First let me say this book was very well written and the author did a great job with developing the characters. With that said though I just could not get into this book the way I wanted to. I wasn’t invested and even though I finished it, it was a struggle at times.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Sara Jafari’s Things Left Unsaid delivers the same thoughtful, emotionally intelligent writing that made The Mismatch so compelling, but this second novel didn’t quite resonate with me in the same way. The characters are nuanced and the themes of identity, family, and the weight of unspoken truths are handled with care, yet the story lacked the same spark and urgency that made her debut unforgettable. Still, Jafari’s voice remains distinctive and empathetic, and her ability to capture the complexity of human relationships is as strong as ever—making this a solid, if slightly less impactful, follow-up.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I think Jafari writes beautifully and the book covers important issues, but it dragged on and on. That may be more of a me problem as I don’t always do well with character-driven novels.

Things Left Unsaid by Sara Jafari is a character driven novel of self-discovery.

Twenty-six-year-old Shirin Bayat has achieved her dream of working in publishing. Yet, she is not satisfied with her life. Unexpectedly reconnecting with her teenage friend Kian Rahimi brings home her lack of self-confidence and feelings of dissatisfaction. Shirin is also dealing with discrimination at work and she cannot bring herself to do anything about it.

Shirin and Kian’s prior relationship is revealed through flashbacks that gradually reveal the shocking incident that resulted in their estrangement. Shirin is conflicted about the lack of resolution to these events.

Things Left Unsaid is a well-written novel. Shirin is a difficult character to like for most of the novel due to her malaise. She is also unable to find contentment due to her inability to look past her lifelong dream. Kian has many positive characteristics which makes him delightful counterpoint to Shirin’s moroseness. Despite Shirin’s angst, Sara Jafari brings this engaging novel to an uplifting conclusion.

Things Left Unsaid: A Novel by Sara Jafari is the story of Shirin trying to navigate through her 20’s while working in a publishing house in London. Viewing her life and relationships in dual timeline, we are taken on a journey of growth as Shirin tries to find her place while juggling family, culture and racism; ultimately finding her own voice and attaining her own agency.

I had the great fortune of having access to the book and the audiobook. I was able to seamlessly switch between the two. The narration by Honor Gilles and Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy was well done, and the writing was great. If you are a Sally Rooney fan, you will love this book.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to listen to this ALC and read the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Book Rating: 4 Stars
Audiobook Rating: 4 Stars
Pub Date: Apr 15 2025
Audio Release Date: Apr 15 2025

Tags:
#MacmillanAudio
#StMartinsPress
#ThingsLeftUnsaid
# SaraJafai
# HonorGilles
# MajidMehdizadehValoujerdy
#YarisBookNook
#netgalley

Wow. This book was really difficult to read at times. The racism experienced by Shirin in the workplace and during her school was painful but I'm so glad I read it. People need to know that these things happen and much more often than most of us think. I was so frustrated by Shirin for not standing up for herself and was so happy when she finally found her voice! Her character development was fantastic. And, of course, the romance between Shirin and Kian was so lovely!

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this novel by Sara Jafari, perfectly narrated by Honor Gilles and Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

It’s been years since Shirin has seen Kian, her best friend, after an incident at their school tore them apart. Since then, Shirin has lived with the weight of things left unsaid between them. She’s struggling at work, burned out with the cultural atmosphere at the publishing house. Shirin and Kian are desperate to make up for lost time, but can they, or will life repeat itself?

This is a book that will definitely make you think about racism and having the courage and strength to stand up for what is right. I loved how Shirin and Kian were the best people they each needed at pivotal times in their lives. May we all have such friends. This also shows how our childhood shapes us and follows us. The writing is beautiful and allows you to emotionally connect with these characters. I also liked the peek into the publishing world. This is a new author to me, and I’ll be looking for more from her!

Things Left Unsaid is the touching story of Shirin and Kian, who were once school friends but fell out. Now, ten years later, Shirin unexpectedly runs into Kian. Jafari deftly meanders through until the very end of the story, finally revealing what caused the rift between the two. Tender and thoughtful, this is the perfect book for readers who prefer their love stories a bit more on the realistic side. I think this would be a great recommendation for fans of Talking at Night.

