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    Things We Didn't Say: A Novel
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    Things We Didn't Say: A Novel
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    Things We Didn't Say: A Novel
    Ebook350 pages5 hours

    Things We Didn't Say: A Novel

    By Kristina Riggle

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “Things We Didn’t Say is impossible to put down, and even harder to let go of.”
    —Julie Buxbaum, author of The Opposite of Love

    Kristina Riggle’s star continues to rise. Tiffany Baker, the New York Times bestselling author of The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, says that Riggle, “writes women’s fiction with soul.” In her novel Things We Didn’t Say, the acclaimed author of Real Life & Liars and The Life You’ve Imagined (an Indie Next Notable Book) explores the messiness of life’s love stories, especially those involving teenage almost-stepchildren, a unreliable ex-wife, and the words no parent ever wants to hear: “Your child is missing.” A poignant, honest, and unforgettable novel that fans of Katrina Kittle and Elin Hildenbrand will take into their hearts, Things We Didn’t Say is exactly the sort of well-written, complex relationships story that women love to read, discuss, and share with their friends.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJun 28, 2011
    ISBN9780062092373
    Unavailable
    Things We Didn't Say: A Novel
    Author

    Kristina Riggle

    Kristina Riggle is a published short story writer and coeditor for fiction at the e-zine Literary Mama. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband, two kids, and dog.

    Read more from Kristina Riggle

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    Reviews for Things We Didn't Say

