| Title | : | The Secret |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 312 |
| Publication | : | Published January 9, 2020 |
Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Shari Lapena and Lisa Jewell
It was supposed to be a summer party for my friends like no other to celebrate our last year of high school.
I’d planned everything to perfection but as the night got underway, I never could have predicted how it ended…
Twenty years later, we are thrown back together when my ‘partner’ from that night is killed in a suspicious car accident.
It turns out we are all being hunted.
Someone is picking us off, one by one, for what we did that night.
Someone knows our secret, and they won’t let us forget it…
The Secret Reviews
-
2.5 rounded up. Listened because it was free on Audible. The narration is excellent, and in a way, I found the long-winded descriptions of every minute detail to be charming. For me it felt like listening to my ex’s mom — a very sweet British lady— discuss her shopping at the green grocer and who she’d seen at the store. Exhaustive but adorable detail. Unfortunately, this was not a very thrilling thriller. It was 99% predictable and there were way, way, WAY too many hypothetical questions. Who would do such a thing? And why would they do it?? And what would they do next???? And more importantly… who CARES????
If I had a recommendation to the author, it would be to pen “cozy mysteries.” Of course, I don’t personally care for cozies at all—but I think this style of writing would work better in that genre. -
My bad. This is totally on me.
This was an audible freebie and it wasn’t on my Goodreads shelves so I downloaded it. Then I began the audio and it asked me if I wanted to start it where I left off. Sooo, that means at one time I’d been listening and dnf’d. With nothing else in the queue I thought “why not?”
About 9 hours later I knew why I should not have tried again.
Hated the plot. Teens led by Miss Bossy decide to pair off with a group of boys, steal the key to a house for sale from Miss Bossy’s family real estate business, have sex at the empty home …..and fast forward to adulthood. I knew the entire, and I mean ENTIRE time, who was the modern day bad guy and why.
Miss Bossy had no clue.
Save yourself. -
I have read the authors latest 2 books and wanted to read her previous books so started with this one ‘The Secret’
I read a lot 😀 and lots of books are based on Secrets,however none have been based around a Secret like the one a group of friends have in this book, what they did as teenagers has come back to haunt them…..in the form of threats,murder and mayhem
I liked the main character and found her believable in her thoughts and actions,the writing was good and the story,as said,unusual and even though I guessed the baddie fairly early on it didn’t matter and didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book
A good pyschological whodunit and whydunit cautionary tale -
Although I actually enjoyed listening to this reasonably well-narrated book, I found it a little unnecessarily long, predictable and implausible. Not a bad book, but not the best.
-
Free audiobook. Well narrated. Was predictable but would recommend.
-
Free on audible so thought I’d give it a try. I feel like it had a good story line but it was dragged out and predictable. Not a bad listen though.
-
New author to me and I love a new author. So when Payback by Gemma Rogers came out I had to read it. What a brilliant book this was. I just loVed it and was hooked from the very first few pages. Its full of twists and turns and so twisted! It was very hard to put down.
Sophie White tells the story from her point of view. It's set when she was a teenager in 1997 to the present day. Sophie and three of her girlfriends decide they want to loose their innocence before the summer is over and the last year of school. Sophie holds a big party and invites her childhood buddy Gareth and his mates to make it easier for them all to have some fun and hoping they will loose their innocence with them.
However, things to not go to plan!
Why?
They all go their separate way,
Many years go by and Sophie's group of friends are brought back together but not in a good way. Gareth is killed in a car accident and Sophie's has started to receive threatening messages and she does not know who is leaving them! The party Sophie arranged twenty years ago was not so innocent after all!
Who is sending her these messages and Why?
I definitely recommend this book and will find time to read Gemma's first book called The Stalker which was the first book 10th September last year.
Big Thank you to Boldwood Books, Netgalley and Gemma Rogers the Author for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily. -
It passed the time. That was about all.
-
It was like the plot of a movie, and here I was in the starring role, unable to connect the dots. I imagined there'd be thousands of people shouting at the screen at my stupidity. I couldn't sleuth my way out of a paper bag.
No, Sophie, you could not. And you are stupid. Honestly. so many times, you should have called the police. Or, at the end when the detective is on the way, wait for him instead of going off on your own?
This storyline had potential, but there was a lot of repetition and filler. Example-- there was a whole paragraph about Robin shoplifting in the 1997 storyline, and how her friends did not like it when she did it while they were with her. Then, in the 2018 storyline, when Robin mentions getting in trouble at age 19 for shoplifting, the author makes sure to explain to us that Robin used to shoplift, and it made her friends nervous. We already knew that.
