Everything We Never Said was good and I finished it in one sitting because of how fast-paced it was. It felt like a mix between the tv show Cruel Summer and If I Stay. Told in a dual POV, our main characters Ella and Sawyer are high school seniors struggling with the death of Hayley, their best friend and girlfriend respectively. In their grief, the two become bonded. As always, there's a twist. Ella was driving the car during the accident that killed Hayley. And worse? She can't even remember the accident or the events of that day at all.
I have to say that some of the teenage dialogue felt off. For example, in Ella's memory, Hayley starts to sound a bit like a manic pixie dream girl. However, we do get to read through Hayley's official POV eventually. In Hayley's diary (spoiler), we get a firsthand account of a dark relationship she was having with an "S" in the months before she died. In those diary entries, Hayley feels more like a real girl. In fact, thsoe diary entries do a great job at showing how easily grooming can happen in relationships and how complicated the emotions of the victim can be.
I also understand that Sawyer is a bit of a foil for "S"'s behaviors, but because he reflects some of that character a bit, it was hard for me to like him at the end. This book is about grooming and domestic violence. It's about a predatory relationship, so when the romantic interest for our main character displays a few attributes in common with the predator, I don't appreciate it. I understand that it's to show how different he is from the predator and how you can choose to be a good person instead of choosing to follow the generational cycle of violence, BUT it also kind of encourages a girl reading the book to accept things in a guy. All that being said, it is important to have real and complex characters in the book that mirror real life, so this was good in that regard for Sawyer's character.
Overall, fast read. Once you get to the 50% mark, you won't want to put it down.

I received an ARC of Everything We Never Said from Netgalley. The publication date is May 28, 2024. The story does have trigger warnings: domestic abuse and grief. The story is told from Ella, Sawyer and Hayley’s diary point of view. Ella is about to start her senior year of high school but this year will be different because her best friend Hayley died in a car accident that Ella blames herself for. Sawyer was Hayley’s boyfriend and he starts falling for Ella. They start seeing each other but not out in the open because they both feel guilty that Hayley just died. Ella is asked to help Hayley’s mother clean out her room and while cleaning Ella stumbles upon Hayley’s diary. Ella misses her friend and has trouble remembering what happened the night of the accident so she starts reading her diary and finds out some disturbing things about Hayley and Sawyer’s relationship and she is clueless why her best friend kept this information from her. This is a YA book I really enjoyed the story and the plot twists.

I highly enjoyed this book! The twists and turns, surprises, and plot twists. It had me trying to read it fast due to needing to find out what happens at the end. Such a fun fast-paced read!

This is definitely a YA romance but I still loved it nonetheless. The relationships had me gripping my seat trying to figure out what in the world is going on.

You see Ella cope through her grief and try to mend relationships. At times I was all in for Sawyer and Ella, and then other times I was so confused with Sawyer. Everything made sense at the end which had me baffled.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. I will be adding a review on my instagram handle: tashalovesbooks.

I loved the first 2/3rds of this book so much. The ending just felt so rushed to me but I did enjoy reading this and I didn’t DNF it so woohoo for that I can also see the comparison to CoHo and I agree.

Everything We Never Said is a YA thriller without being scary. Alternating perspectives between Hayley's best friend, her boyfriend, and her own diaries, the reader is forced to try to put the pieces together and figure out what happened to Hayley during the summer. I really liked the twist(s) throughout the book, and I thought it was a quick, thrilling read.

I knew that I would be hooked when the comparison was made to Colleen Hoover books. Sloan Harlow is every bit the writer that Hoover is. This was a well developed story with some strong emotions throughout. I really enjoyed the character development and story.

This fell very flat for me.
The twist was good, but came so late that it did not have the slow burn that I thought it might.

The first 60% of the book is basically two horny teenagers going after each other sexually.

Further the characters are all one sided. There is no dimension to them at all.
Sawyer the good guy who has dark demons.
Ella the perfect girl who is struggling.

Then we have Hayley. Has a best friend, doesn't confide in her, tells a complete stranger, Sawyer about the abuse. Then in a split decision decides to separate from her current life and just duck out. And everything, we are led to believe all works out.

It was not a good book in the way of characters, plot, believably etc.

Everything we never said is an excellent YA which covers some important and sensitive issues. The story mostly told from 2 POVs, Ella and Sawyer. Ella has been involved in a traumatic event which resulted in the loss of her best friend, Hayley. Ella is struggling to come to terms with this and blames herself. Upon her return to high school, she forms a strong connection with Hayley's boyfriend, Sawyer. The relationship between these two characters is extremely well portrayed and then the discovery of Hayley's diary throws things in disarray.
I really enjoyed the plot and characters within this book. I had worked out the twist quite early on, but this did not take anything away from how well the story was told. I think this is an important book for young people to read and relate to. It is a fast paced and easy read. Fans of YA romance would enjoy this as much as YA thriller fans. I think this will be a huge hit once released in May.
Many thanks foe the opportunity to read and review!

Ella is depressed, she’s nothing like she was a year ago, with good reason. Her best friend died and she was behind the wheel at the time. Her memory of that day is hazy. What even happened? Trying to piece it all together Ella goes back to school and everywhere are reminders of Hayley. The biggest one being her boyfriend. In true YA coming of age drama, Ella starts having feeling for Sawyer (Hayley’s bf) but something isn’t quite right and the closer they get the more Ella questions what happened on that day. A quick paced YA “thriller” this book was not out downable.

