Things Left Unsaid, Sara Jafari
Things Left Unsaid, Sara Jafari
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

Things Left Unsaid
A Novel

Author: Sara Jafari

Narrator: Honor Gilles, Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy

Unabridged: 10 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/15/2025

Categories: Fiction, Women


Synopsis

A dazzling, electrifying, and thought-provoking novel for listeners of Maame and Honey Girl, Things Left Unsaid is a mesmerizing and deeply felt exploration of discovering your place in the world and the lasting power of love.

When twenty-six year old Shirin Bayat bumps into Kian at a house party in London, she is taken aback by the immediate feelings that resurface. It’s been a decade since they were close friends at school, before painful events pulled them apart, suddenly and seemingly forever. Ever since, Shirin has lived with the aching weight of things left unsaid between them.

Now they're back in each other's lives, at a time when Shirin needs someone she can trust the most. Feeling stuck in a sea of slippery friendships and deeply burned out by her publishing job, Kian is a bright light amongst a sea of gray. There’s nothing worse than losing the person you trust most with your deepest secrets and desires, and Shirin and Kian are determined to hold tightly to each other.

But of course, life often has other plans. Will it be different this time around, or are Shirin and Kian destined to fall apart once more?

"A delicate yet impactful look at depression, disillusioned dreams, second chances at love and the power of bravery. What a book!" —Jessica George

"Intricate and deft...Jafari has written a total stunner." —Amy Jo Burns, author of Mercury

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

About Sara Jafari

Sara Jafari is a London-based British Iranian author of the novels The Mismatch and Things Left Unsaid. She is a contributor to I Will Not Be Erased and the romance anthology Who’s Loving You. Jafari also works as an editor and runs TOKEN magazine, which showcases writing and artwork by underrepresented writers and artists.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Dona's on April 05, 2025

Finished Reading Pre-Read notes This one is remarkable right out of the gate. Wonderful irony and farce. Final Review “We should be able to separate the author from the writing.” Shirin... is stone-faced, though breaking inside, thinking: No, it’s a fucking memoir, you idiots. p144 Review summary......more

Goodreads review by Stacy40pages on March 26, 2025

Things Left Unsaid by Sara Jafari. Thanks to @stmartinspress for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Shirin reconnects with Kian who she hasn’t since they were close friends in school. Painful events tore them apart and left many things unsaid. Now they they have reconnected, can they overcome? While a quiet nove......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer on April 16, 2025

Things Left Unsaid by Sara Jafari was another audiobook that I thoroughly enjoyed. Narrated by Honor Gilles and Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy, their voices perfectly complemented the novel’s themes. Like Normal People, Things Left Unsaid delves into the intricate nuances of class and race, as well as t......more

Goodreads review by Chelsey (a_novel_idea11) on April 14, 2025

This book left a mark on me. Set in the publishing world, I loved the workplace drama and gossip but that it was really so much deeper than that. Shirin was a great protagonist and the mix of past and present timelines added so much complexity and emotion to the story. It allowed the reader to exper......more

Goodreads review by Lisa on October 17, 2024

3.5 stars that I'm rounding up because the writing was very well done. The title fits this story perfectly. I did not find this as sad or heartbreaking as others did. There's a great deal of 'what if' and 'if only' themes throughout with a lot of time spent on building up to the big reveal of what h......more


Quotes

"Sally Rooney fans will savor this." - Publishers Weekly

"A delicate yet impactful look at depression, disillusioned dreams, second chances at love and the power of bravery. What a book!" - Jessica George, New York Times bestselling author of Maame

"I absolutely fell in love with this romantic and incisive novel. Intricate and deft, Things Left Unsaid reads like smooth jazz on the page. Shirin is the kind of heroine I love to root for--smart, flawed, honest, and resilient. Jafari has written a total stunner." - Amy Jo Burns, author of Mercury

"Things Left Unsaid explores the rough edges of early adulthood with such clarity, unpacking what it means to both lose and rediscover yourself -- and your relationships -- in that hazy, messy era we call our twenties. Sara Jafari's writing is as deeply perceptive as it is relatable, tackling both heavy themes and lighter topics with nuance and poise. Fans of Sally Rooney will eat up this brilliant novel, no doubt." – Genevieve Wheeler, author of Adelaide

“Blistering and tender. In Things Left Unsaid, Sara Jafari examines the insidious nature of racism—in the workplace, school, our friendships and families—as well as the necessity of using our voices, individually and collectively, to speak up. Things Left Unsaid is also a story about the past’s ability to haunt—and to heal.” - Daphne Palasi Andreades, author of Brown Girls

“A topical, compelling story of fragmented personhood, the systemic racism and inherited trauma first generation children must shoulder, and the bliss of meeting the one person who might understand. Shirin’s identity subtly informs the way she moves through and interacts with the world, creating a captivating master class in writing representation without tokenization.” - Iman Hariri-Kia, author of A Hundred Other Girls and The Most Famous Girl in the World

"A careful, beautiful story that reminds us about the importance of time - how it shapes us, changes us and gives us second chances we could only dream of." - Ore Agbaje-Williams, author of The Three of Us

"Nuanced and beautifully written, Things Left Unsaid is a thoughtful, deeply felt story about longing, growing up, second chances, and finding your place in the world. Delving skillfully into complex issues of race and mental health, Jafari writes with great honesty and insight." - Cecile Pin, author of Wandering Souls