Difficult to read with plots jumping around, sometimes empty dialogue and multiple entanglements. The main topic of a male being sexually harassed is an intriguing one but this book doesn’t convey it in an engaging way. Thank you for the opportunity to read the novel.

In the novel WHAT WE NEVER SAY, Paulette Stout brilliantly recognized that sexual abuse does indeed occur in the workplace. By deliberating spinning a different take on abuse, she guides us through the trauma that is experienced, not only by the abused persons but also by friends and family close to them. This thriller had me hooked from the first page. Stout introduces realistic characters in situations that are not unimaginable. Abuse can take many forms as Stout demonstrates throughout her book.
#ThankNetGalleyfortheopportunitytopreviewthisARC! #LOVEDIT!

An interesting concept to explore in a novel that I don’t recall reading before - a woman of power forcing a man into a non consensual relationship. And while the concept is interesting, I found the book to be chaotic with too many minor plots. There was everything from womens intimacy, a wedding night virgin and throw in the evolving topic of social media rights and ownership of content.
I think the book could have used a healthy dose of editing to make it more succinct and perhaps eliminate or modify some of the sub plots.
I will also mention that while perhaps unintended the book seemed far too similar to “Devil Wears Prada” and I found that distracting.
I received this advanced book copy for free in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for allowing me to provide this review..

DNF-ed at almost 50%. I tried to continue but the story kind of droned on, with alot happening but not happening at the same time. I love the dive into sexual harrassment at the workplace, this time involving the male as victim. I thought it was a powerful topic to bring forth. But i honestly felt it was not going anywhere in relating that problem much within that 50% i struggled with. Like i mentioned, there was other things going on more than the main problem. So i wasn't enticed to go on. Pretty pretty cover though.

I went into this book pretty blind. I was captivated by the pretty cover and the title. But I'm so glad I did. I really enjoyed this story. I was not aware it was the second in a series and that explains a lot of my initial confusion. I do wish I had read that first story but I was able to catch on and continue with the book!

I almost didn’t finish this book as it was not a topic I thought would interest me or a writing style that I preferred. However, I thought the topic was important so I kept reading. I’m so glad I did, my eyes are now open!

Drawn to a beautiful cover and a compelling plot, What We Never Say is an immersive, empowering and wonderful read. Rebecca has shed her cloak of being meek and people-pleasing, her growing confidence expanding through her blog explicitly targeting women. With an incredible opportunity to develop this on a trustworthy platform like MOD, her second career takes flight. MOD and Kyle have a long history, a buried secret of 11 years which results in Kyle being extremely concerned and protective. The secret is revealed in the second chapter, which is an interesting take as Paulette Stout tackles a crucial and less spoken subject. This book has memorable characters with distinct traits; their evolution is remarkable, heartfelt and uplifting. At times, I found the setting of the scenes a bit sudden, and I felt that I was supposed to have a pre-existing background of the characters as the book comes from the Love, Only Better world. However, this did not impede my reading experience. A 4-star read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Smith Publicity for giving me an ARC. This honest review is left voluntarily.

Sometimes you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover. In this case, the pretty cover his the fact that this really isn't a good book.

The book had an abrupt start like I was dropped into the middle of Manhattan street with the main character, but without the benefit of context or much exposition. Come to find out, this is the second book in a series. Sadly I hadn't seen or heard any mention of that until I was about 40% through the book.

Though the topic is compelling, I felt no connection to the characters therefore I felt little compassion or empathy. That's a shame because I think the author really could have done something good with this topic.

Book supplied via Net Galley

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

I DNF'd this book around 25% in. First of all, I didn't realize this was the second in a series because the cover says "book one". i felt like I was dropped into the middle of a story from the beginning of the book and it really had me confused. It wasn't until I discovered that this was NOT the first book in the series that I was able to work out why I felt that way. That wasn't why I stopped reading, though. I just didn't enjoy the book. The characters felt unbalanced and without any real personality or life. They were just kind of there. I also found Rebecca to not be very supportive of Kyle and what happened to him. It all just took away any interest I had in reading the book, so I stopped.

I liked the writing in this book. The story unfolded too quickly for me. I would have preferred to build characters backgrounds before the main point of the story came out in the first few pages. I do think that the subject matter is very powerful and needs to be written about more. I respect the author for bringing attention to the male point of view in terms of being sexually assaulted.

Everyone knows that women get sexually assaulted and unwanted attention. While that is not okay we often don’t acknowledge that men can be victims of sexual abuse. Often they’re judged for speaking out because what man wouldn’t want the attention of a woman? This whole book brings out this issue and I’m glad it did.

My one minor critique- I could tell there was another book or novella before this story. I was able to read this just fine and not feel lost. Goodreads has this listed as book one and the copy I received doesn’t mention any previous book or is it numbered so I worry future readers will get confused. This is no way affects my rating since I’m rating completely based on What We Never Say.