"All the Things We Never Said" by Yasmin Rahman is a compelling and heart-wrenching debut that delves deep into the complexities of mental health, friendship, and the desperate need for connection in the digital age. Rahman's novel is a poignant exploration of the struggles faced by its three main characters, each dealing with their own personal traumas and the feeling of being misunderstood by the world around them.

Set against the backdrop of contemporary Britain, the novel introduces us to Mehreen, Cara, and Olivia, three young women who find themselves entangled in a pact to end their lives. Their initial interaction, facilitated through a chilling online platform, evolves into a deeply complex and emotionally charged relationship that challenges their understanding of life, death, and the power of friendship.

Rahman’s narrative is sensitive yet unflinching in its depiction of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and the impact of societal expectations on young people. Her ability to weave together the distinct voices of Mehreen, Cara, and Olivia is remarkable, offering readers a multi-faceted view of the pain and the profound loneliness that can drive individuals to the edge. Yet, it is the exploration of their friendship, born out of shared despair, that becomes the novel's most compelling and redemptive element.

The author's writing is both beautiful and brutal, capturing the rawness of her characters' experiences with a clarity that is both shocking and deeply moving. Rahman does not shy away from the darkness that can engulf those struggling with mental illness, but she also illuminates the slivers of hope and resilience that can emerge from the darkest of places. This balance adds a rich layer of realism to the narrative, making the characters' journey all the more touching and relatable.

"All the Things We Never Said" is also a testament to the importance of speaking out and seeking help. Through the lives of Mehreen, Cara, and Olivia, Rahman underscores the critical need for open conversations about mental health and the dangers of isolation. The novel serves as a powerful reminder that even in our darkest moments, connection and understanding can provide a lifeline.

In conclusion, Yasmin Rahman's "All the Things We Never Said" is a deeply affecting debut that tackles difficult subjects with sensitivity, grace, and a profound understanding of human vulnerability. It is a story of pain, but also of hope, resilience, and the redemptive power of friendship. This novel is an important contribution to young adult literature, offering a lifeline of understanding to anyone who has ever felt lost in the dark.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced copy to review for my honest opinion.

Highly emotional contemporary YA. Three teens come together and end up saving each other. Mehreen has been struggling with severe anxiety and depression, and it's beginning to win. She feels that she has no other option when she finds a website (memento mori) which pairs you up with a suicide partner. She joins and is matched with two other teen girls, Cara and Olivia, who are struggling with their own demons. They meet and begin following the steps outlined by the site. Soon, a beautiful friendship blossoms between the girls, and they realize that suicide isn't their only option. If only memento mori would let them back out...

This was such a raw, emotional read. The chapters are split between the pov's of the three girls, each with their own unique voice. It is so easy to empathize with all three, though Mehreen's experience being closest to my own made my connection to her character the deepest. The characters are diverse, and the story clearly shows the importance of friendship when it comes to mental health (especially with young adults). Obviously some very dark subject matter here, but definitely worth the read if you're prepared.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

If you're going to read this book, please read the latest edition of it. This book is about three teenage girls who make a suicide pact with each other on a website. This reads like a more diverse version of My Heart and Other Black Holes.

3.5 Stars.

Where do I even start? "All the Things We Never Said" is one of the best novels I've read in 2023. No, scratch that. This is one of the best novels I've ever read, period. I'm so excited to be reviewing this book, so instead of fumbling through the intros like I usually do, let's jump right into it!

**The characters**
Mehreen, our protagonist (or the person we spend the most time with, at least), has anxiety, and the writing in her POV felt so realistic and transported me into her mind. I could really see her thought process / intrusive thoughts and this book certainly raised my awareness.

Cara is disabled from a car accident. Her dad, sadly, didn't make it out alive, and Cara feels responsible. The burden of this and the anger that came with it was so well written! I literally felt felt her angst as I was reading her chapters.

Olivia is the third girl in the group and seems so posh and pretty from the outside. Internally, however, she feels the opposite. I'm not going to spoil, but the struggles she faces are so underdiscussed (is that a word?) and the author does a great job of talking about her problems.

**The writing**
As you could probably tell by the previous section, the writing was just as great. I was transported into the minds these characters and this book closely followed the 3-arc story structure. I never saw the plot twists coming, and the ending was wrapped things up well. Sadly, I do not believe there will be a second installment, but I will update this post if any new information is released.

