All the Things We Never Said

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These three girls have their own issues with their family. Mehreen with her anxiety and depression and she named it as “chaos”. Cara is blaming herself for her father’s death while Olivia is suffering from the things that happened to her when she was fifteen. They talked to each other about their issues. But none of them are brave enough to speak up about how they feel to their family. All the things they never said are just eating them out. We also see bits of the girl's family or especially their mothers. Their relationship with them and how their mother's have their own problems but they too deal with it differently. The way they communicate or trying to help their daughters are too different. It is honestly heartbreaking because we all know our mothers try their best to be the absolute best for their children but they too have their flaws. 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:

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.We get 3 POV in the book. It is a much needed POV. It shows even though we all go through something different, we deal with it different, the depression, anxiety, demons in our head, suicidal thoughts and everything but in a way all of it feels the same. We get different personality from 3 POV, with culture differences, different issues from depression, anxiety, sexual abuse, grief but they all share a common suicidal thoughts. At one point in the book Cara, a wheelchair user and one of the three main characters, has this to say about it:

If you struggle with those triggers, please, please, please, please, PLEASE. Consider if you really want to read this book very well. And even then - take your time. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Mehrín. Cara. Olivia. Všechny tři mají tajemství. Všechny tři jsou tak bezradné a cítí se tak samy, že nevidí jiné východisko. 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. One of my favourite things about this was the depiction of anxiety. Mehreen is incredibly anxious and she calls this anxiety ‘chaos’. Very few authors have truly managed to accurately capture those intrusive thoughts that come hand in hand with anxiety. How loud and deafening they can be and how you know it’s anxiety, you know it isn’t ‘real’ per say, and yet, you can’t ever truly shut that voice off. I also really loved the importance of religion to Mehreen as a coping mechanism. So yeah, I really connected with Mehreen and I can’t even imagine how important that sort of rep is for Muslim and South Asian readers.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.