Book Talk: Everything I Never Told You

Celeste Ng

Lydia is dead.

Don’t worry. I didn’t spoil anything. It’s literally the first line of the book. Lydia is the daughter of a Chinese American family during the 1970s. She’s perfect in every way imaginable and does whatever her parents want, without any form of pushback. That is until they find her dead.

This story follows the past and present lives of her parents and siblings, as they try to figure out what happened to their sweet girl Lydia. Was she murdered? Was she too perfect and commit suicide? How well did her parents know Lydia and what were her siblings hiding?

Celeste Ng dives deep into the blatant stigmas and racism a Chinese American family would face during the 1970s in America. She makes the family relatable and feels close to home, while still leaving a lot open for your own interpretation.

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Here’s my gripe with the book: it never told me what happened to Lydia. The story was very much focused on their secrets and pasts, that it strayed too far away from Lydia and left a lot of unknowns. I’ll leave it at that. It’s a book I couldn’t stop reading and at the same time, I didn’t want to read it anymore.

It wasn’t a favorite or a must-read.

If you have read it or end up reading it, let me know what you thought!

love & light,

Jalesa