This is an engaging and quick read that captures the intensity of young love and friendship. The twists weren't exactly unpredictable but neither were they obvious. The characters were really well written and I was absorbed in their world. Overall a good read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for an advance copy for review purposes.

Thank you Net Galley and Penguin Young Readers Group for this eArc of Everything We Never Said by Sloan Harlow.

YA is definitely a hit or miss for me. This one was a complete “hit”! If you’re going to pick up this book, please note that while this is marketed as YA, it’s definitely for a more mature YA audience. This book deals with some issues that are very real and that teens/adults deal with in real life.

What I loved:
•dual POV with diary entries
•mystery/thriller/psychological
•plot twist (that fit)
•equal parts slow burn & fast paced
•emotional/secrets/forbidden love
•both plot & character driven!

As I was reading this book I felt the same feelings as I felt when reading “Sadie”. We live in a very heavy world these days and I am glad that authors aren’t afraid to write books like this. This was a fantastic debut novel by Sloan Harlow and I will definitely be picking up anything else she writes.

You may have guessed, yes, I highly recommend this book.

For the most part, I like going into a book blind. I may read a sentence or two of the description but I find that the blurbs often give away too much for me. I love reading them after the fact and even reading other reviews to see if we all feel the same about a book. This is one that the blurb doesn't give away too much because a lot is happening in this book.
This debut started a bit slow for me. We have Ella who survived a horrible car crash in which her best friend died. She has no memory of this event but she blames herself for her friend's death. In her grief, she finds solace in a former friend and her best friend's boyfriend, Sawyer. As Ella cleans out Hayley, the dead friend, room because Hayley's mom is "grieving" and can't bring herself to do it, she finds Hayley's diary. In this diary, Ella realizes Hayley has a lot of secrets and Ella is going to uncover them.
So, my thoughts here are that I love these types of books, dark, and gritty, not everything is the way it seems. However, I don't like any amount of spice for the children. Yes, they are 17, but nope it gives me the ick. I mean yes, teenagers have sex, but we don't need the details of the children's sex lives. Let it occur off-page with very vague descriptors. That is all on that, there are some minor spicy scenes in this book but only a couple. Anyhow, the first 50% of the book, like I said, was pretty slow. I had a hard time keeping some of the characters straight because they all had "S" names and they were similar, so I couldn't remember who was who. Then we got to the good parts, the mystery, the "scarier" bits where lies were being revealed and Hayley's secrets came out into the world. I couldn't stop reading. I was up until 1:30 in the morning finishing the book. There were a lot of red herrings, and lots of triggers for some people as well (i.e. abuse in many forms, death, etc.) and it had a fairly satisfying ending. This has a package for fans of CoHo, and I can see that. The relationships in this book are very similar to the CoHo world, toxic but with undertones of amazing.

Harlow wrote a fast paced YA book that allows accessible content to a younger generation, which is really exciting, albeit perhaps a bit more mature than I may have expected. I very much enjoyed the read. The plot twist was very well executed. I thought I had guessed the direction and was slammed into a new one! Bravo to the author. The main character was meaningfully developed, with moments in introspection and emotional intelligence which shows thoughtfulness and growth. I recommended to my teenager to read.

I think this was just not for me. I was wanting more but there was so much dark romance type stuff that it actually turned me off this book. I almost didnt finish the book and wasnt sure it was the right book for me. It had some interesting stuff but for the most part I just didnt enjoy it.

I started this book at midnight and finished it at 4 am this morning. I liked it!
Ella has to return to high school to start her senior year without her best friend Hayley. She has no interest in the things that used to consume her life . She wanted to be invisible. She hid in the back of her classrooms and used her math skills to figure out how many minutes until the school year is over. She refused to return to the swim team even as college scouts visited. Junior year had been stressful- but it was nothing compared to the accident that ended life as she knew it.

This book was the best kind that mixes genres; a coming of age story, mystery, domestic violence, love, friendship and family. The main characters are 17 years old but it takes the reader right back to that age ( can't believe I'm 59) . The story and the issues are beyond age. Read It!
Thanks to NetGalley, Sloan Harlow and G P Putnam Sons for the opportunity to read this booking exchange for an honest review

Solid 3.5 stars! ⭐️

This story was a tad predictable, even if not at the final conclusion. I would recommend for a mature teen due to the domestic and dating violence. It’s not incredibly graphic and certainly has a place in the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was a quick easy YA read.

