I was so intrigued by this book! I thought it was such an interesting story about how much we carry into our relationships with those we love, and how much our past affects how we relate with those around us. I found the story of Lexi finding herself feeling like she's drowning and getting glimpses into other people's pain was such a beautiful way of unfolding a story of personal transformation, and the reality of the people around you struggling to understand as you make the changes you need to thrive was so painfully accurate. This book is definitely a fascinating take on personal growth that I think will help others!

“Everything We Never Knew” by Julianne Hough and Ellen Goodlet captures a beautiful story about Lexi going through some life changing situations and learning who she is and what she wants out of life. I think they did a wonderful job capturing the spiritual journey of self healing.

Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebook Landing Publishing, Julianne Hough and Ellen Goodlet for an eARC copy of Everything We Never Knew.

"Everything We Never Knew" starts off with a fantastic concept — Lexi, after one shared look with a stranger, suddenly feels the taste of sea water rush into her mouth, accompanied by panicked shouts and an intense feeling of drowning. She later learns the man's family drowned in a boating accident. As the next days and weeks unfold, these moments of empathetic knowledge continue to strike her.

I absolutely loved this intro and felt immediately intrigued, but I'll admit that the book went downhill from there. What could have been a fun exploration of different characters and the unique weight of their lives — or perhaps even a deep dive into how Lexi's unusual gift might influence others — instead becomes a bit of a tiresome slog through the main character's self discovery, maternal relationship, and recovery from miscarriage. I think I would been much more engaged in this book if her power had been flexed externally more and explored internally less. Lexi's past trauma could have been poignant but came off as trite when mixed with the theme of energy healing. I also struggled with Lexi's relationship with her husband — it was lacking the depth it needed for me to care what happened to them; they could have stayed together or decided to divorce and I think I would have felt the same.

Ultimately, it feels like the author visited a new age spa, had a deeply personal experience, and tried to craft that into a book. Alas, most personal experiences are exceptionally difficult to translate into universal appeal.

On a more positive note, let's talk about this absolutely gorgeous cover art, which drew me in and will definitely result in some impulse readers. I did enjoy the breezy voice of this book, and the narrator did a wonderful job with the audiobook production.

Thank you NetGalley and RBMedia for an advance copy of this book for my honest review.

This premise of the book is good. It falls short of being great. I will say Julianne Hough does a good job narrating. I feel like this book was a way for her to work through some of her own personal issues. The heartbreak of not being able to carry a child, when then one thing you want to do is carry a child, is a difficult thing to go through. The book is well written, it missed the mark for me though.

An interesting look at what unseen energies affect people, from mood to health. Real estate super-seller Lexi starts seeing energies and auras around people, and begins exploring it with the local oddities shop owner, much to the consternation of her uptight Mormon husband and many of her friends. Although the book does a great job trying to to substantiate the effects of significant positive or negative experiences like traumas or healthy coping have on people's lives, it has a few things that for me detracted from the experience. Lexi had very little self-awareness despite all of her studies, so it's easy to see the perspective of her concerned loved ones, even as she is quick to cast them as roadblocks to her sudden new path. There are several loose threads that could have been interesting, like implications her coworker may have similar capabilities and why the woman is there or agrees to help her.

Lexi Cole has the perfect life - a husband that loves her, a job that’s fantastic and she’s killing it and friends to surround her. However, the night of the awards ceremony something happens to make her question her life and how’s she’s been living it. She becomes friendly with a women that everyone in town thinks is weird as she learns more about energy healing.

The book was a great adventure when someone is doing good in life but isn’t passionate about what they are doing. It was a great journey to take with her.

Thank you #NetGalley for the advance listen.

I really had high hopes for Julianne Hough’s first book. I am a regular reader of books about spirituality, auras, and intuition. Unfortunately it just didn’t hit the mark for me. The problem for me was the book seemed to be written for a person with little or no knowledge of any of the concepts. There were constant references to all the reasons “spiritually” is so “out-there” and only for weird people and outcasts. Then the book does everything it can to make it so unbelievably weird - almost like Hough was trying to make spiritual healing a big joke. I don’t know who this book is written for - It’s not for the person who isn’t into mystics and energy reading because that’s a huge part of the storyline. And it isn’t for the person who believes in that kind of alternative spirituality, because it barely scratches the surface of the concepts. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I wish I liked it more..

