“With tenderness and skill, Beth Vogt examines the price of secrets, the weight of tragic loss, and the soul-deep poison of things left unsaid.” —Lisa Wingate, NYT bestselling author of Before We Were YoursIt’s been ten years since Payton Thatcher’s twin sister died in an accident, leaving the entire family to cope in whatever ways they could. No longer half of a pair, Payton reinvents herself as … Payton reinvents herself as a partner in a successful party-planning business and is doing just fine—as long as she manages to hold her memories and her family at arm’s length.
But with her middle sister Jillian’s engagement, Payton’s party-planning skills are called into action. Which means working alongside her opinionated oldest sister, Johanna, who always seems ready for a fight. They can only hope that a wedding might be just the occasion to heal the resentment and jealousy that divides them . . . until a frightening diagnosis threatens Jillian’s plans and her future. As old wounds are reopened and the family faces the possibility of another tragedy, the Thatchers must decide if they will pull together or be driven further apart.
more
Twin sisters, one is shot and one has to learn to live with quilt. Throw in a serial killer, sisters that are divided and a wedding. The remaining twin is a party planner and she has to pull everything together, cope with old wounds. Plenty of action, suspense, enough guilt for everyone and learning to forgive is more than enough, especially forgiving yourself.
My criteria for 5 stars is must touch my emotions (I had tears), touch my heart (it did) and keep me turning pages (it did). Beth K. Vogt is a wonderful writer who will keep your attention throughout the book and you will enjoy the read. The characters are probably like some people that you know – never satisfied, bossy, OCD, you know what I mean. I highly recommend this book and I don’t want to give anything away so put this on your BUY shelf.
I received this book from the author and Tyndale Publishers with no expectations of what review I would write. All opinions are strictly my own and I loved this book. Highly recommend this author and “Things I Never Told You”. Well worth the read.
An emotionally told tale of family relationships and sister bonds that withstand the passage of time & tragedy. I don’t read a lot of women’s fiction and this being my first one by Beth Vogt, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But definitely not this…in a good way!! Funny, poignant, emotional, redemptive, characters to bond to, secrets shared, and a story that will stick to you long after the last page is turned. You’ll definitely be left wanting more!
*I received a complimentary copy and was under no obligation to leave a favorable review. *
There were four sisters, with two being identical twins. As the youngest, and in their own little world, relationships with their older sisters were strained and often difficult. Unfortunately an accident claimed the life of Pepper, leaving Payton to navigate on without her other half. Ten years later the grief hasn’t lessened and Payton is still floundering emotionally. Will sharing the details of that fateful day finally allow Payton to forgive herself?
An incredible narrative of how family dynamics work, especially dealing with the death of one of those members. Can forgiveness and understanding be found for all of them or are they destined to flounder in the grief forever?
I received this ARC through NetGalley and CelebrateLit. The impressions and opinions are my own.
This is an incredibly well written Woman’s Fiction book.
The characters are some of the most well developed that I have found. The personalities of the sisters are extremely varied and easy to see within their birth order. They each have problems that they are dealing with so the focus isn’t on just one of them. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the emotional depth that they each went as they were interacting with each other. This is real life at its ugly best.
I absolutely loved this book by Beth K. Vogt! Things I Never Told You isn’t a story for the faint of heart, but one for those who are strong and courageous. A story that the author weaves love, loss, heartache and forgiveness all in one and definitely worth reading.
Ten years ago the Thatcher family lost a sister and a daughter when Pepper was killed in a senseless accident. Each person in the family rallied as best as they could, but with the recent diagnosis of cancer that Jillian receives threatens what little foundation their family has mastered. Now all those secrets and hurt feelings have opened old wounds that could destroy their family if they can’t find it in their hearts to not only forgive themselves, but each other as well.
I was given an ARC from the author/publisher. All conclusions are mine and mine alone.
I didn’t have a sister growing up only a younger brother, so the dynamics between the Thatcher sisters was very eye opening for me. There were four sisters but the youngest were identical twins and when they were sixteen one of them was killed in a tragic accident. Lots of the novel deals with how the family members deal with this over the years, especially Payton, the twin left behind. Then the middle sister, Jillian, who’s planning her wedding gets a diagnosis of breast cancer. When it results in a radical mastectomy, the family begins fearing the worst. The parents especially wonder how they can possibly lose another daughter if the worst happens.
This was a very moving and heartfelt story. So many emotions were brought to light. And Payton had a painful secret about the night that her twin Pepper was killed. For ten years she kept this to herself and tried to move on with her life but not in the way she had dreamed before the accident. I just can’t imagine all the pain and heartache she dealt with by herself at such a young age. Beth Vogt did a wonderful job of conveying these feeling and putting them to words on paper. I’ve read several Beth Vogt books and this has to be her best one yet in my opinion.
It’s not a cliffhanger but I’d love to see these characters elaborated on and continued in another novel. My inquiring mind only hopes that someday Payton wears the necklace!
I received a complimentary copy of an ARC from the publisher but was not required to write a review.
“Sometimes you just have to forget all the other stuff and remember we’re sisters.”
