All The Things We Never Knew

     I've heard an adage--hurt people hurt people--a number of times. But I never had a real sense of its meaning until I read Liara Tamani's All The Things We Never Knew.

     When Carli faints at a high school basketball tournament Rex catches her. Even after paramedics take her away he can't stop thinking about her, wondering how she is. On the way home from the game he learns from her brother's IG that she had a gallbladder attack and will have to have her the defective organ removed. That night he breaks up with his girlfriend. He cuts school to see Carli before her operation. 

     It turns out his feelings are reciprocated. And as they start getting to know each other things are looking good. 

    But remember what I said? Rex's mother died in childbirth. His father seems to blame him for the loss of his life companion. He's hardly ever home. And when he is he's never in the same room with his son. Despite his popularity at school Rex is desperately lonely. 

     Although Carli is a very talented basketball player she hasn't enjoyed the game since middle school. She's afraid of how her teammates and everyone who's counting on her will react if she quits the team. And she has no passion to replace it with. As if that isn't stress enough there's her parents' imminent divorce. Carli and her brother, Cole, have to tell a judge which parent they want to live with. 

     So the relationship is rocky, full of hurts and regrets. 

     Despite their flaws both Rex and Carli have a lot of goodness in them. I don't see it as possible to read their highly engaging story without pulling for them, wanting them to succeed. 

     I highly recommend this thought provoking, emotion provoking, and bittersweet narrative to readers in its target demographic and way beyond. 

On a purrrsonal note, this is a good news/bad news thing. I went to see my neurologist. The fabulous news is that he considers my brain recovery--as in getting my masters degree after a stroke--phenomenal. The bad news is that I have to cut down drastically on sugar. And it's not just that, where I've already cut back on fats, sodium, and caffeine, stuff like ice cream is all I enjoy these days. Without those calories and with my metabolism I have no idea how I'll stay over 100 pounds. I used to enjoy food as much as anyone else. Now I wish I could take pills and never have to eat or think about food ever again. 

A great big shout out goes out to my neurologist who actually listens to me and treats me like an intelligent human being. 

Jules Hathaway 

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