Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!!

This book gave me goosebumps from COVER TO COVER. the main twist was such a surprise. It will even leave you guessing (in a good way) at the end

What a thrilling and intense ride Secrets Never Die turned out to be! The mysterious and eerie atmosphere immediately drew me in, and the short chapters with their gripping endings had me hooked, craving for more.

Sam's journey from a former child star to a life filled with buried secrets and blackmail kept me on the edge of my seat. As the tension built, I found myself racing through the pages, desperate to uncover the truth behind the strange occurrences and the sinister secrets haunting the characters.

The book's pacing reminded me of the adrenaline rush on a roller coaster, where you're slowly pulled in, and suddenly, you're hurtling through twists and turns, unable to stop until the thrilling conclusion. While I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, I couldn't help but wish for a more satisfying ending with additional hints sprinkled throughout. Despite that, Secrets Never Die is an enthralling and suspenseful read that keeps you guessing until the very last page. Get ready to delve into a world where secrets won't stay buried, and the darkness holds unimaginable surprises.

This book had a lot of potential but it kind of fell flat for me. A big problem for me was there was a lot of characters so they didn't really feel fully developed because they were so many of them.

I really enjoyed the writing of this book and it had a lot of atmospheric and creepy vibes that I really enjoyed.

The big problem for me was I just couldn't get into the characters. I wanted to like them but I really didn't feel like I knew them.

As well as the fact that the whole premise of this book revolves around them keeping secrets and their really life-altering secrets. When the secrets were revealed they didn't really feel like they lived up to the hype.

There were definitely some great elements of this book. The pacing was really quick and intense. It immediately starts with the action. It's not a slow build story.

I was definitely hooked and I finished this book in one sitting. Ending of this book definitely saves it. The last quarter of this book really draws you in. And keeps you guessing and on your toes.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

While this was not a terrible book by any means, it did not have enough sustenance to keep me intrigued I really wanted to like it but it seemed a bit lacking on true suspense.

The premise was good, but i truly wished that i would love it, but i felt like it was dull and i never got to see their potential, like yes there was potential but i felt like the characters aren’t flushed out at all. i wished that i’ll get to enjoy this book but sadly it didn’t deliver what i wanted :(

This book starts off so great, and you really get gripped by the characters and their family dynamic... then one layer is added, and it's spooky & wonderful! Then another layer is added, and it's a little strange, but...ok. Then, yet another layer is added, and now it's confusing. And you guessed it... another layer. Now I'm just tired. For people who love multiple complex layers, you'll love this book because the writing style is great and easy to read. I just would have preferred much less.

5/5⭐️!!!
This book had me absolutely hooked from the beginning (even tho I was kind of in a little slump). But this book had me guessing from the beginning, had my heart racing and had me saying “WTF” multiple times!
The plots in the book were absolutely amazing! They really really kept me on my toes guessing on what was going to happen next.

I will definitely be recommending this book to my friends and family!

Thank you netgalley and publisher for my ARC (e-book)!

3.5 stars rounded down. I really enjoyed Vincent Ralph's previous book "Lock the Doors", so I'm disappointed that I didn't like this one more. The plot was a good idea, but I think that it could have been a little juicier and meatier. The characters weren't well fleshed out and the secrets were pretty tame for the most part. They didn't seem to be shocking enough to be blackmail material. The last 25% was exciting and I liked the villain's backstory. I was surprised by the real reason everything was happening. All in all, it was a fast read that I finished in a day, but it wasn't my favorite. Perhaps young adults, the intended audience, will like this one more than I did.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Vincent Ralph's "Secrets Never Die" has an original plotline and interesting setup, drawing the readers in immediately as they try to uncover who is skulking around and threatening to reveal their secrets. This novel has a lot to enjoy, especially for a YA audience, but I struggled to connect with the characters and felt the story went off the rails at some points. All-in-all, for the right audience, this is a really unique, fun story.

This is one book I will never forget. Vincent Ralph is master storyteller. His characters are relatable. I can’t wait to read his other books.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the copy of Secrets Never Die by Vincent Ralph. I loved this book so much I don’t even know where to start! First of all, if you don’t think you like YA books, the story, characters, and writing in this one might change your mind. If you're looking for a fast-paced, creepy story with great characters and stellar writing, try this book! I'm sure this will be on my top reads of this year!

I'm going to try my best to make this spoiler free....

We are following Sam and a group of his friends who run into a little ummm.... trouble (??) at Halloween.

