Reviewed by Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews on
Not only do we get one returning character, but three. Stephen, Holly and Frank Mackey are older and smarter than they were the last time we met. I loved seeing their development and the stubbornness all three took on. Like In The Woods, where a teen is the focus and inevitable culprit I really liked the daring all eight girls provided, giving a Rhoda Penmark/Bed Seed vibe to it. Also, I enjoyed that parts of The Secret Place were told in flashback, precipitated with "Chris Harper has x month/week/days to live. Through these segments leading up to the murder the reader got a fuller view of the goings on at St. Kilda's.
Not Fond of:
All eight girls were caddy Lindsey Lohans and got a little tired of hearing the word "Awesomesauce". Antoinette Conway, while she exhibits a bad ass I can do anything as good or better then men, she seemed a little incompetent. She spent a year with Chris Harper's murder as an open case, Stephen Moran comes on the scene and solves it in less then 24 hours. Don't get me wrong, I wanted Stephen to succeed, but if I had to listen to "I can't believe I missed that" one more time...
Final Thoughts:
My kindle's battery died with 30 minutes left to read and I annoyingly had to charge it for a hour. By saying this it exposes that I was so engrossed in The Secret Place that I lost all track of time and did not want to be interrupted for anything. The Secret Place is a thrillingly good read that will take your head for a spin.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 22 September, 2014: Finished reading
- 22 September, 2014: Reviewed