Everything We Never Knew is about Lexi who is ultimately able to feel other people’s emotions. She can help the people, but only if she faces her own demons first.

I truly wanted to love this book. It sounded so good and the cover was so cute! Everything happened too quickly I feel. The book unloaded everything in the beginning. I lost some interest after that. I feel like it should have been stretched out some more. Maybe this just wasn’t for me or maybe I had high expectations going in and it didn’t live up. If you are on the fence about reading this book, give it a try though. You may like it more than me.

I was drawn to this audiobook by the cover and then the description and was very happy to be approved to read the ARC by NetGalley and the Publisher.
After I started listening to it, I was very disappointed. We are pretty much immediately thrown into a story about miscarriage, a trauma death and a person feeling other peoples feeling . The narrator was much too monotonous for it to be an enjoyable read. I kept pushing myself to continue to listen since it's an ARC but it sadly never got better and I was happy when it was over.. I never found any of the supernatural that we were promised either.

Did I enjoy this book? Sure. Would I recommend this to everyone I know? No.

There are trigger warnings mentioning SA and miscarriages for starters.

When it comes to the content of this book, I can read/listen to it without it bothering me. The main character in this book was raised LDS and then broke away from the church and eventually has a spiritual awakening where she can then start to see the invisible emotional fields around people's bodies. She digs deeper into why she can see them and what to do to help heal herself and those she loves. Growing up as a Christian in church, I wouldn't recommend this book lightly.

When it comes to the way it's written, it isn't the most well written book I've ever read. The writing felt choppy sometimes. It didn't always flow from one spot to another gracefully. Sometimes, it was hard to keep up with what was happening. Especially while she was experiencing someone else's memories as if they were her own.

Thanks to #netgalley and Sourcebooks for the chance to listen to the ARC of this audiobook. Julianne Hough was the narrator. I enjoy listening to her talking, and initially, I enjoyed the fact that she didn't do voices for each character. She just read the story. After a while, though, that became confusing when I couldn't keep up with who was talking.

A dazzling and heartwarming novel from Emmy Award winner Julianne Hough and Rule author Ellen Goodlett.
When the stars align, anything can happen. On stage at an awards banquet is the last place Lexi Cole expected to drown. But as she accepts the award for top-seller at her realty firm, something unusual catches Lexi's a man surrounded by a dark haze. Then she hears a woman screaming for help, and the taste of saltwater overwhelms her. Just as Lexi's throat begins to close, the man leaves the room and the sensation of drowning abruptly stops. Later that night, the man dies of an overdose, and Lexi learns about the traumatic boating accident that killed his sons and tore his family apart. Lexi wants to believe it's a bizarre coincidence. Any other explanation would disrupt the normal, comfortable life she's worked so hard to build. Lexi is an expert at denial and a pro at fitting in. But as more strange events unfold, Lexi can't deny that something is changing inside her. She feels other people's emotions, sometimes even glimpses of their private memories. By embracing her new abilities, Lexi can help heal people―though not until she confronts the past she's spent a lifetime burying. But when a vision reveals her husband is in danger, Lexi must face her inner demons or lose the person she loves most.

With this type of synopsis, I was excited and ready for a ride. Right at the beginning we have a possible paranormal situation, mention of miscarriage, and family discord, oh and there is a witch. The rest of the book seemed like filler to finish the book, I listened to it via the audio arc gifted by Netgalley, and Sourcebooks Landmark and I must say that I may have been able to swallow it better if I had read it. The narrator was very bland and just did not relate to the cast's individuality for me. The cover art, summary, narrator, and weird atmospheric music are severely conflicting for me.

This title just wasn't for me.

The premise of this book really intrigued me. Lexi has unexplainable things happen to her, and she quickly discovers she can see people's auras, look into their memories and feel their emotions. At first it doesn't seem possible, but with the help of Bea, a "witchy" shop owner she is finding out that what she's capable of. Bea teaches her how to be open to what she's seeing and feeling even though her friends are skeptics. This book was okay, not really my cup of tea but I'm thankful to Net Galley for the ARC.

