Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien, narrated by
Yen Nguyen and Amelia Nguyen.
This book is so much deeper than the unexpected death of a sibling. All That's Left Unsaid digs deep to the heart of being a refugee, or parents of a refugee. Tracey Lien looks at how families deal with life's upheavals, and how everyone deals with events on a personal level. Yen Nguyen has the perfect voice for this narration. However, I felt the young child narration was unnecessary and took away from the overall feel of the novel.

When a young Vietnamese immigrant journalist returns home to Australia for the funeral of her teenage brother who was murdered after a graduation party she is confused upset and determined to get to the bottom of his vicious murder..

Although the seventeen year old brother was beaten to death in front of more than twenty people, nobody is talking and in fact they all insist they didn't see anything. The journalists parents refuse an autopsy and she has to fight for a police report in order to talk to witnesses. The story, from the journalists point of view, is about how she is less than perfect and maybe the pressure to be perfect from her Vietnamese parents was actually too much for her brother and he was not the good kid they thought, which lead to his murder.

The perceived racism in this story is a bit overstated in my opinion and in the end she solves the murder but the book was a bit slow for my taste.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

3.5 KY Tran returns home with the intention to find out who killed her younger brother. She has deep feelings of guilt as she is the one who convinced her fearful parent to allow Danny to go out to celebrate after his high school graduation. Growing up in the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta, she was used to being looked down on, feeling as other. Her brother Danny though was a smart young man expected to go far. So, what could he have done for someone to take his life in a place that was full of people. People who insist they saw nothing.

Apparently, a large contingent of Vietnamese have attempted to form their own community in Cabramatta. This book, a well defined debut, is more than a mystery as it shows the difficulty those who come to other countries, fleeing their own, have assimilated. Being accepted. How parents want their children to be accepted, but how these children need to work, study much harder than those who know they belong. How so many turn to drugs and other means to gain power, feel important or just to survive. Ki is a touching character, a sister but also a survivor, who loves her younger brother and goes from person to person, determined to get answers.

The audio was narrated by three different people and I thought they all did well.

Set in the 1990’s a Vietnamese-Australian woman, Ky, returns home to her family in Australia after her younger brother is murdered. Ky struggles with the reality of her brother’s death while trying to figure out who killed him. There were many witnesses to this act, but few have come forward. Ky seeks them out and gets their stories. A lot of back stories were written about each character, explaining why they acted the way they did in that situation. There was a lot that happened over the course of this book. Hearing about the culture of the Vietnamese families living in Australia was new to me. I did not know much about this part of history. This was a story about race, immigration, and family. The obstacles that refugee families had to overcome, just because of their background and the fact that people wouldn’t accept them was sad and unfortunately not that much different today.

From my blog: Always With a Book

I had attended William Morrow’s Fall Preview and this book was one of the ones presented and as soon as I heard about it, I requested it. I knew it was something I had to read and I’m so glad I did because I was blown away by this story. It is definitely one that I will be thinking about for some time to come.

I was completely gripped by this story – a debut nonetheless! At its core, it’s a mystery about what happened to young Denny Tran – why he was killed and by who. But underneath all this there is so much more to it’s a very layered story and the author deftly takes her time unpacking it all, giving us a story that is full of trauma and heartache, delving into the struggles that the Vietnamese refugees have had as they try to assimilate to life in Australia. And we also see how bad the opioid epidemic has hit Cabramatta and the effects it has had on the Tran family.

This book is not an easy one to read, yet it is one that once you start, you become fully engaged and invested in. I needed to find out what had happened to Denny Tran as much as I needed to know how the family would react once they got their answers. The book is mostly narrated by Denny’s sister, Ky, but there are also some chapters told by witnesses that were there the night of the murder.

This book makes you think. It puts you in the characters’ shoes many times, wondering how you would react, which makes it the perfect bookclub pick as there is so much to discuss and unpack. So many themes woven into this story really make it one that hits hard, yet tells a story that just begs to be discussed. This is the type of book that would probably benefit from multiple readings as so much is packed into it – little details and big ones that make the book what it is. While I had an e-copy and the audio, I think I will be buying a hard copy for my shelf because it is just that good and I do want to reread it.



Audio thoughts: I loved listening to this one and thought that having multiple narrators made it that much better. I wasn’t familiar with any of the narrators – Aileen Huynh, Yen Nguyen, Amelia Nguyen – but I thought they each did a fantastic job in making this book come to life. Their pacing and intonation were spot on and they infused just the right amount of tension and emotion into their voices as needed.

This was a phenomenal debut! While I was expecting more of a thriller/mystery, I still really enjoyed this heartbreaking family drama. The story alternated between past and present and was told mostly from the perspectives of the main character and witnesses of the murder that connects them all. The narrators were exceptional and especially Lulu’s chapter was my favorite. It is filled with rich, authentic characters and is an honest, moving exploration of the immigrant experience, community, friendship, family, trauma, and grief.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio for this ALC in exchange for an honest review!

This book had so many thing I enjoy in books that I knew I would end up loving it as soon as I read the synopsis. 17-year-old Denny Tran gets dinner at a restaurant in Cabramatta, Australia with his friends and is murdered. Despite the restaurant being busy, all witnesses claim to know nothing. Denny's sister Ky, a journalist, returns home for the funeral and starts investigating what happened to her brother and trying to parse the meaning of all the silences.

