Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - All Her Little Secrets

Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris

13 reviews

graceheartsbooks's review

1.25

My book club picks were going so well for a moment that I almost hoped things would be going up…but then this book appeared🙃

I never ever give a book a one star—especially if I finished it—but this is the exception. It’s most definitely my worst book of the year.

It’s good to have flawed or unlikable protagonists in fiction—female characters that are flawed or unlikable are especially important to literature (and can be difficult to pull off).

But Ellice was just so haughty and condescending to everyone around her (including insulting random strangers through her descriptions of them). I know she came from a poor background, I know she had a hard life but none of that excuses her bad decisions or how she interacted with people around her. Also, for claiming to be so smart, she made a lot of bad/stupid choices throughout the novel. She sees herself as above everyone with her expensive clothes and constantly refers to others in a condescending manner (only her brother calls her out on it). It’s a wonder she’s achieved the position she did (assistant general counsel at the start before becoming general counsel) when we don’t see a single scene of her networking and she’s a very passive character (at a board party in Savannah she isn’t seen mingling or interacting with others, just observing and just happens to stumble upon an argument between two people in the company).

Ellice bemoans turning 40 and not having any children or being married, apparently not happy where she currently is at in life. Forgetting the fact that she followed a married man to another company without a second thought. Near the beginning of the book, it’s mentioned she eats a bag of barbecue chips for dinner—seeming to imply that single women don’t cook or wouldn’t, I don’t know, order takeout for dinner??. To be honest, I found it all to be a little misogynistic (or probably more accurately reeked of internalized misogyny since the protag is a woman). The author mentions in her acknowledgements that she set off to do a book that was about family but quite frankly, I didn’t see it—especially with how Ellice is just as awful to her family and friends as she is to everyone else (insulting her brother, looking down on her old college roommate/supposed best friend for marrying a retired basketball player and then having the audacity to go back to school to get a law degree after she was tired of “being arm candy”, etc).

This book was very fast paced, I will give it that. However, it was a bit too fast paced in terms of the story’s timeline: Ellice’s boss/lover Michael dies and three days later his funeral is held. By next week his office is cleared/cleaned up (he died in there so there was a lot of blood) and all of Ellice’s brand new furniture is all in (which she complains about being expensive BTW despite being the one to pick it all out). Huh?? There’s no way any building services works that fast—even in such a rich or expensive place😅

I knew from the moment I opened this book, I knew I wasn’t going to like the writing style. If I hadn’t had to finish this for a book club I would’ve never finished it at all. Chocked full of overly descriptive metaphors, every character being described in detail despite some only appearing in a scene or two (shoutout in particular to a flight attendant in a goatee/mohawk and an assistant/woman in her 60s with bleached blonde hair and plucking her chin hairs while at work—because all older women are vain apparently) and skin colors that sound absolutely made up (“mahogany wood skin”??? What is he? A coffee table lol).

Not to get too in depth about it but all the writing advice I’ve ever read tells you that you should never describe people’s skin tones using food or other such metaphors—especially for BIPOC skin tones. I know the woman who wrote this is a black woman but I still think it’s bad practice.

This book also attempts to do foreshadowing (or what I assumed was meant to be foreshadowing) but fumbles it so bad that it all comes across strange and not at all realistic.

Usually, I’m pretty good at keeping track of characters (I was a Warrior Cats kid so I’m use to books with large casts) but with how many of them flit in and out without anything to keep them memorable, it can be difficult to keep track of everybody. Which is especially important to do in a thriller that relies on keeping track of information to figure out the mystery.

The one thing I can appreciate from this book is the way it discusses racism within the workplace and how BIPOC are treated on a daily basis. Although the twist at the end was a little far-fetched.

A white supremacy—‘The Brethren’— is behind everything and Micheal refused to be part of their schemes. Though I think it would’ve been interesting if he had been involved as it would’ve shattered this image that he's presented with

Lots of themes in this book reminded me of this young adult that I read and loved last year: Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé so if you enjoy YA or want a similar plot in an academia setting, I highly recommend that.

Overall, this book was nonsensical and very disappointing.

Content Warnings

marissasa's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was full of stress, drama, and trauma. It starts out as a little bit of a murder mystery but gets more convoluted and tense as the plot thickens. Although we know that our main character is flawed and hiding secrets of her own, it was difficult for me to understand why she kept making bad decision after bad decision despite her being a very intelligent and successful lawyer. She doesn't trust anyone (rightfully so) but it was hard to keep up with her after she kept continually lying and digging herself into deeper holes with the people around her and the police investigating her. What happened with her brother made me so sad, and her tragic backstory made me even sadder. The true criminals were unfortunately very realistic and although she did get a hint of revenge at the end, it wasn't truly satisfying to me and I couldn't help but just feel sad and unfulfilled for her and the end of the story.

Content Warnings

carissa230's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.25

Ellice Littlejohn finds herself in a bad spot when her boss and the man she's been having an affair with is murdered. She finds his body, but leaves to pretend like she didn't see it. Now obviously this is a terrible idea. Is it worse that people know you're having an affair or think you killed him? Not a hard decision, but let's ignore that stupid choice for a moment.

Ellice Littlejohn is African American, and the only African American in any decent position within the company. Every day there are protestors in front of the office, because they are viewed as a racist company. Now it's pretty clear to the reader that the company is racist. Ellice is offered her bosses position after he dies. Clearly so they will look less racist. Yet she accepts the position so she can "try to create change in the organization". While that may be an idea the company is using her to get the pressure from the protestors of their backs.

It quickly becomes clear that there is something going on that runs deeper than it appears. Yet Ellice keeps going with her plan. When her brother is found dead she begins to finally think something bad is happening. Like she couldn't have been more ignorant of everything.

Content Warnings

kenziburke's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

andrea_2902's review

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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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I can’t believe this was a debut.
I loved it.
It was so good. I want to reread it already.
Couldn’t recommend it enough.

Content Warnings

bootsmom3's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

Content Warnings

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

emeraldelephant's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

sarah984's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was okay: it had some exciting scenes and interesting side characters, but some of the main character's decisions were just unbelievable

(you're a corporate attorney who hates cops and is actively trying to hide a past murder accusation and you don't lawyer up before you go to the police station?? Girl.)

and it got a bit over the top towards the end. Not a bad debut though. I'm looking forward to seeing more from this author.

Content Warnings

abookandaspotoftea's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

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