Every Word You Never Said

Every Word You Never Said

  • Downloads:5360
  • Type:Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date:2022-05-09 08:51:58
  • Update Date:2025-09-07
  • Status:finish
  • Author:Jordon Greene
  • ISBN:1735437360
  • Environment:PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Summary

HEARTSTOPPER meets FOOTLOOSE in this cute young adult romance about first love, embracing what makes you different, and standing up for what you believe。

⁠— ⁠— ⁠— ⁠— ⁠— ⁠— ⁠—

Jacob Walters′s dad has worked to make his son′s life a living hell。 But when the cute new transfer student suffers his father′s wrath, Jacob must make the hardest decisions of his life。

Skylar Gray is adopted, nonverbal, and he feels most comfortable wearing skirts。 Life has never been easy, but with a fresh start at a brand-new school, with new parents and in a new state, he just might finally make some friends。 Maybe。 Honestly it′s hard to focus on anything when gorgeous rocker boy Jacob is around。 But it′s hard for Skylar to trust anyone when people have always been quick to ditch him at the first inconvenience; they always seem more than ready to judge him as defective。 And the bullies love to confirm it。 Skylar has only ever had himself, so why would anything be different this time? Especially for an anxious boy with literally no voice。

Jacob doesn′t give a damn, especially not since he came out over the summer。 He expected the hate he got from his father, who mostly acts as if it never happened, but he refuses to let it hold him back。 It doesn′t matter, Jacob′s over it。 He's going to paint his nails, dye his hair, and strike a heavy rift on his guitar if he wants to, even if it means being grounded most of senior year。 But when the cute nonverbal transfer student, Skylar, wears a skirt to school, prompting a sexist new dress code proposal, Jacob decides it′s time to take a stand, no matter the risk to himself。




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TW: Homophobia & Homophobic Slurs, Bullying, Sexism, Ableism, Religious Trauma

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Reviews

A

4。5

Skylar

This story was so sweet! If you love dual POV romance, slowburn, and grumpy x sunshine, I’d recommend it。 I love Greene’s writing style and how he paints a vivid picture of each scene。 (I’ll never enter a corn maze again without thinking of this book and smiling 💗)It was great to see representation of a nonverbal protagonist, and the experiences of gay teens *after* coming out。 Fair warning that it does cover darker subjects like homophobia, ableism and bullying, and it doesn’t write them off wi This story was so sweet! If you love dual POV romance, slowburn, and grumpy x sunshine, I’d recommend it。 I love Greene’s writing style and how he paints a vivid picture of each scene。 (I’ll never enter a corn maze again without thinking of this book and smiling 💗)It was great to see representation of a nonverbal protagonist, and the experiences of gay teens *after* coming out。 Fair warning that it does cover darker subjects like homophobia, ableism and bullying, and it doesn’t write them off with easy solutions— but overall the story is full of hope and warmth。 It also offers a nuanced look at religion and LGBTQ+ rights that I appreciated。 I can see the comparisons to “Heartstopper,” and it also reminded me of “Cemetery Boys” with its exploration of LGBTQ+ experiences in traditionally conservative spaces / family structures。 That said, “Every Word You Never Said” is its own unique story and it deserves a spot on everyone’s shelf of fluffy YA LGBTQ+ reads。 (P。S。 Echoing other reviews- if you can, splurge and get the hardcover!! I love both the sleeve art and the cover art so much that I can’t decide which to display。 It’s a good problem to have。) 。。。more

Lea Falls

Dang, I was sooo excited for this one。。。A lot of it just wasn't for me, but like other reviewers, I do have to point out that there's some unchecked racism and ableism in it。 As a disabled person, I was uncomfortable with how disability was depicted/talked about in it。 I know they're teenagers but the love interest using words like “cringe” and “weird” for it at times was so disappointing。 Also as a heads up, Skyler is nonverbal (though I thought we're using non-speaking nowadays?) because of la Dang, I was sooo excited for this one。。。A lot of it just wasn't for me, but like other reviewers, I do have to point out that there's some unchecked racism and ableism in it。 As a disabled person, I was uncomfortable with how disability was depicted/talked about in it。 I know they're teenagers but the love interest using words like “cringe” and “weird” for it at times was so disappointing。 Also as a heads up, Skyler is nonverbal (though I thought we're using non-speaking nowadays?) because of laryngitis。 He's not autistic。 My bad on the confusion, but in case someone else misreads the blurb I wanted to point it out!Oh, and one more random rant moment—It’s not that easy to read lips!! I've met about two people in my life who know how to do it and am deeply confused how all these kids are just naturally great at it? Also, I wish Skyler talking wouldn't have been described as “Siri says” each time。 It feels a bit dehumanizing。 But yeah, not for me。 。。。more