Ella is mourning the loss of her best friend through a tragic accident and processes her developing feelings of her best friends boyfriend.

The plot twists are good for this debut author.

In "Everything We Never Said" by Sloan Harlow we go through the life of a high school girl who had something tragic happen to her best friend that she cannot explain. As she works through her feelings the third in their group becomes more than a friend, in more ways than one.

A lot for high school age characters - tough subjects to handle. I received an advanced copy of this book but this is my honest opinion.

Ella Graham begins her senior year in a living nightmare. Everywhere Ella walks, she is reminded of her best friend Hayley. Hayley died in a car accident while Ella was driving home from a party. Ella ends up being okay but can’t remember the accident. It upsets her that she can’t remember. That first day back at school, teachers and everyone ask her how she is doing yet can’t take being asked so many times. She thinks that they think she killed Hayley and don’t like her anymore. Is that true? While in a support group at school, Ella realizes that she needs to talk to Hayley’s boyfriend Sawyer. When Ella finds Hayley’s diary while cleaning out Hayley’s room for Hayley’s mom, she takes the diary hidden so Haley’s mom won’t see it.

The author has written a suspenseful novel with twists and turns. The novel is written in chapters of Ella, Hayley and Sawyer. You get their thoughts and actions that take place in the book through their eyes. It was amazing to read this novel as it has a mystery that continues the guilt and survival pain for Ella. Ella must carry on in spite of her loss of her friend. I also liked seeing the individuals thoughts. It is a novel that I did not suspect the subject to be. It suggests that it is better to communicate than isolate yourself. It can solve problems that you don’t know how to deal with it.

This book started off on a good note. Best friend was killed and there seems to be one obvious option as to who killed her. What falls apart in this book, is the discovery of the diary, the possibility of someone else as the killer, the attraction to the dead best friend’s boyfriend and then the worst of it all, when the true identity is uncovered nothing is done to exonerate the person originally accused. So this poor guy just had to stay in jail. The cops just half asses the investigation? So many holes in this story. It was not working to stay together.

I had no idea what the plot twist could be! Loved that it was fast paced, and really different than what I had anticipated. This is YA, and I liked that it is a good bridge for kids who might want to read popular authors like Colleen Hoover and this is a bit more age appropriate. Everything We Never Said is a bit more mature than I expected but still within the YA range.

I thought I knew what was going on and then BAM totally new direction. I loved that the main character had moments of doubting her actions which was a nice retrospect and helped develop her character.

Overall this is an easy book to recommend!

3.5 stars rounded up

If I could describe this book in as few of words as possible it'd be the following:
Major insta love, unrealistic aspects, young adult with spiceeee

Sooo starting off, you'll meet two best friends who will do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING together. It's a true real best friend relationship, however one night Ella wakes up after being in a car accident and her best friend is dead only she doesn't remember anything. Now she has to live with the guilt knowing she was responsible for her best friend's death.

Overall, a good concept even though I read a book right before about a car accident that couldn't be remembered so originality I'd give a 2/5. AND the major insta love was UNEXPECTED... I did NOT see that coming especially with the two characters that were involved like what... Although this is a mystery, I could predict most of the book due to the obvious unrealistic aspects and the SCREAMING red flags lol. The more I write this review, the more I'm considering a 3 stars review versus 4. For being young adult, it had WAY more spice than I remember *although I would say more like a PG-15, nothing too too intense but still borderline.

Would I recommend? yeah
Would I read again? questionable, there was nothing wrong I'm personally just not a fan of insta love and unrealistic plot lines.

<b>”I keep thinking about everything I never told you, everything we never said, wondering if it all could have turned out differently if only I'd confided in you.</b>

time to channel your inner sleuth! so. many. questions! past paced! what happened to hayley?! i HAD to know. i loved this! read it in 24 hours. devoured it! Dark, romantic thriller!

note: this is a young adult novel with mature themes. dm me with any content questions!

✨ THINGS AND STUFF ✨
-dual pov
-diary entries
-family dynamics & broken homes
-what happened that night she died?
-forbidden love
-memory loss & flashbacks
-grief & pain
-secrets
-goosebump worthy revelations
-plot twist!
-#IsThisAKissingBook: open door “kiss the smile off her lips….sawyer presses a kiss to the top of my head”

thank you penguin teen for an advanced copy!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for providing me with an eARC of Everything We Never Said in exchange for my honest review!

