Everything We Never Said

Ella's best friend died over the summer--in a car accident, while Ella was driving. She doesn't remember anything about that day, but she blames herself for Hayley's death, and she knows that other people blame her, too. She turns to Hayley's boyfriend, Sawyer, for comfort--after all, he was the one person who knew Hayley as well as Ella did. But when Hayley's mom asks Ella to clear out Hayley's room, Ella finds a diary... and that diary details some pretty dark aspects of Hayley's relationship.
Ella and Sawyer are growing closer--but as she reads Hayley's diary, she begins to wonder if that's safe. If Sawyer might not be the boy she thought he was. And even worse--she can't seem to stay away from him.

I will say that the Colleen Hoover comp made me very nervous to read this, as I was expecting romanticization of abuse, but I thought Everything We Never Said was very well done. The intrigue kept me on the edge of my seat, I was back and forth on so many theories, and the abuse thread was very well written--Sloan Harlow nailed the complicated emotions that come with being a victim of abuse, and it never felt romanticized in any way.

Definitely check the trigger warnings for this one. There were also a couple sex scenes that pushed the boundary of what I, as an adult, was comfortable reading about considering the characters were teens. But I don't think the scenes were too risqué for upper YA; just that this was one of those moments where I am not the target audience, and that's okay!