Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown

14 reviews

savreads28's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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tarshka's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

For some reason I just didn't really relate to or care much about the characters. I thought maybe it's because I haven't been a teen in a while now, but then I read other books and I did care about them. So this book just didn't vibe with me for some reason. 

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emily_mh's review

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dark emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This book has been undoubtedly marketed as a mystery/thriller (see the cover and synopsis), and the beginning of the story also frames the book as a mystery/thriller, but it completely fails to meet these genre expectations. The synopsis implies a self-led investigation into the death of Sydney’s father, but this investigation doesn’t begin until page 193. And I am being generous with the word “investigation” here; hardly anything happens along that plot line. Furthermore, even though I criticise adults who call YA mysteries predictable (we’re not the target audience!), I think teens will actually find this predictable as there is literally only one option as to who the texter could be. So instead of a mystery/thriller, this book is romance drama. One that doesn’t really adequately address the unhealthy obsessiveness of the romance in question on MC Sydney’s part. 

Instead of one star, I decided to give this book two due to the way in which grief is depicted. The discussion of this topic was done in a very raw way and had so much depth to it. It seemed so realistic. If this book had been a contemporary/realistic fic focussed on grief where the romance wasn’t so unhealthy, and if it were marketed as such, it would have been a winner. 

Rep: lesbian (word not used, lesbian only used once in a disparaging context) MC, white/Brown (ethnicity completely unclear) SC, East Asian SC, gay Black SC 

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mjwilliamson's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was a conflicting read. Although I’m not someone who usually enjoys slow-paced books, I found that I couldn’t put this one down. There was something raw but comforting in Sydney’s narration. Even though it was such heavy content. The emotion and grief that was able to be conveyed was so honest and there were some beautiful analogies in there also. I did find myself being bored a little at times. I kept questioning when the story might come to a conclusion because the “mystery” I’d been drawn in by — if Sydney’s dad’s death was foul play — didn’t seem to connect to it all. Still I stayed for the emotion and my investment in Sydney and wanting her to feel better. 
I guessed the twist a mile off. I’ve watched enough criminal minds and seen enough awful situations to know an abusive relationship when I see it. Once we got to know a little bit about Heath and June’s relationship it became very clear to me. But I wasn’t let down when it came to it. There was enough personal connection in the story for me not to care about twists, only the characters

If I knew what I was in for, I don’t think I would have started this book, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. I would think very carefully about who I recommend it to. Trigger warnings most definitely apply. 

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pastelkerstin's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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brye_wheels's review

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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bookishbea's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25


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manola's review

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dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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condensedmilk's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

pretty nice actually
I expected this book to be bad because I didn't like the writer's poetry so I was being unfair but I actually do like this book.
however I'm still not compelled to give this a 4 star because I feel like it wasn't there yet but I feel like Brown is doing pretty great already as a writer
it was nice reading this book because the teenagers are relatable to an extent or at least Sydney's emotions are. admittedly, don't really love the characters so Leo is probably the best one
but yea pretty nice


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finanr1's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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