Everything We Never Said by Sloan Harlow #bookreview #YA #thriller #contemporary #romance #suspense

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

Title: Everything We Never Said

Author:  Sloan Harlow

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: May 28, 2024

Page Count:  320

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

Dark romance, high stakes, and plot twists abound in this paperback original YA thriller that’s perfect for fans of Colleen Hoover.

What you don’t know can hurt you….

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? 

A dark, romantic thriller perfect for fans of Colleen Hoover and Laura Nowlin, Everything We Never Said explores the secrets in even the best of friendships and asks how well you ever know the ones you love.

Everything We Never Said by Sloan Harlow is a young adult novel that starts off feeling more like a contemporary romance but then takes a turn into a suspenseful thriller. The story in Everything We Never Said is one that switches the point of view between the main characters but also is told through reading past diary entries.

Ella has been recovering for months from an automobile accident that she feels was entirely her fault. Every day Ella has struggled with dealing with the loss of her best friend, Hayley, in that accident and now she needs to return to school which will never be the same with Hayley gone.

Everywhere Ella turns there are reminders of Hayley but the biggest reminder comes when Ella sees Sawyer, Hayley’s boyfriend. The more time Ella spends around Sawyer the closer they become but Ella doesn’t feel that falling for Sawyer is fair to Hayley. To get some perspective into Hayley’s life before Ella begins to read her diary but what she reads shows a very dark side to Hayley’s life she never knew existed.

Everything We Never Said by Sloan Harlow is a debut novel so going in I didn’t know what to expect but when finishing I actually found I enjoyed this story. The book may not be for everyone with it really feeling like it switches genres but being someone that loves both genres I was fine with the slow healing, romance building beginning before the suspense kicks in. Things take a nice twist and pick up adrenaline as you move through this one so if you enjoy a cross genre story this one may be for you.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Sloan Harlow was interested in writing from a very young age. Everything We Never Said is her debut novel. She lives in Georgia with her black cat, Pabu, where she’s trying to eat as much ube ice cream as possible.