Reviews

The Secret of You and Me by Melissa Lenhardt

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mchutson's review against another edition

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4.0

I give this a solid 3.5 stars. I wish it was spicy, but it's not.

annaavian's review against another edition

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2.0

I picked up this book because of the LGBTQ+ representation in the lead characters but you can tell that it’s written by a straight woman. The story starts very slow. Both main characters sounded immature, more like 20 year olds than grown women pushing 40. One minute they were being genuinely friendly, trying to rebuild their relationship, and the next they were snapping at each other about some past event. The dialogues between them didn’t sound believable and affectionate. The intimate moments were very scarcely described and sounded like complete clichés. And although I don’t mind reading about homophobia in this book it was just so constant, without even an ounce of empowerment and happiness at any point, it became genuinely exhausting and it only reinforced the narrative that there is no joy for LGBTQ+ people, only bigotry, abuse and struggle.

sophierenee's review against another edition

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5.0

This was a whirl wind of a story and had so many twists and turns which at times I thought was a bit much. But I still really enjoyed it!

hugbandit7's review against another edition

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5.0

I enjoyed this book more than I expected and I stayed up late several nights to finish the book.

I'll have a longer review later, but definitely a good book.

lfancher's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bethreneereadsbooks's review against another edition

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3.0

Nora hasn’t looked back. Not since she fled Texas to start a new life. Away from her father’s volatile temper and the ever-watchful gaze of her claustrophobically conservative small town, Nora has freed herself. She can live—and love—however she wants. The only problem is that she also left behind the one woman she can’t forget. Now tragedy calls her back home to confront her past—and reconcile her future.

Sophie seems to have everything—a wonderful daughter, a successful husband and a rewarding career. Yet underneath that perfection lies an explosive secret. She still yearns for Nora—her best friend and first love—despite all the years between them. Keeping her true self hidden hasn’t been easy, but it’s been necessary. So when Sophie finds out that Nora has returned, she hopes Nora’s stay is short. The life she has built depends on it.

But they both find that first love doesn’t fade easily. Memories come to light, passion ignites and old feelings resurface. As the forces of family and intolerance that once tore them apart begin to reemerge, they realize some things may never change—unless they demand it.

I struggled with how to rate this book. I struggled with this book, period. There was so much negativity, so many unlikeable and outright bigoted characters, and they took up so much airspace that it was hard to stick with it at times. It felt so…. outdated. Not because those types don’t still exist, but because we’ve at least reached a point where we can acknowledge them without centering them so much. The many ways that both Sophie and Nora gave Charlie a pass with his overt bigotry- and the ways he was raising Logan to be the same-were beyond frustrating.

There wasn’t a lot of light to be found, nor enough moments between Nora and Sophie that were happy rather than tortured, to sustain the story. I still rooted for them, but I was also rooting for a happy ending with an emphasis on ending.

Courtney Patterson and Natalie Duke did a decent job narrating the audiobook.

Thank you Melissa Lenhardt, HarperCollins UK Audio, Mills & Boon, and NetGalley for providing this ALC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.