Maya

2,5⭐️Would I classify this as a romance book? hmm no。 Did it have romantic moments? sure。 The inclusivity was great, don’t get me wrong。 But marketing this as “love at first sight” and then having half the book go by without them acting on their feelings was not great。 I ate this book up though。

Bob

This was a sweet story with a touch of angst。 It’s the first time I’ve encountered a nonverbal character and I thought it was handled well。 I’ve never heard of many of the songs and band names referenced, so that went over my head。 Some reviews I read were picky about the character’s personalities because they were not true to life。 Well, guess what? This it’s a fictional story in the YA LGBTQ+ genre。 So get over yourselves and try to just enjoy the story line。 Overall, I enjoyed this book。 The This was a sweet story with a touch of angst。 It’s the first time I’ve encountered a nonverbal character and I thought it was handled well。 I’ve never heard of many of the songs and band names referenced, so that went over my head。 Some reviews I read were picky about the character’s personalities because they were not true to life。 Well, guess what? This it’s a fictional story in the YA LGBTQ+ genre。 So get over yourselves and try to just enjoy the story line。 Overall, I enjoyed this book。 The cover art is excellent and mirrors the story。 Recently, I encountered a book that I liked but the cover was way off。 It was a story about gay teens similar to this one but the guys on the cover were bearded and looked to be in their thirties。 。。。more

autumn ♡ ⁷

DNF at 84%I literally can’t make it through the last 60 pages of this book。 When you have such unique and well thought out characters on the surface level, don’t squander them with a plot that is every bad, basic high school book ever written and don’t give them immature inner monologues that make them really dislikable。 Really disappointed as this was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it had everything going for it on the outside, but it was not good on the inside。 Extra star for DNF at 84%I literally can’t make it through the last 60 pages of this book。 When you have such unique and well thought out characters on the surface level, don’t squander them with a plot that is every bad, basic high school book ever written and don’t give them immature inner monologues that make them really dislikable。 Really disappointed as this was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it had everything going for it on the outside, but it was not good on the inside。 Extra star for Skylar’s parents (I really liked them as people and the role they played in Skylar’s growth) and the representation in this book。 。。。more

Tyler Bloodworth

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Kayla

This book is definitely my new favourite。 Everything about it is perfect and seems so real, unlike a lot of other books with teen romance in。 The way everything about being non-verbal and dealing with stuff from your past is described couldn’t have been done better and I think that’s amazing。I had a smile on my face for most of this book and didn’t want to put it down once I started。

ash

I hated the writing style, it felt like i was reading a watt pad story。 Overall though it’s a nice story, some of the characters can be a bit unlikeable but i enjoyed it enough to finish it。( the cover is so pretty though)

Jennifer

So sweet, and wholesome and oh my god。 I swear I love reading LGBTQ+ romance because I just learn so much - one of the main characters of this book, Skyler, is non-verbal and it was eye-opening and heartbreaking to experience how he navigated the world。

