4 1/2 stars

This was a clever YA romantic suspense.

Ella's best friend, Hayley, has been killed in a car wreck and she is struggling to make it through each day. She has no recollection of that day but fears that the accident that killed her friend may have been her fault. When her senior years begins, she finds it even more difficult as she misses Hayley and feels her loss daily. To complicate things, she finds herself falling for Hayley's boyfriend, Sawyer.

Things spin out of control when Ella finds Hayley's hidden diary and reads the secrets she has written inside. Ella finds much of what she has written to be shocking and it completely disrupts her world and the way she perceived things.

This book has some nice twists and turns to it. Thank you to NetGalley for this early copy.

𝙈𝙮 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars)

𝙈𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨:

This one was quietly devastating in the best way.

Everything We Never Said is a layered, emotionally tender novel about love, silence, and the messy aftermath of everything unsaid. Sloan Harlow writes with a softness that sneaks up on you—the grief and longing settle in slowly, and before I knew it, I was fully invested.

I loved the character dynamics, especially the way the relationships were allowed to be complicated without being villainized. There’s no easy resolution here, and I appreciated that. The writing has a poetic, introspective quality that reminded me a bit of early Taylor Jenkins Reid—quiet but emotionally rich.

It lost a star for me only because a few sections felt a bit too slow or circular, especially in the middle—but honestly, that pacing kind of fits the themes. It’s about lingering, after all.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alcove Press, and Sloan Harlow for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Everything We Never Said is available now.

While the storyline was enjoyable, I need to make it abundantly clear that this is very inappropriately sold under the genre “Young Adult”. A quick google search indicates that the young adult genre is meant for audiences ages 12-18. This is completely inappropriate for a young teenager to read.

Themes of explicit sexual scenes, graphic descriptions of on page domestic assault/domestic abuse, teen pregnancy, mention of abortion, grooming by a teacher/counselor, and teacher/counselor relationship with a minor among the few. I am absolutely astonished this would be marketed to 12/13/14 year olds. It’s so inappropriate.

Like I mentioned at the beginning, it’s a fairly enjoyable story FOR ADULTS. Fully grown adults. The storyline gets about a 3.5/4 star rating for me purely for the entertainment and sort of “mysteriousness” of the whole thing. However, my review will be getting 2 stars because I fully believe it is marketed for the wrong genre. A young adult book should NEVER be described as a “dark romance” and I will die on this hill.

And to be honest, this was incredibly predictable. I had the whole thing figured out by the first diary entry.

✨ ARC Review ✨
Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just wrapped up this ARC and I have some thoughts! It had its moments, and there’s definitely more to unpack. Stay tuned for my full review coming soon!

Sometimes you just need to read a book like Everything We Never Said. Even though it's easy to see where this is headed, the ride getting there is an experience.

If teenage angst, drama and thrills are your type of jam then add this one to the list and enjoy.

I sincerely appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

Wow. Just—wow. I thought I was ready for this book, but nothing could’ve prepared me for how twisty, emotional, and completely absorbing it would be. I started this book on June 30th and devoured it in just a couple of days. The writing is phenomenal—sharp, lyrical, and full of tension in all the right places.

Ella’s grief, guilt, and confusion were so raw and real, and as she got closer to Sawyer—and deeper into Hayley’s journal—I could not look away. I felt every page. The pacing is perfect, and just when you think you know where it’s headed—bam. Another twist.

This is easily one of the best YA thrillers I’ve read in a long time. It’s dark, romantic, and packed with secrets that kept me hooked all the way through. I won’t spoil anything, but let’s just say: I DID NOT see that ending coming.

Perfect for fans of Colleen Hoover and Laura Nowlin. If you like your YA with high emotional stakes and shocking reveals, Everything We Never Said is an absolute must-read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for the ARC!

"Everything We Never Said" by Sloan Harlow" was a fun read, but not quite my genre I prefer. Death of a friend, some spicy scenes, and I am sure a lot of readers will love this title.