The book was truly a 4 star read and I would certainly suggest to my older students. Although It was sometimes predictable, I loved this book. Quick paced, quick “fun” read and I loved the characters. Always routing for Sawyer and Ella I just couldn’t wait to see what happened next with these two. Some coho vibes for sure. Thoroughly enjoyable, even as an old person! (Actually 34)

First and foremost: thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and provide an honest review of this ARC copy of the book.

Second: the rating. This book was a solid 4.5 Star read for me. Since Goodreads didn’t allow increments of half stars, I’ve rounded up to 5 Stars.

If you are looking for a book that will make you feel, this is it. I had tears running down my face by the end of the first chapter. This book is YA but deals with some very adult topics. Because of the nature of the subject, I do suggest checking trigger warnings.

The good characters are lovable and the bad are easy to despise but be careful because all is not what it seems. There are twists along the way that leave you guessing. When you do figure it out (which you may do early like me) you’ll be on the edge of your seat still waiting for the shoe to drop. Love doesn’t have to hurt but these characters don’t seem to know that yet.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for this ARC.

Overall, a 3.5 stars.

Ella is a high school senior struggling with the tragic death of her best friend Hayley. She blames herself for the car crash that took Hayley’s life. Ella is invited to sort through Hayley’s things and finds her diary. She learns how little she really knew her best friend as secrets are exposed.

The themes of grief, abuse, and household instability in terms of finances and relationships are powerful in this book. I was able to guess the first twist, but the second one caught me off guard. It is amazing what extent friends will go to to protect each other and how overlooked high school maturity really is. It was a quick read and pulls you in emotionally, but fell a bit flat for me in some parts.

With great support, there is always a solution and you are never trapped!

I received a complimentary copy of this book "everything we never said" and all opinions expressed are my own. There are some tough topics discussed in the book so read over the intro. I wanted to keep reading this book. It really kept me interested throughout the whole thing. The characters were great and the pace just right. The story will pull you in. And the end? Well you will not guess this ending.

It's been months since Ella lost her best friend, Haley, in a car accident and the grief and guilt has been incomprehensible, and now school is about to start and Ella is filled with dread about facing not only an environment without Haley, but old friends too. What could possibly make things worse? How about growing feelings for your dead friends boyfriend and a mystery surrounding the crash that slowly begins to unravel itself just when things started to settle.

Everything we never said by Sloan Harlow was an ARC i received from Netgalley in exchange for a review (Thank you) and i guess i just don't have any strong feelings one way or the other, although every now it gave off some Wattpad style reading, which isn't necessarily bad, but did make me cringe at a younger me who very much wrote the same.

I was definitely hesitant to read this as it is advertised as 'for fans of Colleen Hoover' in which i am very much not, but the premise seemed interesting and i'm a sucker for a mystery. And it is somewhere in the vicinity of Hoover... it just leaves me conflicted. Cause it was better but then also very similar at times?

I mean look, the plot twist was predictable but getting there was still kinda fun? And it is a very easy read. I do also have issues with how Sawyers storyline was handled but i'm keeping quiet in an attempt to keep this spoiler free.

Heart wrenching and amazing.

This book works with grief of a best friend, as well as guilt and many other challenges the main character faces. The twist in this book had my jaw on the floor.

I was in shock throughout this whole book. It kept me on my toes and ready to read the next page.

There is some trigger warnings, please look at those before reading.

I would like to thank NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was filled with plot twist, strong, friendships, and superb character development. Tackles the issue of student, grooming and domestic violence, and how the decisions made for us can influence the people we become. There is an inner strength of both haley, Sawyer, and Ella that will keep you flipping pages as their story unfold. You just never know what’s lurking behind the next bend in the road. I received this copy in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.

I'll start off by saying this book is not for everyone, but I thought it was great! There are some tough topics, like child abuse, death, inappropriate relationships, creepy/leering men, rage/anger issues, domestic violence. The list goes on. When Ella's best friend dies, she tries to cope through her senior year of high school. When she falls for her best friend's boyfriend, the guilt is palpable. When Ella finds Hayley's diary, she turns to it in hopes of finding some kind of direction, but it only makes things more confusing. Everything We Never Said kept me guessing through the end.

I read this book in 1 day! #everythingweneversaid is an amazing story about friendship, family, love and obsession set in a high school in Georgia. The characters are amazingly complex and nuanced, the writing is so realistically paced that I felt I was one of the characters. Thank you to #netgalley and #gpputnam for this galley to read and review ahead of publication. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Sloan Harlow for giving me the opportunity to rate and review everything we never said!

I give it a solid 3 stars. I really did like all of the characters. The first half of the book was a little slow for me…however the ending was a wild ride. I honestly was thrown off with the twist. I gave it three stars just because the dialog was very repetitive at times and some of the twists were very strange and unbelievable for kiddos that age.

Wonderfully written! Such a good story and keep me wanting to read it and i finished it within a day !! Five stars !!

When it comes to this book I genuinely could not contain my excitement. The plot was incredibly engaging and quite thought-provoking that; I couldn’t help but become fully invested in it. I really loved reading it.