No One Needs to Know

by Amanda Grace

Olivia Reynolds and her twin brother Liam have been best friends their whole lives. But ever since he started dating, Liam has barely had time for Olivia, making her feel powerless and alone. Blaming his string of girlfriends, Olivia does whatever she can to drive them away. Until she meets Zoey, Liam's latest fling. A call-it-like-she-sees-it kind of girl, Zoey sees right through Olivia's tricks. What starts as verbal sparring turns into surprising intimacy, and then something different builds between them. Something that feels a lot like love. But when Liam confesses that he's falling for Zoey, that she's more than just a fling, Olivia has to decide who deserves happiness more: her brother or herself.

• ISBN13: 9780738736259
• Publish Date: 8 September 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Flux
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 240
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

I'm a big fan of Young Adult novels and Amanda Grace (aka Mandy Hubbard) is rather big in big in the YA world with many novels under her belt. I haven't read any of her novels though I have one of her novels on my shelf and I've always wanted to try her Amanda Grace novels as they seem darker than her Mandy Hubbard books so I was sooooo happy to spot No One Needs To Know on Netgalley and even happier to be approved to read it and I couldn't wait to dive in!

No One Needs To Know is a very quick, very simple read that I thoroughly enjoyed - I liked getting to know the characters, and i liked that the novel dived into themes I don't normally read about, and I liked the whole Zoey in the middle thing, between Olivia and Liam. It was super interesting and while novels that advocate cheating are generally quite icky, there was something about No One Needs To Know that didn't seem icky and it didn't bother me as much as it might that Zoey was kissing both Olivia and Liam.

I don't read many LGBTQ books - not by choice, but because there aren't all that many diverse books around, although that's changing as more people are less judgemental and I very much enjoyed Zoey and Olivia's exploration of their feelings. There was a natural progression in their relationship from sorta-enemies, to friends, to more that I thought was thoroughly satisfying. It was so easy, so normal, which is very much down to Grace's writing. I was totally rooting for them and I loved their moments together, especially the earring and tattoo scene and the day when Olivia tells Zoey they're going to do whatever she wants, though she doesn't present it like that. It was so sweet of Olivia.

I'll be honest, it wasn't the most complicated book in the world, it took me 3 hours or so to complete, but I completely lost myself in Olivia and Zoey's alternating narrative. Olivia, Zoey and Liam make quite a pair and I was very pleased there wasn't a massive blow out towards the end which I had feared. Liam was über cool, cooler than I expected him to be, and I found him super kind and super unselfish. I must also mention Zoey's sister Caitlyn, who is the most gorgeous, sweet girl, such a sweetheart! I really enjoyed No One Needs To Know, it was a quick, fun summer read, different to what I normally read but I think no less of it because of that, I enjoyed reading about my first lesbian romance, especially with two such great girls as Olivia and Zoey.

This review was originally posted on Girls Love To Read

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

I was beyond excited to read No One Needs to Know! But my feelings upon finishing it are quite split. Olivia and Zoey are not friends. In fact, they kind of hate each other, so there's a lot of tension when they're partnered for a class project. Things start off rough between them, but Olivia and Zoey are forced to spend more time together, not only because of the assignment, but because Zoey is kind of dating Olivia's brother. The two grow closer, and soon enough their feelings are more than just friendly.

The first third, or so, of No One Needs to Know annoyed me. Olivia is super rich and the stereotypical mean girl, at least on the surface. Zoey is super poor and is the school slut, at least on the surface. Zoey hates Olivia, because her best friend was the one to start the rumors and Olivia went along with it. Olivia hates Zoey because...well, because. But Olivia has problems! Poor little rich girl, what does she know about misery? Her only other friend is her twin brother, her parents are always gone, she's not smart, and she's losing her edge in gymnastics. Oh, and she has anxiety which she's on Xanax for. So many problems! I know that rich people still have personal problems, but this was way too much of an effort to make Olivia sympathetic. I think her story would have been much stronger if it were more focused on her struggles at gymnastics, rather than all of the other stuff.

Towards the end, it was clear that part of the plot was to have Olivia grow as a person and find her own way. Her brother is pulling away from her, not because he doesn't want to be with her, but because he wants her to be her own person. She needs to open herself up to others and stop striving for perfection all of the time. This also becomes a problem in her relationship with Zoey, since she doesn't want her to break up with her brother in fear of him blaming her. At no point is their relationships established as exclusive or even serious, and her brother never gave any indication of making it so. Of course, if they had been honest in the beginning, there wouldn't be that "forbidden" romance feel.

I did love the second two thirds of No One Needs to Know! Zoey and Olivia are really cute together! Their relationship did come about really fast, especially since neither were even into girls. It just kind of happened, which is fine, but it was really fast. My favorite scene is where Olivia comes up with this awesome plan for coming up with the most awesome date. It was super duper adorable and sweet! I do recommend this one, if you think you can get past all of the rich girl/poor girl, mean girl/bullied girl cliches at the beginning.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.