The book description does a good job of describing the plot and I would hate to tip my hand and spoil things. There were a few twists and turns along the way. Some I saw coming and some I did not.

I enjoyed this story. Ralph carefully integrates lots of easter eggs throughout the book that any true horror fan will appreciate and enjoy.

Due to St. Martins Press refusal to address the remarks made by their employee regarding Palestine, I will not be reviewing this book.

This in no way has anything to do with the author. But I refuse to support anything from SMP because of their refusal to address a major issue at hand.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my copy of Secrets Never Die. This one definitely kept me entertained! So many secrets! It was just a little too YA for my taste but would definitely recommend to someone new to the thriller genre! 3/5 stars!

Let's see...some positives. The book was easy to read and the plot was simple to follow. It had good flow and seemed to move along well with only a few spots of dragging. I'm not sure what age group this is aimed at, but other than one use of the word "fuck," it's definitely not anything you would have a problem with tweens reading. That said, I'm not a tween. And this book seemed to be trying it's best to hit all the less murdery aspects of a teen flick a la I know What You Did Last Summer or Scream, but it just fell short. The characters lacked depth and development, which only made their juvenile "secrets" even less shocking. The final reveal of the main culprit and motivation was silly and farfetched, with an elaborate revenge plot that planned for a final punishment far outweighing the supposed crime. If you are looking to read a thrilling rollercoaster of secrets, lies, and revenge, look elsewhere. But if you want to read an okay book on a boring afternoon, this just might work for you.

I'm sorry but I didn't like this book, I love mystery books but this wasn't the case, it was a difficult read for me even though it wasn't such a long book.
I didn't connect with any character or their stories.
The chapters were not interesting enough for me to continue reading.
Thanks u netgally and thanks to the publisher for this advanced copy.

They call it the Dark Place. They don’t know who built it or when but, for them, it’s special.

Every year Sam Hall and his friends hold funerals for their secrets in an abandoned hut in the Dark Place in the woods. But this year, their secrets are coming back from the dead...to terrorize them.

Sam is a former child star whose career went up in flames – literally. And no one, not even his best friend knows why. His friends each hold a secret pertaining to the night. A secret they would all like buried.

Now someone from the past is blackmailing them with their dangerous secrets. Sam isn’t sure who he can trust, who’s watching him – or how far he’s willing to go to bury the past once and for all.

When you’re alone in the dark, some things won’t stay hidden.

This book is definitely different from any book I ever read. It's a mystery thriller that borders on horror. But it left me more confused by the time I finished it. The parent's involvement in the past and then in the present would have prevented all of the events. They could have stopped in the beginning.

Secrets Never Die is available now.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘼 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙔𝘼 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢.

I have such mixed feelings about this book?!? The premise had me hooked, but the story itself was a chaotic mess.

Let’s talk about the positives, first of all, I absolutely love it when there are short chapters. I tend to fly through those books so quickly and they keep me engaged, this one did just that.

The tension and twists throughout the book were exciting and I enjoyed the action. I thought the whole blackmailing part was a fun idea, it added secrets throughout the book.

However, I feel like the characters were difficult to follow. Normally I don’t care if characters are likable in thrillers, but in this case, it was tough caring for the story when the characters lacked so much depth.

Also, there were certain moments when I felt like the author was trying to make something clear, but it sort of got lost in the narrative.

Overall, this wasn’t a bad book by any means, but it also wasn’t exceptional. It was just a fun, quick, and decent read. I did a combo of the ebook and audio, both were fun methods! If you enjoy blackmails, secrets, and twists & turns in your books then you might enjoy this one.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

I am never too certain when it comes to horror-adjacent books, but this novel had the right touch of fear and excitement that propelled me all the way until the end. The pacing was excellent right from the start, and I knew there was something up at Dom's party before we ever got the details. The Dark Place, and the idea of it, felt original, and every members' secret was never so far-fetched that it made me roll my eyes when they were eventually revealed to us. I kept suspecting everyone as the source of their secrets unveiling because everyone had just a tad bit of a weird vibe that made me wonder enough, "could it be them?". I totally didn't see the ending coming, and I am a huge lover of something just a TEENSY bit open/unresolved at the end. This was truly a well-thought out novel and I'm a fan.

This was a did-not-finish for me. I gave it twenty percent but just couldn't get into the storyline or relate to the characters in any way.

I decided to buddy read this with two of my coworkers, and for the most part, we quite enjoyed it. We were all skipping ahead and not wanting to stop reading at our designated check in chapters. We all kept making educated guesses as to what happened, and then every time a theory got thrown out the door, we produced a new one. They were upset there wasn't more death in it (I wasn't as it's a YA novel and I wasn't surprised.) We all agreed that the ending felt a little rushed and that it kind of fell flat. Overall, an enjoyable read, just not something I'd go out of my way to reread or even recommend.

While I appreciated this thriller, I felt like it was pretty standard for the genre and didn't feel super original or stand out in any spectacular way. While enjoyable, it wasn't something that made me feel like had super special qualities or particularly stuck out in any way.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc!

Sam, a former child actor, and his friends have a yearly tradition. On Halloween, they visit The Dark Place. One at a time, they enter and reveal their biggest secret. This year, they discover someone else is there. Now, they keep receiving texts taunting them. Who is doing it? How do they know all their secrets?

I really wanted to like this book. It gave off Pretty Little Liars and One of Us is Lying vibes. The ending really just wasn’t for me. I had a hard time believing the motive and who the culprit was. I don’t want to give anything away so that’s all I’ll say about that.

I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. The downfall was that I requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before the book was archived. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it!

When reading the book, you can tell a lot of planning when in to making sure that the reader was constantly guessing what was going to happen next.

This one was not my favorite. While the big plot points were all there, and seemed pretty cohesive, there seemed to be a lot of disconnect in the small aspects. I'm not sure if it was because it was written in first person, but for a large chunk of the book, it seemed like the main character had a very bad case of ADD or something, because every paragraph would veer from one thought to another. They didn't seem to really connect to each other in the grand scheme of things. There were also moments where I didn't know where the book was taking place. Some moments it felt American, other passages made it seem like we were in the UK. All together, I was not a fan of how this one was written.

This YA novel explores very real dangers from keeping secrets that should never have been buried.

A group of friends sneak into the woods for a ritual every Halloween. Each goes into their Dark Place (a hut near an arch of twisted elms) to confess a secret.

Threats begin - and escalate into violence targeting more than just these teens. Seems that older - and darker - secrets are in play, and that more than one person seeks retribution.

This is a well thought out YA horror. I was kept guessing the whole time!
Sam and his friends share their secrets with the forest, but it turns out that someone has been listening. And is playing nasty pranks on the group. Pranks turn into blackmailing and people ending up hurt. The group has to figure out who is behind it before someone ends up dead.
This is a very well thought out plot. The characters are well developed and different. They aren't very deep, but they don't need to be for the story to still work. This would make an excellent horror movie.

An intriguing mystery/thriller that may read on the younger side for adults but is perfect for teenagers, who it is intended for.

This book gave me mixed feels. On the one hand I loved the race against the clock aspect. On the other hand, I think it lacked the depth that other ya mystery novels provide.