    3.5/5

    46 ratings12 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Great quick read
    • 3/5
      This is a story about blende families and their stuggles. It is also a lesson on keeping secrets from the ones we love. Michael and Casey his fiance are trying to build a life with michaels 3 children.
    • 5/5
      This is the story of a contemporary family in all of its pain and insecurities.It is the father who tries to be the responsible, stable parent. He is there for his children, no matter the chaos that surrounds them. And there is plenty of chaos: divorce, alcoholism, mental illness to name only a few.The ex-wife and mother of the children, two teens and an adolescent, is a selfish, self-absorbed woman. She is unwilling to accept responsibility or blame of any sort.Casey, the girlfriend, is insecure which makes her irresponsible in her own right. Though she has love to offer and good intentions, she is weak.The children are struggling with the issues that come with youth: school, friends, family, but also they are forced to deal with the issues of the adults in their lives.As the title alludes, sometimes it is the things we don’t say that affect us the most. Communication is everything. The things that people say often stay with us, but so do the things that never get said
    • 4/5
      Things We Didn't Say reads like a Jodi Picoult book. Each chapter is narrated by a different character as they tell the story of the Turner family. Michael is a newspaper reporter who lives with his three children Angel, Dylan and Jewel. His ex-wife, Mallory is an alcoholic and his fiancee, Casey is a recovered alcoholic (although no one is aware of that fact...) Instead of going to school one day, Dylan runs away from home. This forces Mallory and Casey to be under the same roof for a few days while the search for Dylan goes on. I found this book to be interesting, and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Picoult's writing.
    • 3/5
      The story of a family: a divorced father, his three children, his live-in girlfriend, his mentally ill ex-wife. The dialogue seemed a bit over-the-top dramatic at times but I stuck with the book to the end and was satisfied with where Ms. Riggle left her characters.
    • 2/5
      The book, although a quick and easy read, is similar to so many other books I've read. It's the common theme of new wife/girlfriend meets crazy ex-wife and/or rude step-kid. In this particular case, the ex-wife was just a little too far-fetched to be taken seriously and the step kid was just too quick witted and mouthy. I had fun reading the book but was turned off at how ridiculous the ex-wife and step child were portrayed in the story.
    • 4/5
      The main character of this book is a young woman that goes by the name of "Casey", which is actually her last name. Her first name is Edna, which she hates, so everyone calls her Casey. She is engaged to Michael, a young father of two girls and a boy, and a volatile ex-wife named Mallory. Michael has a high pressure job as a journalist, and it stresses him out on a regular basis.Michael's father is a very successful doctor, and never lets an opportunity go by to make Michael feel as though his job is not a very good choice for making a living to support his children. Michael always feels as though his father is looking down his nose and flaunting his perceived superiority. Michael's stormy relationship with his father causes alot of irritation.Early on in the story, Michael's son Dylan, disappears. At first no one knows if he has been abducted by a stranger or if he has run away. Since Casey works with computers for her job, so she is recruited to get into Dylan's computer and see if she can find any clues as to where he might be. She discovers that he has been conversing with a girl, and they determine that Dylan has run off to meet up with her and run away together.When Dylan's mother, Michael's ex-wife Mallory hears of the disappearance, she becomes hysterical and blames everything on Casey, who has been living with Michael and the kids. Casey feels terrible, and begins to question herself and wonders if it might be possible that she did not pick up on Dylan's intentions, and that perhaps she might be to blame. Michael seems to coddle Mallory, which in turn frustrates and hurts Casey....but Mallory is a very volatile, high-strung, alcoholic who although she lost custody of the kids, still has very strong feelings about having Casey playing the role of "mother" and resents young Casey and feels threatened by her presence in her children's lives.Casey has issues with alcohol herself, but Michael does not realize to what extent alcohol plays in her life. Although she does not make a habit of drinking....in fact, she tries to avoid it due to the problems Mallory has had and the way Michael feels about it.....she begins to feel like she needs a drink to cope with all that is going on in the household with Dylan's disappearance.The story proceeds on, with lots of drama between Michael, Casey and Mallory. Michael's daughter Angel discovers some very personal things in Casey's journal and Angel lets Casey know that she knows about these things, which causes alot of turmoil in their relationship.Dylan is finally located and brought back home by Michael and his father. Mallory deceives Casey one night while the guys are gone and under the guise of friendship, gets Casey drunk on whisky and when Michael brings Dylan home, he sees Casey intoxicated and blames her for falling apart just when he needs her to be a stable force for the other children during the crisis with Dylan. Michael does not realize that Mallory has set out to cause problems between Casey and himself. Casey begins to feel as though she is not valued in Michael's eyes the way she needs to feel.....and begins to emotionally withdraw. Michael's continued reluctance to be firm with Mallory is taking it's toll on his relationship with Casey.Then, a near tragedy with Michael's youngest daughter choking on a piece of candy, sets a whole new thrust in the story in motion.....as Dylan stands up for Casey, who actually saves the young girl by doing the Heimlich maneuver. Dylan tells his dad that Casey saved her and Mallory was irresponsible in ignoring the risk to the young girl of jumping with candy in her mouth.Eventually, Michael begins to see things as they really are, the daughter Angel begins to soften towards Casey, and Mallory's crazy behavior is getting to be more than Michael wants to endure, and the ending brings Michael and Casey together once more, closer than ever.The book was extremely well written, it was hard to put down. I would highly recommend this book to all.
    • 3/5
      Some people lead lives full of problems. In Things We Didn’t Say by Kristina Riggle, 26-year-old Casey has a mess of them. She’s engaged to Michael, a man 10-years her senior, who has three children with an ex-wife who is a non-recovering alcoholic with multiple mental disorders. Casey’s secrets come back to haunt her when Michael’s middle child, Dylan, disappears after being dropped off at school one day and his oldest child, Angel, finds Casey’s journal and reads it.It’s infrequent that there are no sympathetic characters in a novel, but I feel like Ms. Riggle may have wanted it this way. The novel is often gritty and you can truly relate to Casey’s need to get away from the overbearing Michael who has not an ounce of empathy in his self-absorbed body. While Casey is the youngest adult in the novel, she’s often the most accepting and tolerant and I found myself wanting to leave this novel to get away from her situation. While they search for Dylan, Casey is forced to deal with Michael’s ex-wife, who is vilified in her need for her children and her oppositional use of them to get Michael back into her life. Casey, herself, seems at odds with her care for the children and her wanting of them to get away from her so she could have Michael to herself and this novel takes the wicked mother/exhausted-wicked stepmother idea to the edge of what it can possibly be without leaving reality.Overall, this is not your beach read and it can be mentally exhausting at times. However, for those that are looking for a realistic portrayal of a difficult situation made more difficult by a crisis, this is going to hit all of the emotional buttons. My only catch was that the ending felt inauthentic to me, but the character wasn’t mine to choose her path.Disclaimer: I received this book for free in order to review it! Thanks for letting me share my thoughts.
