by Nicole Maggi
Synopsis:
Three secrets. One decision. A friendship that will change everything.
Mellie has always been the reliable friend, the good student, the doting daughter. But when an unspeakable act leads her to withdraw from everyone she loves, she is faced with a life-altering choice―a choice she must face alone.
Lise stands up―and speaks out―for what she believes in. And when she notices Mellie acting strangely, she gets caught up in trying to save her...all while trying to protect her own secret. One that might be the key to helping Mellie.
Told through Mellie and Lise's journal entries, this powerful, emotional novel chronicles Mellie's struggle to decide what is right for her and the unbreakable bond formed by the two girls on their journey.
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Expected Publication date: October 2nd 2018
Source/Format: eARC/Netgalley
Pre-order links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Indiebound | Book Depository
My Rating: ★★★★★
My Thoughts:
The journal writing was supposed to be just a school assignment. But for two months, it became a sort of Mellie’s confidante and Lise’s sound-board. In Mellie’s first journal entry, she revealed that she was raped and...wait...I think I’ve said too much already. I have to stop giving any background ‘coz it’s much better to dive blind into this book. Fortunately the Goodreads synopsis is very vague, so I will also try to be vague as much as I can to avoid spoiling anything.
The synopsis hinted at some secrets surrounding our characters. One such secret is that Mellie was raped. As a daughter of the mayor with tight moral values, Mellie cannot bring herself to tell anyone about it. So, she used journal-writing as her emotional outlet. Through this journaling style, the book was able to play out effective stunts of dramatic irony. As a reader, I am privy to these info and secrets before some characters do and I read in anticipation on how these characters will react when these things unfold upon them. Like, I know before Mellie and Lise know themselves that their paths SHOULD cross and they SHOULD become friends. Highlight, emphasis and all-caps for SHOULD because this friendship is simply PERFECTION. After a slow-burn build-up to their relationship, I felt rewarded for waiting for their friendship to blossom. Also, the rapist’s identity is heavily hinted at pretty early that at 11% of the book, I am pretty much sure of who he is. But the longer his identity was held unknown to the other characters, the longer the tension is for the impending family confrontation. When Mellie finally reveals it to her family, it was a glorious moment of release for me as a very invested reader.
Let’s talk about Lise, who is a dynamic character in her own way. Lise’s experiences in the book lead to her journey of self-discovery about what career she wants to pursue in the future. She is the source of a much needed comic relief and woke wisdom. Her first journal entry is a gripe about the school board that turned down her petition for a gender-neutral dress code. She is the organizer of a Women’s Day Fair in school. Being a youth activist is part of her personality. But she has her own secret which holds her back from fully helping Mellie. She became more endearing as a character when she decided to take the risk of revealing this secret just to be a real friend to Mellie. Basically, I have a big space in my heart for both girls in this book.
The most important thing about “What They Don’t Know” is how it showed me a perspective that challenged my own prejudices. The book pointed out to me that I have never ever been in Mellie’s situation before so I have no right to judge her. Yes I have my own set of beliefs, one of which is that I am a Christian. But being religious does not give me any excuse to condemn anyone for making a choice about a horrible experience that never happened to me. The overarching theme of the book is choice. Not a few times did Mellie end her journal entry with a heart-wrenching, “I don’t have a choice. Do I?” I teared up for all those times when Mellie felt ashamed, alone, isolated, and out of options. I walked into this book with a set of opinions prescribed by the social norms and walked out shookt, confused and asking: Why should us women feel awful when deciding for our own bodies?
Diversity Watch:
Setting: Colorado, USAMellie Rivers – racially indeterminate in text (In the book cover tho, she is blonde)
Lise Grant – physically described with green eyes with flecks of gold (She is also blonde in the book cover)
Cara Sullivan – Lise’s bestfriend, physically described with blue eyes.
Alanna – Lise’s mom, physically described with black hair and gray-blue eyes
Daphne - is Alanna’s driver. She has a baby with her wife, Dora.
Stella Jacobs-Meyer – a periphery character from ten years ago. It is mentioned that she has two dads.
Dean Frasier – a periphery character in one of Mellie’s classes. It is mentioned that he is a closet gay.
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I'd love to hear from you!
Have you read this book already? If not yet, are you going to pick it up in the future? Have you had a teacher assign journal-writing to your class? What was your experience like sharing your inner-most thoughts in that journal knowing that someone else would read it?
Have you read this book already? If not yet, are you going to pick it up in the future? Have you had a teacher assign journal-writing to your class? What was your experience like sharing your inner-most thoughts in that journal knowing that someone else would read it?
