Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

"Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet." That is how Everything I Never Told You begins. Lydia is the 16-year-old daughter of James and Marilyn Lee. Of their three children, Lydia is the favorite, a fact that her older brother Nath and younger sister Hannah are reminded of constantly. For her part Lydia would gladly share the spotlight with her siblings. Being the favored child means carrying all her parents hopes and dreams on her shoulders: her mother Marilyn's burning desire to become a doctor and her father's wish to fit in.

In a mere 292 pages, Celeste Ng manages to tackle multiple issues including race, gender, family dynamics, loneliness, loss, and especially thwarted ambition and unfulfilled dreams. Somehow it all works. And the writing, oh the writing! It is exquisite and haunting. Marilyn and James want the best for their children. The things they say and do to Lydia are said and done with the best of intentions but eventually all their hopes and dream begun to crush Lydia and the reader feels it. Ng perfectly conveys the suffocating love Lydia is desperate to escape, her siblings' yearning to be noticed, and everyone's desperation. Long after the details of the story have faded from memory I'll still remember the writing and the way it felt.