Despite it being classified as a mystery, in a lot of places this one was light on the mystery. While I was curious to find out the truth, this was a story of so many other things. Dealing with loss, generational conflicts, pressures to adapt and succeed, trying to fit in at the only place you can call home, especially when "home" is unsafe for so many reasons, all through lenses of vivid characters. I also hadn't known anything about how Cabramatta used to be and I went through a wikipedia dive because it sounded so crazy (and yep it was pretty crazy and sad). I also enjoyed the narrators, Aileen Huynh; Yen Nguyen; Amelia Nguyen.

Thank you Harper Audio for the ALC and William Morrow and @bookclubgirl for the ARC.

This powerful story of a Vietnamese-Australian journalist’s investigation into her younger brother’s death was so compelling and emotionally resonant that I finished it in less than a day. Lien writes vivid, well-rounded characters. Her often sharp humor and keen sense of visual and other sensual detail powerfully depict the immigrant experience -- generational sorrow and conflict, ongoing pressures to succeed, the uneasy burden of nostalgia, and the psychological struggle to adapt when the illusion of welcome can be snatched away at any moment, in any year. Most of this quickly paced, tense, and excellent novel takes place in the mid-nineties, so the trauma and memories of war are still fresh for the families. Forgiveness, whether between the protagonist and her former best friend, or relatives feels both precious and almost unattainable. Lien’s writing about the experience of being put into the translator role in a family (language, yes, but also social settings and costumes) is right on point and should be part of a discussion with book clubs that select All That’s Left Unsaid. Voice actors for the audiobook are excellent. As a Librarian, I recommend this to readers of contemporary fiction, Asian-American and/or Vietnamese diasporic literature; people working through their own intergenerational conflicts; and readers interested in fictional depictions of the immigrant experience.

This was a beautiful but heartbreaking story of….so much. Ostensibly about Ky’s search for the truth about the murder of her younger brother, but really about the struggle of Vietnamese immigrants as they try to assimilate into Australia, inter generational trauma, the drugs & gangs, the pressure of children of immigrants to recognize how “lucky” they are. I loved the multiple POVs as we get to see how all this tragedy touches different people differently & resonates throughout the community. This was a powerful read.

Heartbreaking look at the life of Vietnamese immigrants and the many challenges faced while making new lives in Australia. This unputdownable novel is much more than a mystery. Beautifully written and recommended for readers who enjoy Celeste Ng. Excellent audiobook narration. One of my favorite books of 2022 and simply a stunning debut.

I was so excited when I read the description of this book. It has a murder mystery woven into a story about an immigrant family set in Australia. I loved everything about it. Unfortunately it was a bit slow for me and I think if I read it versus listening to it, I probably would've enjoyed it more. I couldn't get into the narrator and when it switched to the younger characters' voice, it was a DNF for me.

3.5 Stars.

A lot of the book is brilliant. But there is also a disconnect and a sluggish momentum halfway through. It’s part Murder-Mystery, part Generational Familial Drama, part SE Asian Displacement story. And all that is amazing but it lacks a balance between the varying storylines. The murder plot dissipates and loses impact. The shift between character perspectives works well in the beginning but towards the end becomes frustrating. I basically loved everything in the first half, and the ongoing narrative on this particular culture and area in the second half, but was also left disappointed with the way it all played out.

I am happy to have read it, and definitely still recommend it, because it’s a brave new voice in fiction and one people will be talking about.

I also listened to the audiobook and the narrators did great work. There was an ease and earnestness, in equal measure, to their deliveries that gave a great experience.

* I received free early access to the audio from the publisher.

A novel about regrets, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, a senseless death. These are all themes in Lien’s novel. Ky receives a phone call from her father, Denny, her brother, is dead. A dozen people were at Lucky 8 restaurant when Denny died, but none of them are talking, claiming to have seen nothing. Ky returns home determined to find answers, asking witnesses their account of the evening. Just when she’s about to give up, she gets a lead and the truth will bring back old memories, and old friend and leave her just as lost.

While I enjoyed this novel and the alternating characters, I did struggle a bit with this one. I am glad I read it, thank you NetGalley for the ARC, But I found the narrator’s voice a bit difficult to listen to. This author’s debut novel will definitely be on my recommended reads list, especially for readers who enjoy Celeste Ng and other similar authors of family dramas.

Well done audiobook that highlighted the narrative. This was a poignant exploration of culture and family relationships framed within the terrible tragedy of a young man's murder. A must ready for fans of Celest Ng.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an audio copy to listen to in exchange for an honest review.

This book blew me away. Although they settled in Canada, my husband's family were also Vietnamese refugees. Some of the thought patterns, situations, and experiences that Ky had were very similar to those of my husband and his parents. Overall a depressing story told in a beautiful way.

A different literary fiction type mystery. Portrays a family trying to cope with a major loss while trying to find out what happened to their son by solving the mystery in the hope it will ameliorate their grief. Touchingly written. Narrator was excellent.

Ky Tran comes back to the violent, drug ridden, largely Vietnamese / Chinese Sydney suburb of Cabramatta when her relatively nerdy, honor student, brother is brutally murdered at a post graduation party. The witnesses won’t talk, the police don’t care, and her parents haven’t the language skills or the will to pursue the matter. Ky tackles the witnesses — most of whom she knows — unable to let the matter rest. The novel structure fills in background, the story each witness reluctantly lets out, and the real story each remembers about while curating what comes out of their mouth. The path of disclosure winds towards a confrontation with Minnie — the best friend Ky hasn’t spoken to in years.

The writing is good and the main reader for the audio book is excellent (I did not love the two minor readers but they only appear once each for a relatively short time). I appreciated
the in-depth descriptions of different approaches taken by members of a refugee community trying to make a life in a new country that doesn’t necessarily want them. Insightful commentary on loyalty, friendship, family, justice, and the concept of “being good.”