'All That's Left Unsaid' intricately delves into the complexities of identity, and intergenerational dynamics, offering a poignant narrative. Lien's masterful storytelling and richly crafted characters make this novel a compelling read.

OK, enjoyable read. interesting. Thank you for the book. Honest, unflinching, tough truths. Set in Australia in NSW.

Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this book.
What a hauntingly beautiful story. It was not as I expected but has deep character development, family ties and what happens in the aftermath of a crime rather than the crime itself.

Wow, Tracey Lien’s debut novel ‘All that’s left unsaid ‘ Is absolutely brilliant. It’s been along time since I felt so affected by a story and I’m sad already that the story has ended although it was an emotional read .

The story centres around the murder of 17 year old Denny in a restaurant in Cabramatta in South West Sydney . Denny’s sister Ky, a journalist, returns from Melbourne for the funeral and is frustrated with the police investigation so seeks out those who were at the restaurant to try and piece together what happened . The story weaves through the main characters stories , the majority whom are Vietnamese refugees.

I absolutely loved the way the story was told and felt so connected to the characters and their stories and outcomes . Such an emotional story. I’ve visited Vietnam and have a love for the country and its people but this book has blown me away and opened my eyes so much. Honestly this book is AMAZING !!!!

A fabulous debut novel. It gives wonderful insight to the plight of immigrants to Australia, particularly the Vietnamese immigrants. A deftly written crime novel, but so much more than that..

This book had been marketed as crime, and while there was a crime committed in the book, that isn't what it felt like to me. This book was an indepth look at what life was like in a particular part of Sydney in the 90s, specifically for migrant families. It's a reminder that while we as Australians might all grow up in the same country, our lives and experiences differ so greatly.

What a wonderful book! I loved this one. It's so layered and nuanced. It's like a family drama, inside a crime novel, inside a recent historical fiction (1990's). The families in the story are not real, but the back drop of a suburb going through a heroin epidemic, and the people living there, and the immigration stories from Vietnamese families fleeing after the war are all based on very real events.

Set in Cabramatta in the 90's, it is the story of Ky whose younger brother Denny has been killed while out celebrating the end of Year 12. Ky returns home for the funeral and learns that no one seems to know exactly what happened that night, so she sets out to find out. It's heartbreaking and frustrating and all told so beautifully. Tracey Lien is an incredible writer.

I'm really glad I finally picked it up.

This wasn't quite the major mystery/thriller I was expecting. It's undeniably more of a study of a community and a commentary on how members of that community interact with one another. but it's still enjoyable to read!

Multi third person POV // Multiple timelines (sorta) via constant flashbacks

I specifically picked up this book due to the promotional email I received from NetGalley. If it hadn't been for that email, I probably would have glimpsed the cover and just kept scrolling past.

I am glad it read it.

I was extremely surprised to find this book is set in a town I am familiar with. The author uses nostalgia and a lot of Aussie terms here and there.

Pros:

*Cultural
*Emotional
*Thought provoking
*Multi POV worked especially well to help understand the racial and cultural differences and perceptions
*Inspired by real life events

Cons:

*Constant flashbacks within the middle of almost every single scene, sometimes right in the middle of dialogue. This can be very effective when done sparingly and at the correct moment. But it was done too much here and that made it a bit tedious.
*Protag wasn't very strong.
*Overuse of italics for emphasis.

3 stars ⭐

An unforgettable and extraordinary debut. This book is a crime thriller and I have to say for a debut it is so well written. A well thought out plot and well developed characters. Gripping, harrowing and beautiful.

I couldn't take to this book. I did not finish at about 35%. The weird little brother chapter was the last straw for me. Other friends have lived it but it just wasn't for me

Heartbreaking! Absolutely gripping, and I could not stop reading, even though it broke me a couple times and made me want to sob.

Set in the 1990s, the violent murder of Ky's brother brought her home to be with her family in Cabramatta, an Australian town largely populated with a Vietnamese community dispersed from home due to war. She wanted answers, she wanted closure, but why does no one else seem to want the same? Just what is happening, her brother, kind, smart, sweet Denny murdered! Does no one care or are people hiding things from her? Nothing makes sense!

The synopsis of this book set it up to sound like a murder mystery. I dived into this story fully expecting a thriller as Ky stomps around town to sleuth and demand answers, with everything coming to a head in a massive action-packed scene at the climax. For the sake of thriller lovers, this is not that book. The mystery is a slow burn, where Ky finds herself not only uncovering truths about the murder but truths about herself, her family, the entire community she grew up in, all pointing towards much larger issues. And honestly, I loved every page. Ky did not expect her mission to end up uncovering long-buried grudges, memories and lingering effects of intergenerational trauma, PTSD from war (violence and dispersion from home), racism, negligence and abuse within her community. How all these are interlinked with each other and could culminate in vast and tragic events.

