Thank you Penguin Teen for the #gifted ARC and thank you PRH Audio for my #gifted listening copy of Everything We Never Said! #PRHAInfluencer #PRHAudioPartner #PenguinTeenPartner #EverythingWeNeverSaid

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐝
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐰
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬: 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐲, 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐨, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

This book is marketed for fans of Colleen Hoover, and I can definitely agree that CoHo lovers will enjoy this one. While it’s a YA book, I think it leans more towards NA in my opinion based on some of the more mature content. With that said, it was a really easy book to binge and I read and listened in one afternoon. It was super easy to get lost in this book.

Everything We Never Said is a dark romantic thriller. Ella’s best friend Hayley was killed in an accident, and Ella can’t stop blaming herself. Now that she’s back at school, Ella starts to realize she’s in love with her dead best friend’s boyfriend, Sawyer. To help deal with the guilt, Ella hopes she will find something in the pages of Hayley’s diary to make her feel better about what’s happening, but instead, all she finds are secrets and discovers that Sawyer and Hayley didn’t have the relationship that it seemed from the outside. Ella knows she should stay away from Sawyer, but she can’t help but feel drawn to him, while at the same time scared of everything she never really knew about him in the first place.

🎧I alternated between the physical book and the audiobook. I loved my time listening to the narrators bring this story to life. I always love listening to any audiobook with Brittany Pressley, and I really enjoyed listening to Molony and Capistrano as well. I thought all were perfectly cast and I would highly recommend this in audio format if that option is available to you.

🖤Multiple POVs
🖤Romantic Suspense
🖤Diary Entries
🖤Plot Twists
🖤YA/NA

TW: Domestic Violence

Posted on Goodreads on May 7, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around May 7, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on May 28, 2024
**-will post on designated date

This is a brilliant debut novel by Sloan Harlow. It's a slow burn mystery with some romance mixed in. The beginning was a little slow, but it hit its stride about 1/4 of the way through the book. I couldn't put it down after that. I did guess part of the twists and turns, but not all of them... some of them had me gasping going "no way!" I can't wait to see what miss Harlow writes next!

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!

First thought, this isn't YA.
BUT THEN
I think to a lot of things facing teens. The things we maybe we don't think that are happening but they are.

The story was easy to follow. The twists were good. Slightly far fetched in an area but overall very good.

I liked the book. It hit on a lot of hard topics.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a free copy for review! This one is out on May 28!

Rating: 3/5 stars

Ella’s best friend, Hayley, died in a car crash—so when Ella returns to school for senior year and finds herself falling for Hayley’s boyfriend Sawyer, she’s horrified…even more so when she realizes Sawyer may be harboring a dangerous secret.

I want to start out by saying that this one tackles some very heavy and important topics and is pretty dark (especially for a YA novel). I appreciated that aspect and I do think the overall messaging was done well and should be appreciated.

That said, I also struggled a bit with this one, as I felt it was very slow moving for the first two-thirds. I predicted the ending very early on, so I kept waiting for things to pick up and be revealed. Once they were, I was more invested, but it took a *while* to get there. I was also left with a couple plot holes that are still bugging me at the end, though if I suspend my disbelief a bit I can probably get around those.

All in all, if you like YA thrillers (with a heavy dose of romance), you might enjoy this one! Just be prepared for a bit of a slow burn in terms of plot speed.

CW: Domestic violence/abuse/child abuse; death/grief; car accident

This was a YA book that should just be for YA readers. This was just too unbelievable for me! Spoiler, but she's alive? Too many thoughts to get out on this review, so will leave it as this was almost a one star read for me but I liked the twist.

Everything We Never Said by Sloan Harlow is a captivating dark romance filled with high stakes and unexpected plot twists. I started reading it before bed and could not stop; I pulled an all-nighter because I could not put it down!

A fatal accident, amnesia, guilt, forbidden romance, and a revealing diary. It’s a slow build of secrets creeping towards an ending full of shock and awe.

Ella’s grief is heartbreaking as she returns to high school a broken girl and no memory of what happened that night with her best friend Hayley. Reconnecting with Hayley’s boyfriend, Sawyer, who is dealing with his own anguish, their feelings become more than friends and it feels like a betrayal.

The book tells the story from the perspectives of Ella, Sawyer, and Hayley through her diary entries. It explores their relationships and delves into themes of abuse. The pacing is slow at first, but it picks up about three quarters through the book with a mystery triggered by Hayley’s diary, and a plot twist full of suspense and tension.

Though the mystery is predictable and I figured it out early on, the book does a good job dealing with loss and grief. It is a complex emotion and the author shows how it presents itself differently with everyone.

I recommend this gripping and emotional YA thriller that explores the complexities of grief, abuse, and resilience. It’s a compelling debut novel and I look forward to reading more novels from this author.

