Ok, first of all, the book cover totally gave me Billie Eilish vibes 🎶 and instantly grabbed my attention! The story handled the topic of addiction so respectfully 🙏, emphasizing that addiction is an illness and not the person's fault. Hannah and Sophie are cousins who grew up together as best friends. They were so close, like sisters 👯‍♀️, and did practically everything together until Sophie tragically died of an overdose 💔.

Hannah was heartbroken and confused 😢. She couldn't accept that her best friend had been using drugs without her knowing. Determined to find out who was responsible for Sophie’s death, Hannah anonymously enrolled at Sophie’s private school 🎓, on a mission to uncover the truth 🕵️‍♀️. Along the way, she makes new friends, finds potential love 💕, and learns so much about the opioid crisis 💊.

I could feel Hannah's sadness throughout the book 😭, and honestly, I just wanted to give her a hug, even when she made mistakes 🤗. I loved her journey, her growth, her accountability, and most of all, her love for Sophie. This is a book I’d recommend to everyone 📚❤️

This book definitely pulls at the heartstrings. It has a mixture between suspense and tears. It's a good read if you're looking for something not too heart pumping and something that will move you.

All That's Left to Say, a new YA contemporary by Emery Lord, gives another view of opioid addiction, this time through the eyes of a teen who has lost a beloved family member. Hannah MacLaren was shocked by death of her cousin Sophie and never suspected Sophie used drugs. In the wake of Sophie's sudden and tragic death, Hannah embarks on a quest to discover who gave Sophie the pills that ended her life and why. Hannah goes to extreme efforts to solve the mystery of her cousin's death, including transferring to a new school, changing her looks, and even using a burner phone- all while falling in love with her debate nemesis (enemies to lovers trope). In the process, Hannah comes to terms with some of her own flaws and learns how to process emotions in healthier ways.

In All That's Left to Say, author Emery Lord uses alternating timelines to keep up the suspense for readers. The story line flips back and forth between Hannah's junior year - when she was drowning in grief and struggling for answers- and her senior year, when Hannah employs more calculated efforts to reveal who is at fault for giving Sophie the pills that killed her. Some reviews say the timeline flips confusing; I think they work to maintin tension. Lord also uses unanswered questions to keep readers turning pages: who gave Sophie the pills? What happened between Hannah and Sophie's best Gabby, and why aren't they speaking any more? And, for those who like a little romance, will Hannah and Christian Daly get together?
Lord's writing is solid, with unique descriptions and compelling and characters.
The themes of All That's Left to Say include opioid addiction, shame/ hiding pain, family dynamics, and grief.

The climax of the novel is believable, but not as dramatic as some readers might hope for.

3.5/5 stars

All That’s Left to Say is one of those books that keeps you guessing and thinking. It was sad and a bit suspenseful. Had the tiniest bit of romance in it, but overall was a YA book about a grieving girl who lost her best friend/cousin and is trying to find out who could have been involved with her death. The time jumps were a bit confusing, at least in audio format and I had a hard time remembering all the characters involved and who was who, but aside from that I enjoyed it. Emery Lord’s writing is fantastic as always.

This book was heartbreaking, raw, poignant. A story about grief, about seeking answers. A book about the dangers surrounding high school, students, young adults.

Legitimately exhausting. The dual timeline was awkward and the MC was easily swayed by her own deep affectation. I'm glad I'm not here anymore.

In this complex dual timeline book, the very basic synopsis is that Hannah’s cousin, Sophie, has died and Hannah is playing investigator to figure out why. The author did an amazing job with her words and getting the reader emotionally sucked into the characters. This was one I read almost straight through because I didn’t want to put it down. Highly recommended for those who like high school mysteries with a bit of an edginess to them.
A few extra notes: The past/present plotline worked okay for me. Sometimes it is hard to figure things out when authors write this way, but this one wasn’t confusing. I think my biggest critique would be the backstory with Sophie, and how she got into drugs in the first place. There also could have been more development between the two cousins, to help justify Hannah’s strong feelings about attending Sophie’s school after she died.

One challenge with the book is that it alternates between two timelines, covering Hannah's junior and senior years of high school. This can make the story hard to follow at times. The audiobook version may be easier to follow, but listeners should be attentive as some characters appear in both timelines. The characters are relatable, and readers can empathize with the emotions Hannah experiences following her loss.

Hannah and her cousin Sophie were best friends. So when Sophie dies the summer before their junior year, Hannah’s life falls apart. She is stuck in her grief, and one question that keeps coming back to her is who gave Sophie the drugs that night. Someone is to blame, and Hannah needs to know who.

