This book is one of the most honest portrayals of teenage brains, especially an anxious one, and is SO spot on that I think teenagers will recognize themselves in the book and adults will see flashes of their past. It sounds cliche, but this book did make me laugh at parts and sob at parts. In fact, this book manages to deal with a LOT of issues without being cliche. Some topics covered are banned books, teachers, cancer, family dynamics, PTSD, treatment of veterans, homelessness, budgets, love, loss, and friendship. That sounds like it could be a really heavy handed book, but having worked in a high school I can see how many of these issues are piled upon students and to think their lives are less complicated is to downplay how hard it is to be a teenager today.

This book is written in a manner that the reader gets an almost stream of consciousness look at our main character Joel’s life. We see this through the conversations he has, as well as the hundreds of text messages he has written and never sent. He fake texts three people, the girl he likes (but it isn’t cheesy, which is hard to find sometimes in YA), his friend Andy who we know isn’t there anymore although we don’t find out why until the end of the novel, and the principal of his school. I don’t want to spoil this book by talking about the context of his texts but I recommend this book for the adventure of following Joel’s thoughts and his life because watching him grow and recover from loss is a worthwhile journey.

Thank you NetGalley for an early arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"So now I had to not only make sure that I spread the peanut butter thinly, but I also had to make sure to spread the jelly real thin because I didn't want to kill anyone."

Joel Higgins has hundreds of words he won't say in the form of unsent texts sitting in his phone. They're all addressed to either his best friend, Andy, his crush, Eli, or the school principal.

Every Wednesday Joel is working at the soup kitchen, with Eli and Benj, where they serve food to the homeless.

One day Joel stumbles upon a shanty in the woods and he begins leaving food and socks for the person who lives there. Eventually he learns that it's one of the men from the shelter because Rooster corners him against a tree and hands him something that changes the course of Joel's life.

It is hard to pinpoint exactly what this book is about because it includes a myriad of topics: homelessness in this country, PTSD, depression, grief, to just name a few. Several characters deal with these topics in their own ways.

Joel's long, breathy rants help give this read a quick, funny voice and it will appeal to young readers, for sure.

The romance is on the light side and I appreciate that.

been there done that. i think there is a clear audience for this book and it's just not me. I'm looking for a different type of YA story, but if i had read this years ago it would have been more for me.

I went into this book thinking it would be somewhat like "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" by Jenny Han. I'm not sure why. Maybe the unsent letters/text premise?

Boy, I could not have been more off! "Words We Don't Say" first kind of seems to meander around the soup kitchen and Joel and then we find out about Eli and then his deceased friend, etc. All of the wandering DOES have a purpose though as we reaching about half-way through. That's when it all really starts coming together.

I happened to read this book during Banned Books Week so the scene at school where Benj (he's a troubled kiddo who snags Joel's attention) questions why they are reading "gay" books. (His words.) The teacher takes that and makes it into a great learning opportunity about how lucky we are to have the freedom to read what they want and how they don't have this freedom in many other countries! They even LIST all of the countries. That, plus the discussion about trigger warnings (which made me feel a little uncomfortable to be honest), were very cool Easter Eggs for Banned Books Week.

There are A LOT of issues discussed in this book: veterans, death, grief, homelessness, hunger, God, intellectual freedom, and crushes. At times, it felt like a little "much". Then, I remembered, you know what? Life can be a little "much". It's very realistic. So I had to tell myself to get out of my own head and into Joel's. This book would be an interesting conversation-starter.

I loved the premise for this book. As a high school teacher, my students confide in me with a lot of things they wish they could say, but don't. This generation is filled with scenarios like this. The problem with this read was that I couldn't get invested into it. I wasn't the biggest fan of the characters and I was never really captured at the beginning of the book.

3/5 Stars

Joel Higgins undergoes a coming of age and social awakening while doing mandatory volunteer hours at a soup kitchen. Between pining for the girl he loves, communicating his thoughts through unsent text messages and building connections with the people served at the soup kitchen, Joel’s world shrinks into perspective in comparison with the world around him.

Dramatic, comedic, heart aching and sincere, WORDS WE DON’T SAY by K.J. Reilly is a chaotic journey through a teen boy’s mind as he traverses the minefields of growing up in the maze called life. All isn’t so bad once you begin to figure it out and accept that the differences and even the rules all around can be the best parts.

This is a treasure to read, share and enjoy!

I received a complimentary ARC edition from Disney-Hyperion!

Publisher: Disney Hyperion (October 2, 2018)
Publication Date: October 2, 2018
Genre: YA Coming of Age
Print Length: 288 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews, Giveaways, Fabulous Book News, follow: http://tometender.blogspot.com

ARC provided by the publisher, Disney Book Group, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm honestly sitting here staring at this blank screen and I'm not even sure what I want to rate this book. There were so many great things about this book, and a lot of them I didn't even see coming. It was way more of a heartbreaking book than I thought it would be, and I definitely did not prepare myself.

