Everything We Didn’t Say by Nicole Baart is a heart tearing, beautiful story. The story of this novel is a family drama wrapped in a slow burn thriller. This is my first novel by this author. It is set around a small town in Iowa, where everybody knows everybody’s business. One would feel that it would be difficult to do a crime, particularly a murder, and keep it hidden. But, somebody managed to do that for 14 long years.
Juniper returns to town to help her friend who has cancer and also to see the daughter she abandoned many years prior. There was a tragic incidence many years prior and nothing was ever the same again for Juniper. Her life was flipped around. Similar to her brother’s life. Jonathan was a couple of months younger than June. Nearly twins. They were exceptionally close. Such a lot of changed that day. That mid year. That fourth of July.
A family was killed. Who might have done such a terrible thing? Could it have been Jonathan? Or Sullivan Tate? Or somebody else? Juniper was in love with Sullivan and couldn’t envision him doing such thing. But, where had he been all day. Things turned out badly that day. But, when June returned to assist her friend, Cora, a ton of things changed. She began recollecting a few things. The town appeared to sincerely accept that it was Jonathan despite the fact that he loved Cal and Beth Murphy. They were his companions. What mysteries could they be keeping? For what reason did people in this town appear to hate them to such an extent?
Each family has its privileged insights. The things that they don’t need others to know about. But this time, what could be hiding in the Baker’s life that they didn’t need anybody to know? How many mysteries did they have?
Overall! The plot of Everything We Didn’t Say by Nicole Baart is well paced and the story is well written. There are no unnecessary characters or plot twists. Each character offers something to the storyline. While I guessed the cool case killer, I liked the journey all through. After the slow build to the ending, the end is highly fulfilling. I would recommend this novel to those that like a genuinely fast read that has a secret thrill ride thing going on yet that is somewhat show and a little ‘drifty”, however in the end you don’t feel disappointed or anything with the ultimate result of the main story line.
Also Read: All Her Little Secrets By Wanda M. Morris
