Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

A young adult semi thriller interesting well written and Well plotted

Thank you Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

Unfortunately this book was not for me, it was a bit slower than I would like and it just didn't hold my attention. I am sure other people will love it!

* I read this book three years ago, realised just now I never wrote a review. As I did love the book, I decided to write a short review, but please keep in mind it's been a while*

The Truth About Keeping Secrets follows Sydney, who's lost her dad in a car accident. But was it really an accident?

The book is marketed as a thriller and sure, especially the second half is thrilling and there are a few great twists towards the end. I, however, would rather say it's a contemporary YA book, exploring grief. And it does that so, so well!

The writing is beautiful, and flows naturally on the page. One of my main concerns was that the writing would be too flowery, with Savannah Brown being a poet, but it was not at all - it fitted perfectly.

All in all, this was a lovely debut novel and I will definitely pick up more books by Savannah Brown.

When something bad is about to happen and the kid has highlighted it to the adult, why does the adult then leave the child on their own?! This book reminded me of Mean Girls with a slight thriller element. I say slight thriller because the ending was obvious to me from the very beginning but that did not mean it wasn't a good read for me. Brown has a way of writing that feels like butter, it's easy to read.

Queer representation is so important and it thrills me that it’s seeping into more mainstream genres with a wider reading pool.

This book took me months and months to read. I should probably have DNFed but I do try to finish review copies. Sadly this book just didn't work for me, I found it incredibly boring. I wasn't the slightest bit interested in the plot or the characters.

I first heard about this book when Savannah Brown did a video announcing it but I can't actually remember how much she said about it in that video, but I've been keeping a lookout since.

The main character Sidney is gay and has a Queer friend. This is an established fact at the start of the novel and is just a fact about the character. Homophobia is a topic of the book and the character was previously outed. This is not a major part of the book but also is, like real life. I mean, yes the character is gay and that affects the way people treat her but that's not the story. It does have a Queer romance. You know what I mean. Hopefully.

This novel's plot does have thriller elements and it could be written as a thriller. The main reason I wouldn't classify it as a thriller due to pacing and that's not where the emphasis is. It reminds me of Cat Clarke's book (which are I love and are also often Queer), in its dark contemporary dealing with real things and a bit of mystery but has more focused on character development.

I really liked the writing style of this book, it's pretty sometimes without being too much. It's told in first-person and works great for the story.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for Bad Nostalgia. I really like this book and I wish I was a better reviewer. I mean I'm literally reviewing when I should have reviewed it last year, but you can still buy it now.

This book is directed to the younger reader demographic but I found it entertaining still. It was a sweet read and I will read more by this talented author. Recommended.

I have loved Savannah Brown's poetry and YouTube channel for the last few years so when she was releasing a book, I knew I had to read it. The Truth About Keeping Secrets is an interesting and thoughtful read and I can't wait to see what she writes next.

Although I am not really a thriller type of person, I knew that I still wanted to give this ago. This also didn't hinder my enjoyment because I actually really enjoyed it and as someone who normally guesses the mystery, I didn't in this one.

One of the main reasons why I enjoyed this so much was because Savannah Brown knows how to write a novel. There was something so special about the way that the forms characters and builds the whole mystery. The characters were also really compelling and interesting to read about.

The way that Sydney was written was raw and realistic. I think that the way that grief and mental health was so great and realistic. This was definitely a strength of the book although and was a major draw for each one.

I was obviously interested in the mystery and I don't think that I guessed what happened but I did read it a while ago. Also, I must mention the queer elements which I did enjoy and added to the book.

The Verdict:

The Truth About Keeping Secrets is a thrilling read that deals with mental health with excellence.

A brilliant mystery, interwoven with natural queer representation! Would never have known this was a debut novel.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

I received a copy from Netgalley.

I really enjoyed this one. The story follows Sydney after the sudden death of her father due to a tragic accident. She’s struggling to accept the facts and deal with the grief. And then a ray of light appears when uber popular girl June shows up unexpectedly. A friendship is developed. But then Sydney starts receiving threatening texts.

There was something about Sydney’s voice that was incredibly compelling and easy to relate to. Her refusal to accept the facts of accident that killed her father, she starts digging into the death, convinced there’s something more to the story. And then the appearance of the popular girl, June. The friendship developed slowly starts to be something more.

The mystery involved is quite fascinating, nothing is clear cut. I really liked Sydney’s character, could totally understand her obsessiveness when the friendship with June becomes more, it consumes her almost as much as the grief she’s battling. Then when things go wrong there’s that overthinking of was it my fault, what happened? What can I do to fix it? It feels genuine and doesn’t feel over dramatized.

The writing was excellent, full of emotion, and hard to put down once started.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK Children’s for approving my request to view the title.

Struggled to get into this and ended up DNF-ing. Just not in the right frame of mind for it I guess. The writing was good I just couldn't get into it.

This book was not for me. I did not particularly like it and ended up DNFing it thus won't be able to provide a detailed review.

I really liked this - but not in the way I expected. As a thriller it fell short of the mark for me and I had called it pretty early on which is a shame, however, as a character study and an exploration of grief it was spot on; Sydney felt real and relatable. I enjoyed the exploration of the dynamic between Heath and June too, although do wish this had been given a little more depth rather than just pulled out to make a good villain. Overall though, a good. read.

The Truth About Keeping Secrets is a coming-of-age story, a love story and a thriller rolled into one package but more than that, it's a book about grief and trying to piece your life together after the unthinkable happens.

I found Brown's writing about death and grief beautiful and lyrical yet so brutally honest. The main story follows teenage Sydney's trying to find out if her dad's car crash was an accident or murder whilst also navigating friendships in high school and her attraction to June who seems to know more than she is letting on about her dad and what happened to him. It was gripping and full of suspense and tension.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. This was posted on Goodreads 10 Aug 2019 however has not appeared on Netgalley; many apologies!

I feel that I didn't read the same book as many of the Goodreads reviewers. It was a fairly forgettable contemporary teen fiction novel. The writing is good and the structure is good, but it does feel a bit overwritten in places.

This, however, is not a thriller. It is a multi-layered, emotional exploration of grief. The mystery part is barely a mystery and is only referred to as an afterthought.

It is a good enough story to lose a few hours too with excellent revenge near the end. Without the revenge, it veers toward a cheesy ending. There are so many issues in this book- grief, domestic violence, race, homophobia, mental health- it does feel like a game of contemporary teen fiction bingo.

Great exploration of themes in this book and an excellent summary to finding out 'who' is behind it all. Brilliant!