Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of All That’s Left to Say in exchange for an honest review!

The story follows Hannah, a teen who is coming to terms with the passing of her cousin Sophie, who died of a drug overdose. Hannah makes it her mission to find out where Sophie got the drugs and who supplied them, as no one seems to have any answers surrounding how Sophie died. In order to get these answers, Hannah transfers to the same private school that Sophie attended, without telling anyone who she was, in order to get to the bottom of how her cousin died.

I really wanted to like this book but I just felt as if something was missing. The story is told from a dual timeline, alternating between Hannah’s Junior and Senior year of school, which might have added slightly to the confusion on my part. If I have to flip back and forth between pages to remember where I am in the story, something just isn’t right. I wish I liked Hannah’s character more. I think the author did a great job at showing how hard it is to deal with the loss of a loved one and the pain and sadness that comes with this grief, but Hannah was pretty unlikeable. Maybe that’s the way Lord wanted her to come off, I’m not sure, but it didn’t necessarily work for me.

Overall, I didn’t love the book but I didn’t hate it either.

I really enjoyed. It handled tough topics such as grief and shame in an incredibly thoughtful way. I also liked the mystery aspect of the book and the romance. This book had it all. Emery Lord is a great author. I was hooked

Hannah's best friend and cousin, Sophie, dies unexpectedly leaving her angry and determined to take revenge. She is certain someone is at fault, and embarks on a fact finding mission with Sophie's best friend, Gabi, determined to find who is to blame.

The story winds between two timelines, what is current day and the time leading up to and following Sophie's death, illustrating the difficulties Hannah has maintaining relationships with her friends and family due to her grief and quest for revenge.

This got a little after-school-special-y with the drug use lectures, which teens will see from a mile away. The story was fast paced and the characters were well thought out, but the end was a little bit anti-climactic. Good LGBTQ representation.

Love the cover.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Emery Lord does a great job of handling grief and the resulting decisions of carrying it. The dual POV was a great choice but I do wish it had been edited a bit better. It was occasionally a bit murky.

3.5 rounded up.

This book really just took me for a ride. I loved the build up, the character development, and the writing. I would definitely read more from this author!

I wanted to like this book soo much!! It has such an interesting and intriguing premise, but did not make the mark for me. The characters felt underwhelming and the twist at the end was not exciting. I guess that is the point of the book, but as the reader I wanted mire. Felt like a big build up to an anticlimatic ending.

All That's Left to Say is perfect for readers looking for mystery and real life drama.
The main character, Hannah, switches schools after her older sister dies of a drug overdose. She makes this change in the hopes of uncovering the cause of her death. She knows it's an overdose, but wants to know more about her life and who may have supplied the drugs to her. While at her new school, she makes unexpected friends and relationships that make her investigation more complicated.
All That's Left to Say was definitely a page turner, leaving me wondering what will happen next. I will definitely be recommending it to students looking for a good mystery and/or drama.
Thanks to both the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was just okay. I guess I’ll give this authors next book a chance but this def wasn’t my fav and I was close to DNFING.

Emery lord could write a non fiction book about paint drying and I would eat it up as fast as I ate this up

Emery Lord knows the way to my heart. Another great read by this author. She writes realistic and believable characters and gives us stories that make us think. I will continue to read and share her books with my students. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

A really interesting look at grief and addiction. They're important topics to discuss with teens and I appreciate having a book to discuss with them that highlights both.

All That's Left To Say by Emery Lord opens with main character Hannah sitting in the headmaster's office, in trouble for pulling the fire alarm at prom night and causing a lot of drama. Zoom out, however, and we see this is the culmination of careful planning. You see, a year earlier, her cousin Sophie died of a drug overdose at a high school party. And so, Hannah wants to find out who gave her the drugs that killed her. So, she changes herself and goes to her cousin's school for her senior year. No one knows who Hannah really is. She ends up infiltrating the popular circles. Oh, and she also finds herself falling for the boy who was her debate team rival prior to her going to the new school. All That's Left To Say follows a dual timeline, going back and forth from before Sophie dies to present day to the past after Sophie passes away.

