Scan barcode
kbranfield's review against another edition
4.0
The Last Secret You'll Ever Keep by Laurie Faria Stolarz is an intriguing young adult mystery. Although this newest release is a companion to Jane Anonymous, it can be read as a standalone.
Several months after being kidnapped, Terra is desperate to prove to herself and everyone that she was, in fact, taken from her bedroom. Everyone, including her Aunt Dessa, initially believes her story. But after not finding any evidence to back up her claims, Detective Marshall, Dessa and her friends arrive at the conclusion she is not being truthful. Having lost her parents in a fire that she survived, Terra has a troubled history including stays in psychiatric hospitals. Now on medication and undergoing therapy, Terra turns to the online support group Jane Anonymous where survivors share their stories and offer support. She has formed a bit of a friendship with Peyton whose experience closely matches her own. While still trying to prove she is not lying about what happened to her, Terra is also concerned for Peyton’s safety. Will Terra find the evidence she needs to prove she is not lying? And is her worry for Peyton warranted?
After losing her parents, Terra moves in with her aunt. She struggles to come to terms with her loss and she clings to the few items rescued from the fire. Terra attends an alternative school where she has a small circle of friends. She and a friend attend a sorority party and leaving early, she decides to walk home after meeting college student Garret. With a heightened sense of fear, Terra is relieved to arrive home. After locking up and going to bed, Terra is startled awake by a man in her bedroom who then kidnaps her. For four long days, she is left by herself in a well. After managing to escape, Terra tries to cope with a myriad of issues arising from the kidnapping.
The people she meets in the Jane Anonymous forum are supportive of each other. Terra is especially close to Peyton who fears her kidnapper is planning to take her again. As Terra attempts to keep to her daily routine, she spends a great deal of time on the forum commiserating with the others and chatting privately with Peyton. She is also trying to balance her job as she works to get her high school diploma. She is also obsessive about finding the well where she held captive. Unable to sleep, Terra is already on edge when the situation with Peyton takes a dangerous turn and she contemplates trying to locate her on line friend in real life.
Moving back and forth in time, The Last Secret You'll Ever Keep is an engaging mystery with an unreliable narrator. The storyline is interesting but the first half is a little slow moving. The pace picks up in the last half as Terra becomes more desperate to find where she was held. With a shocking plot twist, Laurie Faria Stolarz brings this compelling young adult mystery to an edge of the seat conclusion. An enjoyable read that I recommend to older teen readers.
Several months after being kidnapped, Terra is desperate to prove to herself and everyone that she was, in fact, taken from her bedroom. Everyone, including her Aunt Dessa, initially believes her story. But after not finding any evidence to back up her claims, Detective Marshall, Dessa and her friends arrive at the conclusion she is not being truthful. Having lost her parents in a fire that she survived, Terra has a troubled history including stays in psychiatric hospitals. Now on medication and undergoing therapy, Terra turns to the online support group Jane Anonymous where survivors share their stories and offer support. She has formed a bit of a friendship with Peyton whose experience closely matches her own. While still trying to prove she is not lying about what happened to her, Terra is also concerned for Peyton’s safety. Will Terra find the evidence she needs to prove she is not lying? And is her worry for Peyton warranted?
After losing her parents, Terra moves in with her aunt. She struggles to come to terms with her loss and she clings to the few items rescued from the fire. Terra attends an alternative school where she has a small circle of friends. She and a friend attend a sorority party and leaving early, she decides to walk home after meeting college student Garret. With a heightened sense of fear, Terra is relieved to arrive home. After locking up and going to bed, Terra is startled awake by a man in her bedroom who then kidnaps her. For four long days, she is left by herself in a well. After managing to escape, Terra tries to cope with a myriad of issues arising from the kidnapping.
The people she meets in the Jane Anonymous forum are supportive of each other. Terra is especially close to Peyton who fears her kidnapper is planning to take her again. As Terra attempts to keep to her daily routine, she spends a great deal of time on the forum commiserating with the others and chatting privately with Peyton. She is also trying to balance her job as she works to get her high school diploma. She is also obsessive about finding the well where she held captive. Unable to sleep, Terra is already on edge when the situation with Peyton takes a dangerous turn and she contemplates trying to locate her on line friend in real life.
Moving back and forth in time, The Last Secret You'll Ever Keep is an engaging mystery with an unreliable narrator. The storyline is interesting but the first half is a little slow moving. The pace picks up in the last half as Terra becomes more desperate to find where she was held. With a shocking plot twist, Laurie Faria Stolarz brings this compelling young adult mystery to an edge of the seat conclusion. An enjoyable read that I recommend to older teen readers.
kookie9200's review
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this title.
After Terra is abducted from her bed and held captive for four days in a well, she returns with no real injuries. Her aunt doesn't believe her. The police think she's making it up. It's as if she made the whole thing up, for attention. She finds solace on the website "Jane Anonymous", becoming friends with Peyton, among others. When aspects of Peyton's case begin to sound perilously close to her own abduction, has her kidnapper struck again? Or is it all a figment of Terra's imagination and trauma?
This book had a good build. I liked that it even made the reader question what the truth was, and ultimately, whether Terra's abduction actually happened. It was cleverly written and not heavy handed.
After Terra is abducted from her bed and held captive for four days in a well, she returns with no real injuries. Her aunt doesn't believe her. The police think she's making it up. It's as if she made the whole thing up, for attention. She finds solace on the website "Jane Anonymous", becoming friends with Peyton, among others. When aspects of Peyton's case begin to sound perilously close to her own abduction, has her kidnapper struck again? Or is it all a figment of Terra's imagination and trauma?
