What's Not Said...#BookReview

About the book:

Kassie O’Callaghan’s meticulous plans to divorce her emotionally abusive husband, Mike, and move in with Chris, a younger man she met five years ago on a solo vacation in Venice, are disrupted when she finds out Mike has chronic kidney disease—something he’s concealed from her for years. Once again, she postpones her path to freedom—at least, until she pokes around his pajama drawer and discovers his illness is the least of his deceits.

But Kassie is no angel, either. As she struggles to justify her own indiscretions, the secret lives she and Mike have led collide head-on, revealing a tangled web of sex, lies, and DNA. Still, mindful of her vows, Kassie commits to helping her husband find an organ donor. In the process, she uncovers a life-changing secret. Problem is, if she reveals it, her own immorality will be exposed, which means she has an impossible decision to make: Whose life will she save—her husband’s or her own?

In a nutshell, Kassie wants to divorce her husband and just as she plans to tell him, she discovers he has a chronic disease he has concealed for years. 

I find myself with very mixed feelings about What's Not Said. I am so appreciative of the fact that the main characters are in their 50s. That was refreshing to read. 

Marriage isn't an easy ride. It requires communication and cooperation and sharing. Kassie is a woman who has always put her husband's needs above her own and Mike is a selfish man who just expects it. None of these characters is particularly likeable, but we're not meant to love every character we read about. The story isn't a polished romance either. Instead it is a stark reminder that life is happy and sad; painful and challenging; brutal and beautiful. 

What's Not Said, is a slower paced novel, but with enough drama that you just keep turning the pages. It is the first in a series and I am curious as to what happens next.

Thanks to Netgalley and She Writes Press for the opportunity to review this book. You can learn more about Valerie Taylor on her website and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Read 9/20

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3/5 Stars