By registering at Sophie’s exclusive private school, maybe she will get the answers she needs. But in doing so, she finds that digging for answers is far more complicated than she initially thought.

This book jumps between Hannah’s junior and senior year of school. I found the duel timeline a little confusing at times, particularly events that took place during the summer. I wish that they’d had an actual year on them, rather than junior/senior year, as it was hard to tell which summer it applied to sometimes. So keeping the when of events organised in my head could be a challenge. Once I moved beyond the beginning of the story things straightened out and it was a lot easier to follow.

This novel’s greatest strength is the portrayal of grief and inability to let go of someone who is gone. I found this aspect of the book very compelling. Hannah’s grief can make her single-minded. She can be selfish, neglecting her other friends. But I think that's an unfortunate yet natural part of grief. Your pain feels so huge, it is easy to forget that other people around you are carrying their own hurts.

I also liked that she had realistic parents and relationships with the adults around her. Also her friendships and the strain Sophie’s death and her subsequent actions puts on them felt very real.

I did feel that there were some unbelievable parts. One aspect of the ending didn’t quite work for me, however I was willing to let it go. If you're expecting a mystery with a really explosive ending, this isn’t it. But I actually don’t have a problem with that. I think that to have written it that way would have actually taken something away from the book.

Goodreads link to review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6540373651

I really enjoyed this book. I felt like as a teacher. I see a lot of kids that deal with these types of issues and it would be perfect for some of my kids who do have friends and or family members who are dealing with these kinds of things. It is a little bit controversial, so it’s not something I would put in my classroom library, but it is something that I might recommend to a select few kids that I know could handle it, especially with parental permission. I like how the author took some thing that could be considered controversial and showed the Dark side of some of my students lives.

DNF'd.
This is the second Emery Lord audiobook I dnf'd this week and I don't know if it's their writing, the stories, the narrators but I just couldn't connect and didn't care and there's just too many books to spend time hoping for a twist and suddenly enjoying one so I stopped.

Grief is an emotional rollercoaster. & having parents that have substance abuse issues is harder than most understand.

On prom night, Hannah MacLaren sits in the headmaster's office in her fanciest dress, soaked to the bone. She pulled the fire alarm right as the queen was about to be crowned, and she's in huge trouble. But Hannah had her reasons for ruining the biggest night of everyone's lives.
One year ago, her cousin Sophie, who was also her best friend and the person she loved most in the world, died of an overdose. Drowning in grief, Hannah became obsessed with one question: Who gave Sophie those pills? Then she concocted a plan: enroll at her cousin's fancy private school with a new look and a mouthful of lies, and find out the truth once and for all.
But she didn't expect all the lines to blur. She didn't expect Sophie's friends to be so complicated. She didn't expect to fall for her longtime enemy. Now, she has a choice: let herself really mourn Sophie and move on, or see her search through to its explosive end--even if it means destroying herself.

Thanks to NetGalley & Spotify Audiobooks for the ALC of this book!

All That's Left to Say
by Emery Lord
Narrated by Krystal Hammond

Listened at 2.5x narration speed. The narrator has a breathy quality that I did not enjoy. It dropped when she changed voices, so I'm not sure if that was her natural delivery or a stylist choice made.

The story utilizes a dual timeline--which was honestly my biggest struggle with the story. Junior year vs Senior year didn't really take on much importance to me initially, so I didn't do a good job of compartmentalizing the events in each stage. Hannah is trying to solve the mystery of her cousin's overdose (that happened in her Junior year) by using her Senior year to infiltrate her cousin's prior private school.

While the character development was fine, I never connected with any of the characters. I didn't root for the love stories. I didn't invest in the family dynamics. It all just fell a bit too flat for me. Even the ending left me a bit unsatisfied with how there was a revelation and then acceptance without many bumps. For a story so built on the emotions of grief and processing loss, the ending didn't fit.

Overall: 3 stars (I liked it)

**Thank you to NetGalley & Spotify Audiobooks for the free ALC. All opinions expressed are my own.**

The overall premise of this story was good, and I was excited to get a copy to listen to. The narrator Kristal Hammond did a nice job on the narration. It was an interesting book told via a dual timeline, this story of the grief of losing a loved one to drug overdose is harrowing, and we follow Hannah in junior and senior year as she fights to find answers as to who gave her cousin the drugs that killed her the night of a house party.
I loved the opening and being dropped into the story at the end. I like the going back in time timeline, but then it started another timeline and
I think the weakest part of this story was the dual timelines. In both junior and senior year Hannah is looking for answers, It was confusing to follow, and I am not sure that it was good, I felt like it slowed the story down and convoluted a lot of it. Hannah is helped somewhat by friends, and this made the story confusing, as there were many moments where I had to skip back to work out where I was in the timeline. Maybe reading the book might have made it easier to keep track,

I thought the endings of both timelines would have massive plot twists or events, and that kept me reading. I think I was hoping for more than we actually got, and I was disappointed that the small events we did get didn't change up the story, or it's ending.

