Bestselling author Laurie Faria Stolarz returns with The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep, a thrilling novel of an eighteen-year-old girl’s search for answers and what she finds instead. Four days… Trapped in a well, surrounded by dirt, scratching at the walls trying to find a way out. Four days of a thirst so strong, that when it finally rains, I drink as much as possible from the dripping walls, … drink as much as possible from the dripping walls, not even caring how much dirt comes with it.
Six months…
Since my escape. Since no one believed I was taken to begin with – from my own bed, after a party, when no one else was home…
Six months of trying to find answers and being told instead that I made the whole incident up.
One month…
Since I logged on to the Jane Anonymous site for the first time and found a community of survivors who listen without judgment, provide advice, and console each other when needed.
A month of chatting with a survivor whose story eerily mirrors my own: a girl who’s been receiving triggering clues, just like me, and who could help me find the answers I’m searching for.
Three days…
Since she mysteriously disappears, and since I’m forced to ask the questions: will my chance to find out what happened to me vanish with her? And will I be next?
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3.5 stars
This book was pretty good. I didn’t like it as much [book:Jane Anonymous|45045194]. This one moved a lot slower. The narrator was the definition of unreliable though, which got a little tedious at times. All in all it was pretty good and I will definitely keep trying Laurie’s books.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Well, this book was not for me. It wasn’t a book that I hated but it wasn’t one that I liked all that much either. I realize that I am not the target audience for the book but I decided to take a chance on it anyway. A lot of times those chances work out well but sometimes they don’t.
Terra hasn’t had an easy life. She has lived with her aunt since her parents died and she has survived an abduction where she was kept for days inside of a pit. There is one problem though since most people don’t believe that she made the whole story up. Her aunt never reported her missing and there is no evidence supporting her claims but Terra knows what happened to her. She looks for support on a website for survivors, Jane Anonymous, where she really connects with another user. When Peyton disappears from the website, Terra knows that she needs to do something.
I didn’t connect with any of the characters in this book. The book does jump around in time quite a bit and I didn’t think that the transitions from one period of time to the next was always as smooth as it could have been. I was never invested in the mystery of the story since Terra was always sure about what happened so either it happened as she said or she was an unreliable narrator. I realized that the book wasn’t clicking for me about halfway through when I was more focused on how much longer I had to listen to the book before it was over than what was happening to the characters.
I thought that Stephanie Willing did a great job with the narration of this story. I thought that she did a wonderful job voicing the different characters. She had a very pleasant voice that was easy to listen to for long periods of time. I do believe her narration is the reason that I never even considered not finishing the book. Unfortunately, her narration alone couldn’t save this book for me.
I would encourage anyone who thinks this book sounds like something that they would like to give it a try. It wasn’t the right book for me but it might be for another reader. I would be more than willing to try more of Laurie Faria Stolarz’s work in the future.
I received a digital review copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.
This one was just okay. It should have been a sure thing, since these type of books are like crack to me. However, I found it super slow, and I honestly didn’t like or connect with Terra, like AT ALL. I found her annoying, and rude, and a whole host of unpleasant things. Plus I thought the whole reveal, and the baddie was a little…”huh”. Oh well, it happens. Can’t love every book, right?
**ARC Via NetGalley**
Kidnapped from her home, Terra was kept in a well for four days before she managed to escape. But no one believes her. After six months, Terra is starting to get back to her normal routine with the support of her friends from the trauma survivor’s chat room. Then, one of her friends, whose abduction story is eerily similar to hers, goes missing. Terra fears what has happened to her friend and wonders if she will be next.
I couldn’t wait to read this book as soon as I saw the description — an unsolved abduction with an unreliable narrator, count me in! In many regards, The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep didn’t disappoint. I was engaged in this twisted story. Wondering if the abduction happened, or was it all a figment of Terra’s imagination? I was feeling the gamut of emotions. My heart was heavy for Terra since none of her friends and family or her therapist believed her. And, I was empathizing with her as she dealt with the aftereffects of the trauma. Like Terra, I was confused and uncertain about what was happening since we only know her perspective of events. I was all in, enjoying this twisted, “what am I reading?” thriller!
Then, the climax happened — the point where we find out if this happened or not. I won’t give any details, so I don’t spoil the ending for others. However, this ending was disappointing for me. There were so many possibilities for the conclusion, and the author chose an obscure, unsubstantiated one. There’s so much to like about this book (unreliable narrator, effective use of the dual timelines, and realistic fiction that is scary because the events could happen), but the finish just left me unsatisfied. With a different final twist (or even a predictable ending), I would have easily rated this a solid four stars.
Overall, The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep is an intriguing, page-turning thriller. Putting my feelings about the ending aside, it is an interesting and unique story worth reading.
Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this book to read and enjoy. This voluntary review contains my honest and unbiased opinion.
The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep by Laurie Faria Stolarz is a young adult mystery suspense set in the same universe as her last novel Jane Anonymous. Like the previous book this one deals with kidnapping and the fallout after the victim returns to their normal routine.
Terra is a survivor of a devastating house fire that killed her parents and is now living with her aunt. She struggles in school and only has two friends. Her parents taught her early on how to defend herself but despite that she is kidnapped after a college party and left in a abandoned well for four days without food and water. After she frees herself she finds her story under a microscope and no one seems to believe her. She takes it on herself to solve the mystery of her own disappearance and find the hole she was kept in along with the picture book that kept her company. To find solace and companionship she logs on to Jane Anonymous, a victim support chat site and befriends Peyton who has a similar story. But when Peyton stops logging on to the site Terra takes it on herself to investigate her disappearance.
I enjoyed this one slightly better than Jane Anonymous although I had some of the same issues with the characters. As a reader I was frustrated with Terra’s naiveté. Her choices with her own safety (when the story set her up to be particularly savvy in that area) and how trusting she was even after her kidnapping was maddening. The weakest part of the story was probably the chat room dialogue. The excessive talk about “triggers” and illusion of connection between these people was corny and annoying to read. I found them all whiny and irritating and it was hard to believe Terra would go out of her way to talk to any of them. The highlight of the entire book is the last quarter where Terra really digs in and gets to the bottom of both her own and Peyton’s mystery.
Overall The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep is a fast paced and enjoyable read. Readers will definitely want to figure out what really happened to Terra and clear her name. Personally, I would have preferred that Terra was sassier and less of a drag. I struggled to relate to her because she was never particularly witty or wise and although that is understandable with her past it doesn’t exactly make it a juicy read considering the other YA books in this category. But the final 25% will keep readers on the edge of their seat.
3.5 stars
My copy of The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep was provided by NetGalley and the publisher for review purposes