Our latest Book Club selection is Say Everything, an evocative, unflinching and beautifully written debut memoir by artist, actor and author, Ione Skye.
Say Everything by Ione Skye is a beautifully raw debut memoir, equal parts dreamlike and disarmingly honest. Best known for her role as a Gen X screen icon, Skye turns the lens inward, tracing a path through the hazy glow of Hollywood, the echo of family legacy, and the quiet pursuit of something more grounded.
Daughter of folk legend Donovan and model Enid Karl, Skye grew up at the edge of the spotlight -close enough to feel its heat, but always reaching for connection, stability and a sense of self that wasn’t shaped by fame. With poetic clarity and a generous candour, she explores ambition, identity and intimacy in all their complexity.
Say Everything is a gentle but unflinching reflection on art, expectation and the search for meaning in the spaces between.
Synopsis:
At just sixteen, Ione Skye became a cultural touchpoint – immortalised as Diane Court in Say Anything, opposite John Cusack in one of cinema’s most enduring love stories. But beyond the screen, her story unfolded far less predictably.
The daughter of ’60s folk icon Donovan, Skye was raised in the blurred light of fame, where absence echoed as loudly as applause. In her teens and twenties, she sought belonging through creativity, chaos, and connection, shaped by intense loves, including River Phoenix, Anthony Kiedis, and later, a high-profile marriage to Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz.
Over time, it wasn’t the spotlight but life’s quieter turns, motherhood, missteps, and personal reckonings that brought clarity.
Set against the magnetic backdrop of late-century Hollywood and New York, with its lofts, legends and late-night sets, Say Everything is a tender, vividly told portrait of becoming. Vulnerable, poetic and self-aware, it’s a memoir of finding your footing in the spaces where fame fades and real life begins.
About Ione Skye:
Ione Skye is a British-American actor, painter and writer. Known for her breakout role in Say Anything, Skye brings her eye for detail and her poetic sensibility to the page in her literary debut. Say Everything is both a personal history and a cultural chronicle, told with grace, self-awareness and unexpected tenderness.