This book had a good build. I liked that it even made the reader question what the truth was, and ultimately, whether Terra's abduction actually happened. It was cleverly written and not heavy handed.
jessa57's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Stalking
Moderate: Gaslighting and Violence
taylorg_1005's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
shelfreflectionofficial's review
4.0
Mysterious and tense read. Terra was taken for 4 days, but no one noticed she was gone. She escapes but eventually the investigation of her story turns up no evidence to back up her claims and she is blasted for making it up. Still dealing with the trauma of her parents’ death from their house fire, her history of lying, skipping school, not taking her meds, and making up stories makes her unreliable. As a reader we are left to figure out if we can trust her narration or if this is a made up story. Is this all in her head or is there someone out there who is setting her up, who is playing on her weaknesses and is maybe still hunting her?
Terra is on a mission to prove that what happened to her was real. She must find the water well she was kept in and the book her captor left with her depicting a foreshadowing of her captivity. But she questions the reality of everything she finds. It doesn’t help that her own aunt doesn’t believe her and thinks she needs more therapy to deal with the trauma she has endured.
Meanwhile, Terra develops an online friendship with a girl named Peyton in an anonymous chat room for victims of abuse. When Peyton expresses fear of her captor coming back for her, that she’s in danger, and then stops showing up in the chat room Terra feels responsible to track her down and save her.
This book kept me guessing! I kept going back and forth- it must have happened, no it must be in her head, no I think it was real. You become suspicious of every character, questioning if they’re real, questioning their motives, and wondering what part, if any, they played.
I didn’t particularly like any of the characters but I was still invested in the story. The suspense was good and the plot movement compelling. Definitely a book I would recommend!
**Received an ARC via NetGalley **
See more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
Terra is on a mission to prove that what happened to her was real. She must find the water well she was kept in and the book her captor left with her depicting a foreshadowing of her captivity. But she questions the reality of everything she finds. It doesn’t help that her own aunt doesn’t believe her and thinks she needs more therapy to deal with the trauma she has endured.
Meanwhile, Terra develops an online friendship with a girl named Peyton in an anonymous chat room for victims of abuse. When Peyton expresses fear of her captor coming back for her, that she’s in danger, and then stops showing up in the chat room Terra feels responsible to track her down and save her.
This book kept me guessing! I kept going back and forth- it must have happened, no it must be in her head, no I think it was real. You become suspicious of every character, questioning if they’re real, questioning their motives, and wondering what part, if any, they played.
I didn’t particularly like any of the characters but I was still invested in the story. The suspense was good and the plot movement compelling. Definitely a book I would recommend!
**Received an ARC via NetGalley **
See more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
southernbellebooks's review
4.0
Such a good read. I was immediately sucked in and I liked that I didn't need to read book one in order to enjoy book two. I liked the writing style and the lack of unnecessary fluff.
andersonh92's review
5.0
Another thriller that made me go, “What the heck?! Where did that come from?!”
I’m usually one to believe unreliable narrators, but this time, I questioned her. Not sure why. Made me go “WTF” even more…
I’m usually one to believe unreliable narrators, but this time, I questioned her. Not sure why. Made me go “WTF” even more…
story_sanctuary's review
4.0
One of the things I really liked about this book is that there is no sexual trauma in it. I was nervous at first, picking it up, because I like this type of suspense, mystery, trauma recovery story, but I’m just really sensitive to sexual trauma, so I didn’t want to end up in over my head with this book. The good news is, I didn’t.
It’s an interesting story. For a long time, I felt unsure about Terra. It seemed plausible that what happened to her was in her head– not on purpose, but that it was the result of previous trauma. Even Terra herself sometimes doubted what she’d experienced. So I felt like the story kept a really good balance there, keeping me really uncertain where it was headed and what would be around the next bend, as a good suspenseful story should.
I also thought the timeline– some sections from the present and others from the past– added to the scattered feel of Terra’s mind. Her chat logs on the Jane Anonymous site added a lot, too, from giving her a safe space to share her feelings to also creating a strong support network.
I read THE LAST SECRET YOU’LL EVER KEEP pretty quickly, only stopping once (because I got food poisoning, gross). I think readers who enjoyed PAST PERFECT LIFE by Elizabeth Eulberg or THE LOST AND THE FOUND by Cat Clarke will enjoy this one.
It’s an interesting story. For a long time, I felt unsure about Terra. It seemed plausible that what happened to her was in her head– not on purpose, but that it was the result of previous trauma. Even Terra herself sometimes doubted what she’d experienced. So I felt like the story kept a really good balance there, keeping me really uncertain where it was headed and what would be around the next bend, as a good suspenseful story should.
I also thought the timeline– some sections from the present and others from the past– added to the scattered feel of Terra’s mind. Her chat logs on the Jane Anonymous site added a lot, too, from giving her a safe space to share her feelings to also creating a strong support network.
I read THE LAST SECRET YOU’LL EVER KEEP pretty quickly, only stopping once (because I got food poisoning, gross). I think readers who enjoyed PAST PERFECT LIFE by Elizabeth Eulberg or THE LOST AND THE FOUND by Cat Clarke will enjoy this one.
mellove's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
evamadera1's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Unfortunately, this companion book, not direct sequel, lived up to my low expectations. This poor girl kept going through the wringer. As each thing got revealed I kept wondering how much more Stolarz planned to put her through. Additionally, this book confirmed that I do not like the unreliable narrator trope. It worked in Jane Anonymous but not in this book. Finally, I do not recommend the audiobook because the chatroom narration with the names read every single time, grated on my nerves.