Your Guilty Secret

by Rebecca Thornton

[Leah]

Your Guilty Secret is one of those books that sucks you in and barely lets go until the very end. I am a massive fan about novels about fame and this was one of the very best – providing a much deeper, darker look into what goes on in Hollywood, akin to what you read about on gossip sites where nobody is perfect and everybody is hiding something. Lara King is one of the most confusing narrators I have ever come across and even after finishing the book, I’m not sure we still got the full story on exactly what happened with Ava, her daughter. It felt like there was a chapter missing in the book, that typical thriller chapter where you think everything is fine and dandy and sorted out properly and then the book throws you one last twist, just because.

I will say that while I enjoyed the novel immensely, I couldn’t stand Lara. Considering where she came from and how her career almost ended before it started, she was so conceited. Always so bothered about Lara. What would be good for the Lara King brand? During the whole novel she seemed cold and calculated and I was never quite sure we were getting the real Lara, and that was disturbing. It was like she was playing a part, and I wasn’t buying it. I didn’t believe her, I didn’t trust her and, most importantly, I didn’t like her. The way she manipulated Ava was downright sociopathic. Who threatens a six year old with the loss of her nanny so she behaves? Her methods were just completely screwed up and while it might be horrible to say, she deserved the way the public treated her.

What was really incredible about Your Guilty Secret was that, despite despising Lara, I would still read a sequel to this novel. It was fascinating, like can’t-look-away-car-crash fascinating. Rebecca Thornton is a fantastic writer and it says a lot about her writing skills that despite absolutely hating her main character, I would still read more from her. Lara was just her own worst enemy I felt, and that really was something to see. You know, you see these beautiful Hollywood couples but you definitely don’t see the bad stuff, like anything, they only show you the good times and try to hide the bad times as best they can.

I devoured this book in a couple of days, it was so fascinating, so more-ish. Being a celebrity certainly doesn’t give you happiness or the perfect life and that’s so apparent in Your Guilty Secret. It still makes for fascinating reading though, and I was hooked. I have no idea if Rebecca Thorton plans to bring back Lara King but I would certainly read more, especially with how Your Guilty Secret ended, there’s so much more to be told I felt and I would be there for it for sure.