This book had me laughing right from the beginning at Bells’ wit. I loved that it was set in Dutchess county--that’s where my boyfriend’s family is from, and I am hoping he ends up at Vassar for his residency! I’m no hipster by any means, but farmer’s markets and fancy coffee shops are two of my favorite things.

Bells Walker is exactly the sort of character I would want to be friends with. She’s witty and funny despite being somewhat introverted, doesn’t have time for perfect supermoms, and loves a baked good. To me, the best kinds of characters are the ones you want to be friends with, so it goes without saying that I loved this book. Bells’ columns were hilarious, as was her hunt for blog topics. And I can totally understand getting sucked in by social media!

I do think there could have been more to the ending, and more about Bells’ kids. After all this buildup, the ending seemed rushed and I felt like Bells got off too easily.

This was my first book by this author, but it certainly won’t be my last.

The Truth and Other Hidden Things by Lea Geller held a lot of promise, who doesn't want to read about other peoples drama? However the book fell flat for me. The main character was rude and self involved and her blog posts came across not as funny, but bitter. For example, she wrote a tirade about tasting flights, a fairly innocuous part of going out to eat, yet something that seemed to push her over the edge.
Unfortunately, an unenjoyable reading experience. I wouldn't recommend. Here is the link to my Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3892503476

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange or an honest review.

Thank you to the author, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am torn on this one - it was a quick read, very funny in parts, but I found other parts hard to stomach. The premise was interesting, and I found the inner voice of the main character - city mom with teenagers, and coping with a late-in-life unexpected pregnancy, having to move to the country due to collapse of her husband's academic career - very real and funny. And yes, I can understand how she pivoted to starting a blog after her first run-ins with locals, but I found the bullying tone and the enjoyment she got out of her snarkiness hard to take. Not to mention how her actions went too far and ruined someone else's life on the basis of an unsubstantiated rumor.

I loved this story! It was hard to put down. I loved Bella’s character; she was so funny and definitely a relatable character. Being a wife and mom, she was always so caught up with what was going on with everyone else that she rarely paid attention to herself and when she felt like she needed a little attention, she spiraled out of control,
I will definitely recommend this hook to others to read!

This was a witty and fun story that was a lot more original than what I’ve been reading recently. The main character, Bells, almost had moments of being infuriating but Lea Geller managed to keep her in a place where the reader could feel sorry for her. It can be so easy to hate a main character like Bells so Geller has done well! If you fancy getting sucked into a story of petty suburban drama then get your hands on this one.

If you like to read other people’s drama on the internet- this is your book.

If you are a mom who has ever felt- less than or like everything you do is for someone other than yourself- this book is for you.

I picked it up looking for a lightheartedly book but got so much more and was sobbing (for all of the right reasons) by the end.

The first thing that comes to mind is "what a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive". Bells Walker is a recent New York City transplant to upstate. She moves to Pigkill, New York a town in the Hudson River Valley region. She has a 16 year old son, a 12 year old daughter and a baby on the way and her husband is a English Professor at Duchess College. She dishes up dirt on the people in her town in her new blog the Country Duchess. Her best friend Suki keeps telling her to stop the blog because she might be making enemies. Some of the comments on the blog lead Suki to realize that Bells has gone from watching people to being watched. Bells refuses to listen because she feels powerful in being anonymous. She is using information that her kids and her only friend are telling her in conversation. It blows in her face when she is outed and the consequences affect her kids and husband.

I laughed out loud at her antics and her mean mom blog which she justifies because everyone other mom is perfect and does not like her. I highly recommend this book.

One topic I’ll never get bored of reading about is the good old #momlife. My kids are getting older now, so of course that means I’m also getting older. Ugh. Not fair. When I stumble upon a fictional mom around my age, parenting tweens and/or high school kids, I pay attention and listen. I need all of the advice I can get, people. For real. I connected with Bells Walker, the mom in Lea Geller’s upcoming novel, The Truth and Other Hidden Things immediately. She’s slightly introverted, a little awkward, struggles to fit in with other moms, and suffers from social anxiety. This is me. I’m Bells Walker. I whizzed right through this novel. It was such a quick and easy read. I giggled, snorted, and full out belly laughed. I love how Geller pokes a little fun at mommy bloggers, hyper-competitive parents, and kombucha-guzzling hipsters, which creates a mountainous amount of scandal and drama in the plot. Bells gets herself into quite the pickle, and her behavior puts some strain on her most important personal relationships. All in all, she really does mean well, and maybe just a bit misunderstood. I adore you, Bells Walker. Please be my bestie. I highly recommend this hilarious, insightful, and extremely relatable story.

Bells finds out she’s pregnant (at almost 43) the same day her husband, Harry is passed over for tenure. Things aren’t going as planned, but when Harry gets a position at a smaller college in Pigkill in Dutchess County, New York, the family is uprooted and moved. Pigkill turns out to be a millennials paradise. Farm to table restaurants, farmers markets, CBD coffee and vegan delights. Bells feels completely out of place, and when she hears others talking about her she fights back in the only way she knows how. Writing, but it’s not her normal writing, it’s a blog. She decides to write anonymously about the moms in her new town. What happens when she takes it a bit too far, putting her family at risk and hurting others along the way? Is it too late for Bells or can she finally figure out what’s really important in life? A fast, fun and witty romp that’s hard to put down until reaching the final page.

When life throws Bells Walker a curve ball, and she finds out she’s expecting another child due to a failing IUD, as well as her husband losing job, which results in moving the whole family to a completely different area, she turns to her passion of writing to vent. She sets up an anonymous blog, and starts dishing the dirt on the new locals, which has some dramatic consequences, not just for Bells but for her whole family.