Things Left Unsaid, the second novel from Sara Jabari, is the story of Shirin, a young woman of Iranian descent, living in London and working her dream job as an assistant editor at a publishing house. It is set in 2018, with a dual timeline of 10 years earlier. Shirin unexpectedly runs into her best friend from high school, Kian, and this brings back the past she had worked so hard to forget.

The issues that Shirin faces related to racism are thoughtfully presented throughout the novel and run the gamut from micro aggressions to discrimination and abuse. As readers, we are given insight on how she, and many others, deal with that on a daily basis. They are skillfully woven into the novel. I enjoyed how Shirin grew as a person throughout the story as she navigates her way through her late twenties.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

The book covers lots of important and relevant topics, but it started off very slow. Shirin is a young adult, with her first job, trying to escape her parents' messy relationships with her, her painful upbringing and hometown prejudices and experiences, feeling guilt and experiencing mental illnesses. Yes- it's a lot. Struggling with depression and anxiety while trying to balance needy, one sided relationships with your parents, with your friends, coworkers and roommates is all very realistic. On top of this, Shirin is a Iranian, non-practicing Muslim, trying to make it in the publishing world. She has been the victim of bullying because of race in her past, and now she is dealing with it in the work place, but in different forms. She's trying to find her place and inform her oblivious co-workers to what is racism and how their comments are perceived. Fortunately she makes friends with another minority in her work place, and finds her strengths and confidence through speaking out her thoughts when previously she kept quiet. We observe her relationship with Kain, a friend from high school that has shown up in her adult life, grow and change over common previous racial experiences, culture and guilt.

The book drug on and was frustrating to read, but at the same time educational about ignorance of those around you in every day life. The way racism takes place in social media and is blown off in news stories when looked at from the minority's perspective was eye opening and shaming. When Shirin finally got some confidence and started making choices based on what SHE wanted instead of expectations, the book got much better. I appreciated the relationships of her new friends that supported her and taught her to find her own strength. There is a person I know who only wants books with "Character Growth". This book nails that to a T.

There are a lot of similarities to the book Maame, which I enjoyed a lot. This one the end had many redeeming qualities, and you were cheering for the main characters, but it was a long journey to get to that point. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy. This will make a great book club discussion.

This book wasn't a good fit for me. The pacing was slower than I prefer, and I really didn't connect with the main character, Shirin.
I found it irritating how the reveal of the Terrible Thing that happened during school was just draaaagggged out. Knowing that earlier in the book might have provided some insight into understanding why Shirin is the way she is, and perhaps made her a more sympathetic character. Dragging out the reveal of what had happened to Shirin and Kian in school just felt like a desperate attempt to keep the reader engaged in a book where not much was happening. I don't mind a book that's more of a character study than exciting plot if the characters are fascinating and multi-layered, but unfortunately, they were not.

This book was previously published under the title People Change

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for my complimentary Advanced Reader Copy through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was a great book - very poignant and easy to fall into. If you like these kinds of stories you will definitely like this one but if you are getting fatigued by these kinds of stories (me!) then I would choose this carefully.

A beautifully written coming of age second chance novel that takes a long hard look at racism in the publishing and art world through the eyes of Shirin and Kian. They both tell the story-Shirin their present and Kian, via flashbacks, their past. There was a horrid event when they were teens, the nature of which won't be revealed until deep jn the novel. The reemergence of their bully, now a comedian whose book will be published by the firm where Shirin works, is the catalyst for both of them. No spoilers from me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. An excellent read,

Things Left Unsaid by Sara Jafari is a captivating and thought-provoking tale that delves into the journey of self-discovery and the enduring impact of love. This mesmerizing story explores the complexities of finding one's place in the world, leaving me spellbound with its electrifying narrative.

This is one of those books that creeps up on you quietly and then completely takes over your thoughts for hours after finishing. I picked it up thinking it would be a sweet story about lost friendship and maybe a little romance, but it ended up being so much more: it's layered, emotional, tender, and unapologetically honest. This is a book that says a lot, even when the characters struggle to say what they truly mean. In some ways, it reminded me a lot of "Normal People" by Sally Rooney.