A lot of haunting themes and trigger warnings to read up on. I do wish there was more substance to the story but I think it was well written and captured a lot of emotions.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

While I enjoyed reading this, I didn’t enjoy it as much as her second novel “All we lost was everything “. This book had less substance to it in my opinion. The characters and premise were sketched out in a way that needed more depth. The domestic abuse parts should have had a weightier feel to them. This was a good opportunity to really explore abuse in its different forms. I felt it was almost written as a footnote. The sexual scenes definitely had more thought put into them. Which isn’t a bad thing, but maybe it could have focused equally on the romance and the domestic violence.

A YA thriller that I flew through. The writing style was easy to read, the plot haunting an intriguing. I appreciated the suspense and twisty ending. Told in a dual PoV from Ella, a high school student who lost her best friend, and Sawyer, her best friend’s former boyfriend. Ella blames herself for her friend’s accident and seeks solace and comfort in Sawyer and assistance with dealing with the grief from the school counselor. The setting and dialogue appropriate and the character arcs were well done, all adding to the chilling nature of the mystery. I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.

💔🖤 Dark secrets. Deadly love. A diary that changes everything. 🖤💔

If you handed me a book and said “It’s about falling for your dead best friend’s boyfriend,” I’d already be reaching for popcorn 🍿—but Sloan Harlow went and gave us THAT plus trauma, obsession, betrayal, and one twist I did not see coming 👀.

Ella is drowning in guilt. She was the one driving the night her best friend Hayley died. Now she's stuck walking the halls of high school where every corner whispers Hayley's name... including Sawyer, Hayley’s picture-perfect boyfriend. Or so she thought. Because the deeper Ella falls for him, the more she realizes: picture-perfect is a damn lie.

And when Hayley's journal enters the chat? 💣 Secrets. Are. Detonated.

✨Multiple POVs (Ella, Hayley’s chilling journal, and Sawyer’s tortured mystery self) kept me fully hooked. Ella’s pain? Raw. Hayley’s story? Heartbreaking. Sawyer? Broody AF and maybe dangerous?? (But like...do I still want to kiss him a little? Yes.)

🚨TW for domestic abuse, grooming, abortion, grief, trauma, and mental health struggles. While this is billed YA, it definitely veers into NA territory. So check those content warnings first—this one gets dark.

🔪 The pacing starts off slow-burn with angsty forbidden romance vibes, but halfway through? Strap in. The twist flipped everything on its head. I gasped. I re-read. I questioned my life choices. And the ending? A little extra, but absolutely earned.

✨ Final thoughts: This isn’t just a twisty thriller—it’s a messy, real, and powerful ride through grief, secrets, and the things we never say to the people we love most. Fans of Colleen Hoover, Laura Nowlin, or just deliciously dark YA romance thrillers? This one’s for you.

Everything We Never Said is a gripping YA thriller that sinks its claws into you from the first page. From the grief-soaked hallways of Ella’s high school to the slow-burn, forbidden pull between her and Sawyer, this book delivers high-stakes drama and emotional whiplash in spades.

I figured out the “who” early on, so a lot of the tension for me was watching how the story would unravel — and it did not disappoint. The journey to the truth is filled with twists, gut-punch revelations, and a dark romantic undercurrent that makes you question everyone's motives. And let’s be real — Hayley’s mom? Literal trash. Her presence only added to the tension and made Ella's pain and guilt all the more palpable.

While it didn’t blow the mystery wide open for me, the intense pacing and character chemistry kept me hooked. A solid four stars.

An interesting approach to a YA thriller that just didn't work out for me overall and came out feeling a bit average. The premise is good, but the execution was maybe a little too overthought.

The read was really well paced and had some excellent plot structure, but the writing and character interactions just felt like they were trying too hard. Several characters were really over the top and cringy while others were too cookie cutter. I will say she nailed the ending and there was some fantastic tension created throughout the plot. The final third of the book was intense.

There are a lot of serious topics presented and for the most part I felt they were handled well. It's a quick and decent read that would possibly read more realistic for the intended audience (I would place this at the older YA/younger NA set due to some graphic violence and sexual scenes). In my particular case, it felt like the author was holding the reader's hand and leading them through the story rather than letting the reader come to their own conclusions.

