I love a good FINDING YOURSELF book and this book is all about that! Lexi is very successful and has a wonderful husband, but, is she truly happy? She starts experiences weird visions. Lexi looks to the town “witch” for guidance. She learns a lot about reading people and herself. She realizes she has to face her demons. Even though her loved ones are skeptical she continues on her journey.

This one was totally outside of my typical comfort zone topically, yet I found it surprisingly interesting and engaging to listen to. There's something about an author doing their own narration that sells the story for me... While I'm not really the typical demographic for this type of story, as I don't buy into a lot of what the authors present on a world-view level, I found the presentation of ideas to be thought-provoking and the narration to be entertaining. Lexi's journey was a mix of possible and impossible, and her struggles with the state of her own life and marriage were well-presented and thoughtful. I enjoyed the listen and absolutely love the cover art!

I could not get into this. My mind kept drifting from the audio. I am excited to see other’s reviews tho!

This book cover is stunning and after reading the story makes sense for the story. Everything We Never Knew is a heartbreaking and inspiring book about recovering from trauma, healing, and secrets. Alexis and Shane appear to everyone as the ‘it couple’ they have it all, money, fame, looks, etc. however behind the scenes their life is crumbling. Lack of communication, secrets and a tragedy seem to plague this couple. It’s a story of healing, awakening and finding yourself again. Lexie has her first spiritual feeling at an awards banquet and starts realizing this might be a way to help save people. The audiobook is narrated by Julianne Hough. She did a great job and was very easy to listen to.

DNF @ 25% - This debut grabbed my attention the moment I saw the gorgeous cover and read the synopsis. One of the most unique plot ideas, this story features an MC who experiences visions and even physical manifestations of what others are going through.

While this is a really interesting premise, something fell flat for me in the execution. Starting off with a bang, the pacing then became very slow and slightly wonky.

The author narrates, and I think that too may be throwing me off. I would recommend the physical or ebook version over audio if you want to try this one.

Thank you Recorded Books for the advanced copy.

I'm a HUGE Julianne Hough fan ever since her time on Dancing with the stars so when I saw she had co-written a book I was beyond excited! Sadly while this one started off strong and had great mental health (panic attacks) rep, I lost interest halfway through when the FMC becomes somewhat obsessed with all things astrology as a way to help improve her life/marriage. Just didn't turn out to be the book I was expecting wanting and I ended up DNFing mid way. I may pick it up again at a later time. Perhaps it was just wrong book at the wrong time or not to my tastes. I did like that Julianne narrated the audiobook herself though - she did a fantastic job! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest feedback!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

This was a fabulous debut by Julianne Hough who I have been a big fan of since she started out on Dancing with the Stars at least 10 years ago. It would be interesting to know how much of the story she wrote and what Ellen Goodlett wrote for the book. Did they alternate chapters or did they co-write all of the story? This book is beautiful and mesmerising, and really makes you think. I was drawn in from the very beginning. I am rating this book four stars because I thought the ending of the story was a little bit abrupt and I thought more could've happened to wrap up the story. But overall I really enjoyed this book. I also had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook which was narrated by Julianne Hough and I loved the way she narrated the book and brought the characters to life. I hope Julianne considers writing more books because this book was very beautiful.

Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Everything We Never Knew was a heartwarming fiction listen. I have been lucky enough to listen to some great novels. This one was at the top of my list.

Thank you to NetGalley, RBMedia, Julianne Hough, and Ellen Goodlett for an advance audio copy of this novel.
#everythingweneverknew #netgalley
I loved that Jules Hough was the audio narrator for her story. Her voice was so calming and really engaging.

Trigger warnings:
Drug related death
Miscarriages
Sexual assault
Parental abuse
Difficulty conceiving
Death of child

Publishes August 13th

I think this could be considered supernatural fiction? I’m not a believer in supernatural / new age things. As a Christian, the values and beliefs that this book discusses and explores is not something I align with. So maybe I was not the right target for this story however it was not mentioned in the description of the book. I also did not like the witch element part … probably because that’s something I do not believe in, but I just thought it was weird.

There was a lot going on… felt like whip lash Everytime something new was explored and brought into the story.… from the miscarriage, to sexual assault & trauma… it just felt all over the place. I mean truly what is discussed in this book is so sad and heartbreaking. It was hard to listen to…

With that being said, I absolutely respect Julianne Hough for writing the story that she felt so promoted to write. I do believe that we can have different worldviews and still find a way to all get along and I think that is expressed in Lexi and Shayne’s marriage in the book.

I am still glad I gave it a go because you never know what you like unless you try it! It was a story that is all about a woman coming to know herself and understanding her role in life which I think there is something we all can relate too in one way or another.

But, can we talk about the cover?! It’s absolutely stunning.

I largely had no idea what to expect based on the description of this book. There's an element of spiritual enlightenment mixed with some faith based themes. There's some triggers that may arise for some people so if this is something you are sensitive to I would check that out.

This was hard to rate because on one level, I loved the aspects of being able to "see and feel" the aura of other people. Some of it maybe a little in left field for some but I am opened minded about the spiritual presence within all of us. I also could relate to Lexi's trauma and the way her mother dealt with it. There was so much truth in the fact that Lexie needed to heal herself first before she could move forward in her life.

There is a religious element discussed in multiple places and because this is a topic I personally try to distance myself from (super religious upbringing used to justify bad behavior) I found that aspect something of a turn off.

The descriptions of the aura's and incidences that occur to Lexi are just magnificent in their imagery. For that reason, I felt the book gave me a feeling of connection to the magical and out of body moments that were described.

I see a lot of mixed reviews for this book but I think if you go into the story with an open mind, you might find that the essence of the story about resolving painful pasts resonates.

I loved Julianne's audio narration. She has a beautiful voice and so this was closer to a 4 star read to me. 3.75 stars

I wanted to like this book so much, however it was not my cup of tea. The synopsis was almost different than the book itself. I was hoping for more mystery/action. Instead this felt like therapy and “healing” everyone and over analyzing the room at any given moment.

I was also confused as to why she had to quit her full time job to focus on this?

I will say the first 40% of the book was good, however the rest fell flat.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Everything we Never Knew
By: Julianne Hough, Ellen Goodlett
Pub day: August 13, 2024

Thankful for the trigger warning for this novel.

Dark subjects are covered. The repercussion’s of a family trauma affects Lexi’s daily life from her estranged family.

Secrets, visions, love, trauma, loss and acceptance of who you are meant to be was freeing for Lexi.

I have watched Julianne Hough dance on DWTS and watched her grow in her personal life. A novel that explores life and the gifts you are giving.

Thank you RB Media for the gifted audio and Sourcebooks Landmark.