It’s a tale of three sisters; no, it’s actually a tale of four. Johanna, Jillian and Payton Thatcher have a sister-sized hole within their hearts; the result of a tragic accident that took the life of Payton’s twin, Pepper, ten years earlier. Still reeling from the shock, Payton has buried her grief deep inside her soul, throwing her time and efforts into her event planning business, constantly bickering with her oldest sister, and at times feeling awkward around the other. It all comes crashing down around her when she begins dreaming conversations with her deceased sibling, and another potential tragedy unexpectedly looms on the horizon.
“If there’s one thing he’d learned since God had broken into his life, it was that He was always working in the waiting times.”
Zachary Gaines has waited ten years to ask the Thatcher family for forgiveness. His role in their family tragedy triggered a spiral of unhealthy behavior that lasted nearly a decade. His first encounter with Payton Thatcher went badly, and the second even worse. But he’s confident that Payton is severely broken, and that God has called him to be a part of the restoration for; “he could only hope that Pepper was in heaven. And he would continue to pray for Payton, the sister still on earth.”
This book is going to be extremely personal for many people on many different levels; the varying personalities of the characters both annoying and endearing, their choices and perspectives quite heartbreaking and realistic, but in the end truth reigns supreme, where it should have been all along.
“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.”
I was given a copy of this book by the author and publisher. The opinions stated are entirely my own.
Things I Never Told You is a poignant, emotionally-charged story that grabbed my attention on the first page and wouldn’t let go. The multi-layered characters were masterfully created, and I immediately wanted to know what secrets they kept and why they interacted with each other the way they did. The family dynamics intrigued me as did the way each family member handled their grief and pain.
Payton, the main character, had buried her grief and feeling of guilt from her twin sister’s death for ten years, and only when she came to terms with it was she able to start healing. The tender message of forgiveness of self and others touched my heart and added to my enjoyment of this book. Beth K. Vogt’s writing is outstanding, and I highly recommend this book. It’s one for my keeper shelf!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy from the author/publisher. All opinions are my own.
“I don’t think God, if there is a god, would listen to me.”
I read Beth Vogt’s first book a few years ago and knew I wanted to follow her. She was, and remains, a favorite. This go round, she has crafted a book that will both tear your heart out and make you glad. The book focuses on three sisters, the Thatcher girls: Johanna, Jillian and Payton. Payton had an identical twin, Pepper, who was killed in an accident ten years ago.
Payton has been troubled since Pepper’s death and as the anniversary approaches, she is barely hanging on, seeing her sister in her dreams, feeling guilty about her death, not even living, actually. My heart broke for her pain because there is a LOT of pain in this woman’s life. She pushes everyone away because she feels so guilty for remaining alive. Then there is Jillian, who has just received a devastating diagnosis and doesn’t believe she deserves the love of a wonderful man who wants to marry her. And Johanna, the eldest, well, I truthfully didn’t care for her a lot. She seems to want to control everyone else. But there is good in everyone.
Vogt has done her job so well that the reader becomes invested in each character’s life and feels deeply their heartache. She lets us into the lives and hearts of these women as they deal with the death of their sibling ten years ago and how it has affected them so deeply even so many years later. This book is so emotion-packed and at times it is so hard to read because Payton is suffering so much.
Destined, in my opinion, to become a much read book and reread as well, Things I Never Told You belongs on the keeper shelf. Bravo!
*I received a preview copy of this book from the publisher. The opinion stated above is entirely my own
This book took me on a deep, powerful, and sometimes emotionally difficult to read journey. Things I Never Told you tells the story of a family who was torn apart by tragedy. And even before that, things were not as great as they may have seemed from the outside looking in.
It was a tale of sisters and how they related to each other. I had a lot of trouble reading about Johanna’s domineering and abrasive personality. I really loved Jillian and Geoff. Their relationship and trials kept me turning the pages.
I felt so sad for Payton and all that she went through, both past and present. I appreciated the way the author used flashbacks and dreams to tell the story of her relationship with her deceased twin, Pepper.
I was impressed with the author’s ability to write a realistic story with most of the characters as nonbelievers. Yet, she was able to impart the gospel message and leave the reader hopeful that, somewhere within the series, some of these characters might come to know the Lord.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
I haven’t read a lot of women’s fiction in the past. I usually read romance. But I really loved Things I Never Told You.
Beth Vogt did an awesome job of capturing emotions in this novel. The characters are going through so much — grief and loss, dealing with a cancer diagnosis, and maneuvering the intricacies of family relationships. Families can be so complicated, and this book really explores those relationships in depth, especially between siblings. The dynamics between the older, middle and younger sisters was spot on. A question the book explores is how do you move on when you lose the person you are closest to in the world? And what happens to a family when they lose a treasured member? Can they heal?
There were so many moments in this book where I just stopped and let the emotions wash over me. I don’t want to give away too much, but I have two scenes in mind that were particularly poignant. One when Payton was driving and had to pull over because she had a panic attack. And the other is between Geoff and Jillian. Geoff and Jillian’s relationship as a whole was such a great way to explore how cancer impacts everyone, of course the person who is diagnosed, but also friends and loved ones, as well.
There are several points of view in the book, which I really enjoyed. I thought it gave a nice perspective to the story. We get to see into Payton’s thoughts, but we also see what life is like for Jillian as she is dealing with cancer and Zach as he tries to make amends with the Thatcher family and show people that he really has changed.
***I received an ARC (advanced reader copy) of this book with no obligation to post a review***