Review of Little Do We Know

I enjoy books that explore religious themes, but know from experience that a lot of other readers … really don’t. Find out what I liked about this book in my review of Little Do We Know.

Little Do We Know by Tamara Ireland Stone

To be published on June 5, 2018 by Hyperion Teens

Source: ARC sent by publisher

Synopsis from Goodreads: Next-door neighbors and ex-best friends Hannah and Emory haven’t spoken in months. Not since the fight—the one where they said things they couldn’t take back. 

Now, Emory is fine-tuning her UCLA performing arts application and trying to make the most of the months she has left with her boyfriend, Luke, before they head off to separate colleges.

Meanwhile, Hannah’s strong faith is shaken when her family’s financial problems come to light, and she finds herself turning to unexpected places—and people—for answers to the difficult questions she’s suddenly facing. No matter how much Hannah and Emory desperately want to bridge the thirty-six steps between their bedroom windows, they can’t. Not anymore. Until their paths cross unexpectedly.

In the aftermath of the accident, all three struggle to understand what happened in their own ways. But when a devastating secret about Hannah and Emory’s argument ultimately comes to light, they must all reexamine the things they hold true.

Review of Little Do We Know

I’ve read Tamara Ireland Stone’s other books (I think one involved time travel and the other involved a girl with OCD) and enjoyed them. This book felt sort of a like a combination of the two – it was partly an issue book but with a spiritual bent.

Emory and Hannah were the best of friends until they had a huge, blow-up fight. The book begins with them mad at each other, and the reader doesn’t find out why until near the end of the story.

Emory and her boyfriend Luke are soon going to be going their separate ways to college. Until an accident leaves Luke seeing the world in a whole different way and Emory wondering if she can ever understand what he’s going through.

Without giving too much away, this book has strong religious themes.

I know from past experience as a blogger that this is a big negative for many readers. But this book is more about faith and belief in an afterlife than about any particular religion. It also deals with themes of friendship and family.

Overall I really enjoyed the way all the strands of the story were woven together: the story of Emory and Hannah’s friendship, of Emory and Luke’s (who were so sweet together as a couple), and of Emory’s relationship with her single mother and Hannah’s with her father.

I did like Hannah’s story a lot – she has some conflicts with her father, who’s a former pastor and the principal of her Christian school, but feel that she got a little shortchanged as a character. Luke and Emory’s storylines were definitely more dramatic, but hers was interesting as well.

I was skeptical about the decision to hold back the information about Emory and Hannah’s fight, but in the end I was won over – I think the book left enough time to really process the basis of the fight and resolve the whole situation.

Definitely check this book out if you like books with strong themes of family and friendship!