Everyone Wants to Know - by Kelly Loy Gilbert

About the Book

Growing up on a reality TV show, Honor Lo knows that image is everything, so when her family comes under public scrutiny and secrets are revealed, she questions everything she thought she wanted.

Book Synopsis

A ripped-from-the-tabloids, "achingly wrought" (BookPage, starred review) young adult drama by critically acclaimed author Kelly Loy Gilbert about a girl's famous-for-being-famous family fracturing from within as their dirty laundry gets exposed.

The Lo family sticks together. That's what Honor has been told her whole life while growing up in the glare of the public eye on Lo and Behold, the reality show about her, her four siblings, and their parents.

Their show may be off the air, but the Lo family members still live in the spotlight as influencers churning out podcasts, bestselling books, and brand partnerships. So when Honor's father announces that he's moving out of their northern California home to rent an apartment in Brooklyn, Honor's personal upset becomes the internet's trending B-list celebrity trainwreck--threatening the aspirational image the Los' brand (and livelihood) depends on.

After one of her best friends leaks their private conversation to a gossip site, bruised and betrayed Honor pours all her energy into reuniting her family. With her parents 3,000 miles apart, her siblings torn into factions, and all of them under claustrophobic public scrutiny, this is easier said than done. Just when Honor feels at her lowest, a guarded yet vulnerable boy named Caden comes into her life and makes her want something beyond the tight Lo inner circle for the first time. But is it fair to open her heart to someone new when the people she loves are teetering on the edge of ruin?

As increasingly terrible secrets come to light about the people Honor thought she knew best in the world, she's forced to choose between loyalty to her family and fighting for the life she wants.

Review Quotes

*The latest from Gilbert thoughtfully explores how perfection is only surface deep. Readers won't be able to put down this absorbing novel.--School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW "09/22/2023"

*A fast-moving opening propels readers headfirst into the family's spectacle-like drama, while sensitively handled themes surrounding "mixed-race trauma," online privacy, and the consequences of cultivated personae round out the intensely emotional plot.--Publishers Weekly *STARRED REVIEW* "4/17/23"

*Complete with realistic dialogue and achingly wrought emotion, Everyone Wants to Know is a thought-provoking novel about empathy, individuality and toxicity that reminds readers of social media's power to distort reality, and that behind the accounts are real people whose real stories you know nothing about. --BookPage *STARRED REDVIEW* "6/1/23"

*Gilbert's novel is illuminating, nuanced, and salacious as it astutely explores the complexities of being mixed-race and in the public eye...Everyone Wants to Know revels in its dramatic plot and shrewd examination of toxic, codependent families.--Shelf Awareness *STARRED REVIEW* "7/14/23"

*The book itself is the twist of a knife--but an exquisite one. --Booklist *STARRED REVIEW* "6/1/23"

An emotional roller coaster grounded by achingly authentic characters--Kirkus "4/15/23"