Everything We Never Said – Sloan Harlow

What do my lightning bolts nails and my Stab sweater have in common?? They all glow

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review

EVERYTHING WE NEVER SAID – Sloan Harlow (Releasing May 28th, 2024)

Book Description:

It’s been months since the accident that killed Ella’s best friend, Hayley, and Ella can’t stop blaming herself. Now Ella is back at school, and everywhere she looks are reminders of her best friend—including Sawyer, Hayley’s boyfriend. Little by little, they grow closer, until Ella realizes something horrifying . . .She’s in love with her dead best friend’s boyfriend.

Racked with guilt, Ella turns to Hayley’s journal, hoping she’ll find something in the pages that will make her feel better about what’s happening. Instead, she discovers that Sawyer has secrets of his own and that his relationship with Hayley wasn’t as picture-perfect as it seemed.

Ella knows she should stay away but finds herself inextricably drawn to him—and scared of everything she never knew about him. Perhaps it’s his grief. Or maybe his desires, cut short by tragedy. Or could it be something twisted only Hayley knew about?

My Thoughts: 3.5/5 stars

This new YA thriller meets dark romance – and let me tell you, I was not expecting the spicy scenes to be a spicy as they were considering the genre. Nothing overwhelming but still surprising. I also think that the author did an incredible job capturing the stages of grief and how overwhelming and all consuming it can be.

Ella feels immense guilt and loneliness after the death of her best friend, Hayley. She blames herself for the car accident that killed her and it trying to come to terms with what happened. She’s back at school and everything reminds her of Hayley, especially her boyfriend Sawyer. They find comfort in each other and Ella slowly realizes she’s falling in love with him.

Add in finding and reading Hayley’s private journal, she begins to learn things about Sawyer that are cause for concern. This book gets exciting but predictable at parts, and I couldn’t complain about how fast it moved. It’s one of those one-sitting reads, and if I didn’t have to work, then it would have been one instead of two!