Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and author Caitlin Weaver for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

Just about all of us have been there at one time or another. Whether it’s friends or family, people put on airs trying to project the perfect life to everyone they encounter. No one has the perfect life. Whether we see it or not, just about every family has issues of some kind that they keep a secret. The problem is, by doing so, they also put distance between themselves and others.

Things We Never Say is set in Atlanta, but in a sub-community of parents surrounding an exclusive private school, Civitas Academy. All of the parents are expected to volunteer some time. With the upcoming 100-year anniversary gala, three unlikely women find themselves thrown together. Anna is the Headmaster’s Wife. He asks her to join the committee to keep an eye on things. Rhea is the quintessential PTA president, who seems to have her hands in everything and a life that’s totally together. Maggie is a couples therapist married to a dentist.

Throughout the book, all three women come to terms with the fact that they really have no close friends. They are also each harboring a life-altering secret. Normally, these women would not interact, but through the work on the committee, they begin to bond and let their guard down. They also stumble upon a scandal at the school that may have far-reaching implications.

I really enjoyed reading Things We Never Say. It really speaks to the times we live in where people are all about projecting an illusion. All three women are afraid to open up about what’s really going on in their lives. When they finally do, they find support from each other instead of judgment. It takes a while for this to happen, though, as everyone is afraid of letting people see the reality behind the facade.

The characters were great and very believable. I could relate especially to Rhea, who was a teen mother when she gave her baby up for adoption. She’s kept that secret from everyone, even her husband, and finds herself torn between being a mother to the son she walked away from and possibly losing everything. Throughout the book, she thinks this secret is a bigger problem than it actually is once she is forced to come clean. Sure, at first there’s a lot of feelings of betrayal, but her family rallies around her, including a husband who has made his own missteps but adores her. Maggie also has a very loving husband, but there are problems in their relationship that she doesn’t acknowledge.

Anna is the only one who is definitely in a toxic relationship but must keep up appearances. Her revelation takes the longest, and it really shouldn’t. It’s still very believable, though, that she is so frightened of no one believing her that she keeps quiet, afraid of telling the truth.

Things We Never Say demonstrates how we should be able to open up to each other and reach out for support, instead of staying closed up in our own little worlds afraid of anyone getting in. It’s something we need to relearn, along with compassion and empathy. If instead of judging each other, we approach people with those qualities, we can support each other and make the world a better place. This is especially true for women. Harkening back to the Barbie Movie, we seem to be damned by our choices no matter what they are, and it’s refreshing to see women supporting each other instead.

I didn’t think I would like Things We Never Say as much as I did. It’s well-written with relatable characters. The story is compelling and made me question why the world is the way it is.