I kept waiting for this to get dark and suspenseful, but despite all the scary things that the (very obvious) villain was doing, it never got there. I just knew so early on what the truth about that night was, who the stalker was, and why they were doing the things they were doing. -
Main character was very stupid. 2/5
-
During the summer before their senior year, a group of eight high schoolers plans a secret party during which they all lose their virginity. The events of this particular night have changed many lives. Twenty years later, someone is targeting the group, and they are out for bloody revenge.
The Secret by Gemma Rogers begins with a bang, which had me excited but as the story progressed there were times when I lost interest and my attention wavered. The characters in the book were okay. I would have liked more suspense. Overall, it was a good read. -
Main character was TSTL.
-
2.5/5.
The writing style was great but the ending and the culprit were sadly too obvious from mid-way through the book to keep me invested. Some of the characters' actions felt unnatural, too. The author did try to mislead the readers but it just got me to finish the book and realize my suspicions were all spot-on. I will try more from this author though as I did like their writing style and I hope I'll be more into another of their stories. -
AUDIBLE EDITION ~ Narrated by Georgia Maguire
Enjoyable, well-paced and British!
I do so prefer British audiobooks! Indeed! I chose this book because of the perfectly skilled duo of Gemma Rogers and Georgia Maguire. Brilliant author Rogers creates an intricate and curious “Secret” between several young friends. Maguire’s narrative vocals are spot-on as she brings each character to vivid life. I thought I caught the two clues as to who was responsible for the mysteriously devious events throughout. Was I? Maybe, maybe not. Following several friends’ storylines from past and present, we are treated to a complexellent suspenseful thriller. I lucked out, as it was in the Audible Plus catalogue at no expense. After a few disappointing starts from my vast Audible library, “The Secret” was the preferable choice and I was content. Recommended with 🍒 🍒 🍒 on top, I look forward to more by these talented women. An awesome nod to Audible and those responsible for making this captivating thriller available. -
Predictable and far fetched. There was no real question who the "bad guy" would be, it was so obvious the main character came off as stupid for not figuring it out herself, and it all felt like over the top reasoning behind the crimes. Someone prepared to kill for something like the reasons the person had? Nah, not buying it.
-
lots of eye rolling throughout and was able to predict the ending. parts were entertaining but overall meh
-
After reading another book from the same author I had hoped to settle in for another thriller, but was a tad underwhelmed at what The Secret revealed.
Set in both past and present, the story revolves around a party thrown by the main character Sophie at which her and her friends planned to lose their virginity.
Now 20 years later, someone has an axe to grind about that night, and what truly happened to one of them.
For me, it was very easy to figure out motive and suspect.
I’d recommend this to those who enjoy a “cozy” thriller. -
I got this book as an audio book. I enjoyed it for the most part. I am glad I got it as an audio. I do not think I would have liked it as a book. It has a good plot and has a good theme but just didn't make it past the punch line for me. It has good plot twists so you may enjoy it better than I did. It is definitely more mystery than romance. The author does do a great job with the plot and storyline. I really enjoyed the plot as a whole and how it played out. Just did not really care for the characters and the character building in this book.
-
This is a first-class thriller that maintains its pace throughout. The protagonist is a young woman whose teenage indiscretion comes back with severe consequences when she is in her thirties. She is complex, intelligent, strong, and occasionally filled with doubts. It's also a mystery with a surprise ending. Ms. Rogers manages to provide insight into the personalities of the major characters without sacrificing the pace that is essential for any page-turner. Overall, an excellent book.
-
Very interesting story, Sophie wants to loss her virginity and convince three of her girlfriends too also. Twenty years later they regret this decision, because someone’s killing them off one at a time or trying to. All through the story they think it’s the person that didn’t return to the reunion.
-
The story part was great. It had me hooked the whole time! I say I don’t like romance in books but the little bit there was in this book was good. I did not like the ending, the story does wrap everything up but it just makes the story not as great thinking back. At the end everyone just seems so naive. It was a good read just not a satisfying ending in my opinion.
-
I had a general idea of who was the antagonist in this book, by about halfway in. There was an unexpected twist though! However, also about halfway in, I was ready to be done but I wanted to know the ending. I listened to this on audible, I don’t know if I would have been able to finish it if I were reading.