I found it surprising that I'd never heard of this author before- this is because All the Things We Never Said is her debut novel. Let's show our love for this author and support her works.

**What didn't work**
I literally had to skim the book to find things I disliked, and here's what I came up with:

There were a lot of misunderstandings and conflicts that started without evidence. This book could have been 150 pages shorter if all this was removed.

There were definitely a few stereotypical scenes. One character remarks that another character is straight because her hair isn't "gay enough"

The chapters written in Olivia's POV are formatted in a short and choppy way. It's a bit difficult to read and the author took a risk with the formatting. (It was written this way to give you insight into how she thinks)

**Conclusion**
This book isn't about a bunch of cool girls taking down the big, evil website. Instead, it's about how the website affected the protagonists and their journeys struggling with self hate. If you're looking for "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder" type of novel, this might now be for you. But if you're in the mood for an uplifting read that embeds unique themes in a non-preachy way, you've found exactly what you're looking for.

Sincerely,
Paige

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Post Date: November 22, 2023
Blog url: http://www.pagesofperfiction.com/
Review link: http://www.pagesofperfiction.com/2023/11/review-all-things-we-never-said-by.html

MomentoMori matches people who want to commit suicide with partners who will “help” them. Mehreen, Cara and Olivia all choose the website because they think their life is worth ending, but instead find friendship that they were missing. However, backing out of the website pact isn’t as easy.

#NetGalleyARC I really enjoyed this book. I love that more authors are tackling the (broad) topic of mental health, it's an important one to talk about. The multiple POVs were a little hard to keep track of and the discussion about invisible disabilities wasn't positive at all, but overall I did like the book.

Thank you to netgalley for giving me an arch of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3.65 stars

This book was so different than what I normally read, it kind of gives you a vibe that the movie Nerve did with Emma Roberts, but it touches on a lot of deeper subjects such as suicide. It's something they were open to and then it turned sinister, which is so unique at least to me as a reader. I really enjoyed it and I will definitely read more from Yasmin.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book early! I did not really care for it as much as some people do. It just wasn't my thing.

Book:
ALL THE THINGS WE NEVER SAID by Yasmin Rahman

Review:
4.2 ⭐
I'm generally a murder-myster-thriller type of reader---but that doesn't stop me from straying to the sappy-emotional type genre. When I clicked on ALL THE THINGS WE NEVER SAID, I had an idea about what I was getting into. Mental health is a weird thing that people struggle with, and I like how the author took that concept and added to it. Mehreen, Cara, and Olivia are all struggling in their own way, brought together at the worst of times, their lives change. Foe the better, which is great, and the the utter weirdness started. (creepy calls, disappearing apps). It was full of so many different things. This book was thrilling, emotional, raw, and real all wrapped up into one. The representation of mental health(how it affects people in different ways) was something that books need more of. I would recommend this for anyone who's going through things, or anyone who wants to understand the struggle.

What I Liked About It:
*how real it was
*the representation

There’s nothing wrong with this book but it just wasn’t for me. I had the ARC from the publisher and NetGalley, and the formatting was really messed up so it kept taking me out of the story. I think a combination of proper formatting and right mindset would have made this better for me. The story and characters all worked; I just wasn’t in the place to enjoy it right now.

Okay. Wow! So I loved this book! It definitely is a tough read and touches on a bunch of tough subjects! I cried so hard! This is a book the will stay with me rent free for the rest of my life.

This is an important read that I was honored to have found. I appreciated the real and honest mental health representation.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lerner Publishing Group, and Yasmin Rahman for an eARC of All The Things We Never Said in exchange for an honest review. 

This book did a great job of showing the ugly sides of mental health struggles while also creating a compelling story with characters who felt very real to the reader.

The three main characters all have very different reasons for signing up for MementoMori which are revealed as the story unfolds. The kinship between the three girls feels so real and meaningful. From the moment I opened the book I felt like I knew these characters and could connect to them even though they all had parts to them that are so different from my own life and experiences.

This book and story will definitely stay with me for years to come.

**Please check content warnings before reading this book. There are many heavy topics that might be difficult to read for some people.