I feel like All That's Left To Say was a departure from what I'm used to reading with Emery Lord's books. That isn't a bad thing - I like an author with range. It just felt heavier and more serious. I expected to tear through this book but then ended up kind of taking my time and digesting it. This was a book I wasn't too sure of for awhile while reading it. However, the ending when everything came together and I got to the root of what was going on and all the little connections clicked really made up for the slower start. Overall, this is an excellent book on a serious topic that if you're rural, chances are you know all too well. Highly recommended.

This is a heavy hitter for Emery Lord. This packs a punch and I think is so relevant right now. Great commentary, perfect amount of rage, and a lot of insight into how the opioid epidemic is affecting teens today. Scary, haunting, and propulsive.

really good book and kept me on my on my toes of what would happen. really enjoyed the characters and their journey and would read this author again.

I know that many of you read those TWs and the synopsis and are wondering what I’m doing here. If you don’t know, my uncle had issues with addiction throughout his years and now as a grown woman, his child (my cousin) is going through the same things. It’s been pretty hard watching them both make the same mistakes, so for that reason I try not to watch anyone else make those mistakes. That includes those that are fictional. But with this book, Idk, I felt seen. Like the main character I felt mad. Mad at everyone who put them there. I just wanted to find the answers on what led them down this path. I related, so I read it. And though it was hard at times, I finished it.

This book was actually really incredible. I was hanging onto the edge of my seat trying to decipher the mystery as I read. I remember getting just as excited as she was every time a clue dropped. I wanted so bad for her to find peace with what happened with her cousin. I have also been a huge fan of Emery Lord’s writing style from the very beginning and I knew I was going to love this one. I loved the way she did the back then and now timeline too. I was never confused and it wasn’t at all hard to understand. I DID get confused when she started back on the timeline right after she pulled the alarm late in the story. Because I forgot that was an even that happened in the very beginning lol I had to put it down and remember what in the world was going on.

I did think the ending was too abrupt tho. It was like the entire book built up to this one event and then the person just turns up and then it’s over in a couple pages and then the book was completely over. I would have much rathered the plot to be a little more drawn out. Or if it had been pushed in a little from the end so it didn’t seem like it ended right when things were finally beginning. Does that make sense?

But as the answers came out, I didn’t really understand why she kept going and didn’t tell those people she knew she could trust. I thought it was too much for her to be trying to take care of everything on her own. She didn’t seem to want the help but she needed it. It was sad all the way around. I had all the feels for her, having almost been through this same thing.

I thought this book might have been triggering for me because it was about someone chasing the person who got their cousin into an active addiction, but surprisingly it didn’t. I’m thinking it’s because the MC wasn’t the one who had an addiction. I related so hard to this in many ways. Thinking you know someone better, thinking if you had done something differently you could have changed something. I know now that I’m an adult this fight wasn’t about me and what I could have done. I wish someone had told the MC a lot sooner. Could have saved her a bunch of pain.

"All That's Left to Say" is a touching novel by Emery Lord. The story's emotional depth and relatable characters drew me in. With its authentic portrayal of human emotions and relationships, this book left a lasting impact. A must-read for those who appreciate heartfelt narratives.

All that's left to say
By emery lord

With the recent headlines about opioid use this book it timely.
A brilliant and uplifting look at the reality of grief. The lessons learned go beyond the stages of grief and focus on the processed and supports needed. The uplifting event of using and establishing resources to handle this epidemic are inspiring. Showing that our hands are not tied if we share the truth and be upfront we can change the dismal reality.

