Everything We Didn’t Say has taunted me from my TBR for far longer than I care to admit. When I first saw this beauty by Nicole Baart, I had to physically sit on my hands to stop myself from getting it at the time. For months, its cover swam in the static behind my eyes until finally I picked it up.
Juniper Baker left her small town after a tragedy shook it to its core. She ran, and never looked back—not even for the daughter who was born after the incident. Cal and Beth Murphy had been murdered on the neighboring farm, turning suspicion onto her younger brother. It had been impossible for her to imagine picking up the pieces of her life at that time, and she might not have, if it weren’t for her return to the small town she grew up. An old friend of hers has taken ill and requires some help, providing Juniper the anchor she needs to stay long enough to try to make amends with her (now) teenage daughter. And also, perhaps, shed some light on the horrors that haunt her from years before. Horrors that have been drug back up to the surface by a true crime podcaster who is determined to find answers, even if its at the cost of Juniper’s family.
I’ve always been a sucker for a good mystery, and given my own conflicted feelings about true crime as a genre, there was no way I could turn my nose up at this book. I was drawn in from the first page, consumed by Baart’s clean writing style and emotive descriptions. I was immediately drawn into the age-old mystery: whodunnit?
Despite my adoration of the story, I found the reading experience to be a bit underwhelming. The pacing (to me) felt a bit slow. I’m unsure if it’s because of the writing itself, or the two timelines (past and present). What most disappointed me was the lack of connection I felt toward a lot of the characters. I feel like so much attention was paid to carefully crafting this mystery and bread crumbing along the way that I didn’t get to know anyone but Juniper.
If I was reviewing this book based on story alone, this could very easily be a five-star. However, because of the lack of emotional connection with the other characters, the grand reveal at the end (while surprising, and definitely the perfect conclusion to this book) didn’t feel as earth-shattering as it should have.
I am far from disappointed in this book. I really did enjoy this story and felt that it lived up to my own fabricated “hype.” I definitely would recommend this book to anyone who loves small-town mysteries with complex family dynamics!
Have you read Everything We Didn’t Say? Did you like it? If not, are you a fan of the mystery/thriller genre? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section down below!
You can find Nicole Baart: Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, and their website.
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Ivy Whitaker 