It was an overall meh read for me, and I was really hoping for a lot more.

4/5

I loved the plot of this book. The mystery of Hannah trying to discover the truth about her cousins death has me hooked as soon as I read the description. However, the first half of the book did feel a bit slow, and the dual timelines were a bit confusing. I had a hard time getting connected to the characters until I was a good way into the book. Still a very interesting read.

Thank you NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

All That's Left to Say follows Hannah, reeling in the aftermath of her cousin's fatal overdose at a party. In her grief, Hannah knows one truth - Sophie would never have taken those pills by herself. Told through alternating timelines as Hannah works with new and unlikely allies to solve the mystery of Sophie's death, this book tells a timely story about the madness of loss and the ways we can all join together in healing.

This book's alternating timelines feel like both its greatest strength and greatest weakness at the same time. On one hand, the two timelines circling the drain at an equal pace makes it feel like the audience is being dragged towards the inevitable conclusion, which seems darker and bleaker with each new piece of evidence that is revealed. However, because almost every character shows up in both the past and present timeline, it can be hard to keep track of which timeline you're in if you aren't paying very close attention. And I'm going to be honest with you - I'm not always paying close attention.

I listen to audiobooks while I drive, do laundry, and even while answering emails at work. I'm not always clued in 100% to the details. I drift. I think that's normal. So having a book where I have to be on top of the timeline at every few minutes doesn't really work for me. That doesn't necessarily mean that the book is bad, but it does mean that people like me, who might get a little distracted from time to time, might have trouble with this title.

In terms of the other "book review" categories, this book hit almost everything for me. The characters were muti-dimensional and likable (or not, depending). Hannah herself grows a lot from the beginning of the book, learning as she grows and finds friends and support. Her friends also get some development, which can be rare in YA books that often center their sole focus on the narrator. Seeing teen characters given the space to grow, change, establish boundaries, and even go through difficult conversations was a big point in favor of this title.

The mystery is also compelling, and has a very satisfying ending to it. I won't spoil the results here because, if you're here, I'm assuming you might be deciding whether to read this book or not. In terms of the overall themes and the care they were handled with, it's a big "Yes" from me.

If you have read and enjoyed books about real issues impacting teens today, this book will delight you - if it might also break your heart. It gets a strong recommendation from me, and I hope it might provide a light in the dark for people that might be managing difficult situations themselves.

2.5 ⭐

The book is very well written and there's really nothing wrong with the story. I just unfortunately failed to connect to the characters or stay invested in the plot. The book did feel like it ran a little long, I do wish it would have been just a bit shorter. I did listen to the audiobook which I did enjoy but the narrator did have a very soothing voice which did make me sleepy (not that there's anything wrong with that it just made it hard to stay focused)

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed the dual timelines alternating month by month between Hannah’s Junior and Senior year as she deals with the immediate aftermath and 1 year after the death of her cousin and life-long friend, Sophie. The dual timelines really gave room for Hannah’s character development which was huge and very encouraging to see, especially in a YA novel about the dangers of substance abuse. Educational, but also a good story.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

4⭐️

I really really liked this. This dark coming of age-ish YA mystery genre is one of my favorites, and this book did not disappoint.

The plot was really engaging, and the direction the story went in, as well as the reveals that happened all the way to the end, were all very interesting.

I like the characters (although I did mix them up a few times or forget who certain people were) , and the romance subplot was super cute. There were a few issues with the pacing. At times, it felt very slow and repetitive, but it wasn't too bad.

However, the audio that I got was terrible! I'm not sure if it was just the version I got (it's an audio Arc from Netgalley) or if they're all that way but 50% of the audio would turn into this high pitched robot garble which was a little off putting 😅.

Emery Lord's "All That's Left to Say" is a YA novel that tackles grief, loss, and the complexities of teenage relationships. The audiobook format offers a compelling way to experience this emotional journey.

The story centers on Hannah, grappling with the sudden loss of her cousin and best friend, Sophie, to a drug overdose. Unable to accept the unanswered questions, Hannah embarks on a personal investigation to find out who supplied Sophie with the drugs. This quest leads her to navigate new friendships, confront hidden truths, and confront her own misconceptions about addiction.

"All That's Left to Say" on audiobook is a great choice for listeners who enjoy character-driven YA fiction with a focus on emotional depth. It effectively captures the emotional range of the characters, particularly Hannah's raw grief and evolving determination.