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A review by catbrigand
The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
2.0
I reserve single stars for books that inspire an actual burning hatred. This book made me feel nothing, which might be worse.
First, let me talk about what did work: the strike-through chapter headings to track progression and evolution of characters, and the Greek chorus of typists.
What didn’t work: a lot of the rest. The chorus was, at times, too revealing. Tipping readers off to major plot points before they happen is kind of lazy, makes for a poor mystery, and makes it seem like the author doesn’t trust the readers to figure it out. The story is presented as East meets West, but honestly, the entire East portion could have been cut out—it didn’t add a whole lot. I appreciate that this is a love letter to Doctor Zhivago, but I’m just not sure there was really enough there.
First, let me talk about what did work: the strike-through chapter headings to track progression and evolution of characters, and the Greek chorus of typists.
What didn’t work: a lot of the rest. The chorus was, at times, too revealing. Tipping readers off to major plot points before they happen is kind of lazy, makes for a poor mystery, and makes it seem like the author doesn’t trust the readers to figure it out. The story is presented as East meets West, but honestly, the entire East portion could have been cut out—it didn’t add a whole lot. I appreciate that this is a love letter to Doctor Zhivago, but I’m just not sure there was really enough there.