Ella blames herself for the horrible accident that killed her best friend Hayley. The thing is she does not remember anything that happened that night. All Ella knows is that she was the one driving after having only one drink. And now she has fallen in love with her dead best friend’s boyfriend, Sawyer.
When Ella finds Hayley’s hidden diary she struggles with her conscience on whether she should read it to have one last connection with Hayley. But what Ella finds hidden within that diary will change everything she knows about Sawyer and Hayley forever. Will she remember what happened that dreadful night and was it truly her fault?
Overall rating 4/5
This book gave me all the traumatic and baffling vibes of Cruel Summer. I appreciated how Sloan managed to capture the despair of a teenager grieving the loss of her best friend all while struggling to maintain the pressures put on her by society and her peers. Packed with teen drama, lust and grief that concluded with an astounding twist makes me want more from Harlow.

*Thank you to Sloan Harlow, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, and Netgalley for the ARC copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.

I saw so much hype about this one, particularly a reel from the publishing company that made me super excited to read it. There was talk of a major twist, so I spent my time reading, trying to figure out what it could be. I was shocked, and I love the direction the book took!

I admit, I almost did not read this because of its comparison to Colleen Hoover, who I feel romanticizes abuse. I was concerned when the abuse storyline appeared in this book, but it was handled so well.

I would recommend this one for sure!

Thus book was sooo good! I really wasn’t expecting the twists at the end ! Made me want to not put it down!

This book proved far more interesting and involving than I initially thought it might. It’s written in a manner that made me believe that the characters were real, despite how far-fetched some things might have seemed. The dialogue was perfectly suited to older teenagers. The book covers a lot of territory, from grief, to high school classes, from romance to friendship, from abortion to violence, anger, and fury.

Three high school friends loved to hang out together. One night, however, after attending a party where they had a drink or two, two of those friends would be involved in an accident. One of them disappeared in the aftermath of the crash. For six months, Ella mourned and felt the full brunt of responsibility. For six months, Ella was all alone. Then school started without her beloved Hayley. Most of her friends kept their distance, but Sawyer, one of the trio, and Seema, a friend form grade school, reach out to help her re-acclimate to life. Mr. Wilkins, the school psychologist, also reaches out to her.

It wasn’t hard ot figure out who the villain was fairly early on, but there’s a huge, unpredictable (at least for me) twist that happens closer to the end of the book that makes it well worth reading. The book is about grief, possessiveness, jealousy, abuse (both physical and emotional), young love, friendship, secrets, traumatic amnesia, teenage sex, family, diversity, and so much more. This book is well worth reading. Here’s my favorite quote form the book:

Don’t give up hope, Ella. There’s something on the other side of this pain, I promise you. Life might not be what you had hoped or expected, but it has a way of showing you a door to a place that’s better than you could have imagined.

I think that’s a thought that could help us all through the ups and downs of life.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. I thank all involved for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.

Everything We Never Said is a book that every teenage girl should read because it shows that everything we think we may know, is not 100% the truth. This book touches on subjects that we only hope pur daughters and sons will never go through, but in all honesty, is becoming more and more of an issue because many people find these subject taboo and not something that should be spoken about aloud. 4.5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy of Everything We Never Said by Sloan Harlow in exchange for my honest review.

Ella and Haley were best friends until one night when they left a party and there was a horrible accident and now Ella feels responsible for Haley's death although she has no memories of the day Haley died but she is racked with grief and guilt.

Ella believes everyone blames and hates her so she has withdrawn from all her friends since the accident, except now senior year is starting and she much face Sawyer again who was Haley's boyfriend and also Ella's dear friend. Soon after, Ella finds Haley's journal and thinks she needs to read it believing it might help her understand what happened the day that Haley died although she never expected to find that Haley was keeping very dark secrets and that she was sad, ashamed and afraid of someone who was hurting her and Ella can't understand why Haley never told her about these things and about Sawyer. Could Ella have completely misjudged the type of person Sawyer seemed to be?

The worst part is now Ella has developed feelings for Haley's boyfriend and she is ashamed of her feelings but they've grown stronger and he is so kind and gentle with her but what about the diary and what it says about Sawyer! How can Ella continue down this road knowing that he may have hurt Haley and how can she betray her best friend's memory by falling in love with her boyfriend and also by reading such personal secrets that were meant for Haley's eyes only.