The exploration of themes close to my heart, the depth of the characters, the suspenseful writing, the effective swaps in POVs, what a stunning debut novel! I'd love more from Tracey Lien.

All That's Left Unsaid was a powerful read, it pulled at the heartstrings and it got me thinking about the migrant experiences in Australia. Even though the characters were of fiction I really felt like they were a real family as the writer had the great ability to describe South Western Sydney and the struggles and biases this community experiences in their everyday lives.

A debut novel like no other.

𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 is set in 1996 and tells the struggles of Vietnamese immigrants who settled in Sydney’s south western suburb of Cabramatta, a suburb known for its notorious Asian gangs and the worst heroin epidemic seen in Australia at that time.

The story is told mostly by Ky Tran. A journalist who lives in Melbourne but returns home to Cabramatta to find answers when she learns of her brother Denny’s brutal murder at his high school celebratory dinner with his friends at a Lucky 8 restaurant.

A heartbreaking and beautifully written story which includes a vast of themes such as grief, violence and pain, racism, substance abuse and rejection.

Eye opening and memorable.

All that’s left unsaid by Tracey Lien
4.5 ⭐️
“𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮-𝙩𝙬𝙤, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙, 𝙟𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙝𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚. 𝙄𝙛 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩, 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙙 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙣𝙤 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖—𝙣𝙤 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙗𝙖𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙆𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙆𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠.”
———
Ky has just received the shocking news that her brother has been bashed to death after his high school formal. She races back to her childhood home in the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta, to attend to her family and try to uncover the truth of her brothers death. Her brother Denny, was brilliant, optimistic and wouldn’t hurt a fly so why was he beaten to death? Cabramatta is a refugee hotspot filled with violence, an indifferent police force and is facing the worst heroin epidemic in Australia history. When the witnesses are refusing to speak, Ky takes matters into her own hands to track down each witness and find out what happened to her brother and simultaneously uncovering the trauma and violence that shaped the city and the past that haunts her.
Alternating between Ky’s POV and that of the witnesses, All That’s Left Unsaid delves into the trauma and struggles of being an immigrant in Australia, discusses the intricacies of addiction and deals with familial trauma. This is a story I couldn’t put down, I loved every minute of it but there is just something - and I can’t quite put my finger on what - that is holding me back from giving it 5 stars. This is amazing for a debut novel and I can’t wait to see what other wonders Tracey Lien graces us with. Highly recommend!

Ky returns home to Cabramatta to bury her younger brother after he was brutally bashed and murdered in inexplicable circumstances.
Denny was a straight A student, the perfect son and golden child, and in a room full of people, no one saw anything as he was brutally beaten to death.
This nuanced, relatable story is so much more than a young woman seeking justice for her brother’s murder, and closure for her family (who’s grief looks so much different to Ky’s)
All That’s Left Unsaid, explores the plight of refugees, their struggles resettling in a country they don’t feel welcome in, trying to adapt without completely losing their culture.
It looks at the intergenerational trauma that we don’t understand as children but carry it around with us, until as adults, it all falls into place and makes sense.
It’s about being a part of two worlds while not feeling like you belong in either. And that no matter ‘good’ you are, or how hard you try and succeed in doing the right thing, how you look and where you live means you are never truly accepted.
The intersectionality of being a woman of colour, a mother, the eldest daughter of migrant parents and growing up in a suburb where Arab stereotypes were rife, this story hits home. Connections were made. Tears were cried. Solidarity entrenched.
A great must read.

This is a heartbreaking account of when Ky Tran returns home - Cabramatta, Sydney with the intention of solving who killed her younger brother, Danny.

I can't believe this was a debut! It's a compelling read from start to finish. All That's Left Unsaid explores family, drama, community, friendships, guilt and remorse and inherited familial trauma. It's complicated, fast paced and gripping, and one I will be highly recommending.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced reading copy.

I really wanted to love this book but I did not. It was just an ok read.
What I didn't like about this book was that I had no emotional attachment to the characters. I didn't like Ky she had a bucket full of her own issues that she needed to deal with but just kept brushing them aside. My came across as judgemental and wanting to be someone who she could never be.
The story was a bit repetitive and slow paced and I feel that the story about Denny became lost.
What I did love was seeing what it is like for refugees.
I have spent a lot of time with the Syrian refugees that started to come to Australia in 2017 and you soon learn how hard it is for them to come to a strange country with different customs and beliefs.
I came to Australia in 1998 from the UK and I found it difficult and different, I was lucky as I could speak the language. But imagine not being able to talk to people or a doctor or a teacher, it would be incredibly difficult and frustrating.
This book portrays this beautifully how hard it is to assimilate in a new country.

