Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Truth About Keeping Secrets

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown

25 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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koals's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Especially in the beginning, the parts about grief and fear of death were hard for me to handle, because I really didn't expect it to be so raw and realistic. So that's something to look out for.

I enjoyed the writing style a lot, the descriptions were really interesting and poetic (but not too long!), which I'm saying as a person who's not a fan of too much description.

What bothered me was that I had correctly predicted the resolution, although I'm usually not that good at stuff like that. So either I got better at it, or it was a bit too easy (or maybe I'm too old for YA). But it was still thrilling nonetheless.

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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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secre's review

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challenging emotional inspiring 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

4.5

This is one of those books that is beautifully written, thought provoking and haunting. It heavily focuses in on how grief affects different people and the different coping mechanisms everybody has to find their way through it. At the same time it touches on common YA themes such as sexual orientation, bullying, and unhealthy coping strategies. It's raw and poignant and caught my attention from the very first pages.

It's billed as a high school thriller, but I honestly don't think it is. There is a mystery of sorts, but it's less about the mystery and more about the exploration of grief, of relationships and of finding a new place in the world when everything you thought you had crumbles around you. If you go in expecting a thriller, you may well be disappointed. But if you take it for what it is, you will find a stunning and beautifully written piece.

Losing a parent is ground shattering at any age. Losing a parent as a teenager is world altering, as Sydney is finding out. One freak accident and her dad is gone. Her world will never be the same again and yet her friends lives go on unchanged. The world keeps moving and yet she is standing still. Her hyper-fixation on solving the mystery of her dad's death is more of a symptom of her own state of mind than anything else.

This is a powerful and compelling novel that strikes deep at the fear, the loss, the anxiety and the uncertainty surrounding death and grief. It's one of those books that will stay with me for a long time to come, I suspect.

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siobhanwisener's review

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

I wouldve made this book my whole personality when i was 14.
An enjoyable read, very interesting plot twists and best part was obviously Sydneys gay panic moments with June

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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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chloek608's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I recommend this book if you like:
-YA mystery
-dealing with grief
-LGBT characters

Sydney is going through an immensely tough time due to her dad dying in a car accident. She feels disconnected from everyone including her best friend Olivia. Sydney is convinced her dad’s death was no accident and when she starts receiving hate messages this fuels her theory even more.

Sydney starts obsessing over death and this mysterious girl who attended her dad’s funeral; June from high school. It turns out June was a therapist patient of her dad’s.

Sydney attended grief counselling and met Leo her unlikely friend. Leo helped her unravel the mystery.

At the start, I was really unsure of Sydney’s inner voice. The narrative was hard to relate to for me but I got used to it.

This book was best on the last 100 pages when the mystery starts to reveal. The person behind the messages was Heath, June’s boyfriend, who sensed a more than friends bond between the girls. June was already in an abusive relationship and wanted out, which was why she was having counselling sessions. But Heath abducted June and Sydney and took them on a near death car ride. But Heath gets away unscathed due to having powerful parents. June and Sydney get their own back at graduation and play a video which reveals Heath’s true colours.

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zazzyzizi's review

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challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

I really liked this book, I liked the mystery element but what I liked most was the fact that even though it was a ya book, it dealt with themes of death and mental illness in a mature way. the way she was grieving wasn't glorified. idk what else to say, I read it really fast and enjoyed it too, I just saw the plot twists coming, like I already knew who was sending those texts so that's why it's not 5 stars lmao

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faythfarrar's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

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