LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
Raw, honest and powerfully emotional this debut novel is an important contribution to understanding mental health and well being.
Three beautifully drawn, distinctive and compelling voices narrate this heartbreakingly honest story. All three are young women dealing with depression and mental health issues. The story starts with Mehren and the depression and anxiety which she personifies as “Chaos” are overwhelming her life causing her to sign up to a terrifyingly authentic suicide website called MementoMori, a website that matches people with partners and allocates them a date and method of death.
This is where she met Cara and Olivia. We learn that Cara is blaming herself for her father’s death and her own injuries while Olivia is suffering from the abuse that started when she was fifteen. The girls share their problems and find strength and friendship while completing the bizarre tasks set them by the website.
The different points of view enable the reader to understand how mental health affects us all differently. The book pulls no punches and librarians and teachers must be wary of triggering descriptions of suicide attempts and abusive situations. But the authentic representations are extremely valuable for increasing understanding and showing that each culture and situation has its own unique problems.
Family relationships and secondary characters are equally well depicted and although dark and intense the resolution is realistically hopeful. An impressive and important debut.
Reviewed by Joy CourtJoy Court is Reviews Editor for The School Librarian journal and Past Chair of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals.
More reviews by Joy Court About All the Things We Never Said
16-year-old Mehreen Miah's anxiety and depression, or 'Chaos', as she calls it, has taken over her life, to the point where she can't bear it any more. So she joins MementoMori, a website that matches people with partners and allocates them a date and method of death, 'the pact'. Mehreen is paired with Cara Saunders and Olivia Castleton, two strangers dealing with their own serious issues.
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All the Things We Never Said Synopsis
16-year-old Mehreen Miah's anxiety and depression, or 'Chaos', as she calls it, has taken over her life, to the point where she can't bear it any more. So she joins MementoMori, a website that matches people with partners and allocates them a date and method of death, 'the pact'. Mehreen is paired with Cara Saunders and Olivia Castleton, two strangers dealing with their own serious issues.
As they secretly meet over the coming days, Mehreen develops a strong bond with Cara and Olivia, the only people who seem to understand what she's going through. But ironically, the thing that brought them together to commit suicide has also created a mutually supportive friendship that makes them realise that, with the right help, life is worth living.
It's not long before all three want out of the pact. But in a terrifying twist of fate, the website won't let them stop, and an increasingly sinister game begins, with MementoMori playing the girls off against each other. A pact is a pact, after all.
In this powerful debut written in three points of view, Yasmin Rahman has created a moving, poignant novel celebrating life. ALL THE THINGS WE NEVER SAID is about friendship, strength and survival.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781471408298 |
| Publication date: |
11th July 2019 |
| Author: |
Yasmin Rahman |
| Publisher: |
Hot Key Books |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
437 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Young Adult Fiction
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| Recommendations: |
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Press Reviews
Yasmin Rahman Press Reviews
Its emotional charge remains riskily intense throughout its substantial length; but the interest of many YA readers is likely to be fully sustained through the girls' contrasting personalities and the circumstances which lead them to MementoMori - Books for Keeps
An absolutely remarkable novel - BBC Radio London, The Scene (Salma El-Wardany)
Captures the inner workings of a depressed mind better than anything else I've ever read. - Robert Muchamore, bestselling author of the Cherub series, Killer T and Arctic Zoo
A gripping, thought-provoking, sometimes shocking thriller. - The Guardian
Told from three viewpoints, this is an ultimately hopeful book, which does not shy away from the mental health pressures that young people may find themselves under. The author has experienced her own version of what Mehreen is going through, in a culture with little understanding of mental illness. This makes Mehreen's narrative all the more powerful and believable, without detracting from those of Cara and Olivia, who are fully realized characters with their own distinctive voices. It is very readable with moments of humour. This is a very timely book dealing with sensitive topics, which does not glorify suicide but aims to show that it is not the answer. Friendship can be truly life-saving. - Armadillo Magazine
Author
About Yasmin Rahman
Yasmin Rahman is a British Muslim born and raised in Hertfordshire. ALL THE THINGS WE NEVER SAID is her first novel. As a child, she wanted to be a postwoman, but decided to settle for being an author. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Hertfordshire and an MA in Writing for Young People from Bath Spa University, both with Distinction. Her short story 'Fortune Favours the Bold' was published in the Stripes anthology A Change is Gonna Come in 2017, with the Bookseller awarding the contributors a YA Book Prize Special Achievement Award 2018 for commitment to making YA publishing more inclusive. When she's not writing, Yasmin makes bookish fan art; her designs are sold worldwide on behalf of John Green.
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