WHAT I LOVED:

The main characters. This is a no-brainer. All three of these characters were so relatable in their own way, and were so endearing throughout the story.
Joel: an 11th grade boy with over 900 saved texts on his phone. These texts go to his crush Eli, his best friend Andy (who's no longer around, you find out why as the story develops), and his principal. He types out what he's feeling and then saves them as a draft, never to be sent. The thing I love most about Joel is how much he contemplates the world around him. When he sees a problem for others (and I mean BIG problems: world hunger, life for veterans after they return from the war, homelessness) it sticks with him for days and days. Throughout the book we see him question everything - why things are the way they are, if they have to stay that way, and if he has the power to affect change. He also adores his brother, but throughout the book shows a moderate level of loathing for himself.
"Joel Higgins doesn't have to follow the rules...He's mad at the whole world."
Eli: a pretty girl in Joel's class. Joel has had a crush on Eli for years, and he describes her as someone who's great at making lists and fixing things. Eli is also very religious, which results in some very interesting conversations between her and Joel, who is constantly questioning the afterlife. Eli is kind, compassionate, and volunteers at the soup kitchen with Joel once a week after school. Eli feels like she can do anything to change the world if she just wants it bad enough.
"Eli picked the soup kitchen because she liked feeding people. And I picked the soup kitchen because I liked watching Eli do just about anything at all."
Our third MC is Benj, who's the new boy at school. There's a rumor going around about him that he poisoned his parents, and he has a terrible habit of blurting out whatever he's thinking at the most inopportune moments. Both of these things combined means he has no friends. As the story goes on you learn a little bit more about Benj's past, and he and Joel grow into something resembling a friendship.
I loved how Joel typed out texts but never sent them. Confession time: WE HAVE ALL DONE THIS. These unsent texts turn into something of a diary for him, and a way to sort through everything he's feeling. I also love how they give us a peek at his friendship with Andy, who's such a pivotal character in this book even though he's no longer in the picture.
"Joel, at some point you are going to have to stop going backward and put the vehicle in drive and move forward."
I don't typically list one particular scene as something that I loved about a book, but I'm doing it here. I honestly highlighted this entire page on my iPad. If you don't want mild spoilers, skip this part, but I promise it doesn't reveal anything about the path the characters take or what happens to them at the end. There's a scene in English class where Benj asks why they're reading so many "gay books" - as in books with gay characters. As Benj digs himself into a deeper and deeper hole, the teacher points out that perhaps he meant to ask why they were reading so many books with gay characters in them. He then proceeds to point out that they should because they CAN. And then lists - I am not kidding - every single country in which you can be arrested or put to death for reading a book with gay themes or characters. ALL. THE. FEELS. I really wanted to stand up and applaud at this point. Having to turn the page three times before I got to the end of that list was so powerful, and ultimately reminded me how lucky I am to live in this country and have freedom of speech.
WHAT I DIDN'T:

I have a couple pet peeves with writing, and one of them is run-on sentences. I understand that these run-ons were for a purpose: The author wrote Joel's rambling internal monologues without much punctuation at all, and I'll admit it did add to your understanding of Joel's character and what he was thinking. But ultimately I ended up skimming through most of these, and I feel like it took away from the reading experience.
While I loved how in-your-face this book was, and how it didn't pull any punches when it came to the tough conversations, I felt like it tried to tackle TOO many things. It was also pretty heavy-handed, which made it feel a little preachy at times. Here are some, but not all, of the topics this book made a point to include: calling objects "gay"/discrimination, free speech, God/death/the afterlife, homelessness, world hunger, veterans, childhood loss, and some fleeting thoughts of suicide. At times I felt like I could't turn the page without the author trying to sneak in some big meaningful topic. Don't get me wrong - THESE DISCUSSIONS ARE SO IMPORTANT. I just felt like they were so heavy-handed and so numerous that it took away from what the author was trying to say. The messages would have been so much more powerful if they had picked half the topics but packed twice the punch.
I also feel like I should mention there was one scene where the English teacher makes a couple remarks making fun of "trigger words" or "trigger warnings" which honestly made me feel a little icky - this alone led me to drop half a star, actually.
Ultimately, I ended up giving this book 3.5 stars. Despite my struggles with the run-on sentences and my irritation at the trigger word scene, this book tackled so many important topics. It was in your face, so relatable, and so so brave. I loved the insight it gave to a teenage boy struggling through enormous issues, in addition to everything that surviving high school brings to the table. If everyone gave these issues half the thought that Joel did, the world would be a better place.

