All the Things We Never Knew - Review

All the Things We Never Knew

By: Liara Tamani

Publication: June 9th 2020 by Greenwillow Books

384 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

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Goodreads description--“Tamani masterfully bounces and slams two hearts up and down a shrouded court of first love and revelations. A hard-to-put-down backboard-breaker.”—Rita Williams-Garcia, National Book Award Finalist and New York Times–bestselling author

From the moment Carli and Rex first locked eyes on a Texas high school basketball court, they both knew it was destiny. But can you truly love someone else if you don’t love yourself? Acclaimed author Liara Tamani’s luminous second novel explores love, family, heartbreak, betrayal, and the power of healing, in gorgeous prose that will appeal to readers of Nicola Yoon and Jacqueline Woodson.

A glance was all it took. That kind of connection, the immediate and raw understanding of another person, just doesn’t come along very often. And as rising stars on their Texas high schools’ respective basketball teams, destined for bright futures in college and beyond, it seems like a match made in heaven. But Carli and Rex have secrets. As do their families.

Liara Tamani, the author of the acclaimed Calling My Name, follows two Black teenagers as they discover how first love, heartbreak, betrayal, and family can shape you—for better or for worse. A novel full of pain, joy, healing, and hope for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, Jacqueline Woodson, and Jenny Han.

“A beautifully poignant love letter: to a first love, to basketball, and to that enigmatic bunch we think we know best, only to discover we don’t know at all—family. Tamani’s latest is a bright shining star.”—David Arnold, New York Times–bestselling author of Mosquitoland

I can't say that I believe in soulmates in real life, but I sure do love to read about them. The term "soulmates" was never used in All the Things We Never Knew but in some ways, the concept was there. The description tells you so this is no surprise, but Carli and Rex have an instant connection. But even if you have an instant connection with someone, that doesn't mean that you won't have to work to maintain your relationship. Or that you will never have problems to work through together.

Man Carli and Rex both have so much to work through. Carli looks like she has a perfect life. Mother, father, brother. A homey, comfortable, warm home. But appearances can be deceiving. Her parents are splitting up. Secrets are coming out and she and her brother, Cole, are having to decide which parent they will live with full-time.

Rex's mother died giving birth to him and his father has been essentially absent. Rex feels guilty for his mother's death and he assumes that his Dad resents him for it too. There's so much pain between these two characters.

I appreciated that Liara Tamani forced the characters to work on themselves before their relationship with each other could work. We have to love ourselves before we can love others, right? There were so many pieces of this story. They all affected the main characters, but the pieces weren't all about the main characters.

The only highlights I had were a couple of comments about white people. Guys, racism is real. It isn't always one-sided. I certainly don't have all of the answers. I don't know if we can celebrate our difference and expect everyone to be blind to them at the same time. Again, I do not have the answers, and I do not know what it feels like to be anything other than what I am. I don't have much to say about this other than the fact that I noted these comments. I also highlighted a quote from Khalil Gibran's Prophet which is one of my all-time favorite books.

I will say that I read this book incredibly fast. I didn't want to put it down. Both main characters had a lot of heavy, heart-wrenching things to work through. But I enjoyed the journey. I can't say I didn't have a few issues. I didn't appreciate the dialect, but this isn't a race thing. Go back through my reviews and you will see that this is a consistent thing I complain about. All the Things We Never Knew gets 3.5 Stars. Have you read All the Things We Never Knew? What did you think? Let me know!