First thing first, this is not YA, not even a little bit. Sure the characters are 17/18 in high school, but nothing content-wise is YA about this story. There was lots of sex, some super awful domestic abuse and overall a very dark feel that I would not recommend to the typical YA reader.
While I correctly guessed a twist by at least half way through the story, I will admit that another one caught me off guard which was a nice experience for me. I guess this could be listed as a NA romantic suspense, and if that sounds up your alley I recommend a read. While all the subject matter here was very dark, I still blew through the story in a short period of time so it was an easy book to get lost in the (super messed up) story. Kind of like a trainwreck you can't look away from.

Everything we Never Said blends slow burn will chills and thrills.

This story is told from the PoV of Ella and Sawyer, 17 year olds learning to live their lives without Haley, the completion to their trio. After Ella and Haley are in an accident that costs Haley her life, Ella must learn to continue on without her, but when she steps back into school, she's surrounded by memories of Haley. The biggest trigger, being Sawyer, Haley's prior boyfriend, and Ella's one place for comfort.

I do feel this story may have missed the mark for being YA and should fall under NA due to the drinking, domestic violence, and explicit scenes, but that said, I couldn't put this down. Fantastic debut novel.

This book wasn’t exactly what I expected.

The story begins with Ella starting her senior year of high school, after a car accident over the summer that she doesn’t remember, that claimed the life of her best friend, Hayley. She feels guilty, and worries that she may have been at fault for the accident.

Sawyer, Hayley’s boyfriend before her death, seems to be the only one who could relate to how Ella is feeling over the loss, but she also worries opening up to Sawyer and having feelings for him would be a complete betrayal to Hayley. Sawyer also has problems he’s dealing with, including poverty and the fear of turning out like his abusive father.

As Ella starts to become involved with Sawyer, and starts to read the diary that Hayley left behind, things become more and more complicated. Thankfully, a friend from the past and the school guidance counselor are there to support her. But as she continues reading, Ella uncovers some secrets Hayley was keeping that she never dreamed of, secrets that put Ella in danger.

I don’t know why it took me so long to start this ARC (well, mostly family health issues actually) but I found it to be a pretty quick and enjoyable read once I got going. Although I felt parts of it were predictable, there was a fair amount that I didn’t see coming, which is very rare in a book for me. I found the characters mostly likable; Hayley’s journal and Ella’s inner monologue were very similar to me, but realistically people in close relationships do tend to mimic each other, so that made sense. Overall, the book was just enough of a thriller to keep me turning the pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was intense! I have never read a book that explored the nature of abusive relationships, but I think that this did a great job with that in a way that a YA audience could understand. I do think that, at times, it was a bit too sexual for it to be fully considered YA but that might just be my opinion. I also appreciate that the book wasn't just about abuse, but there were other aspects of friendship and grief that played important roles. And there was an unexpected mystery that I really enjoyed. From the premise, I think we all would assume it was Sawyer that Hayley was talking about, so the revelation had me gasping. Along with a certain other very crazy revelation. The main reason I didn't LOVE the book was because I just wasn't very connected to the characters. Their story was interesting, but I was invested in them fully. But it was still a really good book and I enjoyed getting the chance to read it!

Insane. One of those "I'm proud for guessing the plot twist but being shocked by the other one". I think it tended to be a little slow in parts and felt almost too unbelievable for me to give it a five-star rating, but I I still had a lot of fun.

Loved the big central theme of strong friendships and how people hold us back from being the person we were meant to be.

Everything We Never Said by Sloan Harlow is a YA thriller about a young girl dying in an accident. Since the accident, Ella can’t stop thinking about her best friend, Hayley. She is full of grief and finds herself growing closer to Sawyer, Hayley’s boyfriend. School should be a safe place but for Ella it haunts her. There isn’t a place that doesn’t remind her of Hayley. As she grows closer to Sawyer she learns things, she couldn’t have imagined. Sawyer isn’t who she thought he was but she is falling in love with him. Trying to make sense of things Ella starts to read Hayley’s diary. This is a dark, romantic story, there are some twists and turns. Overall this was a good book. At times predictable but I kept reading to see what happened. I want to thank Netgalley, the author and Penguin Young Readers Group/Penguin Group for my copy for an honest review. I am glad I was able to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book blindly and ended up LOVING this book. The pacing was great and had me hooked from the beginning. I really enjoyed the little snippets of Hayley’s diary that was sprinkled throughout the book and how it threw suspicion on most of the male characters that had been introduced. I called the twist about mid way through, but still enjoyed its reveal in the end. I also really enjoyed the characters themselves, especially Ella. I look forward to more books from Sloan Harlow.

Love this book & love Sloan Harlow! One of the best thriller YA romances I've ever read! Checkout 'What Did I Just Read?' interview with Sloan Harlow!

Author Chat with Sloan Harlow - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-did-i-just-read/id1688795567?i=1000665643239

This is a page-turning mystery, I like the way the story unfolds through different perspectives. I read a lot of mysteries, so for me the mystery felt predictable, but I think for the YA audience readers will enjoy this one.