It took me a while to read this as I didn’t really get gripped by it, putting me off from picking it up. I couldn’t warm to Bells as a main character. As much I tried to have compassion for her, I just couldn’t. I found her to be incredibly selfish and rude, with brat like tendencies. I had to remind myself she was probably very hormonal, but parts of me thought perhaps this was just her personality. I thought she deserved a lot more than she actually got by the end. Although some would argue and say all humans are allowed to make mistakes, I don’t think I’d be able to forgive her as quickly as her friends and family did - but perhaps I’m just cold hearted?!

I loved the concept of the plot, but unfortunately for me this one missed the spot. However, it was easy to read, and the writing style made everything flow well. I loved the book club questions at the end of this...maybe I would have enjoyed it more as a buddy read?

Why not grab yourself a copy and let me know your views on Bells Walker? Would you ever consider doing what she did? If you’ve read it, I’d love to discuss this with you!

I quite appreciate the satire of mommy bloggers, the perfect moms in lululemon obsessed with green drinks and rose gold. Lea Geller nails this culture perfectly, be damned if you don’t, be like the rest as an individualist is too much.

Another Lea Geller book I could not put down. This one brought me mostly to laughs with an occasional tear. She’s an incredibly witty writer and you won’t be able to put down her most recent novel. The truth and other hidden things is a novel most mothers will relate to in some way - do yourself a favor and pick it up.

Geller wrote a winner. Bells life in NYC was upended with a surprise pregnancy, move, and new job for,her husband. Bells felt the towns women were not welcoming, judgmental, and waspish. She starts an expose blog that takes off. I liked this book due to the relevancy and hard lessons learned. People like to read vicious, salacious gossip, until it’s about them. Actions, words, and deeds always have consequences. Frankly, Bells was lucky people forgave her. You can’t hide your anonymity in this day and age as Bells discovered. So it’s best to tend to your own garden.

The Truth and Other Hidden Things by Lea Geller was a huge disappointment for me. It started out with an interesting premise...unexpected pregnancy, city mom having to move to the country, starts a blog to cope but then the country bumpkin bash-fest that her blog turned into left me cold. There's enough real life bullying in the world that I don't want to read about it in my down time too! Bella was just a nasty woman with no real axe to grind. There are ways to prevent pregnancy and she could have avoided that situation had she taken better precautions. She was snooty and nasty to her neighbors, making fun of them for being themselves. Just a horrible person all around.

If you like snarky, bullying humor then this book is for you. In our current climate and having just come out of a political regime that was over the top, I just thought this book was a bit too much. Thank you to the author, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This really missed the mark for me. I had hoped it would be funny, easy to read and over all really good. But the main character Bells, was really annoying and at times awful to her familiy , espesially. This affected the story greatly, her blog posts were interesting but i did not enjoy more than that.

The Truth and Other hidden things started off strong. I related to Bells as a mother and all the worry and stress that goes with it – with the exception of a late in life unplanned pregnancy. I was also looking forward to reading about life in Duchess County since we had lived there years ago and still have family there.

I enjoyed her family – Harry was too much as he adjusted to their new life and her children were relatable. But after the Walker family made the mover to Pigkill, that is when I started losing interest. I understand that Bells was unhappy but I had lost sympathy for her. The depiction of the area felt like a typical city stereotype of upstate and Millennial bashing was over the top.

I don’t think this is a bad book. It’s just not the book for me.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I liked this book, the writing was good. And I love that we got the blog post that she wrote.
I cannot relate to Bells myself, since she is almost twice my age. However, I could still relate to a few things. I also love to write, and would love to have a famous blog or writing a book.
Now, I have to say I loved the fact that she is over 40, and gets unexpected pregnant. There are so many books that doesn´t go there, however, this is a reality.
I can see why she decided to start a blog to bash others that she thought didn´t like her. People lie gossip, and this is a sure way to have people reading. However, I knew this would get back to bite her.
I get all her familymembers reactions, but i loved how it ended.

I was so excited to receive this ARC of The Truth and Other Hidden Things. It sounded like it’d be a great laugh, and it was. I did get a little overwhelmed when Bells just could not give up the Dutchess even though she knew it would probably hurt Harry in the end. On the other hand, I didn’t really care for Harry and if it would hurt him. He was very self-absorbed and lacked compassion for his wife who had uprooted even though she did everything for their family, besides bring in the money. I feel like the story missed an opportunity to focus on their marriage more. Overall, good read. Would recommend to friends for a beach read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC to read and review.

The Truth and Other Hidden Things by Lea Geller.

Bells, Bells, Bells! I'm feeling you honey. As a 40-something lady, I emphasized with Bells Walker and her need to be seen. The mom life can be very isolating, especially when your little chicks are able to function as humans without you. Tack on an oblivious husband and an unexpected pregnancy and you get the award for neurotic of the year. Bells decides to take this out on her new neighbors in The County Duchess blog. But the blogger life offers only a temporary heal to what's really wrong in her life.

This book is funny and brilliantly written.

A woman moves from New York to a small town for her husband's job and finds drama through a blog she heads up as a way to keep a creative outlet.

Bells finds out she's pregnant and that her husband lost his tenure and his job at a college in the same day. Her teenage kids aren't thrilled about the new baby or the now necessary move, as their apartment also went along with the job. Her husband finds a new job at a college in Dutchess County and the whole family moves there. Bells, feeling adrift, starts writing a blog about her new life, taking shots at the people she encounters and their secrets. As the secrets get more juicy, her blogs gets more readers and suddenly everything is out of control, including Bells.

Bells is a likeable character even though she definitely screws up, and readers will be hoping for her redemption at the end. The rest of her family, is frankly annoying, from her bratty kids to her man child husband. But in the end she makes the story worthwhile.