There aren't any many words to describe this book other than devastatingly beautiful. Heartbreaking. In a weird, kind of ironic, way it reminded me a lot of Mean Girls, Do Revenge, and "I Kissed Shara Wheeler." But "All That's Left to Say" mainly deals with grief and loss while our main character still goes through with a "revenge plan." All of the parts of this book worked: the cast, the alternating timelines, the little plot twists and the mystery aspects. Of course the romance subplot was subtle and believable and sweet enough not to take away from the main plot. Emery Lord has this way of writing her MC's love interests, and what I mean is that I, the reader, fall in love with them too.

Substance abuse is obviously a very sensitive topic, and I think it was handled delicately. To tackle something as huge as the opioid crisis in a YA book was very bold, but Lord writes in a way that doesn't feel like a lecture or shoving statistics down your throat. Though this is targeted at a younger audience, I think everyone should read it and come out of it more knowledgeable and more aware of the epidemic.

Thanks you to the publisher and NetGalley for this book. Emery Lord is a pretty good writer for deep issues. This book was no exception. The book will grip you when you read it. I had a good time reading this as it was quite captivating.

It makes me sad to only give an Emery book 3 stars but something about this book just didn't hit me like all her others. Don't get me wrong, her writing is still beautiful and her characters are interesting, but this story felt long. The back and forth of the timelines didn't work for me personally. I almost wish instead of both times being after Sophie died one was before and one was after. There wasn't enough separation in the timelines for me to really distinguish which was which. Because of that the book felt long and Hannah ended up being kind of unlikable which was sad because I understood what she was going through and what she was trying to do. In the end I liked All That's Left to Say just enough, but I didn't love it like I was ready to which breaks my heart.

"All That's Left to Say" by Emery Lord is an emotional tale that touches on themes of grief, friendship, and substance abuse. In this raw and powerful story, readers are brought into a world of heartbreak when the main character embarks on an investigation into a sudden death that shook the world of many families and teenagers.

When Hannah's cousin and best friend Sophie dies from an overdose, Hannah is overcome with grief. Unable to move on, she becomes obsessed with who gave Sophie the pills and was responsible for her death. Hannah decides the only way she will get any answers is to enroll in Sophie's school, befriend her classmates, and find a way to uncover the events of the night Sophie died.

Hannah doesn't expect to find genuine friendships that complicate her goals, nor does she expect to fall in love with her years-old enemy. The deeper Hannah gets into her investigation, the more complicated her choices become. She can either learn to move on with her life and deal with her grief, or continue to find out what happened to Hannah even if it means destroying her future.

There are no words to describe how devastating and emotionally heavy this novel is. Readers are given an in-depth outlook into Hannah and Sophie's relationship at the beginning of the book (and throughout as the story switches between past and present) which sets up their friendship and gives a glimpse into just how tightly wound their lives are. When Sophie dies, the reader can feel the heartbreak and pain as well.

Hannah's obsession with Sophie is realistic. Losing someone so close to her to a drug overdose that's connected to another person, or people is devastating. Looking for answers seems more than reasonable, especially during the grieving process when it seems like the only way of understanding the person she thought she knew is to understand the events that led to Sophie's demise.

Turning this into a bit of a mystery/thriller creates a tightly wound, anxiety-ridden novel in which many seem guilty and full of secrets. The more Hannah tries to uncover what happened the night Sophie died, the more complex the story becomes until it looks like everyone knows more than what they're letting on and no one can be trusted.

"All That's Left to Say" by Emery Lord is a highly recommended, must-read novel. The expected publication date is July 18, 2023. Make sure to save the date and add it to your reading lists!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books (Bloomsbury YA) for providing me with a free e-arc copy of this novel and for the opportunity to share my honest opinion in this review.

Once again, Emery Lord has delivered an emotional, heartbreaking, beautiful novel that resonates deeply and explores often uncharted territory with tact and kindness. I've been a fan of Lord since her debut so many years ago. She is truly my queen; I would go over a cliff for this woman.

This novel brought out all the emotions in me--I laughed, cried, grew angry, and even swooned while reading. The writing is lyrical and well paced. I enjoyed the dual time line and the mystery. The opioid addiction and reference to former alcohol addiction was handled well; the character arc of wanting someone to pay for dealing to empathy for addiction was heartbreaking, yet hopeful. The power of forgiveness and letting anger go is a message readers can take to heart in their own lives.

I can’t remember reading a book by this author but have seen her books around. This one in particular caught my eye since it talked about uncovering the truth in the blurb and I am one for a little bit of mystery.

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Hannah. The cool thing about this book is that it has a dual timeline and follows her story before and after her cousin’s death. I thought that this aspect of the story was well done and shows what Hannah was like before and how her cousin’s death really impacted her. Grief is a hard thing to deal with and we all have different ways of coping. Through her grief she wants to find out why it all happened and will stop at nothing to uncover the truth. This can make Hannah an unlikeable character because she sure knows how to burn bridges in the process.

