Did not finish - Aliu is a good writer but the characters felt rather one-dimensional to me. While I appreciated that this would probably have led to a good evolution as the characters evolved, they just weren't holding my interest.

A must read. This book is about two siblings, Pete and Drita, who are raised as twins. Pete, the irresponsible brother, goes off and marries a drug- addicted woman and they have a child. When Pete realizes that he is not a great father because his son almost died on his watch, he disappears. His wife and Pete’s five year old son, with nowhere to turn, find Drita and move in with her. Drita goes on a mission to find Pete and does so, but only after learning that his new goal of fighting the war in Kosava with his new Alabanian friends, is misguided. So much to untangle here about sibling rivalry, choices, societal limitations, poverty, and drug addiction. Great writing and a great story.
Thank you NetGalley for a ARC.

Everybody Says It's Everything follows twins Drita and Pete, Albanian by birth but raised in Connecticut after their adoption. Despite growing up together, the two siblings develop in opposite directions, and as adults, the twins’ paths diverge even more. Drita leaves graduate school to help care for their mother, but she’s estranged from Pete. When Pete’s girlfriend and son arrive unexpectedly seeking her help, Drita feels compelled to find her brother. This search forces Drita to confront the complexities of family and her own identity, all while unearthing the difficult truths behind their adoption.

I think the most compelling part of this book was its focus on Albania and Kosovo, both places I've yet to read about in other books. The family dynamics were complex and heartfelt, but I did find the pacing slowed down about halfway through, and my interest waned. Nonetheless, this is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in complex relationships and explorations of cultural identity.

Thank you so much to Random House Marketing for inviting me to read a copy, and to NetGalley of course!

This was a well written family drama but I started losing interest in the plot about 3/4 of the way through.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214986238

Books about adoption are my go-to's. I try to read them often. As an adoptive mom, this story was interesting and authentic. I liked Aliu's writing and storytelling abilities. Aliu crafted the complex characters and subject skillfully, moving the story along at a pace I enjoyed. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I was invited by the publisher to review this book. Twins, Drita and Pete, are of Albanian descent, and adopted into a Connecticut home. They grow up with a typical middle American upbringing. Thought connected through blood, the two diverge as they age; Drita is the good girl doing all the correct things, whereas Pete is the bad boy destined for nothing. The story fast-forwards to when the twins are in their 20s, with Drita leaving her graduate school to return home and help care for their mom. She is estranged from her brother, but one day his girlfriend and son show up asking for help. Drita is determined to find Pete (who has actually been sucked in to a group of Albanians who are educating him about the Albanian struggle), but instead faces a reckoning as she learns about their heritage and the war in Kosovo and how that ties into their adoption.

I really enjoyed this book. I was quite interested to read a book about Albania and Kosovo as these countries are not frequently written about, so that was a very big personal enjoyment for me. Another great part of this book was it essentially being a character study, which I thought the author excelled at; there was a strong lens looking at the dynamics of family and how complex the relationships can be. I think we have all had a family member we wanted to "save" and have tried numerous routes for that, and this is depicted well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such beautiful story of family, identity, and what we owe relatives, blood related and not. I am not a big historical fiction reader but this one gripped and moved me. There’s also a twist that hit close to home for me - family secrets and lies are more common than you’d think. I loved the many backstories this book included, and that it takes place in the late 90s, the beginning days of chat rooms, the internet, and online sleuthing.

Twins Drita and Petrit (known as Pete) grow up in Connecticut as typical 90's kids with no ties to their Albanian heritage. They are close, although different from the start--Pete will know exactly the perfect gift for his sister and will get it by shoplifting whereas Drita would save up for his perfect gift. Their lives veer in different directions. Drita graduates from college and begins a Master's program. Pete dives headfirst into the world of addiction, abandoning his girlfriend and his little boy.

When "Everybody Says It's Everything" begins, Drita has dropped out of her Master's program to take care of their adoptive mom. She hasn't thought much about Pete for a while, but then his girlfriend shows up, fighting to stay sober, and needs Drita to look after her son Dakota while she world at the Dollar Store. Drita is being drawn into this little family but where's Pete? Why isn't he taking care of his family? Pete, in the meantime, has connected with a bunch of local Albanians and Albanian Americans who are educating him and on his birth country and its current struggle.

This novel is poignant, funny, and tough at the same time. Xhenet Aliu is a lovely writer and this book has it all including the added spice of the Albanian history and struggle in the Balkan wars. It's a good engrossing read and will keep you thinking about Drita, Pete, and their circle long after the last page.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital review copy of Xhenet Aliu's latest in return for an honest review.

This was a beautifully done story about adopted twins and worked well with what I was hoping for from the description. I enjoyed going on this journey with the twins and figuring out what was going on with their heritage. Xhenet Aliu wrote this perfectly and had realistic characters that I cared about. It was a strong plot and glad I got to read this.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley. Wow, this was so well written. The story is so complex and at times heartbreaking. A story of how difficult families and relationships can be. This is a very character driven book and I really liked the characters. I was rooting for them, especially sweet Dakota. There are so many Dakotas out there and this book brings humanity to them. Ditra is like any sister who is angry with her troubled sibling and trying desperately to know what the right thing to do for them is. She is very relatable. This book is very well written and I inhaled it in a day. 4.5 stars Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this book.

This was a great book. I liked the topics of family, sibling relationships, cultural differences, and all that go along with that. I think the writing was good, and I enjoyed the pacing of this book, it let me reading and wanting to finish

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

"Everybody Says It's Everything" is the latest novel by Xhenet Aliu, the award-winning author of "Brass."

The story primarily follows adopted Albanian twins Pete and Drita as they come of age in Connecticut in 1999. Other significant characters include their paraplegic mother, Jackie, and Shanda, Pete’s recently sober ex-girlfriend/mother of their child, Dakota.

The three generations all struggle with feeling stuck or pigeonholed by society’s rules and the stories they tell themselves. They all struggle with self-worth and strive to do what they think is best though their choices may be selfish or wrong.

Ultimately, this story is about who we are, who we think of as family, and what, if anything, we owe each other, like the concept of Besa, which is introduced—this Albanian term meaning "to keep the promise."

I recommend this novel. The family dynamics ring true. The plight to find one’s place in this world, both as an individual and within a community and culture, is one that readers will relate to in a big-picture sense.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.