Thank you to Ms. Harlow for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

After finishing this book I sat on my opinion for a few days for a variety of reasons. This lands as a 3.5 rating for me
Things I loved:
The writing style was super accessible and easy to follow. The pacing was good and grabbed my attention from the start and kept it there as I tried to uncover the mystery of the story. The characters reactions and experiences were extremely realistic and understandable. The characters made decisions that were necessary and believable for their age and situation. In addition to this the characters had good solid development by the end of the book.
Things I disliked:
This is meant to be a YA book and read that way in pacing/verbiage but the content of the book was much more in the NA category. This book had on page DV and intimate scenes that I had issues with on why they were even included in the book. I feel the DV was necessary but the on page explicit sex scenes could have been tamed down for the younger reader and the category that this book is in. I read this as an arc and I HOPE there is a trigger warning page because it was not included on the arc and the DV should absolutely be listed as a trigger warning. I am extremely upset that wasn't included as I would have liked to be prepared to read the scenes but I wasn't and it was very off-putting to say the least. Had the trigger been listed I more than likely would give this book a 4 star rating due to the content of the book being interesting but that just left me upset as a reader. I would say the plot was a bit predictable but its meant to be YA and so that wasn't a huge factor for me as this is meant to be read by newer readers.

Overall this book is much more UPPER YA or even bordering on NA for me but I would recommend this book to someone who is newer to reading thrillers and wants some romance and emotional healing along the way.

Wow! This book took some unexpected twists and turns. I was sucked into the story right from the start. I really enjoyed the dual POV of Ella and Sawyer and inclusion of Haley’s diary entries. I think including all of the POVs really added to the story. I found Ella to be a likable character who was easy to connect with. This is an emotional book that deals with some difficult topics including drunk driving, domestic abuse, and family trauma.

The reader has to suspend some disbelief at the end of the book, but it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the story. I still have a couple unanswered questions, but I liked how the ending came together. Definitely some unexpected surprises in the last few chapters of the book!

Overall, a twisty emotional YA thriller that definitely I recommend to reads who enjoy dark romance.

I found this piece to be exceptionally well-crafted, and I'm eagerly anticipating the opportunity to delve into more works by this author. Given its potential popularity among our library patrons, we're certainly looking forward to adding it to our collection

You know those stories that take you to the edge of what seems possible and you think, well, if the stars aligned just so this could actually all be true. This story does that but I think takes it one step too far into the "there is no way that is how that happened and how that worked out". I did very much enjoy unravelling the diary and wish that had been leaned into a little more and started a little earlier in the book.

But for fans of Colleen Hoover, especially Reminders of Him, this book is for you!

Everything We Never Said started out a bit slow and had me questioning if I’d be able to stick with it. The premise felt quite juvenile for a book that was advertised as a dark romance. Thankfully as the book progressed, the flow of the story picked up speed and I became more engaged with the characters. The introduction of a mystery plot really grabbed me. While I didn’t really care for Ella (the FMC), she was tolerated enough just to see what would happen next. This YA romance thriller had some heavy “real life” issues that I think are important to address with high school aged readers! I had my suspicions about the plot twist but was still surprised by some of the events that unfolded! The HEA at the end sealed my positive outlook on this book. A solid 3 star read for me!

It throws me off a little that this is YA and also recommended for fans of Colleen Hoover. There are definitely some dark and complicated topics, but they’re all a reality for some high school students. Some of the topics are found in CH books so maybe that’s why?

This new YA thriller meets dark romance – and let me tell you, I was not expecting the spicy scenes to be a spicy as they were considering the genre. Nothing overwhelming but still surprising. I also think that the author did an incredible job capturing the stages of grief and how overwhelming and all consuming it can be.

Ella feels immense guilt and loneliness after the death of her best friend, Hayley. She blames herself for the car accident that killed her and it trying to come to terms with what happened. She’s back at school and everything reminds her of Hayley, especially her boyfriend Sawyer. They find comfort in each other and Ella slowly realizes she’s falling in love with him.

Add in finding and reading Hayley’s private journal, she begins to learn things about Sawyer that are cause for concern. This book gets exciting but predictable at parts, and I couldn’t complain about how fast it moved. It’s one of those one-sitting reads, and if I didn’t have to work, then it would have been one instead of two!

The pacing is fast, but the mystery is predictable. I found the dialogue and character interactions painful to read, but this might be because I aged out of the core audience. Moreover, the writing is overwrought with an excess of flowery language, eliciting many an eye roll.

This book had me hooked from beginning to end. It was such an engaging story and deals with some very sensitive topics. The main character has been in a terrible accident and lost her best friend. She’s filled with guilt and blames herself for the accident and loss of her best friend. I thought I had figured out who was behind the accident but was wrong and then finally figured it out before the end. 😅

Please be sure to check trigger warnings for this story. There are mentions of domestic violence. Such a thrilling and suspenseful story.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc!