Emery Lord has been one of my favorite authors since I first started my blog in 2014. It's kind of alarming to see how underrated this book is (literally, there are only a few hundred reviews and ratings on Goodreads!). Remember when she was the top author in YA?? I feel like some of my fellow YA comrades have fallen off a bit (which I understand) but she'll be an auto-buy forever for me. I joined some reading sprints on booktube the other day and people didn't even really know Emery Lord when I mentioned this was my current read. I MUST EDUCATE EVERYONE.

As you can see, I'll read her books immediately regardless of topic. This book is about very fresh and unexpected grief, which is not something I like to read about. I don't pick up sad books on purpose and just try to escape to a happier place when I read (or solve a murder mystery - nothing more or less!). Reading about the opioid crisis was even harder. However, as always, Emery Lord treated the topic with care and created a very emotional and powerful story.

In ALL THAT'S LEFT TO SAY, Hannah is reeling from losing her cousin Sophie to an extremely unexpected overdose. Perfect, vivacious Sophie would never take pills on purpose! The story features her immediate grief and how she decides to get to the bottom of what happens to her. This includes transferring to Sophie's school and trying to track down where she got the pills, as well as what really happened the night she died.

I've been really enjoying the genre of "contemporary fiction/romance with a little bit of mystery in it." It's definitely not a full-blown mystery by any means but obviously Hannah is trying to investigate Sophie's death further, while going through the motions of her daily life. It features an amazing romance with a cute, caring boy. Usually I'd think there wasn't room in this kind of book for a romance subplot but as usual, Lord knocks it out of the park. It's woven seamlessly into the narrative as expected.

The only reason this is 4.5 stars for me instead of 5 is because of the dual timelines. While I liked this format in theory, it didn't work super well in execution. It flashes back to right before Sophie died through the immediate aftermath of her death (junior year) and alternates with her senior year. I think it was important to have both timelines but unfortunately they blended together a lot and it was hard to remember which timeline I was reading from at times.

Overall, I can still fully trust Emery Lord to write an amazing story that pushes me out of my reading comfort zone, teaches me something, and is compulsively readable.

All That’s Left To Say was a very tough and long book to get through, because the subject matter is grief and addiction and being left behind with a memory of a person who is different from what you thought. It is, in a word, multi-faceted, and that makes it one I know I'm going to think about a lot and read again.

For me, what pulled me through this book (because it was LONG) was a) the mystery of what happened the night when Sophie died b) the friendship between Hannah and Gabi, brought together by grief and vengeance and pain but also Sophie c) the simmering romance between Hannah and Christian. Everything else was gravy, from the mother-daughter moments to the debate club stuff to the moments with each of the people that Hannah ends up befriending in her search for the person who sold Sophie drugs. I’m grateful that Hannah as a character was so complex and almost a bit unlikeable because it just made her so real. Of course she wouldn’t be the nicest or the best to be around. And of course, she had moments of wisdom and pockets of joy where we could see who she was before. It was the fullness of the characters that definitely kept me going - and the humour and sparkle of Christian Dailey, the debate boy of my dreams.

Where this book fell down for me was in the alternating timelines. I think that focusing on these characters in a normal time-forward narrative would have worked better. I was often confused by the switch between junior and senior year and had trouble distinguishing between them.

And yet, it’s hard to say so much about the structure of this book without recognizing the writing and the absolute godsend to YA that is Emery Lord. Not only does she have a depth that is so beyond her years, but she translates that kind of revelation to YA novels in a way that just astounds and makes you think. This book especially, was full of so much weight and wisdom that made me believe so much in the struggle that Hannah was facing. I appreciated so much that she was writing from a place where you feel like nothing you do can change things, and where the struggle is against an epidemic of addiction that is so much larger than the individual. What do you do in that scenario? It’s not that Emery has all the answers, but she provides some ideas that I really think may inspire teens to take action for change.

In the end, All That’s Left to Say is a solid read emotional contemporary YA fans, but if you are new to YA contemporary, this is not the one that is going to totally grip you. It’s complex and I would only recommend it if and when you are willing go deep into a journey of pain and rise through it.