Review: Little Secrets

Well written, provoking, gets under the skin @Megan_Hart #mustread

Little Secrets by Megan Hart

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Afraid of ghost stories and scary movies, this book is not easy to read for me. Especially when one is trying to read it late at night without waking the spouse. I picked this book up only because of Ms. Hart. I am heavily addicted to her stories. This one caught me off guard and I was thoroughly entertained. In Little Secrets, there are several mis-directions which generates a constant tension.

Ginny and Sean are married and starting a new phase in their life. They move into a new house and Ginny is pregnant. I have to admit, it is not just the hint of ghosts which makes my stomach knotted up with anxiety. It is the relationship between Ginny and Sean. They have marital issues, big issues which are demonstrated so well between their interactions. Ginny is a wife who suffers under an overbearing husband. Sean is a husband who is overprotective and slightly patronizing. Honestly, I could not stand Sean. Even at the end of this book, I did not like him. It is a testament to Ms. Hart's writing how much I enjoyed this book despite my wish for Sean's death, especially at the end.

Ginny is a woman with secrets. Between her secrets and the house's secrets, they build into speeding train heading for a major crash. The secrets Ginny carries are in parallel yet nowhere as deadly as the house's former owner's secrets. When the hidden is revealed, it makes so much sense. Ms. Hart dropped hints throughout the book to lead up to the huge uncovering. The hints are cleverly peppered throughout the tale through the actions of the characters and words left unsaid. This writing style is at a level I rarely come across anymore. And this is precisely why I love Ms. Hart's writings. The plot makes me think. The threads are so well written and tie together that by time I realize what is exactly going on, it is too late. The same can be said for the characters.

I really enjoy how the story is only from Ginny's perspective. This is in third person and with the reader only seeing from Ginny's side, it makes the story more mysterious in ways. Because we only have partial information like Ginny, we too are in the dark and need to make extrapolations with missing data. This sometimes leads us down the wrong path and it feels as if Ms. Hart is smirking as she then redirects us down another path we did not original notice. I love this feeling of not knowing.

The conclusion comes in a rush fraught with despair and danger. This generates a heightened sense of fear and keeps a reader sitting at the edge of their seat, wanting to know what happens next. The answers are excellently presented and the final confrontations make this story a lovely happily for now. This bittersweet story is as expected from Ms. Hart. My emotions are all over the place and I nurse a terrible book hangover. Loved the story from beginning to end. I will note that this storyline is vaguely familiar. I am not sure if I read a book similar to this, if it was in the news or if I saw a movie. Regardless, it is haunting and unforgettable. Recommended to suspense lovers who enjoy a strong female determined to save her marriage.

*provided by NetGalley



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