Nonverbal teen Skyler has recently been adopted and is starting a new school, where he meets Jacob, who has recently come out and is dealing with a homophobic father who is running for Congress. Skyler also likes to wear skirts sometimes, but while his parents are supportive, he runs into trouble with the school administration and bullies, plus Jacob's father sees his 'challenge' to the school dress code as a controversial cause to boost his campaign. Meanwhile, Jacob and Skyler are becoming more than friends, but for someone with such an unhappy past as Skyler, and with Jacob's struggles fully accepting himself, is there a happy ending in sight?

Every Word You Never Said is tempting me to throw my ratings system right out of the window. It's an incredibly complex book, and incredibly sad, yet also incredibly realistic, heartfelt, and important. I felt so deeply for Sky and Jacob, for Sky's frustrations in being such a strong, fiery teen who deals with the frustrations of having to rely on Siri for his voice, and all the traumatic legacy of his previous foster placements. For Jacob and his situation stuck in an unsupportive home, having to attend an unsupportive church, and his mingling emotions of wishing he could be different, yet being absolutely certain of his own right to exist.

This book offers no easy answers and no 'love saves the day' quick fixes, but it does offer beautifully supportive parents in Bob and Kayleigh (I was crying when Sky starts calling them Mom and Dad), and an absolute BAMF in Pastor Dane. I mean... 'We follow Jesus, not the Pharisees'?! Pastor DANE! You really went there. I felt chills in my bones. I wish I had a Pastor Dane. I do think the representation of a different type of Christianity and an inclusive church was hugely important in a book that purposefully explores religious trauma through both its MCs, and does so very well. Sky wanting to cry when Jacob calls him babe... I was weeping.

I struggled a lot with the bullying scenes and the extensive use of f-slurs, as well as the menacing atmosphere in Jacob's home from his father. It's hard, because this is a sign that the author wrote these scenes well, that they affected me so badly, but I did find them deeply upsetting, and reminiscent of similar experiences with homophobic bullying in a religious context. This is a dark book, for all it's cute and sweet too, and I think there should be some content warnings for bullying; homophobia; queerphobia; homophobic slurs; religious abuse; plus a mention of sex trafficking in a joke context that I really wish hadn't made it into the final manuscript.

All in all I think EWYNS is a prescient and timely novel exploring contemporary concerns in a powerful way, there were just some aspects I found too tonally jarring, and maybe a few too many moving parts that made me feel as though the pacing was a bit off sometimes. Part of me wants to give 3*, part of me wants to give 5*, so I'll settle on 4* and highly recommend if you feel in a safe place to read.