Max

i wanted to like this。 i REALLY did。 but within the first 100 pages i noticed that there were some very obvious issues。 possible spoilers below, not sure if it counts since i only got 150 pages in: the most important problem: imani being the ONLY black girl--hell, one of two confirmed POC at all--and being characterized as loud, brash, called "crazy" (however lovingly) within the same conversation as three people all talking about how loud she is。 i got this because the summary hooked me。 nonver i wanted to like this。 i REALLY did。 but within the first 100 pages i noticed that there were some very obvious issues。 possible spoilers below, not sure if it counts since i only got 150 pages in: the most important problem: imani being the ONLY black girl--hell, one of two confirmed POC at all--and being characterized as loud, brash, called "crazy" (however lovingly) within the same conversation as three people all talking about how loud she is。 i got this because the summary hooked me。 nonverbal? okay that's cool, he's probably autistic like me! boy wears skirts? even better! the only thing i CAN'T complain about is my assumptions being wrong about the nonverbal character because that's my own fault。 i read in other reviews that there's a lot of ableism。bob and kimberly talking about how bob was stalkerish when they first dated and then brushing it off like it's romantic。 the ONLY wlw character (imani) is clearly destined to be with seth, a straight guy。 bi girls dating men is not a problem by any means, but it's very telling when the only girl who could date another girl is shown from the start to have a very definite male love interest。 imani is like the author shoved all the diversity into one character to check everything off the itemized list of diversity, she's even the only confirmed non-christian (wiccan)。 not to mention the weird focus on a 16 year old's sex preferences (being a top or a bottom, joking about someone else getting d*ck up his *ss。 usually fine but given that the characters are confirmed to be in the 15/16 range, it's incredibly creepy for an adult to be writing about that)。 also, being a bottom is NOT a personality type。 i don't think the author understands how bottom/top works。in conclusion: i made it to page 150 before deciding that for my own sanity, i have to quit。 the SJM namedrop should have been a red flag。 。。。more

Ifryt Morningstar

Onestamente aveva le potenzialità per essere un grande libro, ma l’autore ha deciso di non mostrarci molti dei plot points più importanti per lo svolgimento della trama, come ad esempio il concerto e l’imparare ad andare sulla bicicletta, li ha soltanto accennati nonostante fossero fondamentali per i legami tra i personaggi。Mi risulta incredibile aver letto 400 pagine di libro dove però manca il racconto effettivo delle parti in cui i protagonisti dovevano legare e innamorarsi。A conti fatti ques Onestamente aveva le potenzialità per essere un grande libro, ma l’autore ha deciso di non mostrarci molti dei plot points più importanti per lo svolgimento della trama, come ad esempio il concerto e l’imparare ad andare sulla bicicletta, li ha soltanto accennati nonostante fossero fondamentali per i legami tra i personaggi。Mi risulta incredibile aver letto 400 pagine di libro dove però manca il racconto effettivo delle parti in cui i protagonisti dovevano legare e innamorarsi。A conti fatti questo sarebbe l’unico difetto ma è anche abbastanza importante。Un cosa positiva che non mi aspettavo di questo libro, visto che avevo dato per scontato che lo avrei letto in una settimana invece ci ho messo due giorni, è la scrittura estremamente scorrevole, mai nella mia vita ho letto 200 pagine in un giorno solo, indipendentemente da quanto tempo avessi a disposizione。 Quindi si, stiamo parlando di una scrittura effettivamente mooolto semplice, che a me non dà particolarmente fastidio, ma che potrebbe risultare troppo povera per qualcun altro。 。。。more