I will say that it did take me a bit to get into the plot of the story. The writing was hard for me to connect with and because it’s a slow process of understanding Hannah it makes it hard to feel bad for her, especially from the first scene we get in the book. I wouldn’t say it pulled me in like it should even though it was a good scene.

Overall, this was a good book. With the opioid situation getting a lot bigger it’s nice to see books like this talk about it for a YA audience. The problem is definitely not going away but at least there are ways to start a conversation, not only about that but about grief too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Hannah lost her cousin Sophie to a drug overdose during the summer before junior year of high school, but nobody knew that Sophie was using. Told in dual timelines (junior and senior year), Hannah wants to understand what happened. How did Sophie get pills in the first place? Who's to blame?

This book is heavy but written well. Grief is a big part of it, and so are family relationships and friendships. It's honest and painful while also being a load of different things at once. It's hard to put into words, but it's definitely worth the read. And it's out now!

CW: drug abuse, overdose, grief

Oof, so much to say about All That’s Left to Say. The novel, written by Emery Lord, follows protagonist Hannah MacLaren after her cousin and best friend Sophie dies from an overdose. Hannah’s world is completely shattered, as she deals with this loss and the mystery surrounding it. The Sophie she knew wouldn’t have used drugs, wouldn’t have kept such a huge secret from her. Yet that’s the truth she’s left with. Her grief is big and all-consuming, the only thing driving her forward being her determination to find out who gave Sophie the pills that ended her life.

Emery Lord splits Hannah’s journey into two timelines: the junior year following Sophie’s death, where she and Sophie’s other best friend Gabi team up and search for answers together, and senior year, where Hannah is now undercover at Sophie’s prestigious high school. Though somewhat jarring, it’s truly fascinating jumping from one version of Hannah to another. In her junior year, she is freshly broken and needing to lean on Gabi. Their friendship is surprisingly powerful and visceral — my heart would clench any time they clung to each other in their shared pain. So when it shifts to Hannah in her senior year, when she and Gabi are no longer close, it’s effectively compelling.

Similarly, Hannah’s hostile relationship with her rival and “former” crush Christian shifts to something else — something more — in these two years, and it’s definitely one of my favorite developments in the book. Their dynamic in the beginning is just so fun and quippy (it’s like they can’t help but be smartasses around each other). But there’s always this ~tension~ between them, and Emery Lord does an excellent job of making you feel all the history and emotions. Once Christian gets more involved in Hannah’s mission, and inevitably her life, Hannah starts to feel more conflicted. Hell, I felt conflicted.

Once she gets further into the school and its students and who Sophie really was, it of course gets all the more complicated. I think it’s such a great exploration of grief, of needing answers and needing someone or something to blame, and all the frustration and sadness that comes with that. I mean, this mission becomes Hannah’s only purpose. And you root for her to figure things out and get justice, but you also worry that she’s in too deep, that she’s losing herself. Thank goodness for the people in her life, who she naturally pushes away and who refuse to be pushed. I can’t praise Emery enough for tackling such a tough subject and handling it beautifully.

My one issue with the book is, as much as I enjoyed it, the pacing. We go through the two years pretty quickly, which was great for keeping me engaged, but I do wish there had been more breathing room. I especially wish Hannah got to spend more time with her classmates/suspects, so that the ending hit juuuust a bit harder. That said, the ending still hit hard. All the pain, heartache, with the occasional moments of happiness — with Gabi, with Christian, with a song, with a memory — built up and came together in a satisfying way.

**Much thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All That’s Left to Say will be released on July 18.

This book is a story of grief, addiction, friendship/family, mystery, and a little romance as Hannah’s story moves from past to present, trying to uncover more details behind her cousin’s death. Like always, she nails the romance! It wasn't the main part of the story but it was important and cute. I liked the lessons learned in this and the way Emery Lord addressed the fentanyl topics.

I didn’t like this. I hated it so much I didn’t finish it. The story was all over the place. I didn’t find myself caring and wanting to keep reading this.

Wow, Emery Lord has created another deep stunner. This one has it's twists and turns but they really add to the story and kept me reading. Lord has a way with words and I will continue to pick up any book she writes.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Rating: 3.5 stars

Emery Lord delivers an emotional and poignant read about addiction, grief and loss.

Our protagonist Hannah has her world turned upside down when she loses her cousin Sophie to an overdose. The book alternates between the past and the present. In this way, we get to see the tragic aftermath of Sophie’s death and we also get to see how all the characters are grieving her loss a year later.

Hannah especially becomes determined to figuring out who gave Sophie the pills that caused her to overdose. It honestly becomes her sole purpose. She desperately needs answers and also someone to blame for her cousin’s death. It was such a compelling and heartbreaking depiction of grief.

My only complaint with the book was that it took me a while to get into the story. I’m not usually a fan of mystery books, but by the end I was hooked and was curious to see how everything would play out. My favorite aspect of the book was probably all the different dynamics between Hanna and her family, friends and love interest. I really loved seeing how those relationships changed throughout the book. Her friendship with Gabi was super interesting. I did not see the little twist at the end. They don’t initially get along, but their love for Sophie and their grief brought them closer together and a beautiful friendship was formed.

