Books about groups of friends hiding secrets and exposing past lies rely greatly on the characters and their interactions. Unfortunately, I didn’t connect with a single one here. After kicking cancer, Amy throws herself a birthday party. She invites all her friends from college, including the narrator Louise, and plans a remembrance of their friend Hannah, who disappeared and was then found dead by her own hand. Now, the reader imagines that it was not so straightforward and that by the end of the novel we’ll find out what really happened. It’s hard to give a bad review, since it must be very hard to write a novel but I found the plot predictable and the dialogues too contrived. There is an absurd amount of attention paid to drinks, be it water or cocktails, and other details that don’t add anything to the story. I’m glad to see other reviewers liked this novel, it was not for me.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Bookouture!

Four women will get together to celebrate a birthday in a secluded cottage that happens to be near the woods where something happened years ago. Something that the women will never forget, In the beginning there were five of them. That is until Hannah was found dead. after taking her own life. Why would they want to go back there? Then the writer introduces us to Sam and Theo who begin to realize that there are many secrets between all of the women. Something else happened to Hannah that night and the ghosts of the past finally come out when a game is played. I enjoyed reading this book and found the authors writing to be profound and full of mystery. I thought that I knew exactly what happened. But as I read further, I realized that my theory was way off. The characters were very well developed and believable. I felt as though I was inside the book following along. I recommend this to anyone who loves thrillers.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is one of my favorite genres, and I found it need that the author has the same first name (though spelled differently). So, I was excited to read this. Sadly, the story didn't quite hit the mark for me.

I've never read anything by this author, but I'd consider reading one in the future.

The story is told through Louise's perspective. In general, I had a hard time connecting with her or liking her, and I felt that way about a number of the characters. The relationships felt a bit forced, and the dialogue was a bit stilted and awkward. While there were a couple unexpected twists, most of them were predictable.

The premise was good, albeit not totally unique, but it fell a bit flat for me.

Our Little Secret won't be a secret for long! At least, not if I have anything to say. It was a well put together plot with a surprising ending, revealed at just the right time. The characters were such an interesting bunch of unique and divergent personalities, I couldn't wait to hear about each one's role in Hannah's death. A game of truth or dare was a clever pretext to get each of the girls and Sam to tell the story of their last conversation or meeting with Hannah, which led to the conclusion.

Lou had to be my favorite character, seeming to be the glue that held this group together many years after university and the tragedy of their friend's death. She was a loyal friend and kept Daisy's secret until the end, even though Daisy didn't reciprocate with the same loyalty.

OLS reminded me a bit of some of Liane Moriarity's work. A compliment, if you ask me. I enjoy LM's work also and for some of the same reasons - nice plots, great characters and usually a surprise reveal at the end. I urge you to pick up Our Little Secret and see if you can determine the secret before the end.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and offer my opinion.

A reunion of four women, once a tight circle in university to celebrate Amy’s birthday and to discuss the circumstances and mourn the loss of a beloved fifth woman, Hannah, who died before graduation in a suicide. . A premise like that has to go horribly wrong, surely? Add in Sam, the boyfriend who deserted Hannah for Daisy and Kat and Louse, who have secrets of their own and you have a deadly emotional mess of a gathering. Add in Theo, boyfriend of the narrator Louise, who recently cheated, Jade, the new girlfriend of Kat, and you have a dizzying group of suspects . Suspects? . Yes, somehow as they were all arriving at an isolated cottage in the woods, the police decide Hannah was murdered. Never seen a group with so many secrets and underlying connections which make the book a quick and easy read. Most characters are unlikable and part of me wanted a chainsaw murderer sneak into the cottage but the women avenge each other with little razor nicks all weekend and do the job themselves.

Getting old friends together to reminisce over the past and reveal old kept secrets, with often lethal consequences. No change here: old friends gather to celebrate a birthday and recovery from disease.
But it seems to be centered around the horrible death of one of their own. But as the weekend progresses, old secrets, jealousies, and double dealings. No one was really who they thought each other was.

None of the characters seem very attractive,so sympathy for them is hard to find. At the big event of the weekend, all sorts of things happen and are revealed.
It is a pretty fun and fast read, not sure I would seek out another like it-
The ending and final reveal seems familiar and you could kinda see it coming, without trying to hard.

A very solid 4-star read!

A group of friends meet up for a reunion in a secluded cottage, set near a dark forest where one of their close friends disappeared and later was found dead. They all want to put the ghosts of their past behind and lay to rest what happened so many years ago. A game of truth or dare ensues, threatening to uncover their darkest secret…

Full of twisty little secrets, this gripped my attention from the get-go. Such an interesting premise and it did not disappoint. Very fast-paced and gripping till the very end. It’s like one of those locked-room mysteries with a foreboding sense of something sinister that’s about to go down. It reminded me quite a bit of ‘Pretty Little Liars’ but like an adult version of it. It sure is a page-turner and a very enjoyable read. I found the ending just a tad bit disappointing, but overall a very good read.

I received an eARC of #OurLittleSecrets via #Netgalley, author, and publishers. All opinions are my own. Pub Date 18th Dec, 20.

This is my first book by Lesley Sanderson but one I certainly enjoyed. It started a little slowly. Also - and this is me being anal - the book opens with our lead (Louise) at netball training, and then talks about her team winning 3-nil. Perhaps it was a very short practice match / first team to three goals or something?!

