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SUMMARY OF Everything I Never Told You: A Novel by Celeste Ng Summary & Analysis
Everything I Never Told You: by Celeste Ng | Summary & Analysis
This is a Summary & Analysis of Everything I Never Told You. Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You is a many-layered novel about family, race, secrets and love. When Marilyn Walker and James Lee meet at college in the late 1950's, a mixed-race relationship is something unusual and socially questionable.
The story begins in the mid-seventies, a time of political and social upheaval, when many parts of life formerly taken for granted are uncertain and subject to change. This is the milieu in which Lydia Lee vanishes one night. The reader knows from the first line that Lydia is dead; what happened to her is not the mystery. The mystery is how it happened. Was it a suicide? Accident? Did someone kill her? If so, who? And why?
This companion to Everything I Never Told You also includes the following:
• Book Review
• Story Setting Analysis
• Story elements you may have missed as we decipher the novel
• Details of Characters & Key Character Analysis
• Summary of the text, with some analytical comments interspersed
• Discussion & Analysis of Themes, Symbols…
• And Much More!
This Analysis of Everything I Never Told You fills the gap, making you understand more while enhancing your reading experience.
This is a Summary & Analysis of Everything I Never Told You. Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You is a many-layered novel about family, race, secrets and love. When Marilyn Walker and James Lee meet at college in the late 1950's, a mixed-race relationship is something unusual and socially questionable.
The story begins in the mid-seventies, a time of political and social upheaval, when many parts of life formerly taken for granted are uncertain and subject to change. This is the milieu in which Lydia Lee vanishes one night. The reader knows from the first line that Lydia is dead; what happened to her is not the mystery. The mystery is how it happened. Was it a suicide? Accident? Did someone kill her? If so, who? And why?
This companion to Everything I Never Told You also includes the following:
• Book Review
• Story Setting Analysis
• Story elements you may have missed as we decipher the novel
• Details of Characters & Key Character Analysis
• Summary of the text, with some analytical comments interspersed
• Discussion & Analysis of Themes, Symbols…
• And Much More!
This Analysis of Everything I Never Told You fills the gap, making you understand more while enhancing your reading experience.
35 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 4, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
August 20, 2015
This beautifully written book touched me so deeply. I almost didn't finish because it was painful witnessing the profoundly life altering hurts these family members caused each other. As I read, I began to examine my life the inadvertent ways I'd impacted my own children based on past unresolved disappointments, desires and things I did not understand about myself. I was glad to see the family coming together at the end because I could only bear reading so much pain but it was an unrealistic ending to me that such a resolution such as that could come so neatly.
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November 19, 2015As someone in bookclub said: Kind of like "The Lovely Bones", but ethnically diverse. Not bad, not great.
August 29, 2015
Много добра, много мъчителна, много умисляща книга. Много ме развълнува и много ме уплаши. Книга задължителна за родители! За справянето и несправянето с различността. За грешките от любов; за бремето на мечтите, с които товарим децата си; за лекотата, с която вярваме на това, в което искаме да вярваме; за връзката между децата в семейството, ревността и съперничеството, магичната сила да виждат невидимотото и да предчувстват неизбежното...
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November 3, 2020Loved this book. She’s a phenomenal writer. Listened to the audiobook cannot read right now.
August 30, 2016
terrible, absolute shit. don't waste your time
December 22, 2015
Very sad , but I still love this book. I love all the characters. My favorite is. Hannah .
April 28, 2021
"The Mysteries of this Asian-American Family"
The book was very good and eye opening. From the very first chapter you get hooked. After that, it drags along the death of Lydia and doesn't tell you what happed to her until the end but it was still very good and I couldn't put the book down. Ng did a very good job of moving from different time periods and still being able to make the story flow. She talked about what it was like being the only Asian American family in town and how other people treated them. The book was very easy to understand and to read. I like how she used the perspectives of every character and not just one or two characters, like in the book "The Great Gatsby". In my opinion I think you should read the book and. I give it a 4/5. It truly shows the different aspects of their lives and being a mixed race family in the 1970's.
The book was very good and eye opening. From the very first chapter you get hooked. After that, it drags along the death of Lydia and doesn't tell you what happed to her until the end but it was still very good and I couldn't put the book down. Ng did a very good job of moving from different time periods and still being able to make the story flow. She talked about what it was like being the only Asian American family in town and how other people treated them. The book was very easy to understand and to read. I like how she used the perspectives of every character and not just one or two characters, like in the book "The Great Gatsby". In my opinion I think you should read the book and. I give it a 4/5. It truly shows the different aspects of their lives and being a mixed race family in the 1970's.
August 1, 2020
Complicated too much words and overlapping storylines, However Cleverly and Skillful book, Relatable Character Especially James, Marilyn and Nath. Probally a 4 or 5 when i read it again when im a lot wiser.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2021
Ng's debut novel, which is getting noticed again because of the success of Little Fires Everywhere, adds many new twists to what sounds like a familiar story: a family struggling to understand the disappearance and death of their teenaged daughter and sister.
April 13, 2021
After thoroughly enjoying the series Little Fires Everywhere, based on Ng's book, I thought I would try one of her books. It is easy to read and very engaging. It actually stayed with me for a while after finishing.
August 20, 2020
A mixed marriage couple continues to hurt each other and their children due to psychological hang-ups from their background. Depressing and too long for the plot.
April 16, 2021
Beautifully written, eye opening, educational. Dives deep into the characters’ psyches, delivering a ‘punch in the gut’ translation as to how poor communication can affect you and those around you.