I thoroughly enjoyed this YA novel and I believe older teens and above will love this deep and comlex thriller because I am an adult reader but I found Sloan Harlow's storyline and writing very well done and intriguing with capturing the essence of seventeen year old's in the crossroads between leaving childhood behind and becoming young adults. The thrill and pains of young love was expressed wonderfully reminding myself when I was deeply in love at that age and the excitement but also the heartache that sometimes results when many unexpected situations can happen that teens aren't prepared to handle yet find themselves having to deal with problems that think they must deal with on their own instead of talking to their parents or another caring adult and the results sometimes can be absolutely tragic and devastating. The story starts out slowly and continues to build and build where I was not able to put the book down and the writer turned the book into a terrific mystery/thriller that was very entertaining and emotional at times. The kids today have so many more problems than years ago and I think the author did a wonderful job of capturing thoughts and actions of teens with this YA novel. I am so looking forward to reading more books by Sloan Harlow!

I want to thank the publisher "PENGUIN GROUP/Penguin Young Readers Group" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this digital copy and I highly recommend it for older teens and adults only because some of the subject matter is very strong!

I have given a rating if 4 SENSITIVE AND EMOTIONAL 🌟🌟🌟🌟 STARS!!

This is one of my top 4 books I’ve read this year.i love red the characters, she twist & turns. But that ending. OMG.

A fast paced realistic dark romance/suspense story, it keeps you intrigued until the very end, the characters are well written and it’s easy to feel connected to them, also the changing POVs was a great choice to keep the book interesting.
Anyway I think this book is maybe a little bit predictable or childish for adult readers, but at the same times some scenes are too explicit for a teenager.
Despite the dark themes it deals, the book is an easy read and has an actual plot twist.

This book really pulled at my heartstrings. It made me think of so many times I should have said something but was too afraid to and then forever lost my chance. I would definitely recommend it to anyone!

If you're looking for a quick YA read, Everything We Never Said by Sloan Harlow is for you.

High school friends, and one dies in a tragic car accident. Ella not only has to live with the guilt of being the surviving driver, but is also falling for Haley's (her dead best friend) boyfriend. With Haley's mom not being able to cope with the loss of her daughter, she asks Ella to go through her friends room and take whatever she would like. That is when she discovers Haley's diary, and realizes that her friend had dark and twisted secrets.

I felt like the characters were relatable and I enjoyed watching the relationship between Ella and Sawyer grow - it was sweet. And honestly I did not see the twist coming at the end.
Quick little young high school romance/psychological thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for this ARC in return for my honest review.

Pub Date: 28 May 2024

Lately I’ve struggled with YA mystery novels but this one was so good! There were so many jaw dropping gasping out loud twists and turns and I loved every minute of it.

The author had a way of turning us against certain characters only to make us like them again. There were several moments where I was angry and then sad and it had me feeling all of the emotions at once.

Overall I give this book 4.5 ⭐️ because it sucked me in and didn’t let go until the very end.

I found this debut to be very readable, albeit pretty predictable when it came to revealing several of the twists. To me, reading this gave me that feeling of watching a Lifetime-based on a true story vibes in that I’m pretty sure I know what’s going to happen but I’m still enjoying the getting there way. Overall, a quick read with great pacing and plot trajectory.

I will add that there are a few fairly steamy <romantic> type scenes that I feel like may be a bit too vibrant for some of the younger readers of the YA genre.

Very predictable. I loved that it was multi pov. Super fast pacing and a very easy read, some heavy emotional themes.

3.5 stars
This one was a crazy ride, I’m honestly kind of having a hard time reviewing it cause I feel like my thoughts are so all over the place I will say for sure. This book was definitely gripping and an easy fast pace read!
I saw a review that said this book was “predictable but readable” and I feel like that’s the perfect way to describe it. I feel like I caught onto what was happening pretty quick into this book, but I still really invested in reading and wanting to know how exactly it was gonna play out and definitely think that’s the main draw of this book.
This book is a YA romantic thriller about Ella, a 17-year-old high school senior mourning the death of her best friend, Hayley. To make matters more complicated, Ella finds herself developing feelings for Sawyer, who was Hayley's former boyfriend. The plot thickens when the night surrounding Hayley's death starts to get questioned further.
The story is narrated from the perspectives of both Ella and Sawyer, and we also get to know more about Hayley through her diary entries, which definitely adds a fun element to the story! The book explores the relationships between Ella and Sawyer, Ella and Hayley, and Hayley and her boyfriend "S".
I will say I found the beginning of this book very cheesy and kind of cringe. I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but the dialogue felt very immature and while this is a YA book it just overly unrealistic to some degree but the ending and the mystery itself plus it being fast definitely helped wrap the story up altogether and make it still an enjoyable book.
overall, I don’t know if I would have this highest on my list to recommend, but I will say it was very twisty and easy fast pace read I can see people enjoying this and being fun while it is predictable. It is definitely bingable as well!