I was sent this book to read and review and when I saw the comparison to CoHo I was immediately turned off and kept putting of reading it (clearly- we’re way past the pub date now).
This actually started off good. I was totally relating to Ella and her guilt over the loss of her best friend and I was digging Sawyer’s internal battle with attraction toward her. But the flip switched way too fast when Sawyer didn’t respond for, like, ONE day and Ella got all audacious… it just didn’t add up.
Then everything slid downhill. So much destructive behavior and SO MANY plot holes. There wasn’t really a ton of character development even though the author tried to address some tough topics and I just felt like this book was way too YA and, honestly, pretty in appropriate. I don’t know if I could recommend it, though, I’m old so I’m not the target audience anyway.
Lots of trigger warnings to investigate before picking this one up, too.

Well, most of the time I'm not a fan of dark romances but, even if this one has some questionable aspects, it's a mix I've enjoyed.

Being older than the targeted audience probably influenced my opinion in many ways; boring moments followed others where the narration felt forced and kinda fake. Not to mention the unsurprising plot twist - sorry, I've watched too many Law & Order: SVU growing up.
But, after a second plot twist - and not one, but two recaps of what happened many moons before, from two different POVs -, I realized that, in the end, the most important part of the book is the message behind it.

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP - Penguin Young Readers Group, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

It’s been months since the accident that killed Ella’s best friend, Hayley, and Ella can’t stop blaming herself. Now Ella is back at school, and everywhere she looks are reminders of her best friend—including Sawyer, Hayley’s boyfriend. Little by little, they grow closer, until Ella realizes something horrifying . . .

She’s in love with her dead best friend’s boyfriend.

Racked with guilt, Ella turns to Hayley’s journal, hoping she’ll find something in the pages that will make her feel better about what’s happening. Instead, she discovers that Sawyer has secrets of his own and that his relationship with Hayley wasn’t as picture-perfect as it seemed.

Ella knows she should stay away but finds herself inextricably drawn to him—and scared of everything she never knew about him. Perhaps it’s his grief. Or maybe his desires, cut short by tragedy. Or could it be something twisted only Hayley knew about?

A dark, romantic thriller perfect for fans of Colleen Hoover and Laura Nowlin, Everything We Never Said explores the secrets in even the best of friendships and asks how well you ever know the ones you love.

A perfect thriller to chase away the doldrums. Easy to follow. Characters were amazing and came to life off the pages. Cannot wait to read more from the author.

I didn’t know if I would like it. It drew me in and had me mad when it was finished because I wantedd more

This book was set up with everything I like when it comes to an YA mystery though there are some themes that is targeted for an older audience. Yes it could be some what predictable at times but it also made sense with this book. Since Ella is young, and grieving. It makes things happen, like falling for your dead best friend's boyfriend. Though the last bit of the book it ramps up even more to the point I could not put this book down. I was fully engrossed with it. I enjoyed the diary entries and found it gave the plot more depth. I recommended giving this book a shot

A perfect first time thriller for those who want to dip their toes into this genre! Very twisty and keeps you constantly guessing!

After the death of her best friend Hayley, Ella finds herself struggling to function. She feels like everyone hates her, especially because she's been told she was driving the car that killed her best friend -- although Ella doesn't remember anything. She finds comfort in Hayley's ex-boyfriend Sawyer and becomes conflicted when she learns that he has feelings for her as well. Hoping to find answers to her self doubt, she turns to Hayley's journal for words of wisdom. However, what Hayley details about the people around her may change the rest of Ella's life forever.


This book is definitely geared towards teens, which I liked. It dives into some topics, such as grief, that many teens deal with and treats these issues with the reverence they deserve.
There are a ton of twists and turns that will keep you guessing the entire book and keep you on the edge of your seat.
This is such a quick, easy read that will have you engaged the whole way through!

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP (Penguin Young Readers Group) and NetGalley for an eARC of this story! All opinions are my own!

A few triggers warnings, but a great debut book! Ella feels like she is responsible for her best friend's death. Hayley and Sawyer were dating before her death, and now she is attracted to him. When Ella goes to clean out Hayley's room, she finds Hayley's diary. When she begins to read the diary, she feels that Hayley is trying to tell her something about Sawyer. Even though her head says "stay away", her heart does not listen. When things start unraveling, and secrets come out, Ella wonders if she really knew her friends. The ending, what???? Great job with this one Sloan Harlow! Cannot wait to read your next book. Thanks to Sloan Harlow, Penguin Group Publishers, and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Wow. Usually, I am not a fan of young adult thrillers but let me tell you this book delivered. About 50 pages and I was thoroughly convinced I knew what the plot twist was and who did it. Until I was about 80% in and all of my thoughts and theories were completely tossed out the window. This book had some great twists in it, though not monumental. They were really good for a young adult book. And don’t be sad because of course it being a young adult book the extreme anngst and tension and high emotion was all there for these high school seniors I like how the ending played out. It was just an overall great read.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

I love thrillers and fast paced reads and this book was all that and more! This YA romance thriller was full of likable characters and while the mystery was predictable I did overall enjoy this read.

📖 Book Review 📖
📱”Everything We Never Said by Sloan Harlow

 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

A YA romance thriller mix, of a high school senior, Ella grieving the death of her best friend Hayley while falling for Hayley’s former boyfriend Sawyer.

Readers get to see each character’s perspective via alternating characters, even Hayley via old diary entries. I enjoyed the pacing but felt it was a story that has been told before. The suspense was well written.

#somanybooks #readsomemore #audiobooks #bookstagram #bookrecommendations #readersofinstagram #readmorebooks #booklover #bookishlove #readersgonnaread #bookishaf