To be very honest, I didn't care for Julianne's narrating. I thought I would, but I couldn't get into it and had to DNF fairly quickly. I would be willing to pick this up and traditionally read, but not a fan of the audio at all.

I just could not get into this book and ended up DNF. I guess I was not the target audience for this type of book.

Perhaps I wasn't the right one to read this book because I failed to see its charm. The story revolves around mysticism and extra-sensory experiences, but in many ways, it's a plug for the Mormon church. I didn't like the main character and never came to relate to her.

I went into this book a little blind (I guess I didnt read what the book was about) however by the end I was pleasantly surprised. I liked that Lexi stood up for herself and what she believed in but didnt discount her husband. A very interesting book - great narrator!

4 stars!

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reader copy.

Publish date: 08/13/2024

This novel was both quirky and introspective. It explores the energies/auras surrounding people and delves into energy healing as a means to cope with trauma, and resolve past and present issues. If you could visually see that someone was unwell, would you tell them? Would you try to heal them? What if you made it worse? It is a story about families, bonds strengthened and broken and healing. Thanks to NetGalley and RGB Media for the ARC. This is my honest review.

Thank you Recorded Books for the copy to read and review! Out now!

I skimmed some reviews before requesting and reading this. I was interested to see Julianne Hough as an author but nervous due to lots of less-than-enthusiastic reviews BUT wanted to give it a chance and I'm glad I did. This was a 3.5 for me. I liked Lexi's character's growth throughout this story. I also loved the friendships and relationships especially with Bea and her character's snark :)

I don't particularly agree with all the astrological aspects but they are well-described and make sense in the story. This is the main driver of the plot so if it isn't your 'thing' I might suggest skipping this one. But I still felt it was an interesting story and this worked well overall.

Going with 3 stars vs 4 because of the ending but I did like this story.

Gosh, I feel really bad writing a negative review but this book was just not for me.

I thought the premise was so intriguing! Someone who can feel other people’s emotions but can’t understand why? I’m interested. Learning about your “gift” by some random person in town that everyone dislikes…classic. The “energy work” and the problems that the main character tries to heal seem a little on the lame side. And the ending I just straight up hated.

I also think that Julianne Hough maybe should have hired a narrator for this one. I didn’t enjoy the little jingle to announce the chapters, it distracted from the momentum of the story by making such a definite break before continuing the story. She also could have benefited from a professional narrator that could have done different voices for all the different characters that there were. I think so often we take for granted how great the professionals are at their jobs. This one showed me for sure how good some of these narrators really are. I ended up being pretty bored the whole time. The story wasn’t gripping and heartwarming like it’s advertised to be and the story telling just wasn’t the best.

Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for the advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I became a fan of Julianne Hough way back in 2008 when she released her country album, and I loved watching her act in the movies Safe Haven, and Footloose! I’ve even done some of her free KINRGY workouts through fitonapp! So when I saw she and Ellen Goodlett had written a book I was really curious. Especially since she was the narrator for the audiobook!

Everything We Never Knew is a unique mix of emotional drama and a touch of the supernatural. The story follows Lexi Cole, who seems to have life figured out, until a strange experience at a work event shakes up her perspective on life. Suddenly, Lexi finds herself feeling other people’s emotions and seeing glimpses of their memories, forcing her to confront long-buried trauma and embrace these new abilities. As she tries to help others, she realizes that she must first heal herself, and focus on the elements (🍃🔥🌊💨) and personal energies to do so.

The book is both heartwarming and thought-provoking, with a focus on personal growth and self-discovery. It 100% connects to her KINRGY workouts and connecting with air💨, fire🔥, water🌊 and earth🍃.

From the little I know about Julianne I felt like this book has a deep personal connection to her life…including her separation from the LDS Religion…

If you’re into stories about emotional journeys with an aether connection vibe, this one is worth picking up.

Huge thank you to @netgalley and RB Media for the advanced audiobook copy!