At the heart of the novel are Shirin and Kian - childhood friends who share an intense bond that fractures after a painful event in secondary school. The author doesn't reveal what happened right away (which I loved), so you're kind of piecing together the past and present like a puzzle. The narrative switches between timelines, giving us glimpses of Shirin and Kian as teenagers - full of possibility and closeness - and as twenty-somethings, carrying the weight of everything that's gone unspoken.

While the novel gives us a look at things from both Kian and Shirin's points of view, it really felt like Shirin owned the story, but that in no way is meant to minimize the importance of Kian's character. Kian is an Iranian man who is now an artist trying to make it in a white-dominated industry. His reemergence into Shirin's life is a shock to her but also a catalyst for growth.

Shirin works at a literary agency that claims to want diversity and inclusivity, but in practice, it's just a bunch of performative nonsense. It's so frustrating to watch as her colleagues dismiss her, patronize her, or throw microaggressions her way while still patting themselves on the back for being "progressive." I think a lot of people - especially women of color - will see themselves in Shirin's experiences.

The emotional tension in this book is very well done. You feel the ache in Shirin's heart when she unexpectedly bumps into Kian at a party, and you immediately understand that this is not just a simple "long-lost friend" situation. There's history here, and it's likely a messy, complicated, unresolved history. The way the story unfolds and the history is presented feels natural and authentic as if you're slowly peeling back layers rather than being hit with a dramatic reveal.

And then there's Rob Grayson. He's a racist comedian who Shirin and Kiran share a complicated past with from school (he was their biggest bully), and the publisher Shirin works for has recently given him a book deal. Rob is one of those characters who represents every unchecked bigot who somehow gets rewarded with a platform, and his reappearance in Shirin's life adds a whole new level of tension. It's not just about past trauma resurfacing - it's about realizing that people like Rob still get to thrive while others are expected to stay quiet and just deal with it.

But for all the pain and heaviness, this book is also incredibly beautiful. It's a story about growth and rediscovery. I absolutely loved the dynamic between Shirin and Kian - both as kids and as adults, and I loved watching Shirin find her strength and her voice. The friendship between the two leads felt real, with all its warmth and, awkwardness and longing. You want them to find their way back to each other, but you also understand why it's not that simple. People change. Life complicates things. And some wounds take longer to heal than others.

If you're someone who enjoys character-driven stories with emotional depth and a strong sense of identity, this is the book for you. It's about friendship and love, yes, but also about what it means to be heard, to be seen, and to take up space in a world that often wants you to shrink yourself. This book was quietly beautiful. And sometimes, it's the quietest stories that leave the loudest impact.

A description of this book said that if you loved Maame (by Jessica George), which I did (you should read it), you'd enjoy this book. That was a VERY accurate description. I may be a white woman in her 40s, but there is something about reading coming of age (in one's 20s) stories centered around Black, Asian, Indigenous, or people of other racial and ethnic identities that really capture my attention and my heart. These are the stories that help build empathy toward others, open our eyes to other's experiences, and hopefully push people out of their comfortable bubbles of privilege.

As the author said in her acknowledgements, this is a book about friendship. It's also about finding courage within ourselves, fighting back against a world that others people constantly, and forging open lines of communication. There were difficult conversations throughout this book. While I'm glad they occurred, it felt like the author was a bit too intent on building up the tension ahead of those conversations. The big event that happened in secondary school between Shirin and Kian wasn't really explained until a long way into the book and in some ways, it was a little anti-climactic. All of the hard conversations ended well (which is certainly not always the case). The book ended in February 2020 and while it was set in the UK, it would have been really interesting to see how the characters managed the pandemic (and associated global politics).

I found the very blatant criticism of the publishing industry to be excellent, but also a bit hollow. St. Martin's Press, this books' publisher, was under fire last year for Islamophobia perpetuated by one of their employees. There was a boycott and it took SMP a very long time to do anything about it. I was disappointed in how they handled the situation and wasn't particularly impressed with the statements they made. It's a little ironic that the publishing industry is under fire in this particular book. Again, things worked out just fine for Shirin, but the publisher in the book wasn't exactly held accountable. Then again, this book is really about Shirin's character growth, so giving the publisher any more page time isn't really the point.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader copy.

Pre-Read notes

This one is remarkable right out of the gate. Wonderful irony and farce.

