Official Review: Secrets Revealed
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sammy_dee
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- Latest Review: "Secrets Revealed" by Denise Daigle
Official Review: Secrets Revealed
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Secrets Revealed" by Denise Daigle.]
The book that I selected to review was Secrets Revealed By Denise Daigle. This fictional book is set in Louisiana and clearly depicts good old fashioned southern culture. The story centers around five friends who just graduated from high school. Like most young adults the world revolves around them, and they act as though they are invincible. As fate would have it their plans of always sticking together and “running the town” as police officers does not pan out quite like they had hoped. Reality sets in, and the friends choose separate paths. As an incident that devastated the five friends resurfaces, the gang is brought back together as Dena pieces the puzzle of their lives together.
I must honestly say that I was not a fan of the way the beginning of the book was carried out. Immediately all five characters are thrown at the reader, that is a lot of people to remember and at times I found it confusing and overwhelming. The author also uses the phrase “the end of the road” a handful of times, foreshadowing the conclusion of the story. It was really early in the book to foreshadow who the antagonist was, I had it figured out shortly after. I also noticed that there was some shaky transitions in the beginning of the book. In one scene Dena is describing how all of their friends signed up to join the police academy. From there Dena goes right into saying that Josie will not answer her phone. I found myself having to reread this section a few times so that I understood what was going on. It was in this part of the book that I found the plot to be jumping all over the place making it confusing to the reader.
With all of that being said, as the plot thickens the book was much improved. The plot was no longer jumping all over the place, it was like all the pieces came together. I found myself engrossed in the middle and the ending of the book. Because of the foreshadowing in the beginning I knew what was coming at the end I like how the author tied it all together and left the reader with just enough of a cliffhanger to keep them wanting more (I assume a second book is in the works). I am interested in reading the original folktale that this story is based off of, just for my own enjoyment in comparing how this story matches.
I believe that the theme for this book was the reality that everyone has secrets or as the book states “skeletons in the closet” that often we may be blind to. Often people turn a blind eye to what they do not want to see, but just because they do not wish to see it does not make it any less there. Dena is the first of the characters to realize this when she comes to the epiphany that she was not the greatest friend to Josie. During their teenage years Dena believed her and Josie were the best of friends, when they really were not but Dena turned a blind eye to this fact as she was distracted with her young romance with Beau.
In rating the book I would give it 3 out of 4 stars. The beginning of the book does not do justice to the middle and the ending of the book. Although the beginning is confusing with sporadic transitions of speakers and too early foreshadowing, the rest of the book is very well written. The author is able to relate to the characters, it brought me back to my days in high school. I remember all too well thinking the same thing as the main characters, that my friends and I would all work together and spend the rest of our lives like we were living in high school. The ending was great, when I got to the final page I was disappointed I wanted more!
Overall, the book was very good, which is why I gave it 3 stars and would recommend it to my fellow readers. As previously stated the beginning is slightly confusing by jumping around and transitioning unclearly from speaker to speaker. However do not allow the beginning to speak for the rest of the book. The rest of the book totally engrossed me and left me wanting more at the final page.
***
Buy "Secrets Revealed" on Amazon
The book that I selected to review was Secrets Revealed By Denise Daigle. This fictional book is set in Louisiana and clearly depicts good old fashioned southern culture. The story centers around five friends who just graduated from high school. Like most young adults the world revolves around them, and they act as though they are invincible. As fate would have it their plans of always sticking together and “running the town” as police officers does not pan out quite like they had hoped. Reality sets in, and the friends choose separate paths. As an incident that devastated the five friends resurfaces, the gang is brought back together as Dena pieces the puzzle of their lives together.
I must honestly say that I was not a fan of the way the beginning of the book was carried out. Immediately all five characters are thrown at the reader, that is a lot of people to remember and at times I found it confusing and overwhelming. The author also uses the phrase “the end of the road” a handful of times, foreshadowing the conclusion of the story. It was really early in the book to foreshadow who the antagonist was, I had it figured out shortly after. I also noticed that there was some shaky transitions in the beginning of the book. In one scene Dena is describing how all of their friends signed up to join the police academy. From there Dena goes right into saying that Josie will not answer her phone. I found myself having to reread this section a few times so that I understood what was going on. It was in this part of the book that I found the plot to be jumping all over the place making it confusing to the reader.
With all of that being said, as the plot thickens the book was much improved. The plot was no longer jumping all over the place, it was like all the pieces came together. I found myself engrossed in the middle and the ending of the book. Because of the foreshadowing in the beginning I knew what was coming at the end I like how the author tied it all together and left the reader with just enough of a cliffhanger to keep them wanting more (I assume a second book is in the works). I am interested in reading the original folktale that this story is based off of, just for my own enjoyment in comparing how this story matches.
I believe that the theme for this book was the reality that everyone has secrets or as the book states “skeletons in the closet” that often we may be blind to. Often people turn a blind eye to what they do not want to see, but just because they do not wish to see it does not make it any less there. Dena is the first of the characters to realize this when she comes to the epiphany that she was not the greatest friend to Josie. During their teenage years Dena believed her and Josie were the best of friends, when they really were not but Dena turned a blind eye to this fact as she was distracted with her young romance with Beau.
In rating the book I would give it 3 out of 4 stars. The beginning of the book does not do justice to the middle and the ending of the book. Although the beginning is confusing with sporadic transitions of speakers and too early foreshadowing, the rest of the book is very well written. The author is able to relate to the characters, it brought me back to my days in high school. I remember all too well thinking the same thing as the main characters, that my friends and I would all work together and spend the rest of our lives like we were living in high school. The ending was great, when I got to the final page I was disappointed I wanted more!
Overall, the book was very good, which is why I gave it 3 stars and would recommend it to my fellow readers. As previously stated the beginning is slightly confusing by jumping around and transitioning unclearly from speaker to speaker. However do not allow the beginning to speak for the rest of the book. The rest of the book totally engrossed me and left me wanting more at the final page.
***
Buy "Secrets Revealed" on Amazon
Latest Review: "Secrets Revealed" by Denise Daigle
