Things We Never Said

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Invisible disabilities?’ Mum asks. The sarcasm in her voice is the first thing I’ve been able to relate to her about in ages." It's an interesting concept and all three girls personalities were so different and yet worked well as they grew together. It's also super diverse. Mehreen, arguably the main character of the three, is a British Muslim with anxiety and depression. There's also a wheelchair user and a survivor of sexual assault. it's all about the power of friendship between them, about love and grief and healing, and it really shows just how much strength it takes to fight with yourself every day and keep going. Olivia. Oh my Olivia. Everything in her story was so true. Her thoughts"Who would believe me a lowly girl over a lawyer". This is so common! Read Marilyn Monroe's story, who would believe her over a grown respectable man. I wish this was talked about more, so we could bring light that it is SO SO important to listen to the victim to tell girls we believe you we love you and we protect you. The author handled this issue so well, and thank you so much for the ending. Olivia deserved it, we deserved a happy ending for her. I HOPE THAT RASCAL GOES TO HELL. I first read Yasmin’s short story in A Change is Gonna Come and really loved it so I was really looking forward to reading her debut book. So I knew as soon as I heard about this book that I would love it and it did not disappoint! Cara is disabled from an accident that she believes she caused. She believes she "k**led" her dad. You can imagine how the burden of this and the disability itself might affect a person. The author wrote her point of view so well. I could feel the anger in her. I'm not disabled nor have I ever been so I can't say how realistic this in real life but I could imagine it very realistically so kudos to the author.

In the present day, Jonathan is grieving after the loss of his father. A cold, distant man, he was not easy to love, but at least while he lived there was hope for reconciliation. Then a detective turns up on Jonathan’s doorstep to question him about crimes he believes Jonathan’s father may have committed long ago… There were so many things that I loved about this book. It had me thinking quite a bit about "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks, and I will tell anyone who asks that "The Notebook" has been my favorite since I read it.

Broadcasts

It seems like a miracle when they sign their lives away to 'mementomori.com'; it seems like their fantasies of escaping this world can finally become an actuality. Each chapter starts with a description of the photograph -- Snapshot #1, Snapshot #2, etc. They were well-described, although I found myself wishing that we could actually see them. In some cases, we get Sean's reaction to the photo before we "hear" Catherine's narration, and in some cases, the narration comes first. This is how we learn Sean and Catherine's whole story and how we learn the things that Catherine never spoke about. Some of the things will make you love her more, and some of them will make you really despise the way she chose to reveal her secrets. At one point in the book (you'll know when), I was thinking that I really hated that the story went there, that some things are better left unsaid. But by the end, I could appreciate that this was Catherine's grieving process, that she didn't want to leave anything unsaid even if she wasn't there to face the music, and it was her way of helping Sean through his grief by reminding him of their love story. When he finishes going through all of the envelopes, it's been nearly eight months since Catherine's death, and we have watched him go through all the stages of grief and start the road to acceptance and healing and confirming his belief in destiny. The concept of this book is something I was looking for and I loved how this book focuses more on family and friendship. The writing is so good and beautiful. I liked it when I feel those three girls are really close to me. Like I know them for so long and I just don’t wanna let them go. I’ve been laughing, cussing and almost cried for them. There’s no romance part in this book and I feel okay about it because the main focus was on Mehreen, Cara and Olivia. It’s a very moving story about grief and a man’s struggle to get through while maintaining his relationships with his daughter, family and friends. While he listens to the cassettes he also reflects on his own life and makes changes to his current life. He has been thinking about what Catherine said, that he has stopped singing. He’s been trying to work out when and why that happened and has realised that he’s even stopped listening to music.”

More than anything, I loved her unwavering relationship with her faith. The novel begins with her standing in prayer and really captures how peaceful the act is for many Muslims. This feeling of tranquillity juxtaposed with Mehreen’s Chaos was a particularly powerful image. I also loved the conflict she faced in justifying suicide when it goes against the teachings of Islam. The book has three points of view but it is easy to distinguish between them as they each have distinct voices and personalities. All three girls are struggling yet when they meet each other, even they cannot understand why the others would want to commit suicide and I thought it was so important to see that. That just by looking at someone, even if they are smiling and laughing, they could still be drowning inside. They could still be struggling to cope with everything that is happening in their life. So it’s important not to dismiss someone, just because they look okay. I really connected emotionally with this story and these characters. There were times that the story was uplifting and other times that were actually amusing. The story shares how both a father and daughter can come to terms with the loss of a wife and mother in very different ways.I found this to be a very enjoyable book. Yes, there was a lot of reminiscing of this couple over their past vacations, raising their child, etc. but there was also hurts identified and secrets revealed. As stated on the terms and conditions, the three of them are forced to establish a suicide pact, and are required to complete a series of challenges before their termination date.

Aunque de contenido simple, de forma hermosa. La estructura, dividida en descripción de fotografías, cintas de audio del pasado y escenas del presente, me parece acertada y original. Some of Catherine’s revelations are very painful for Sean and I thought it very unfair for him to be finding these things out when she had passed, maybe it was easier for her to reveal them that way, but it caused him lots of different emotions and he was still trying to deal with the grief of losing her. However, I did really love the way Olivia’s character was written. From an outside perspective, Mehreen and Cara observe how Olivia isn’t someone who looks depressed. She’s incredibly chirpy for someone who makes a suicide pact with two strangers she hardly knows. But on the inside, when we read from her point of view, we see a completely different story. This, for me, was one of the most important aspects of the novel, stressing that you really don’t know what someone else is going through. First off, I'm not sure if this book was published before or not, because I found another version of the book published in 2019. I'll be writing my review for this version on goodreads because this is the review I read (incase they really are different books).This book begins at the funeral of Catherine Campbell, wife to Sean and mother to April. Sean and Catherine are both in their early 50’s, living in Cambridge, when Catherine is diagnosed with cancer. Their daughter, April, is in her 30’s and is living in London. Catherine’s decline is rapid and two years after diagnosis she has passed away. Mehreen is such a wonderful character, she’s unapologetically, unflinchingly Muslim. We see her pray and talk about how that helps her, we even get a scene where the girls go out for a meal and they find somewhere halal so Mehreen can eat and I loved that Cara and Olivia were so understanding and accepting of it. I know how you can feel so left out if you’re the only Muslim in the group. But one of my favourite things that Yasmin spoke about is something that is SO IMPORTANT when speaking about mental health and especially suicide in Muslim communities. That Mehreen did not commit suicide because of her love for Allah, and that takes strength. Sean spends the week feeling jealous. He’s fully aware that it’s absurd to be feeling jealous of one’s late wife’s ex-boyfriend from thirty-five years ago, but he can’t help himself.” Another important theme throughout the book was friendship. How having true, understanding friends, who don’t judge you can help you get through your worst times and even save your life. Having friends that you can open up to about your mental health and they will be there for you. That’s the friendship that they found in each other, when they felt that they couldn’t speak to anyone about how they were feeling, and what made them realise that actually they want to live. There does however need to be a balance, that although friends can help you a lot it is still important to seek professional help. This book was rlly good. The characters were all lovely, the rep was excellent and the plot was gripping. I liked the diversity of all the characters and their issues, and not just the main characters but their families too.