The author did a great job at tackling such a difficult subject and I would highly recommend checking this book out. Please be aware you’ll be in for a very emotional read🥺

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

All That's Left to Say takes a deep look at grief and friendship.
When Hannah's cousin dies of an opiate overdose, she's devastated. How could she not know Sophie was using? Where did she get the pills from? Who's to blame?
As Hannah sets out to answer these questions, her life turns upside down.
Told through an alternating timeline of Hannah's junior and senior year at school, readers are taken on a journey with Hannah.
This book will hit you right in the feels.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books/Bloomsbury YA for an early copy for review.
Book releases 7/18/23

All That's Left to Say starts off with Hannah pulling the fire alarm on her senior prom night. We are then shifted to Hannah telling the story in dual timelines where we begin to unravel what happened to her cousin, Sophie, died of an overdose. We cover junior and senior year trying to uncover who sold Sophie the drugs and who is responsible for her death all trying to gain closure to the senseless loss she has experienced. The alternating timelines pushed me through this book as I felt that each chapter revealed a snippet of the story and allowed things to unfold in unexpected ways.

Emery Lord introduces characters and brings them to life on the page, they are profoundly deep and all going through different things. I could feels Hannah's sadness on the pages and the discussions of addiction was so real that I found myself wiping away tears many times. She finds support in the most unexpected way, from Christian, a long time rival and that relationship is beautiful. He allows her to just sit in her grief and help her process it.

This book leads us in one direction and takes us to a totally other one while we process the grief Hannah is feeling, all while trying to find answers about what caused her cousin to overdose. It gives us a look at the impact of opioid addiction and everyone it affects when someone overdoses. It is real and raw, and does not skirt around the painful truth.

This was my first Emery Lord book, but it will not be my last (I have several on my shelves). Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

Solid writing, interesting characters and a plot that kept me engaged. The dual timelines were a fun approach to the book. The writing about grief and loss feels realistic — almost painfully so. My only real complaint is that the book feels longer than it needs to be, and then the last 10 percent or so speeds by. It's a lot of background, a lot of plot, a lot of reading and then a sprint to the end.

Still a good book, something Emery Lord fans are likely to love.

I think that would be good for my students and lead to many discussions about drug abuse, racism and classism. It is both a story of a girl who lost her cousin to drugs and a mystery as she tries to figure out what happened. As an adult it didn't really work for me. I expected a more of an emotional read and found I wasn't esp moved by the book and the mystery wasn't very engaging either. So I found it ok but think my students will like it 3.5

I was so excited to read All That’s Left to Say by Emery Lord.
This story hooked me, broke me and left me wishing it was just another 100 pages longer.
Everything about this book was phenomenal.
Lords writing is just spectacular. The characters are real and raw. I could feel every single emotion.
The story was gripping, unputdownable and emotional.
This story has a strong message and I devoured it.
A very good YA contemporary. Lord gives the reader some really gripping moments here.

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

Thank You NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Emery Lord has done it again. Another solid, YA contemporary that gets to the heart of deep issues and offers a glimpse of hope to a tragic situation.

This is not an easy book to read. And it shouldn’t be. Any story that tackles real life issues can be hard to read and even more difficult to process. But this is one of those books that is so well executed that I already know I’ll need to reread it in order to truly grasp everything that Emery has poured into this story. It’s by no means a perfect book, but I think it’s a perfect story.

At first, the back and forth time jumps left me feeling a bit muddled, but by the end, once I figured out who was who and what was happening, I was amazed at how Emery pulled all the pieces together like an intricately designed puzzle. I love the message and themes Emery weaves into this story and that the story ends on a hopeful note. Stories like this can often convey the wrong kind of message, leaving me feeling a bit off kilter or unsure who the book was written for, but I’m grateful Emery made sure to carefully navigate the intricacies of the opioid crisis within her story.

My favorite thing about any of Emery’s books are always her characters. Main characters, side characters, love interests, parents—all of them come across so genuine and real. I can relate to any and all of them, and I absolutely love the banter and dynamics between the characters in this book. Yes, I was eager to learn about the events surrounding Sophie’s death as Hannah uncovered the truth, but I was also excited to find out what would happen between Hannah and Christian in the end or how Hannah would fix some of the friendships she’d twisted up along the way.

All That’s Left to Say is a heartfelt, intimate story about grief, addiction, and friendship through a blend of mystery, romance, and tragedy that is perfect for readers who were moved by All My Rage and The Hate U Give.

Emery Lord is one of my favorite authors and I was super excited to read All That's Left to Say. I was not disappointed, while it's a darker tone than her previous books it's filled with heartfelt characters and a plot that stays with you long after you finish it. Emery Lord is a master at pulling at your heartstrings and writing a poignant stories. All That's Let to Say follows Hannah through two different timelines after she losses her cousin to an overdose. Both timelines show the stages of grief with depth and intimacy. There's also a bit of mystery sprinkled in which was interesting to read. At the heart of this story is love, loss and friendship. I loved it.