"THINGS WE DIDN'T SAY," by Kristina Riggle, William Morrow, $14.99, 332 pages (f)
“Things We Didn’t Say” by Kristina Riggle is the kind of story that you either love or hate. It’s like an adult version of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" — horrible things just keep happening.
It is the story of a woman named Casey, a 26-year-old who lives with her fiancÉ Michael and his three children. At first, Casey’s bag is packed and she’s ready to leave. Michael has been distant, and Casey just can’t seem to get along with his eldest daughter Angel.
Just as Casey is leaving, the phone rings. She finds out that Michael’s son Dylan is not in school. What’s more, he isn’t just cutting class, he has run away with some girl he met through the Internet.
During the course of the novel, readers find out that Casey is haunted by a past that she would much rather forget. In order to keep her past under wraps, Casey has kept things from Michael that might seriously damage their relationship. If there’s a moral to the story, it’s that people who love each other have to be honest with one another or things fall apart.
In addition to tackling delicate issues like alcoholism and mixed family dynamics, “Things We Didn’t Say” contains profanity and fairly graphic depictions of domestic violence.
There is a silver lining: Riggle has a knack for dialogue and prose. And though she lays the melodrama on pretty thick, the plot is quite compelling and the characters are nuanced and very human.
Even if readers don’t like this type of story, it’s easy to get caught up in it, and even though it feels a bit like a train wreck, “Things We Didn’t Say” has a satisfying ending.
If readers like drama in heavy doses, give “Things We Didn’t Say” a try.
Matthew Seamons lives in Ogden, Utah, and he loves stories.