    • 5/5
      I started this book last night and couldn't put it down. When I had to put it down, I wondered what was going to happen next.It's the story of Michael a father of 3 children and Casey his girlfriend/fiance (after not many months) who live together. The mother, Mallory, an alcoholic, whom Michael recently divorced is still in the picture sharing custody. Also in the picture is Michael's parents - a local well-to-do doctor.The story starts with Casey being at the end of her rope in the relationship feeling taken for granted by Michael and treated poorly by the 16 year old daughter. She writes a letter of goodbye and leaves it for Michael. On her way out the door the son's school calls - he didn't show up at school that day even though Michael had dropped him off. Pretty much from there all hell breaks loose.There was alot going on -- alot of emotions, alot not being said. Something with all of them just clicked with me -- the father trying to keep it so altogether that he can't relax; the kids being torn between their father whom they know if right, and their mother who they love (but know is kind of crazy). Throw in someone new - someone 10 years younger than their father that they feel is trying to take their mothers place - and there's bound to be hurt feelings and anger.
    • 5/5
      I started this book last night and couldn't put it down. When I had to put it down, I wondered what was going to happen next.It's the story of Michael a father of 3 children and Casey his girlfriend/fiance (after not many months) who live together. The mother, Mallory, an alcoholic, whom Michael recently divorced is still in the picture sharing custody. Also in the picture is Michael's parents - a local well-to-do doctor.The story starts with Casey being at the end of her rope in the relationship feeling taken for granted by Michael and treated poorly by the 16 year old daughter. She writes a letter of goodbye and leaves it for Michael. On her way out the door the son's school calls - he didn't show up at school that day even though Michael had dropped him off. Pretty much from there all hell breaks loose.There was alot going on -- alot of emotions, alot not being said. Something with all of them just clicked with me -- the father trying to keep it so altogether that he can't relax; the kids being torn between their father whom they know if right, and their mother who they love (but know is kind of crazy). Throw in someone new - someone 10 years younger than their father that they feel is trying to take their mothers place - and there's bound to be hurt feelings and anger.
    • 2/5
      Things We Didn't Say has to be one of the most infuriating novels I've ever read. I wanted to slam this book against the wall repeatedly. Why? Because the characters themselves are infuriating. Seriously, EVERY SINGLE character in this book was an idiot. Not only that, but there were also so many other infuriating things. I was groaning to myself repeatedly thinking "Bitch!" and "Moron!" and "Asshole!" I wanted to tell all of them to open their eyes, get a life, and stop freakin' complaining. Oh, except for Dylan. The kid that RAN AWAY for no DISCERNBLE reason was more likeable than all of the adults and teens in this book. Now that I got THAT off my chest, let me say that the main character really isn't that bad. Don't get me wrong, she is an idiot, but she has a pretty good reason to be an idiot. She's in love...with a douche bag...who's daughter and ex-wife are the biggest bitches known to man. In fact, the thing that most annoyed me was how determined Casey was to stick it out. I kept thinking "You are SO much better than this!" Let's start with Casey's fiance. This guy is just an idiot. He just bends to the every whim of his manipulative ex-wife (whom I will get to shortly). Okay, dude, let me show you where your priorities should lie: number 1 goes to your kids. There's no doubt in my mind about that. Number 2 goes to your fiance! You know, the woman who's putting up with all of your crap. You put yourself at number 3, followed by your even more annoying father at number 4. Your ex-wife falls wayyyy down in the totem pole, especially if she's a manipulative drunk who can't be trusted with your children. Common sense. Now, the 16 year old daughter was no better than the manipulative ex-wife (who's coming up in my little tirade). I understand that she's a teenage girl and that they're bratty. But, seriously, I don't want to read about it. Reading about manipulative teenagers who are bitches for no good reason is not my idea of fun. And the dad just kept on excusing her behavior with the whole "she comes from a broken home" schtick. Dude, there are tons of kids who come from broken homes who are nice a lot of the time. You're doing her absolutely no favors if you start excusing her every whim and letting her get away with her bitchy attitude towards undeserving people i.e. YOUR FIANCE! I wouldn't have called her a bitch in my diary, though. I would've called her one to her face...in front of her father...and his manipulative ex-wife who is now coming up in my tirade. I HATED the ex-wife...with a burning passion. I hated her so much that I seriously debated in putting down the book, not finishing it, and just writing my LibraryThing review on what I did read. The author said in the back of the ARC that she struggled in writing that character because she didn't want her to come out as a caricature of a villain. I'm sorry to say this, but that's exactly the way she came out. She just didn't come out as believable to me. Maybe that's why I hated her so much... So, if I have so many complaints about the book, why did I give it two stars? Because it was a page-turner. Seriously, I read it in two hours and a half and didn't move at all. Could I have put it down? I comtemplated it while I was reading about the ex-wife and finishing a book is not a compulsion I have (I don't mind dropping a book 50 pages from the end, if I'm not enjoying it). I just kept reading because I had to figure out how it was going to end. I couldn't figure out an ending that I would have liked to have read. Which is why I have a complaint about the ending...I'm sorry but you can't throw that much melodrama at me (my God was this book just full of melodrama) and then try to wrap it up in a pretty little bow with a happily ever after attached on the greeting card. It's just not going to work for me. All in all, I didn't really enjoy Things We Didn't Say. However, I'm weird, so I'm glad I disliked it rather than feeling "meh" about it (just because it leaves me with more impassioned reviews). I didn't hate the book, I just hated a lot of the characters. But again, it was an extreme page-turner. Will I read more of Kristina Riggle's (for some reason, I'm loving the last name) work? I actually think I would. The fact that I read this book so fast and was so interested as to the outcome leads me to believe that if she were to write characters I'd actually like, I would enjoy her work. So, we'll see on my next trip to the library I guess...
    • 1/5
      I couldn't even get through half of this book. The main plot revolves around a missing teen boy and his dysfunctional family, which includes two siblings, a mother and a father who are divorced, and the father's fiance. At the beginning of the book, we learn that the father's fiance is prepared to end the relationship because she dislikes essentially everyone in the family and everyone except for her fiance dislikes her. Dislike is the entire undercurrent of the book, which is why I couldn't tolerate it. No one likes anyone else in the book and everyone is totally miserable although, in most instances, it wasn't clear why. Because of the general mutual hatred all of the characters have for each other and the absence of any character development prior to the teenage boy going missing, I couldn't bring myself to care about where the missing boy went or why. All I knew is that I wished I were with him as it had to be a place that was happier and more interesting than the household he came from.