Title: Deadly Little Secret
Author: Laurie Faria Stolarz
Published: December 2008 by Hyperion Books
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Tags: YA | Suspense
Includes: Profanity, Brief Violence, Sexual Content
First Lines: I could have died three months ago. Ever since, things haven't quite been the same for me.
Summary from Amazon:
Some secrets shouldn't be kept... Up until three months ago, everything in sixteen-year-old Camelia's life had been fairly ordinary: decent grades; an okay relationship with her parents; and a pretty cool part-time job at the art studio downtown. But when Ben, the mysterious new guy, starts junior year at her high school, Camelia's life becomes anything but ordinary. Rumored to be somehow responsible for his ex-girlfriend's accidental death, Ben is immediately ostracized by everyone on campus. Except for Camelia. She's reluctant to believe the rumors, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. She's inexplicably drawn to Ben...and to his touch. But soon, Camelia is receiving eerie phone calls and strange packages with threatening notes. Ben insists she is in danger, and that he can help--but can he be trusted? She knows he's hiding something... but he's not the only one with a secret.
From Pages 183 and 186
I grab a razor from the shelf and look over my shoulder. At the same moment a shadow moves across the wall. I let out a gasp and peer down the hallway in both directions. There's nothing there. Meanwhile the phone continues to ring. It's like someone keeps calling back because they know I'm home. Alone. I move into the kitchen and check the answering machine, but no one's left a message. I pick up the receiver and it's quiet on the other end, like someone's listening in. I can hear breathing on the other end, followed by a weird scratching sound.
Awesome book! I'll tell you now, I really enjoyed it and it kept my attention throughout the entire story. I was able to understand the characters well and be able to get an idea of what sort of a person they were. I liked the diverse personalities of them: Camelia, the control-freak who doesn't quite know what she wants; Wes, your typical pervertive and immature teenage boy; Kimmie, the unique and ditzy bestfriend; I could go on and on.
The novel had a great storyline and I liked how even though it was overall suspenseful, there was romance put in as well. Some side plots in the book (such as the issue with Camelia's aunt) were never explained at the end though. However, this is just book one in the Touch series, so maybe it will be further explained in the next book.
A lot of other reviews about this book that I've read talk about how much of a Twilight copy this is. While reading, I have to admit that I kind of agreed at first. Ben, mysterious and handsome, was very similar to Edward's character. And there are little things - such as they are lab partners in chemistry; they want to be together but he doesn't want to hurt her with his powers, etc. - were a lot like Twilight. HOWEVER, halfway through the book, it becomes it's own story and has twists and turns that were unexpected. In a way, it seems like a handful of books could seem like Twilight copy-cats but in reality aren't. Well, I'm getting off track so let me just say it bluntly. This book was great, and kept me attentive and anxious. I actually bit off most of my fingernails during particular chapters (see quote above), so I blame Laurie for that, haha!
I just think that it ended a little too suddenly; like right after the climax, there wasn't much "falling action" like my English teacher would say. I can't wait to read the next in the series, though!
Published: December 2008 by Hyperion Books
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Tags: YA | Suspense
Includes: Profanity, Brief Violence, Sexual Content
First Lines: I could have died three months ago. Ever since, things haven't quite been the same for me.
Summary from Amazon:
Some secrets shouldn't be kept... Up until three months ago, everything in sixteen-year-old Camelia's life had been fairly ordinary: decent grades; an okay relationship with her parents; and a pretty cool part-time job at the art studio downtown. But when Ben, the mysterious new guy, starts junior year at her high school, Camelia's life becomes anything but ordinary. Rumored to be somehow responsible for his ex-girlfriend's accidental death, Ben is immediately ostracized by everyone on campus. Except for Camelia. She's reluctant to believe the rumors, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. She's inexplicably drawn to Ben...and to his touch. But soon, Camelia is receiving eerie phone calls and strange packages with threatening notes. Ben insists she is in danger, and that he can help--but can he be trusted? She knows he's hiding something... but he's not the only one with a secret.
From Pages 183 and 186
I grab a razor from the shelf and look over my shoulder. At the same moment a shadow moves across the wall. I let out a gasp and peer down the hallway in both directions. There's nothing there. Meanwhile the phone continues to ring. It's like someone keeps calling back because they know I'm home. Alone. I move into the kitchen and check the answering machine, but no one's left a message. I pick up the receiver and it's quiet on the other end, like someone's listening in. I can hear breathing on the other end, followed by a weird scratching sound.
Awesome book! I'll tell you now, I really enjoyed it and it kept my attention throughout the entire story. I was able to understand the characters well and be able to get an idea of what sort of a person they were. I liked the diverse personalities of them: Camelia, the control-freak who doesn't quite know what she wants; Wes, your typical pervertive and immature teenage boy; Kimmie, the unique and ditzy bestfriend; I could go on and on.
The novel had a great storyline and I liked how even though it was overall suspenseful, there was romance put in as well. Some side plots in the book (such as the issue with Camelia's aunt) were never explained at the end though. However, this is just book one in the Touch series, so maybe it will be further explained in the next book.
A lot of other reviews about this book that I've read talk about how much of a Twilight copy this is. While reading, I have to admit that I kind of agreed at first. Ben, mysterious and handsome, was very similar to Edward's character. And there are little things - such as they are lab partners in chemistry; they want to be together but he doesn't want to hurt her with his powers, etc. - were a lot like Twilight. HOWEVER, halfway through the book, it becomes it's own story and has twists and turns that were unexpected. In a way, it seems like a handful of books could seem like Twilight copy-cats but in reality aren't. Well, I'm getting off track so let me just say it bluntly. This book was great, and kept me attentive and anxious. I actually bit off most of my fingernails during particular chapters (see quote above), so I blame Laurie for that, haha!
I just think that it ended a little too suddenly; like right after the climax, there wasn't much "falling action" like my English teacher would say. I can't wait to read the next in the series, though!
Book Supplied by: Bought it at Borders! :)
I am a huge fan of Laurie Faria Stolarz. I adore the Blu is for Nightmares series and so when I heard about the Touch series I was totally onboard.
ReplyDeleteI agree on your thoughts about the ending..... but I guess that's how they keep us hooked, right?
I think this book is nothing like Twilight! What are they thinking??! Sure Ben is mysterious, but then he isn't as much. I loved this book. It was amazing. I agree, though, it did end very suddenly, which was weird.
ReplyDeleteThis is another book in my "to be read" pile and thanks to your awesome review of it I might just move it up a little closer to the top of the pile!
ReplyDeleteI loved this book! I cant say it was similar to twilight though...I love twilight but this was entire different story with different characters...I agree some plots werent explained enough but I bought second book of this series recently and cant wait to read it...maybe it will give us some answers...
ReplyDeleteThis book is currently on my TBR list. It sounds like an interesting, gripping book, according to your review. I got the book in the first place because of the intriguing title and mysterious cover.
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