2/5 stars
How’d I find it? Another book gifted by my bookworm aunt. I tend to avoid the bestseller table but was intrigued by the mystery element in this one.
Why not 3 or more stars? While ambition is a core theme, Everything I Never Told You is not an ambitious book. It rests firmly in “very special episode” territory, squandering the potential complexity of a plot centered on the death of a teenage girl. Everyone is very privileged and very self-absorbed. Characters are constantly surprised to find tears on their faces. A surface-level treatment of racism doesn’t land but is tarted up to feel poignant. Long story short: Ng’s writing chops can’t salvage this one.