Book Review: I Never Said I Love You by Sarah Magee

There are books you read and then put down and almost forget, and then there are books that stay with you. Sarah Magee’s I Never Said I Love You is the second kind. It is gentle and thoughtful and has this quiet way of getting under your skin. I kept finding myself thinking about it in odd moments, even when I wasn’t holding the book in my hands.

The story brings us Melissa “Liss” Larkin, an American student who is sharp and restless, and Nao Kao Inthavong, a Laotian student who carries with him a sense of calm and also the weight of history and family. Their lives meet during their studies and from there the book starts opening into ideas about memory, identity, and how we hold on to the people who have shaped us. I liked how it never felt like the author was pushing the story too hard. It unfolds in a natural way.

The voices go back and forth, one chapter with Liss and then one with Nao Kao. I really liked that. Liss is funny and honest, sometimes a little biting. Nao Kao’s sections are slower and thoughtful, and I found myself at first leaning toward Liss because her voice is so quick, but then later I started looking forward to his steadiness more. That mix is what makes the book work. The writing is warm and descriptive but not overdone. Magee pays attention to details that many writers would skip. Small conversations, silences, even a look that passes between people, these are what she builds the book out of. It reminded me that so much of life really is made up of these little things. The parts we don’t think about at the time but look back on years later and realize they mattered.

I also really liked how the book wasn’t just about the two characters but about bigger questions. Through Nao Kao you see glimpses of Laos, its resilience, and the way history shapes everyday life. Through Liss you see how tricky it can be to find yourself while also hearing what family and society expect of you. Those two threads never felt separate. They weave together in a way that shows how every connection we make carries some of our own world into it.

Something personal for me: this book made me nostalgic. It reminded me of late nights in college, of conversations that seemed small at the time but somehow stayed with me. At one point I even stopped reading just to sit and think about people I haven’t spoken to in years. I don’t often do that with novels. If I had one small wish, it would be to spend even more time in certain scenes. I wanted a little more of the characters in a few places. But maybe that is part of why the book works, it mirrors how memory itself leaves spaces, gaps that we can never fully fill in. What stayed with me most was how emotional the book was without ever trying too hard. There are moments that made me smile and others that made me pause and reread a sentence slowly. It feels honest, like it isn’t trying to prove anything. Just telling a story the way memory works.

By the end, I felt like I had been on a journey. Not a loud or dramatic one, but one that mattered. The title, I Never Said I Love You, fits perfectly. It reminded me that love and friendship are not always about the words. Sometimes it is the gestures, the silences, the things we remember when everything else has faded. When I closed the book, I felt grateful. Grateful for the story, for the way it made me reflect on my own life, and for the reminder that quiet books can sometimes leave the loudest echoes. I Never Said I Love You is a book to read slowly, to sit with, and to carry with you.

This recommended novel, Never Said I Love You, is now available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Never-Said-Love-You-Novel-ebook/dp/B0CL5FPW81