Things Left Unsaid by Courtney Walsh Book Review

Things Left Unsaid by Courtney Walsh
Publisher description:
Lyndie St. James is thrilled that her best friend, Elle, is getting married but unprepared for the emotional storm of the wedding week and returning to her childhood summer home of Sweethaven. The idyllic cottage community harbors some of her best-and worst-memories. It's not only the tragic death of her childhood friend Cassie that has haunted her for ten years, it's the other secrets she's buried that have kept her from moving on.

But Lyndie isn't the only one with secrets. Cassie's mother, father and brother, still struggling with the loss, have been drifting further and further apart. And Elle herself, the last to see Cassie alive, carries an impossible burden of guilt. Not reunited, each of them has a choice: to reveal the truths of that night or continue to live in its shadow. That means embarking on a personal journey of the heart-to escape the darkness and all its regrets and to finally come to terms with the past and, especially, with each other.

I had a hard time with this book. I think it was mostly due to the fact the characters were so hard to connect with. Lyndie especially just came across as very unlikable for most of the book, and I figured out her secret pretty early on. 

Karen was probably the most identifiable to me. Her struggles with her marriage and her need to almost smother those around her seemed very real for someone having lost a child.

I felt myself getting a bit frustrated with each character. As in: why won't you just talk to someone about this? GO SEE A COUNSELOR OR SOMETHING! I can understand that sometimes it's hard to admit we have a problem or that something is wrong, but all of their issues were so big that it seemed weird that they couldn't see it.

Minor spoiler ahead:
I got extremely frustrated by the fact that Lyndie spent SO much of the book lamenting the fact that she just wanted Tucker to notice her when they were young, but after we learn what happened between them it was like, well he certainly noticed you! I couldn't understand how there was 'nothing' between them until the night Cassie died. Really?

I guess I was expecting something a little more. There's this huge secret surrounding Cassie's death and I guess maybe it's the Dateline watching/true crime junkie side of me that was expecting something more mysterious relating to Cassie's death. There just was a bit of a letdown once everyone's secrets were out. There was this buildup to a big moment and then sort of a letdown once it was all out.

This book is packed with emotion and maybe that was part of the problem for me. I am more logical and not one to base decisions on emotions, so it was hard to identify with that aspect of this book. I can certainly understand other people who are more emotional, it's just every emotion seemed so extreme here.

While I really like some of Courtney Walsh's other books, I'd recommend skipping this and going with Just Look Up.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.