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kariniwonderland's review
4.0
An entertaining supernatural page-turner. There is mystery, suspense, unexpected twists and turns and even a bit of horror. Highly recommend!
I got this arc in exchange for an honest review.
I got this arc in exchange for an honest review.
inmyhumbleopinion's review
4.0
The Secret Within tells a story of good and evil from two points of view and what do you know? There is a little good in the evil and a little evil in the good.
This story goes back and forth leaving you guessing while feeding you tidbits along the way. This reads like a psychological thriller.
This story goes back and forth leaving you guessing while feeding you tidbits along the way. This reads like a psychological thriller.
beccasnextchapter's review
3.0
The Secret Within is an urban fantasy, but it feels a little more like a supernatural horror/thriller to me. Delaney is a psychic detective hired to find Anika. We go between their POVs throughout the story, both with dark pasts. This was a fast and fun read for me! The end had me hooked with its fast-paced twists. The beginning felt a little slow and difficult to understand the world-building, and it felt like a lot was going on.
annsbibliotherapy's review
3.0
I'm sitting here after finishing this book and just keep sitting here thinking did I miss chapters? Where did all of this come from? Should I have known it was going to take this kind of a twist?
I was invested in this story until about the 75% mark and then it just started getting strange... Strange in ways I didn't see coming which was a positive but ways that just really didn't make sense to me.
The story had so much promise and I think if they had just left it with a psycic woman that had gone through unthinkable things as a young woman it would have had a much better flow, as it was that the last 25% was hard to get through.
There were a lot of moments that just felt rushed, and while that can easily be forgiven the direction the book took at the end was. I will say that the scenes with Delaney's father were well done, my grandma spent the last few years of her life in a nursing home with dementia and these interactions were very believable and pulled at my heartstrings.
All of that being said I would give this a 3.5 if I could, there were some things I really liked and some things that just had me shaking my head.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sterling & Stone for providing an advance copy, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I was invested in this story until about the 75% mark and then it just started getting strange... Strange in ways I didn't see coming which was a positive but ways that just really didn't make sense to me.
The story had so much promise and I think if they had just left it with a psycic woman that had gone through unthinkable things as a young woman it would have had a much better flow, as it was that the last 25% was hard to get through.
There were a lot of moments that just felt rushed, and while that can easily be forgiven the direction the book took at the end was. I will say that the scenes with Delaney's father were well done, my grandma spent the last few years of her life in a nursing home with dementia and these interactions were very believable and pulled at my heartstrings.
All of that being said I would give this a 3.5 if I could, there were some things I really liked and some things that just had me shaking my head.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sterling & Stone for providing an advance copy, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
chadsan's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.75
cometgrrl's review
adventurous
dark
medium-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
2.0
This review and more at cometgrrl.com.
The Secret Within by Sean Platt and David Wright is an urban fantasy novel about a psychic detective, Delaney West. Delaney has been hired to find a missing person, and his girlfriend, Anika, might be the only one with answers.
The Secret Within by Sean Platt and David Wright is an urban fantasy novel about a psychic detective, Delaney West. Delaney has been hired to find a missing person, and his girlfriend, Anika, might be the only one with answers.
This novel started well and was exciting and engaging. I was into the mystery, and I liked the premise of the psychic detective. However, I feel like it failed to develop Delaney's character's supernatural aspects to sufficient depth early in the novel.
Also, it takes a wildly unexpected twist at the end, which felt very Deus Ex Machina / WTF. It reminded me of how I felt watching the end of Annihilation. Angry, disappointed, and overall unsatisfied.
Unfortunately, it went off the rails for me, and I would not recommend this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Sterling & Stone for an advance copy in exchange for sharing my opinions. All opinions in this review are my own.
mikkareads's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Delaney is a private eye with psychic abilities. A missing person case turns into something sinister and horrific, until she is forced to confront a supernatural enemy she met as a child.
When the novel is good, it's very good:
The story is original, suspenseful and fun to read, in a delightfully over-the-top way. Delaney is the perfect flawed heroine for a series that reads like a gory 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' meets 'Psychic Investigators'. Although the story takes some wild turns in the second half, those go well with the campy vibe.
But when the novel is bad …
Some scenes made me pause and frown, but I acknowledge that this is subjective to some degree. Sometimes, the writing just fell flat and did not evoke a vivid picture, or there were metaphors that felt very odd to me. In a gruesome scene, somebody's mutilated head is compared to a "watermelon with bones".
But there are also scenes that hint at more objective flaws, which might benefit from additional proofreading:
1) Scenes that are incongruous if you try to picture them. For example, Delaney wakes up to find somebody choking her, but still manages to twist around, grab her gun and fire it. And miss. Meanwhile, her assailant "turns just in time to see" what Delaney is doing – but with their hands wrapped around her throat, why would they *need* to turn to see what she is up to?
2) Inconsistencies. In one scene, Annika is threatened at work and "tears out of the parking lot", then drives around aimlessly. It explicitly says: she "doesn't bother going back to work". After a few pages of her thinking about her dire situation, however, it seems like she never actually left: "Annika feigns that she's sick. Ken is surprisingly cool with her request to go home and thanks her for the extra help".
Conclusion:
Overall, an entertaining read with a unique protagonist and a campy vibe. However, there are some flaws in the writing, which curbed my enjoyment considerably.
When the novel is good, it's very good:
The story is original, suspenseful and fun to read, in a delightfully over-the-top way. Delaney is the perfect flawed heroine for a series that reads like a gory 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' meets 'Psychic Investigators'. Although the story takes some wild turns in the second half, those go well with the campy vibe.
But when the novel is bad …
Some scenes made me pause and frown, but I acknowledge that this is subjective to some degree. Sometimes, the writing just fell flat and did not evoke a vivid picture, or there were metaphors that felt very odd to me. In a gruesome scene, somebody's mutilated head is compared to a "watermelon with bones".
But there are also scenes that hint at more objective flaws, which might benefit from additional proofreading:
1) Scenes that are incongruous if you try to picture them. For example, Delaney wakes up to find somebody choking her, but still manages to twist around, grab her gun and fire it. And miss. Meanwhile, her assailant "turns just in time to see" what Delaney is doing – but with their hands wrapped around her throat, why would they *need* to turn to see what she is up to?
2) Inconsistencies. In one scene, Annika is threatened at work and "tears out of the parking lot", then drives around aimlessly. It explicitly says: she "doesn't bother going back to work". After a few pages of her thinking about her dire situation, however, it seems like she never actually left: "Annika feigns that she's sick. Ken is surprisingly cool with her request to go home and thanks her for the extra help".
Conclusion:
Overall, an entertaining read with a unique protagonist and a campy vibe. However, there are some flaws in the writing, which curbed my enjoyment considerably.
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