I had quite an absorbing time with this book, which is being promoted as a YA romantic thriller, but I'd actually say that it would be more appropriate to market this to the NA audience. Initially, this gave off It Ends with Us vibes (to be clear, I like IEWU, but I also don't necessarily consider it to be a good thing when a book reminds me of Colleen Hoover's work). Ultimately, I do think it steers down a different road, one that's satisfying to experience as it explores the pain and trauma of domestic abuse and the ways in which abusers use charisma and genuine-seeming love to conceal the darkness within them. Sure, we have to endure some cringey dialogue and YA tropes, but it's not that glaring in the grand scheme of things. It all builds up to a climactic third act that I can see being too over-the-top for some readers, but it clicks well with me.

Overall, I'm officially rating Everything We Never Said 3.75 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding up to a flat 4 stars. After this debut novel from Sloan Harlow, I'm intrigued to see what she'll write down the line.

An excellent debut by the author, although I think the story pushes the edge of teen/ya and almost makes it to new adult. Despite that, I think a number of teens could handle the story, but it does involve some explicit scenes that might be triggering for some, especially violence. There is also sex on the screen, but it's not explicit.

I don't read a lot of thrillers, so I didn't predict the ending until about two-thirds of the way there. Looking back, there were plenty of clues, but it was still a surprise as I slowly figured out what was going on. Those who read a lot of thrillers might find this a bit more predictable, but regardless, I found it to be a good read, and the ending was satisfying and not open to interpretation, which is something I find frustrating with some thrillers.

The story changes point of view between Ella, Sawyer, and Hayley's diary, which doesn't always work, but I thought the author did a good job with it. Part of it was that Ella and Sawyer's parts took place in the same timeline and Hayley's part was in italics, so there was never any confusion about timelines or how things connected.

Overall, I thought this author did a good job and I've already recommended this to my younger daughter, who tends to like books like this. I would be interested in reading future books by this author.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A dark romance twisty YA thriller? Sounds awesome! This sounded like maybe it would be a little like the movie Fear, which is probably way too old of a movie for anyone reading YA to have heard of, but it’s one of my faves and I thought this would have similar vibes. In some ways, it did.
I felt the twists were a tad easy to guess, but I won’t lie.. I had a few wrong guesses, so it wasn’t terrible. I loved watching the story unfold and trying to piece together what may have happened with Hayley.
I loved Ella and felt for her and the emotions she was struggling with. I was rooting for her romance with Sawyer and the rebuilding of her friendship with Seema, but then the diary entries began and I wasn’t sure who to trust.
I definitely recommend this if you’re a fan of relationship thrillers. While it is YA, it’s a bit spicy, so I wouldn’t recommend to younger audiences and would almost categorize this more as NA.

Already prepped to hit my HS library shelf come August. This book was so good!

I cannot even begin to feel or understand a fraction of what Ella feels in this book. The guilt. The grief. And then having to go back to that school? Senior year?

The twist and turns in this book will keep you guessing and wondering.

The ending. While I had a little figured out, the whole actual ending? No. No I didn’t. The last 25% was so much and gosh. Ella. Heart crushed for her.

Read this!!!!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

There were plenty twists and turns in this book that made the book more interesting to me and had me almost rushing to finish. Good read

This story follows Ella who has been in an accident and blames herself for her best friend’s death. This was such an amazing story with such a great storyline that was hooking. Readers can easily read this book in one sitting as it has such a fast pacing with so much going on to the story. As much as I enjoyed the storyline, I do have to say that the mystery was very predictable. There were also some questions left unanswered and things weren’t clarified. It’s a very dark, thrilling book that deals with domestic violence and sexual content that made me wonder if this book is suitable for YA. This book is mainly in Ella’s pov but alternates between others.

Ella is the FMC of the story and I liked her perspective. I have to say that she is not the brightest when someone approaches her and she spills the tea but she also begins to learn a lot of the truth. We also get Sawyer’s pov who is more of an unreliable character and his story made me wonder if he is even a good person. There are many side characters in this story and they were well written. The romance is forbidden love and friends to lovers with descriptive scenes that shouldn’t be in YA.

The ending was well done but again I kind of expected it to be the way it was. I still enjoyed the book as it was so fast-paced with a lot of unreliable characters. I love seeing the connection of friendship grow and finally getting the answers the MCs deserve. I recommend checking out this book!

*this arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*