Ada

I'm a huge proponent of the idea that characters don't have to have clear goals in the story as long as the author has clear goals for them; that being said, it really felt like nobody in this book had ideas for goals for anybody - nor the characters, nor the novel itself。 The story meanders constantly, relationships and characters either develop too quickly or don't develop at all。 This book seems to have a lot of plot bunnies and threads set up that could be interesting if they were explored a I'm a huge proponent of the idea that characters don't have to have clear goals in the story as long as the author has clear goals for them; that being said, it really felt like nobody in this book had ideas for goals for anybody - nor the characters, nor the novel itself。 The story meanders constantly, relationships and characters either develop too quickly or don't develop at all。 This book seems to have a lot of plot bunnies and threads set up that could be interesting if they were explored and it initially seems like they are going somewhere, but really, they end up abandoned very quickly, leaving you with a baffled "why am I even reading this? for what?" halfway through。The idea that Skylar is a foster child who doesn't feel like he can form lasting relationships/be loved and he expects abandonment is interesting, an engaging psychological aspect to explore, but he basically deals with it by chapter three, he makes friends immediately, and the long-lasting effects of having been abandoned and betrayed by various figures in his life don't really pop up after that in any of his relationships (excluding the romantic one)。 Glad that he got over it after a friendly girl talked to him twice, but。 What's the point of introducing this aspect of his psyche if it gets resolved so quickly and goes nowhere? This also leads to a bigger issue of how static the characters in this romantic novel felt。 Writing a slice-of-life/romance, you have to focus on some kind of internal stakes, show some interesting nuances in the characters and their mentality that can be explored; when you don't have external stakes, the push to create strong internal stakes is even bigger! What is interesting about Skylar? What is interesting about Jacob? What is interesting about them together?Some concepts in theory。 Skylar's assumptions about himself and his relationships。 Jacob's identity in his heavily Christian household with the father who refuses to acknowledge it and actively goes against what Jacob is。 But you have to explore those things for them to actually be interesting and worth reading about。 They aren't in this book。 It's reading about the most shallow, surface-level presentation of these experiences, that doesn't really delve into their interesting psychological impact, sometimes to the point where the character hears something emotionally impactful and then the pov immediately switches seemingly to avoid telling something actually interesting? (view spoiler)[Jacob's father tells him Jacob is not his son in an intense emotional conversation and THEN immediately after this line the pov switches to talk about how Skylar is riding his bike! Fun! I love reading about Skylar riding his bike instead of finding out Jacob's immediate reaction/thoughts/feelings to his father telling Jacob he is not his son。 Then we get to see Jacob crying under a tree from Skylar's pov and giving him a watered down version of the events and then they learn to ride a bike。 Let's go。 (hide spoiler)]I'm not going to get into the only black character being a sassy/shipper supportive best friend of the white main character, I'm sure there are better people than me to talk about this subject, so I will merely say: yikes。The entire skirt thing is also。。。 Ugh。 I think the crux of my issue here is that both Skylar and Jacob have like two personality traits each (if even), and, in Skylar's case, that lands him in a very weird spot where - the skirt thing feels both not important enough and overtly important to him, if that makes sense? Now: I know that liking wearing a skirt is enough of a reason to wear it, and Skylar doesn't need to have big reasons to want to do it other than he likes how he looks in it, but his situation is not normal; he gets serious ramifications, both in terms of bullying, detention, and lack of supportive teachers at school, for wearing these skirts。 And because he has so little personality, I really struggle understanding why does he keep wearing them? What is his reasoning? Why is this important and why should I care about the resolution of this issue in the particular case of this book? I guess the book correctly assumes that as an lgbt+ mlm romance that describes that the boy main character likes wearing skirts in its blurb, it will only attract readers who will be like "yeah!! abandon gender roles!! wear whatever you want to wear!!" and so it decides that it doesn't actually have to have reasons for the reader to care about this besides the reader's assumed political views。 Well。 I'm absolutely like "yeah!! abandon gender roles!! wear whatever you want to wear!!", but it doesn't mean I'm interested in the School Skirt Drama of this fictional town by default。 I want to know why it matters for Skylar。 Why is he going out of his way to suffer consequences of wearing skirts。 He isn't really involved in politics and doesn't really stand up for his beliefs, so it's not that。 At the same time, he doesn't really seem concerned about his looks or doesn't really seem to care about his fashion choices that much outside of the skirts, to the point where it makes his description of skirts he's wearing very out of place because he doesn't really care about anything else he has on? So it ends up feeling very much like this is just a normal teenage boy who wears whatever but then puts on skirts and suffers punishments for it for。 No personal reason other than "I like wearing skirts", and it just doesn't feel like enough to get me involved in this situation, because I don't even understand what this "like" means for him? It would be okay as a side thread, but this is the closest this book has to the main plot, so the biggest stake in this book is literally "I like wearing skirts。 No they don't mean anything to me personally, no I don't really care about political implications of this, no I can't tell why exactly。 Now read this entire novel where the main conflict is that I wear skirts。 Also I don't have personality"。 Fun。 。。。more