We take a while to get to the death of the girls' university friend, Hannah but when we do we learn the story of her death quickly. It's the revelations that come after that are of most interest and eked out for the rest of the book. Of course we're in Lou's head so don't really know too much detail about the secrets the others hold but it's obvious that none of the girls, or Sam (former boyfriend of Hannah who ditched her for another of the group) were completely honest with the police during the investigation into Hannah's disappearance and then her death.

The (literal) 'game-playing' near the end to uncover secrets felt a little contrived so I was glad when that was dropped and everyone shared their stories. I didn't guess the twist around Hannah's death and thought the latter half of the book, when the paced picked up, was strong.

There's a subplot featuring Louise and her partner Theo. Sanderson's initially pretty subtle, referencing the 'before' and 'after'; but the theme around trusting someone who's cheated before is an interesting one and probably got a little lost amidst the mystery and then the drama of the end of the book.

3.5 stars

Another amazing book that I couldn't put down. It involves romance, love triangles, secrets and a shocking conclusion.

I liked most of the characters, despite a few of them being toxic. I also liked that they didn’t all stay close after what happened to their friend. I think it made it better when they agreed to seeing each other over the weekend, and were very wary of each other and what each of them knew about that tragic day.

I also had an inkling of what the outcome of the book would be, but even when I was right, there were still a lot of twists thrown into it!

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this book! You can find my reviews about the book here:

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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3649882594

A solid slow moving, intriguing story that draws you in, and you can’t stop reading. It’s not a scary thriller, but a layered onion that keeps on giving, layer after layer. You sort of know what is coming, but you still have to read it with your own eyes to believe it.

I like the main protagonist, and I like the way her mind works. Not sure I agree with everything she did, but she’s so filled with guilt and questions to begin with that I feel proud of her because she’s a strong woman. Finding out that people are not what they seem to be is nothing new to most people, but finding out that everything you believed in, everyone you trusted have been lying, is a bit different.

I had most of the things figured out, and even though I find the story to be believable, it still amazes me how devious people can be. Convincing characters, nice setting, and well-written.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was well written, easy reading, and a good mix of twists, and ongoing mysteries as the book unfolds. You occasionally have to suspend belief at some aspects of the plot but this did not detract overall.

I feel like I've read this book before. The plot follows the same plot as quite a few others - college friends reuniting and dealing with trauma from their collective past.

This didn't surprise me or really keep my interest. I've already forgotten the 'reveal'.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

Another fantastic read from one of my favourite authors which held my interest throughout. It was a great page turner which I found hard to put down, all the characters had their own story to tell and I devoured every page from beginning to the fantastic ending.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read this book which I can thoroughly recommend.

I loved this book. It was mysterious and creepy and I couldn’t stop reading it once I started. Characters were incredibly believable to me. They made the story even scarier.

After battling cancer, Amy is now in remission and ready to celebrate her birthday with her university friends. But that's not the only reason she wants to get them together. While still at university, the group was faced with the death of one of their closest friends. Hannah's death was ruled a suicide, but everybody in their group has suspicions. Amy is ready to bring closure to those long ago events and finally find out the truth about what happened to Hannah.

I'm usually a big fan of Lesley Sanderson. I have all her books and loved them all. But, sadly, this book just didn't work for me. This story is told through the perspective of Louise, and she's such an unlikeable character (as are all the characters except Amy). I found the relationship between the characters to be disingenuous, the dialogue was awkward and the big twist at the end was predictable from the very start.

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

Good premise to the story with Likeable lead characters. Friends form university reunite after many years as their relationships have been strained due to another fried dying whilst at university. Slow in places but a good plot with twists built in. An easy and quick read

When Louise receives an invitation to her old friend Amy’s birthday weekend in a cottage in the country, a chill runs down her spine.
This was simply a great book! I love a good book about friendship and secrets.
Lesley really held my attention with this thriller!
Characters were great! Setting was amazing! Plot is twisted!

The storyline of this book was actually excellent, but to me the book felt a bit rushed. It was very short, which isn't always a problem but it would have been nice to get to know the characters better and feel a deeper connection with them, maybe some flashbacks to their university days and a time when they were all actually good friends would have been nice?

I really enjoyed the plot itself and was greedily reading to discover all the new information that was being revealed bit by bit, that part was done really well. I didn't like the dialogue, to me it felt clunky and unnatural. The way Louise and Theo spoke to one another was more like vague acquaintances than a couple who have been together for years. Talking of that pairing, not convinced by their ending at all!

It's difficult for me to rate this because the idea was so good and there were plenty of surprises but unfortunately I feel like the execution let it down. I feel that if a bit more time was spent on polishing this novel it could have been a 5 star read. Instead I'll give it 3.5 stars rounded up.

This was a great read and read it in one go as I wanted to find out what happened. It was an interesting set up every one having a reunion back where it all began. It was a great plot device with the game.

I did struggle with Theo and Lou's relationship though especially at two instances at the end (can't say due to the spoilers). That is the only thing that let the book down for me, but I could get over it for the whole story.

A cracking read and do fully recommend the book it is well worth a read and I was gripped.

I was given an advance copy of the book by netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review which I have done.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced e-copy of Our Little Secrets!!!

I really enjoyed this book!! Lou is invited along with three old university friends to celebrate their mutual friends birthday. While there they begin to reminisce about their friend Hannah and the circumstances that led to her death all those years ago.

This book was a great read. The characters are all interesting and the plot twists work well. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves psychological thrillers.