After her seventeen year old brother, Denny, is beaten to death in a local restaurant on the night of his high school graduation, Ky Tran, a journalist, returns to home to Cabramatta for his funeral. While her mother makes offerings at Temple and her father sleeps in his slain son’s bed, Ky, learning the local police aren’t actively pursuing the case in part due to uncooperative witnesses, begins her own investigation, desperate to understand why Denny, who’d been voted ‘Most Likely to Succeed’ just hours earlier, was murdered.

Alternating between Ky’s voice and the perspectives of the witnesses, All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien is much more than a mystery as a young woman tries to solve the murder of her younger brother, this is a stunning novel that explores the themes of guilt, loss, grief, identity and belonging.

“There was so much that she wanted to say—to Denny, to her parents, to anyone who would listen. Apologies, explanations, painful observations that she knew revealed volumes of truth. The words in her head rushed to arrange themselves, colliding and falling in a panic, and in her desperate attempt to speak, she found that all her body would permit her to do was gasp.”

I’ve attempted to complete this review repeatedly but I just can’t seem to articulate my thoughts in a way that I feel does it justice. I found it truly moving, challenging and edifying as Lien writes viscerally of Ky’s complicated relationship with her family, with her community, with her culture, and with herself. I thought the exploration of the complex legacy of the immigrant experience, including inter-generational trauma, through the lives of several characters, was insightful and compassionate.

“There is no way for me to tell her that the loss began well before we were born, that our parents had loss, and their parents had loss, and our ancestors had loss— loss of home, loss of place, loss of self, loss of life—and we were born with that loss, carried it, burdened by it, part of it.”

I’m familiar with the Cabramatta Lien portrays in her novel, having worked in an adjacent suburb during the same time period. I was employed by an organisation that provided many types of support exclusively to Chinese and Vietnamese refugees, and the parents of the preschoolers in my care were eager for their children to thrive and succeed in Australian society. I was, and remain, infuriated with the media and politicians who were unwilling to understand and address the issues affecting the community, and instead amplified racism.

“They’re all fair dinkum this and everyone gets a fair go that. This is the luckiest country in the world, right?…But they don’t tell us that the luck doesn’t extend to us. That’s the big lie. They’ve been shoving it down our throats since we were kids. You’re a fool if you believe it. Not only are they not gonna look out for us, they’re gonna turn on us the moment they think we’re a threat.”

Lien’s prose is eloquent, authentic and expressive. I highlighted at least a dozen passages that I thought were well-articulated, though I’ve shared less than a handful here.

All That’s Left Unsaid is an extraordinary debut, Tracey Lien is an author with a lot to say, who left me speechless.

ALL THAT’S LEFT UNSAID is one of those books that starts off as a mystery but then ends up being so much more, leaving you emotionally exhausted at the end of it. If a book haunts my thoughts long after I turned the last page, I know that it has struck some deep emotion with me somewhere.

Ky, the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, returns to her childhood home in Cabramatta after the violent death of her younger brother Denny Tran, killed at a local restaurant. Even though the murder happened in front of dozens of witnesses, everyone claims not to have seen anything, and the police investigation has come to a dead end so far. Dealing with her own grief and the heartbreak Denny’s death has caused her parents, Ky starts asking questions – someone just had to have seen who killed her brother. So why is no one talking?
Even though ALL THAT’S LEFT UNSAID centres around a murder, it is more than just a mystery. In her debut novel, Lien explores what it’s like to be an immigrant in Australia – and to be the child of immigrant parents. It is also an exploration of grief and guilt that transcends race and culture – because parents grieving for their child speak a universal language that is understood with the heart rather than words. The mark Denny’s death left on his parents broke my heart, especially as they are trying to get answers and find justice in a culture that is foreign to them, with many barriers standing in their way. Ky, on the other hand, also has burdens only a child of immigrant parents can understand. On top of her own grief, she juggles her parents’ expectations, the role of the “good child” she was cast into, the problem solver and translator, the one that got out and made a better life for herself.

The social commentary on immigrant life in Cabramatta thirty years ago was an eye opener for me, and added a lot of depth to the mystery. I loved the way Lien included other narrators in addition to the voice of Ky, our main protagonist. One character in particular really spoke to me and made me forge a deeper emotional connection to the story than I would have otherwise done.

In summary, dealing with the struggles of immigrant life in Australia, inter-generational trauma, grief, guilt and the way children of immigrant parents feel torn between two cultures, ALL THAT’S LEFT UNSAID was a mystery with a powerful message that really touched my heart. If you love Celeste Ng’s or Amy Tan’s books, then you should definitely read this one.