Things We Didn't Say by Kristina Riggle.

Is it just me or do book covers these days often have little to do with the actual story written beneath them?  I picked up Kristina Riggle's Things We Didn't Say from the library shelf because of the cover.  But, having finished the book last night, it occurred to me that this cover really didn't have much to do with the story.


I like a book to grab me from the first sentence.  My favorite ones do just that and it is the same manner in which I attempt to shape my writing.  I believe in a strong start.  Riggle's Things We Didn't Say had a semi-murky beginning to it.  It was an odd but ultimately effective balance of "eh, this is a little boring" and "what's going to happen??!!"  The bulk of the tale takes place over an intensely emotional two day period in the life of a blended family.  Michael is the spine of this novel.  He's 36, a journalist for the local paper and the father of three children.  He's also a man who has been the victim of spousal abuse, spent his life having his shortcomings pointed out to him by his uber successful father, and who carries the weight of his world and that of his children on his shoulders.  Michael's ex-wife is Mallory.  Mallory is our antagonist.  She is a manipulative, abusive, lying alcoholic who has lost her children, her husband, and her life on account of her own reckless behavior.  Casey is Michael's live-in girlfriend, a 26-year-old well-intentioned sweetheart with a closet full of skeletons with broken hearts.  We learn quickly that the reality that accompanies the man she fell in love with is a heavy burden for such someone as fragile as Casey.  She spends her days attempting to tend to Angel, Dylan and Jewel, Michael's children with Mallory, but ends up feeling defeated, ineffective and misplaced.


Just as Casey is about to effect a plan to gain back control of her life, a family crisis changes everything.  Over the course of approximately 48 hours, the family is consumed by intense, painful words and emotions.  Michael breaks under the pressure to be everything to everyone, from his desperate desire to do everything right.  Angel betrays Casey and forces Casey's checkered past to the forefront and Dylan makes a poor decision with the potential for grave consequences.  


There is so much drama packed in to this little novel and yet it never struck me as unbelievable or overdone.  And due to never feeling over-the-top about this book, I was surprised to find out how much I'd come to care about Michael and Casey as the book closed.  I found the ending disappointing.  It seemed rushed, as though Riggle was ready to move on to her next book and did not give the Michael and Casey their due.  However, despite feeling that the ending was an incomplete send off, I did enjoy Things We Didn't Say.  A quick, easy, enjoyable summer read.