Words We Don't Say releases on October 2nd.

xoxo

Jen

**all quotes are taking from an eARC prior to publication and are subject to change by release date.

Words We Don't Say took me by surprise. I assumed it was going to be just another lighthearted contemporary, but it was so much more. The story follows Joel, a seventeen-year-old whose best friends Andy is no longer around. Joel volunteers at a local soup kitchen with his friend Eli, who he's been in love with for like ever. And of course, she has no idea about his feelings because that's just how these stories go.

Joel has this habit of typing out text messages but never sending them. He's got something like 900 unsent drafts in his phone. So he's basically never really telling anyone how he actually feels or what's going on with him. As he spends more time at the soup kitchen he learns more about the regulars, some of whom are veterans and suffering from PTSD. Joel's experiences open up his eyes to some of the injustices in the world and there's a lot that he wants to change. 

This book is definitely character driven. It's about Joel and everything he's struggling with. He is a super relatable character. He's so angry and has his own bit of PTSD. He thinks and feels so much, even though he's not able to articulate everything. He's sarcastic yet honest with himself. The characters he interacts with challenge him and show him parts of the world he was blind to before. 

This book wasn't as complicated or as deep as others, because everything was written so bluntly but still with so much feeling. I laughed, I cried and thoroughly enjoyed reading this one.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Story included a lot of unsent text messages. These are the words that are not said. Follows a boy during a difficult time in his life but you are not sure until the end exactly what happened. Not the happiest of stories but worth the read.

Reilly, K.J. Words We Don't Say. Disney-Hyperion, 2018

Joel doesn't talk anymore. He drafts text messages that he never sends, but just spends his time keeping his head down and not getting involved with anything. During his mandatory soup kitchen volunteer time, he gets to know some of his classmates as well as some of the guests at the soup kitchen and then learns about how the world is bigger than his problems.

I think there is a reader somewhere for this book, but I am not that person. The book starts off in the middle of a shift at the soup kitchen, and it takes a very long time to figure out what's going on. Joel may not talk much to other people, but he rambles a lot in his head, and the majority of this book focuses on his internal monologue. As such, it takes a long time to get to know the other characters. It's also not a compelling, page-turning read. I would give this book to strong readers who enjoy books that are more character study than plot.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: occasional language
Overall Rating: 3/5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley for the purpose of review.

I didn't finish Words We Don't Say before the ARC was archived. I appreciate the opportunity to read it - thank you for allowing educators to preview books before we buy them for our classrooms.
Words We Don't Say has an interesting premise, but I had a hard time really investing in the characters. The main character was obviously traumatized by something terrible that happened to his best friend, and maybe that's why he was so flip and seemingly unaffected through the first part of the story, but it was hard to connect with him since he was so disconnected.
I had trouble with his pining over Eli when they seem to have zero chemistry. She seems so perfect and structured, and I'd love to see her as a fallible character, too.
Wasn't for me, but it may be a great story for one of my students. There's good set up. Obviously there's a lot building up. I'll be interested in watching students paying attention to clues.
The gun is going to be fired.
The texts will be sent.
There will be consequences.

I will leave out the criticism and post a review on Goodreads for my students in hopes that they'll give it a shot.

Reilly's novel was on my TBR list for months and I was excited to see it on Net Galley. It tells the story of Joel, a young man who writes text messages that he will never send to people, Eli, his love since second grade and a newcomer to the school named Benj. We have a mystery from the beginning as the reader questions why Joel is writing text messages to his best friend who is never seen in the text. This novel is told through Joel's POV and the reader is able to appreciate his quirky nicknames for people and his storytelling ability. I would recommend this novel to a HS student who is looking for a strong male narrator.

A somewhat solemn book about a boy, Joel, who has experienced something tragic in losing a best friend. He keeps unsent text messages to his friend, a girl he likes (Eli), and his school principal, which range from random observations to diary-like confessions of emotion. Joel works at a soup kitchen, mostly because he likes a girl there, but also he ends up being pretty connected/concerned about the folks who pass through. He's always thinking big, sad thoughts about the state of the world and about people, and he doesn't share much since he lost his friend. There's a lot about homelessness and the number of homeless veterans, and a whole interested segment devoted to the discussion in one English class about how we're lucky enough to get to read books banned for a number of reasons in other countries and even states. Lots of big thoughts, a lot to mull over, and a pretty decent read.

Of all my summer reads, Words We Don’t Say is at the top of my list. The multi-layered plot is engaging and suspenseful from the get, but it is the cast of perfectly developed characters that steals my heart and remains in my thoughts long after reading. It is a powerful story of friendship, love, redemption and forgiveness bringing attention to a serious problem facing American heroes. A must read!!

Words We Don't Say is my favorite book of all those I read and reviewed this summer. I wish I could give it more that 5 stars. K. J. Reilly does a fantastic job of capturing the language and technology of modern high school students. Joel is an angry seventeen-year-old. His best friend Andy is no longer in the picture - we find out why as the story progresses. Joel is working at the local soup kitchen accompanied by Eli , a girl he's loved since second grade, and Benj, an odd boy who supposedly killed his parents and now lives with his aunt. Joel modified his counselor's suggestion that he journal, to writing text messages that he saves as drafts and never sends.. The title refer to the texts. He texts the Principal of the High School with hilarious suggestions for improving the school ( great ideas really). He texts Eli love notes and confessions, and he texts Andy notes on his life and whatever is on his mind. As Joel and his friends spend more time at the soup kitchen, they get to know the regulars and learn about veterans, PTSD and many of the injustices of the world. Joel refers to his parents by their first names - Jackson and Jesus, Mary (you'll have to read the book for the explanation). He also has a 5-year-old brother. His interactions with them are real and made we want to be a part of their family. Joel is a really good guy with problems with his anger. He's able to work through them with the help of his friends and his family in ways that are funny and heart-breaking while staying true to character..

I really, really enjoyed reading this book. It's hard to convey how special and entertaining it is without giving away key points. I plan to buy several copies for my library as soon as comes available in October, as well as some for gifts. I hope you enjoy it as much as it did. I'm positive middle and high school students will love it.

Joel Higgins has a phone full of unsent text messages. He has gone through some difficult experiences lately, and his phone is his personal journal. Whenever he has something to say, he writes it in a text, then saves the draft for later so he does not send something he might regret later. If only Joel could put his life on hold the same way, he might be able to change some of the choices he makes. Despite a lot of negative events in his life, Joel still finds a way to make a difference in the world in his own way.

This book was an amazing read overall, but there were a few parts that were hard to read. Joel's rambling rants can be a bit much, but it was worth getting through them. Hopefully after reading this, people realize that they should appreciate what they have, and help others if they have a way.

A really interesting read in an interesting style. I liked the character development and I liked the way it was written. I felt like it is a story that will grab some of my students who like things that are a bit different. I also feel like the topics brought up and how we handle those things we can't say will really resonate with some of my students. I waited a while to start this but I am glad that I did eventually read it. Joel's character is one I won't quickly forget. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

When I read the synopsis of this book I thought that it was interesting. Joel is an interesting character he saves most of his text messages, he doesn’t hit send. He bottles up his emotions. He’s also volunteering at a soup kitchen and struggling with not having his best friend Andy died. He’s just trying to make it though high school.
One of the things that I enjoyed with Joel was that he was sarcastic and yet honest with himself. I loved how the book deals with some of the important things at that are going on in the world now like homelessness, guns, religion PTSD etc. I don’t want to give away too much.
After reading this book I think it’s a coming of age story that all teens should read. Because of the topics at hand. I think they will find it relatable.

Book Review: Words We Don't Say by K.J. Reilly
Pub Date: 02 Oct 2018
Read courtesy of netgalley.com

Guilty admission... I skipped the "rambling monologues." I know, I know. They were part of and points of the story, but I guess I 'got it' by just skimming them. Otherwise, I enjoyed the characters and the 'message' of the book. It's a good message: Learn from your mistakes... or start your life from here 'cause you can't go back... or look for the good as well as the bad, and you'll find it. The characters all had a place in the story; I didn't feel any of them were just-because. And there was true growth in the characters over time.

I suppose my hesitancy to love the book comes from the author including both humor and rambling monologues. I found it distracting to pick through the monologues, especially when two different characters used the technique. (Yes, one could argue that it was exactly that quality that brought the two characters together, and I'd agree with you.)

Another hesitancy is that the front end storytelling took up 85% of the book, and then the last 15% of the story snowballed quickly and had all of the depth, action, and meaning. So, yeh, the pace of the book threw me off. I almost stopped reading 60% through the book because nothing was happening. But since I liked the characters, I pushed through.

While this isn't a 'humorous' book, I might categorize it as such because I think it's written 85% too lighthearted to be in my 'realistic fiction' section. I'm sorry to say that humorous books don't get enough circulation off of my high school library shelves, so I don't know how well this would circulate, either. It's also not quite fodder for my 'death, drugs, and disease' section; not dark enough and too much of a happy ending.

I will say that it is a well crafted story - hints and innuendos are neatly entwined and tied up, behaviors and actions are connected and followed through.

This is a terrific YA book! The characters are wonderful and have the depth required for the reader to care about them. The premise is lovely and the story moves quickly. Fans of YA novels and teens, both male and female, will enjoy this wonderful story of friendship, love and healing.