Perfektionaise

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it, click here。 This was an okay read。Nothing spectacular, the old Young Adult Contemporary Spiel of homophobic slurs and religious bullshit。 The characters were okay (I liked the side characters better than the MCs), the non-verbal character Skylar was something new。 It felt like it was researched but I don't know enough of that topic to make a judgement on that matter。The conflict between Skylar and Jacob felt super off to me。 One chapter Skylar talks to Imani about the whole boyfriend/ILU theme and the next This was an okay read。Nothing spectacular, the old Young Adult Contemporary Spiel of homophobic slurs and religious bullshit。 The characters were okay (I liked the side characters better than the MCs), the non-verbal character Skylar was something new。 It felt like it was researched but I don't know enough of that topic to make a judgement on that matter。The conflict between Skylar and Jacob felt super off to me。 One chapter Skylar talks to Imani about the whole boyfriend/ILU theme and the next he breaks up with Jacob because he believes some bully more than the people he trusts? That's。。。 not very well constructed, but okay。 There had to be some more drama I guess。 🤷🏼But I liked that some important things were said in this book and it felt realistic that they lost the fight against the school clothing regulations because this world is ruled by idiots without any ounce of empathy and sympathy。 。。。more

shatterinseconds

I was initially drawn to this book because of the cover art, but unfortunately the story didn't live up to my expectations。I will say, I absolutely loved reading about a non-verbal main character who's also gnc。 The disability rep was great (as well as the message that men can wear skirts and dresses)。 However, I never connected to either Skylar or Jacob; it never felt like we got to go deep with their characters。 The story itself was way too long, with the whole dress code side plot just shoe-h I was initially drawn to this book because of the cover art, but unfortunately the story didn't live up to my expectations。I will say, I absolutely loved reading about a non-verbal main character who's also gnc。 The disability rep was great (as well as the message that men can wear skirts and dresses)。 However, I never connected to either Skylar or Jacob; it never felt like we got to go deep with their characters。 The story itself was way too long, with the whole dress code side plot just shoe-horned in there。 I wish more time was spent on that instead of the romance which was both too insta-love and too slow burnish at the same time (I have no idea how that happened)。 I ended up skimming the last 200 pages because I was so bored while reading but I refused to dnf it。I'm still glad I read this book but I am sad that I didn't fall in love with it。 。。。more

noah

please refer to the one black girl as sassy more。 four times wasn’t enough… 🙄

Sara (theMuseofNightmares)

One of the characters likes Sarah J Maas- in the trash can you go。

Alex Ringle

I loved this book so much。 It’s so cute and sweet and just perfect。

Rim ♡

3。5 / 5

kenzie :)

SO SLAYYYY!!!!

Angeles Garrido

<3

bet

2。75 stars* (rounding up)this book was okay。 there were certain parts that made me mark it down (such as jacob saying ‘would you be my baby?’, the CRINGE i experienced) but yeah overall it was just meh。 like it was okay but not amazing。i did like the nonverbal representation bc that is something ive literally never seen before in anything。

Stephanie

Ahhh。 First loves。 High school romances。 This was tender and sweet and innocent and character's age appropriate everything a first love should be。 So, so precious。 Ahhh。 First loves。 High school romances。 This was tender and sweet and innocent and character's age appropriate everything a first love should be。 So, so precious。 。。。more

Ashley

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it, click here。 i am so mad i heard about this book like months ago and i have been hype for it and like the cover made me like get my hopes up。 this was genuinely the cringiest book i have ever read like it was cute but like i was like embarrassed to read it。 also lots of the conflict didn’t need to happen? but was just thrown in cuz the story resolved too quick idk。 not my fav。

Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books)