July 29, 2021
audiobook holy SHIT this book was GOOD. The characters"
November 2, 2021
Difficult to read because of the subject. But very well written. Deep examination of generational pressures.
May 11, 2022
Started very strong but lost its way trying to reconcile at the end.
January 19, 2016
The opening chapter was written incredibly well. After that, it was still written well but didn't hold my attention in the way that I had first hoped. She has a handle on what is what like to be a woman ahead of her time...that "outsider", never taken seriously, diminished by word and action continually...her inner expectations I competition with outer expectations being thrust upon her. Also the ideas of being the "foreigner"...the outsider, not just by nationality but by cultural ranking. .."Oriental" the equivalent of today's Middle Easter or Muslim.
But the story line wasn't enough o hold my interest and I found myself skimming, as I often do if a book just doesn't hold up.
I liked it but didn't love it but would have given it a 3.5 if I'd had that option.
But the story line wasn't enough o hold my interest and I found myself skimming, as I often do if a book just doesn't hold up.
I liked it but didn't love it but would have given it a 3.5 if I'd had that option.
October 15, 2015
This was hard to rate. Better than 3 1/2 but not quite a 4 for me. This is a thriller of sorts. We know from the first page that the sister is dead. The mystery lies in how and why. In solving this mystery the author reveals to us, the readers, all the secrets held by the members of the family which makes me wonder what secrets were/are held in our family. She weaves many themes through these secrets and at times they were overwelming to me which is why I couldn't quite give it an enthusiastic 4. I did really enjoy the novel and it certainly made me think alot about families and the complicated relationships they hold.
December 16, 2015
"Everything that loomed so large close up......all you had to do was step away, and they shrank to nothing. You could stop taking their phone calls, tear up their letters, pretend they’d never existed. Start over as a new person with a new life. Just a problem of geography," pg 263
"You never got what you wanted; you just learned to get by without it." Pg 195
"she hadn’t realized how fragile happiness was, how if you were careless, you could knock it over and shatter it." Pg 272
"What made something precious? Losing it and finding it" pg 280
"You never got what you wanted; you just learned to get by without it." Pg 195
"she hadn’t realized how fragile happiness was, how if you were careless, you could knock it over and shatter it." Pg 272
"What made something precious? Losing it and finding it" pg 280
January 13, 2015
I actually read the book, not the summery and analysis.
Through most of the story, I really hated the family. From the first page, you know Lydia, the 16 year old daughter dies. You learn about the history of the family and what lead up to the death.
What you don't know until the very end of the book, the reason for the death.
The story is about a mixed race couple and the difficulties they have as well as their children in the heartland of the United States.
Through most of the story, I really hated the family. From the first page, you know Lydia, the 16 year old daughter dies. You learn about the history of the family and what lead up to the death.
What you don't know until the very end of the book, the reason for the death.
The story is about a mixed race couple and the difficulties they have as well as their children in the heartland of the United States.
May 19, 2015
My favorite set of summaries
This is the third summary and analysis that I have read by Book Sense. I especially like the organisation of this summary. The basic idea is clear with solid development. The content is clear, which makes the understanding of the original novel much better. I use several parts of these summaries to teach my students how to write them. The price is reasonable.
This is the third summary and analysis that I have read by Book Sense. I especially like the organisation of this summary. The basic idea is clear with solid development. The content is clear, which makes the understanding of the original novel much better. I use several parts of these summaries to teach my students how to write them. The price is reasonable.
November 7, 2015
This is a study about what it feels like to be different in a mostly white, Christian culture. The Lee family have a Chinese father and white mother who seemed to have the perfect life with their three children. However as the reader goes deeper, one sees the insults, the pressures to be like everyone else and the pressure to succeed. Their dreams and hopes are wrapped up in the eldest daughter. When she can no longer handle the pressure, the family explodes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2016
This novel grew on me. The story starts with the death of a teenaged daughter of a Chinese-American man and a white woman, so at first I expected a straightforward suspense/thriller. But this novel is actually quite sophisticated. Race is definitely one factor but gender, sibling rivalry, and marriage are all also beautifully explored. There's great character development of all the members of this mixed race family and realistic interior dialogues the narrator cleverly reveals to the reader.
January 7, 2015
A :-)
Interesting family relationships. The writer is a master of moving the reader to and from different time periods and holding the story together. Suspenseful because you want to learn how each character including Lydia are truly like. Peeking into the Lee family seems so personal you feel you should turn away but can't.
Interesting family relationships. The writer is a master of moving the reader to and from different time periods and holding the story together. Suspenseful because you want to learn how each character including Lydia are truly like. Peeking into the Lee family seems so personal you feel you should turn away but can't.
July 1, 2015
Wow! I really liked this book. I can tell right away if I'm going to be into something or not. I love the author's writing style. It was so easy to read and i also appreciate that she wrote from all of the characters' perspectives. Overall it was a little sad --how one word, one little gesture can change everything. A must read!
November 23, 2015
Listened while driving on family trip. Audio book. Good story but it just didn't keep my interest. Dragged on too much for me. Skipped the next to last disc to hear the ending and be done with the story.
January 9, 2015
Overwhelming sad tale of complicated family relationships that lead to tragedy. Well written, the story unravels a family's struggle to stay true to themselves and each other.
January 14, 2015
Beautifully written.
January 30, 2015
Such a sad book about a family who's untold secrets and unexpressed thoughts and emotions keep them apart. I couldn't reconcile the events/plot with the setting (1970's).
February 1, 2015
Excellent story. Well-written.
February 26, 2015
I think the book is a good discussion book for my book club but did not love the book I found it boring till about page 120 out of 200 pages
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews