Quality of Writing: 9/10
Pace: 10/10
Plot Development: N/A
Characters: N/A
Enjoyability: 8/10
Insightfulness: 10/10
Ease of Reading: 7/10
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
So, I don't normally put trigger warnings, but you will have a hard time reading this book if you are sensitive to the following: eating disorders, suicide, child abuse, sexual abuse, or child prostitution.
I had never heard of Joanne Vannicola until I received this Advanced Reader Copy through NetGalley, but I definitely have an appreciation for her now. It is difficult to imagine someone having such an unimaginably troubled life, but I know that it can happen. This book was so hard to read knowing that all the events she listed really did happen. I felt frustrated and I wanted to scream at certain points.
The book itself if very well written, with smooth transitions between the hospital room and her memories. The imagery was crisp and clear, and I felt like I was there with her. I do wish we learned a few more things about her mother at the end of the book. (Spoilers in bold!) I wish we learned more about Dot and Luke and who they were or are. I wish we learned more about the girls pursuing DNA tests to find out if their dad is actually related to them.
This book is nonfiction though, so I cannot ask more from the author than what she can give.
I will say that her epilogue felt a lot like an acknowledgements page and was pretty repetitive, but I was pleased with the writing in the rest of the book. Vannicola keeps readers hooked by promising them something in the beginning, but only hinting at the details until the end. She didn't do it in an annoying way though. She gave us just enough to keep us reading and concerned for where the narrative was going next.
Overall, if you can handle the triggers, it was a very good book.

Received a copy through NetGalley for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

This memoir discusses trauma and how it carries into generations. Joanne Vannicola gets a call that her mother is dying from cancer. She has been estranged from her mother for fifteen years, and has questions that need to be answered.

All We Knew But Couldn't Say is the questioning of why did things happen the way they did, and sometimes not receiving the direct answers that one may need.

The book starts with the dynamic of a physically abusive father and emotionally/sexually abusive mother who target their daughters. One gets taken by Children's Aid, another gets kicked out. Joanne is forced to leave at fourteen.

Joanne is an actress. Her mother tells her that she has hired an image consultant.

There are many moments that shocked me in this book, and a heaviness that carried me throughout.

This book also discusses the path of self-acceptance regarding Joanne's sexuality, and her defiance of portraying heterosexual roles when she wasn't heterosexual.

All We Knew But Couldn't Say will be released on June 25, 2019.

An incredibly important and often painful book, difficult to read at times but necessary. Certainly cathartic for the author, and a story that so many people who might be suffering need to hear. A harsh and harrowing story, eloquently told.

This book could be hard to read at times, the hell that these children went through due to their parents. Joanne is a strong character, who manages to keep going and even win an Emmy, despite her struggles.
Sometimes the book was a little hard to follow and seemed disjointed. But overall, it was a good read.

This was a tough book to read and review. You always wish that while reading an autobiography that there's a glimmer of hope, something to make you feel that things are ok at the end but I never felt that while reading this book. It's extremely well written and insightful into a horrible childhood.

Such a heartbreaking memior. A book that is important about childhood trauma and definitely ome that needs to be read.

This was a hard book to read. Knowing that the author had gone through so much, abused and not taken care of.

Thanks to author,publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free,it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

I ARC received via NetGalley and in exchange for an honest review.

Joanne grew up in a violent home at the aged of fourteen her mother pressure her to leave home so she can start an acting career.

As years went by Joanne made a name for herself and decide to cut her mother out of her life but when she get word that her mother is dying she decide to go see her and learns some devastating secrets that rock her.

As she struggle to connect and forgive her mother she learns that she survive with that learns to trust and be loved.

Description
Joanne Vannicola grew up in a violent home with a physically abusive father and a mother who had no sexual boundaries.

After Joanne is pressured to leave home at fourteen, encouraged by her mother to seek out an acting career, she finds herself in a strange city, struggling to cope with her memories and fears. She makes the decision to cut her mother out of her life, and over the next several years goes on to create a body of work as a successful television and film actor. Then, after fifteen years of estrangement, Joanne learns that her mother is dying. Compelled to reconnect, she visits with her, unearthing a trove of devastating secrets.

Joanne relates her journey from child performer to Emmy Award-winning actor, from hiding in the closet to embracing her own sexuality, from conflicted daughter and sibling to independent woman. All We Knew But Couldn’t Say is a testament to survival, love, and Joanne’s fundamental belief that it is possible to love the broken and to love fully, even with a broken heart.

What a heartbreaking life Joanne Vannicola has endured. I was shocked, angry and feel admiration for Joanne Vennicola. She has survived and learned love and trust.