Sometimes I read a book that brings a constant smile to my face because it’s incredibly heartwarming and uplifting。 So much so that I don’t even care about the minor details I liked less or frowned upon。 Every Word You Never Said is such a book。Let me start with the exterior of this book because the hardcover is just amazing! It basically consists of two different covers, a beautiful dust cover and a different and even more gorgeous naked hardcover。 So, if you’re thinking of buying this book, pl Sometimes I read a book that brings a constant smile to my face because it’s incredibly heartwarming and uplifting。 So much so that I don’t even care about the minor details I liked less or frowned upon。 Every Word You Never Said is such a book。Let me start with the exterior of this book because the hardcover is just amazing! It basically consists of two different covers, a beautiful dust cover and a different and even more gorgeous naked hardcover。 So, if you’re thinking of buying this book, please choose the hardcover instead of the paperback or the ebook。 Or you could do as I did 😂, first purchase the ebook and then decide that you desperately need the hardcover after all!People who have been following me for a while know that I have a soft spot for cute cinnamon rolls。 And what’s better than to have two of those as MCs in a book? Sky is so sweet with his skirts, and even though he’s anxious at times, he dares to be himself。 At first, Jacob seems a harder nut to crack, but underneath that fully in black rocker image lies such a beautiful soul。 Of the two, he’s definitely the sweetest of the sweetest cinnamon rolls!Despite being quite fluffy, this book covers some really harder-hitting topics and responds to current right-wing political views on LGBTQ+。 Keep in mind that there’s a lot of homo(queer)phobia and bullying in this story。 But if you can handle these triggers and need a positive boost or just want to dream away and smile, and love to let a warm feeling flooding your chest, please pick up this sweet, fluffy, and touching story! Follow me on Instagram 。。。more

Tess

3。75 stars

Djungelskog

i can’t decide if i like this book or not。i read it in one day so it was definitely an easy read and it had its cute moments but i was kind of disappointed by the writing style and the characters, it all felt kind of flat。 didn’t regret reading it tho since as i said it definitely was cute but i had kind of hoped for more :/

ken

this book means the world to me 💗

hotel bravo

I'm from somewhere that is not particularly religious at all, and although I understand places in America have this extreme christianity, reading it is so ridiculous to me。 I cannot fathom anyone thinking their faith & beliefs supersede anyone else's purely because it's their own。 I cannot fathom projecting my beliefs so heavily onto someone else nor feeling the necessity to legitimately force people to believe in something that aligns with such hateful, exclusionary rhetoric either。 And obvious I'm from somewhere that is not particularly religious at all, and although I understand places in America have this extreme christianity, reading it is so ridiculous to me。 I cannot fathom anyone thinking their faith & beliefs supersede anyone else's purely because it's their own。 I cannot fathom projecting my beliefs so heavily onto someone else nor feeling the necessity to legitimately force people to believe in something that aligns with such hateful, exclusionary rhetoric either。 And obviously that is a privilege to not be subject to that or even understand it, but wow it is frustrating and not enjoyable to read。So the romance。 The scene of conflict in Skylar and Jacob's relationship。。 frankly ruined the whole book for me。 I was getting through it with some kind of engagement before that, but afterwards it spiralled into this nonsensical, childish conversation that entirely put me off。 I know it's YA but the miscommunication was just annoying and didn't align with where that relationship had been going in my mind。 (view spoiler)[ Not knowing if you love someone but getting angry with them for not saying they love you when you abruptly demand an answer after like 2 minutes of not even dating? Maybe talk it out babe? So avoidable and bizarre to then 'break up,' because of this。 (hide spoiler)]Skylar's backstory as well doesn't explain his insecurity in a logical way to me either。 Feeling like everyone 'uses,' you (no evidence suggested of this from his past, no context provided) but simultaneously feeling like you are defective and no one would ever want you, constantly being tossed away, overlooked, bullied etc (this part obviously makes sense and is contextualised with Sky being non-verbal & his history of foster homes)。 He however kept saying how everyone 'uses,' him and thus Jacob must be too。 Which just doesn't make sense to me because like? Who is using you for any gain or advantage prior to create that specific insecurity。(view spoiler)[ I can understand him feeling unlovable/undesirable but until he and Jacob sleep together the whole 'using' line makes no sense。 (hide spoiler)] Nit picking I guess but it was such an overused line that frustrated me every time I read it!Also I simply do not like Imani。 Preference I suppose but she felt so forceful to me I felt gross about so many scenes with her and Sky where she just goes too far and is too annoying。 Her support is great, particularly at the end, but so much of it felt too overbearing and invested for me to enjoy reading。 At the end of the day maybe this is just for younger readers that can overlook a lot of this and I'm thinking too much about it, but this one was unfortunately not for me。 。。。more

Kristine

It’s about a boy meeting a boy, about love, friendship, inclusivity, ableism。 It is certainly not all pink but it is the cutest story, so heartwarming。