This book was excellent. I loved the intersectional representation and how the author didn’t shy away from how ugly depression and suicidal ideation can be.

All the Things We Never Said is a YA novel that touches on deep subjects such as suicide and depression. The story follows the experience of three teenagers- Mehreen, Olivia and Cara- who meet on a website called MementoMori where they start a suicide pact. However, once the girls start to bond and share their lives they realize they may have made a mistake- but the website will not allow them to break the pact.
I found the premise of the novel intriguing and the representation to be great (Asian Muslim rep, disability rep, anxiety and depression rep). I love novels that bring awareness to the reality of mental health disorders. I’m glad there was POVs of all three characters since they are all going through such different challenges. The light in the story is definitely the friendship that bonds between them.
**check trigger warnings before reading**

Wow! Well written, sad, thought provoking book. Trigger warnings galore. Broke my heart a few times. Tears were uncontrollable. I would definitely read more from this author. Thank you to NetGalley, Yasmin Rahman for This ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I literally just finished the book and I couldn't possibly wait until morning to post this review. This book is about 3 girls who basically enter in to a suicide pact with each other with the help of a website. Over the course of 300 pages, you learn the "why's" and you get to expirience every emotion with them.

I want to start by saying this isn't my typical kind of book. There's no fantasy, no magic, no great villain to defeat. But this book? This book!!! What an interesting blend of horror, humor, and heartbreak. I was captivated by the first few pages and I couldn't put it down. Seriously. I began reading at 9p and finished at 1130p.

This author has SUCH a way with words and emotions. It usually takes a lot for me to cry at a book, but from pages 250+ I was sobbing to my poor cat. I am kind of expecting a book two or maybe another book, same subject but with different characters because I have so many questions about that website! I don't generally like to include many details in my review so as to avoid spoilers, so I'll leave it as this: I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone.

Three unlikely friends are paired together by the website MementoMori for a suicide pact. The website requires the three girls to complete tasks together up until a predetermined "termination date," and there will be ramifications for missing a due date or not completing a task properly. While each girl has a different reason for no longer wanting to be alive, as they start going through their tasks and forming a bond, they realize maybe things really DO get better. But the website threatened consequences, and when they start ignoring the messages, things start spiraling out of control.

This is quite obviously dark due to the nature of the read -- you are inside the brains of three girls who believe they no longer should be on earth. Definitely check the trigger warnings before diving in. However, there is a definite theme of hope here, as you watch these three girls support one another and turn from hopeless to hopeful. Is it possible to call a book about a suicide pact... heartwarming? We also have a ton of representation from different groups - a Muslim girl who lives by her faith, a paraplegic who caused her own accident, and an assault survivor who is hiding her experiences and facing her assaulter daily. The author covers a lot of difficult topics well.

Where this does lose a few points for me is the characters can really be... not likable. Sure, they're high school girls battling some pretty serious traumas, but WHEW they are really self-centered at times. There were moments where I wanted to shake all three of them and tell them how selfish they were being!!!

This is a YA book and definitely reads as such, but not in a bad way. Just in a -- I am clearly not the target market here -- kind of way. I finished in one day, it was pretty short and I needed to know the fate of these three girls. However, I will say if you plan to read this you should wait for the print version to release. There are a lot of stylistic elements that seemed to lose their integrity in the e-book version.

Thank you to Lerner Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review! | 3.5 stars

This was a heartbreaking read detailing Mehreen, Cara, and Olivia as they meet on a website that plans out the date of their suicide. All three girls battled different demons and I loved the friendship that formed between them; the friendship was the highlight of the book. I would have rated this higher but did not because of how much I despised Cara. She was vicious to everyone around her and used her mom as a verbal punching bag, and her mom would take the abuse. Olivia and Mehreen even tell Cara that she is awful to her mom several times. She even treats Olivia and Mehreen horribly and they brush it off as Cara being Cara. Despite all girls having narratives, Olivia's was written in prose and was not featured much throughout the story. I think if she had more chapters then I would have not hated Cara as much as I did since there would be less time focused on her. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

Despite the triggering content, I was about to see, why this book could be relatable to others who suffer from mental health. It's always a wonderful feeling to connect with characters in a book and feel less alone in your own experiences.
While this book wasn't my cup of tea, I hope another reader finds comfort in it.