Final Review

“We should be able to separate the author from the writing.” Shirin... is stone-faced, though breaking inside, thinking: No, it’s a fucking memoir, you idiots. p144

Review summary and recommendations

Honestly, I think my reading notes carry this review, so check them out. I really loved this one, and it kind of snuck up on me! Not because I didn't realize from the first page that this was a brilliant book, but because the fmc was completely accessible and I was sort of lulled into this soft familiarity. But the story turns often, sometimes in subtle ways. It's a really good story. Recommended to fans of clever literary fiction, smart meta, and dark humor.

"...This isn’t up for debate. My experiences aren’t up for debate, and never will be.” It is that easy. p271

Reading Notes

Six things I loved:

1. Every so often, to alleviate her guilt, she will go to the shops and restaurants that have been there long before the gentrification began, and she will buy something she might not even want. It never quite clears her conscience though. p4 This is great character development, and this is the first page. Expectations raised.

2. But it is okay for him, she thinks , he has had something to drink, whereas she is sober. And she talks about her race enough at work; she is part of too many initatives trying to address the lack of diversity in publishing—labeled “POC” or “underrepresented,” everything other than Iranian— and she doesn’t want to go into it now, not even with Kian. Especially not with Kian. She also doesn’t want to leave. She wants to stay right here next to him. p19 What a brilliant use of meta.

3. Time slips further away. She is enveloped in various conversations, her glass topped up without prompt, and her face hurts from fake smiling. She is pretending to laugh constantly, so much so that she no longer thinks she can call what she is doing laughing but rather making a strange sound at everything the people around her are saying. p63 Jafari's treatment of emotions is so nuanced and accessible, with its little streak of dark humor.

4. [His mother] ran her fingers through his hair and he moved away from her, muttering, “Stop it.” p115 Jafari is a master of character development. This tiny bit of prose reveals so much about both these characters. The mother still needs her adult child to need her, and he will result to at least rudeness to assert his independence.

5. It was a sad realization. Of course, she would realize she found him attractive just as her close friend asked her to be her wing woman. And it’s not like she stood a chance, anyway, if it was between her and Carmen. Everyone fancied Carmen; few liked Shirin in that way. p138 An excellent depiction of the main character's depression.

6. I really love the fmc Shirin's personal politics.

One quibble:

(This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.)

1. I'm not a fan of the narrator's voice here. It's not that she's depressed. For me these are some of the more accessible moments. She felt so painfully like she wasn’t worth anything, unlike her friends, unlike Phoebe, whom everyone liked and who didn’t have hairy fingers that people laughed at. p134 The voice is preoccupied with a whole collection of subjects, so it affects the plot, which is about writing and publishing. Oh yeah, I usually don't like that either because the meta often gets too heavy-handed and disrupts the flow of the narration.

Rating: 📄📄📄📄.5 /5 unpublished proofs
Recommend? yes!
Finished: Mar 27 '25
Format: accessible digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
🪶 literary fiction
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 family drama
👤 character driven stories
🙃 irony and satire

Thank you to the author Sara Jafari, publishers St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an accessible advance digital copy of THINGS LEFT UNSAID. All views are mine.
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this book was too negative and too dei focused for me. I just did not enjoy the story line or characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC.

This book was beautiful, the writing was raw and honest and I was engrossed. The relationships and the in and out, the stability and lack there of, it felt so very real.

This book left a mark on me. Set in the publishing world, I loved the workplace drama and gossip but that it was really so much deeper than that. Shirin was a great protagonist and the mix of past and present timelines added so much complexity and emotion to the story. It allowed the reader to experience Shirin’s traumas and learn how the past can impact the present. It was deep, raw, and written in a way that was easy for the reader to relate to on a human level.

I loved the relationship and history between Shirin and Kian. I particularly liked the way their history unfolded slowly so we got to know them from before, but also as who they are today.

Part coming of age, part romance, part cultural assessment, and so much more - this book had it all. It was well written, the characters were real and fully developed, and the plot had me hooked. I’m reading this for bookclub and it’s the perfect book to discuss.

Thank you to The Book Club Cookbook, St Martins Press, and NetGalley for the copy. Very highly recommend.