Along those same lines, the protagonist's guilt was really piled on and the adults in her life were a bit overly absent. It was stated several times how good they were as parents, but that didn't really show through the narrative. Her choices were often rather illogical and seemed to just be there to further the plot rather than feel believable.

The narrative itself was mildly predictable. There were a few decent twists and one stellar one. The attempts at a red herrings were well considered, but presented in a way that laid it on a bit thick, making them more obvious. Also...it resulted in some characters really coming off as serious red flags even though in the end it was clear that the author intended for them to be "good". I'd specify more, but it would result in several major spoilers.

All in all, this book shows excellent promise for the author. This is a debut novel and she does have the framework for a really good novel. This was by no means a bad book. A little tightening and maturing of the writing along with giving the reader's understanding a bit more credit should result in some intense thrillers to come from Sloan Harlow.

Everything We Never Said by Sloan Harlow
⭐⭐⭐½ | 🖤 Grief with a side of WHAT JUST HAPPENED

This YA thriller starts as one book and ends as something COMPLETELY different! What begins as a poignant exploration of grief and forbidden attraction transforms into a mind-bending psychological thriller that had me clutching my kindle in shock.

Following Ella as she navigates life after her best friend Hayley's death (which she can't remember and feels responsible for), we're pulled into her world of guilt, grief, and her growing feelings for Hayley's boyfriend Sawyer. The dual POV structure plus Hayley's diary entries creates this perfect storm of "wait, who do I trust here?!" energy that keeps you flipping pages.

The tropes we're tracking:
📓 Dead girl's diary reveals ALL
💔 Forbidden romance with emotional landmines
🌀 Grief spiral meets memory gaps
🔍 Nothing is as it seems (and I mean NOTHING)
⚠️ Hidden red flags becoming neon signs

The romance elements had me conflicted in all the right ways - chemistry was there, but the circumstances had me screaming "GIRL, WAIT" at the pages. Then the final act hits and everything explodes into this Criminal Minds-worthy twist that I'm still processing!

Some dialogue feels a bit young at times, and the whole "falling for your dead bestie's boyfriend" premise requires suspension of disbelief, but the exploration of domestic abuse, manipulation, and the aftermath of trauma is handled with surprising depth for a YA novel.

Perfect for readers who want their romance with a side of "trust absolutely no one" vibes!

Great plot, some of the twists I was able to see coming. I enjoyed the dual POV. First book by this author, need more now!

I'm a bit late in posting this. I really enjoyed this book! I suspected a few of the twists but not all of them! Despite the heavy themes, I read this book pretty quickly and enjoyed it. For YA, it definitely went darker than I expected it to. The abuse portrayed in the book felt real. As someone who has been through DV, I got triggered a little; however, I think that the story needs to be told. I appreciated the story switching back and forth between the viewpoints, each slowly unveiling the story. I really liked Ella and felt bad for her. Sawyer did grow on me. My heart broke for Hayley and what she went through. Overall, this was a great book. It's important that young people read it to know what red flags to be aware of. I'd definitely recommend this book, but I'd advise about the trigger warnings.

I found this one well-written, but difficult to read. Grief, the loss of a friend, and some really heavy themes.

I do think it's a good read for teens, especially with its focus on toxic relationships and grief, though!

heavy, but good!

3.5 stars rounded up. Everything We Never Said was an angst, dramatic suspense-y romance... or was it a romance-y thriller? Either way, it was an entertaining read. The twists were on-par for a YA audience. The story didn't stick with me, but it was fun while it lasted. It would make a great beach or airline read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Definitely better than a Colleen Hoover book, since this is about teens and aimed at a teen audience, not trying to be an adult book. Some of it was totally predicatable, other parts surprised even this seasoned reader! Harlow tackles some huge issues here: dating violence, domestic/child abuse, sexual abuse, grief, guilt. There are some detailed sexual scenes, but it still falls into the realm of YA fiction. I really appreciated that there was a frank discussion of doing the work and not allowing your emotions to be turned on the people you love. Anyone who wants to stop the cycle of domestic violence needs to hear that you CAN change, or work at regulating your emotions to protect yourself and your loved ones. Overall, this was ok, but I can see that teens would eat this up.