First of all a special thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the advanced copy of this book.

This YA novel is a Romance/Thriller is focused on High School students. With the death of her best friend, Hayley, and navigating her senior year of High School without her best friend, Elle is determined to keep her head down and finish off the year. Everything changes when she starts to realize she is falling for Sawyer, Hayley's boyfriend. Finding Hayley's diary, Elle realizes that Hayley kept secrets of her own that she told no one, not even Elle.

This book dives into the lives of these high school students and portrays how people do not know what truly happens behind closed doors, with domestic violence being one of the main topics. I will say that it was a slow read for me at the beginning and picked up halfway through where all the secrets that Hayley had started to come to light.

Rating 3.5/5

"Everything We Never Said" by Sloan Harlow is a powerful and emotionally resonant novel that explores the complexities of human relationships, the weight of unresolved grief, and the healing power of forgiveness. Set against the backdrop of a picturesque seaside town, Harlow's story unfolds with grace and sensitivity, drawing readers into the lives of its deeply flawed yet utterly relatable characters.

At the heart of the novel is the relationship between siblings Mia and Ben, whose bond is shattered by a devastating tragedy that leaves them grappling with guilt, regret, and unresolved emotions. Through alternating perspectives, Harlow skillfully delves into the depths of their pain and explores the ways in which their shared history continues to shape their lives, even as they try to move forward.

One of the novel's greatest strengths is its portrayal of grief and its aftermath. Harlow captures the rawness and complexity of loss with honesty and compassion, depicting the myriad ways in which it can manifest in the lives of those left behind. From Mia's crippling survivor's guilt to Ben's struggle to find meaning in the wake of tragedy, the characters' emotions are palpable and achingly real, inviting readers to empathize with their pain and journey toward healing.

Equally compelling is the novel's exploration of forgiveness and redemption. As Mia and Ben confront their past and the secrets that have long haunted them, they are forced to reckon with their own shortcomings and mistakes. Through moments of vulnerability and introspection, they learn that forgiveness is not just about letting go of the past, but also about finding the courage to forgive themselves and others. Harlow handles this theme with nuance and sensitivity, reminding readers of the transformative power of compassion and grace.

In addition to its poignant themes, "Everything We Never Said" is also a beautifully crafted story, filled with vivid imagery and lyrical prose. Harlow's evocative descriptions bring the seaside setting to life, immersing readers in its sights, sounds, and sensations. Whether she's describing the crashing waves against the rocky cliffs or the warmth of the sun on a summer afternoon, her writing is imbued with a sense of place that adds depth and texture to the narrative.

In conclusion, "Everything We Never Said" is a deeply affecting and beautifully written novel that will resonate with readers long after they've turned the final page. Sloan Harlow's exploration of love, loss, and redemption is both poignant and hopeful, offering a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring power of forgiveness. Highly recommended for anyone seeking a heartfelt and thought-provoking read.

"𝑰 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒉𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒇 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝑰'𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖."

Special thanks to @penguinteen @sloanharlowauthor and @netgalley for my #gifted physical copy and eARC.

👉🏼 swipe for synopsis ➡️

MY REVIEW:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This YA book is more of a romance/suspense, with mostly romance and friendship at the heart of the storyline. It's told in multiple POVs and dual timelines.

It begins with a tragic car crash in which Ella loses her best friend Hayley. The weight of the consequences are tearing at her. While she looks for answers to her missing memory, she starts to fall for her dead best friends boyfriend, Sawyer. As the story goes on, more secrets start to unveil themselves, but she isn't sure what to make of them. Who can she talk to? Who can she trust?

But that ending..... will have you reeling your jaw off the floor!

This is a great slow burn for fans of Coleen Hoover!

PUB DATE:
MAY 28, 2024

QOTD ❓️⁉️❓️Did you ever date or think about dating your best friends boyfriend/girlfriend in high school? What happened?

AOTD - I always thought about it. Never happened, tho.

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#mysteryandthrills #sloanharlow #everythingweneversaid #yathriller #upcomingrelease #friendstiltheend #bookbuzz #tbrpile
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Well done!  This story was engaging and pulled me in from the start.  The multiple POVs keep the plot interesting, as what happened is slowly revealed. Don't be too sure you know, when you think you do.  Harlow has some twists up her sleeve that will mislead you into making haste predictions. That ending...I'm not sure if I should be mad or happy.  There is a lot about this book that makes my teacher's heart mad/sad. The story is about young teens and is marketed as a YA novel. I know teens are sexually active, but this novel has sexually explicit parts that would keep me, as a teacher, from making that recommendation to a student (even though I know some would love it). 
Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.