*Thank you so much to Penguin Teen and team for an e-arc of this book! All opinions above are 100% my own!*

This is an engaging and quick read that captures the intensity of young love and friendship. The twists weren't exactly unpredictable but neither were they obvious. The characters were really well written and I was absorbed in their world. Overall a good read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for an advance copy for review purposes.

Thank you Net Galley and Penguin Young Readers Group for this eArc of Everything We Never Said by Sloan Harlow.

YA is definitely a hit or miss for me. This one was a complete “hit”! If you’re going to pick up this book, please note that while this is marketed as YA, it’s definitely for a more mature YA audience. This book deals with some issues that are very real and that teens/adults deal with in real life.

What I loved:
•dual POV with diary entries
•mystery/thriller/psychological
•plot twist (that fit)
•equal parts slow burn & fast paced
•emotional/secrets/forbidden love
•both plot & character driven!

As I was reading this book I felt the same feelings as I felt when reading “Sadie”. We live in a very heavy world these days and I am glad that authors aren’t afraid to write books like this. This was a fantastic debut novel by Sloan Harlow and I will definitely be picking up anything else she writes.

You may have guessed, yes, I highly recommend this book.

For the most part, I like going into a book blind. I may read a sentence or two of the description but I find that the blurbs often give away too much for me. I love reading them after the fact and even reading other reviews to see if we all feel the same about a book. This is one that the blurb doesn't give away too much because a lot is happening in this book.
This debut started a bit slow for me. We have Ella who survived a horrible car crash in which her best friend died. She has no memory of this event but she blames herself for her friend's death. In her grief, she finds solace in a former friend and her best friend's boyfriend, Sawyer. As Ella cleans out Hayley, the dead friend, room because Hayley's mom is "grieving" and can't bring herself to do it, she finds Hayley's diary. In this diary, Ella realizes Hayley has a lot of secrets and Ella is going to uncover them.
So, my thoughts here are that I love these types of books, dark, and gritty, not everything is the way it seems. However, I don't like any amount of spice for the children. Yes, they are 17, but nope it gives me the ick. I mean yes, teenagers have sex, but we don't need the details of the children's sex lives. Let it occur off-page with very vague descriptors. That is all on that, there are some minor spicy scenes in this book but only a couple. Anyhow, the first 50% of the book, like I said, was pretty slow. I had a hard time keeping some of the characters straight because they all had "S" names and they were similar, so I couldn't remember who was who. Then we got to the good parts, the mystery, the "scarier" bits where lies were being revealed and Hayley's secrets came out into the world. I couldn't stop reading. I was up until 1:30 in the morning finishing the book. There were a lot of red herrings, and lots of triggers for some people as well (i.e. abuse in many forms, death, etc.) and it had a fairly satisfying ending. This has a package for fans of CoHo, and I can see that. The relationships in this book are very similar to the CoHo world, toxic but with undertones of amazing.

Harlow wrote a fast paced YA book that allows accessible content to a younger generation, which is really exciting, albeit perhaps a bit more mature than I may have expected. I very much enjoyed the read. The plot twist was very well executed. I thought I had guessed the direction and was slammed into a new one! Bravo to the author. The main character was meaningfully developed, with moments in introspection and emotional intelligence which shows thoughtfulness and growth. I recommended to my teenager to read.

I think this was just not for me. I was wanting more but there was so much dark romance type stuff that it actually turned me off this book. I almost didnt finish the book and wasnt sure it was the right book for me. It had some interesting stuff but for the most part I just didnt enjoy it.

I started this book at midnight and finished it at 4 am this morning. I liked it!
Ella has to return to high school to start her senior year without her best friend Hayley. She has no interest in the things that used to consume her life . She wanted to be invisible. She hid in the back of her classrooms and used her math skills to figure out how many minutes until the school year is over. She refused to return to the swim team even as college scouts visited. Junior year had been stressful- but it was nothing compared to the accident that ended life as she knew it.

This book was the best kind that mixes genres; a coming of age story, mystery, domestic violence, love, friendship and family. The main characters are 17 years old but it takes the reader right back to that age ( can't believe I'm 59) . The story and the issues are beyond age. Read It!
Thanks to NetGalley, Sloan Harlow and G P Putnam Sons for the opportunity to read this booking exchange for an honest review