Ok let's get real. Shit starts to go down. The story ebbs and flows and not always on a good way.

And While sam is a good character some of the others are not fully fleshed out, or are annoyingly zipped lipped and uptight and frankly unlikeable (I'm looking hard at Elisha).

The story was good but I got bored and annoyed at times and then super into the story at others.

3 stars

Secrets Never Die is an apt title for this YA thriller and while the secrets indeed never do die the storyline itself suffers a bit from the lack of execution and emotional depth needed to pull the reader in and pull off the scary story line.

Now I am fully aware that I might not be the correct audience for this title and that might be the issue in my lack of enjoyment here, but I had trouble engaging in the story line and caring about the outcome of the characters.

The story's basics: Sam and his friends share their secrets in a way where they are supposed to free them of them, sort of like confession I would imagine. But then they find that their secrets are coming back to haunt them and more.

My issues: as an adult looking at these secrets, well they are not really that terrible, at least not enough for the horror/terror aspect of the story line, plus where are the secrets really the kids to begin with? I mean there is a lot to be debated here. Also, what law/line/reason is keeping the secrets, secret?

There were so many plot holes to make the story flow, it the story wouldn’t have worked if one of the people had simply told the secret. I can suspend a lot of belief for a fiction story, but this story asked too much of me and I just couldn’t hold that much for what little I was given here. I tried but I didn’t enjoy this at all.

Unfortunately, the story just read too much like a rough draft of outline for me and I just felt like it was incomplete and not fleshed out enough for enjoyment.


I received an ARC via NetGalley and Wednesday Books and NetGalley and I am leaving an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's/Wednesday Books for gifting me an early copy. Below you'll find my honest review.

This one was an absolute roller coaster. I love when a book has short chapters coupled with great chapter ends, because it really feeds my "one more chapter" behavior and I can tear through them.

Secrets Never Die really built the tension well, starting off a bit slowly on the weird happenings, and then speeding up fast. Have you ever ridden Rock 'N' Roller Coaster at Walt Disney World? If you haven't you load into the vehicle, then pull around a corner and wait about 25 seconds. You get a 3 second countdown, and then you rocket from 0 to 60 in mere seconds. That's kind of how this book went. We had a brief set up, and then BAM - you need to know what's going on, what's happening, what everyone's secrets are so you just keep doing one more loop (reading one more chapter) until it's 5am and you have to be up in two hours.

I did have to give this one four instead of five stars. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the explanation/ending, and felt like it needed a little bit more. Maybe more hints dropped throughout the book so there was a tiny chance of figuring it out?

All in all, highly recommended fun YA mystery/thriller/suspense read. I'll definitely be adding the author's other books to my TBR.

This book was creepy (in a good way). I liked the characters and the plot. I liked that the book was very fast paced and had short chapters.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the arc of this book.

*Thank you Net Galley for the the ARC copy*

Secrets Never Die was my first outing with Vincent Ralph. It's a YA mystery following Sam and four of his friends. Every year on Halloween they go to an old abandoned cabin they call "The Dark Place" in order to leave their secrets and start the next year without them hanging over them. However, this year their secrets are coming back to haunt them.

This is a really quick and engaging read. The writing was well done and moved at a good pace. There are obviously a lot of secrets to be revealed and some make more sense/feel more believable than others. I appreciate that it is a mystery where you have the possibility of figuring out the main twist. I didn't love the big focus on the past in the back half of the book but overall I think young readers will find the story interesting and it would be especially fun to read in the fall.

I would recommend this book to YA readers who are new to the Ya mystery/thriller genre and also to those who like a mystery with a good amount of back story.

Sam Hall and his friends used to visit the Dark Place where they told all their biggest secrets and fears. Now their secrets have come back to haunt them and they are being stalked. This was a very creepy story full of unexpected twists and turns. Thanks NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC that will be released August 29, 2023!

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Story line is interesting and moves along quickly, but the characters are a little flat. Probably great for the teen audience it is intended for.

Date is the date the review was written, not the date of reading.

This book was ok, I like thrillers and I thought I would enjoy this book more than I actually did. It had a lot of potential, and the plot was decent. The story itself was a little convoluted and I wished it was explained a little bit better. The introduction many characters was also a bit much toward the middle/end of the book. I felt myself skimming at some points to try and finish. It had a very strong start and was super spooky and eerie, I think it just went downhill after the first few chapters. So much potential.

I'm going to give this 3.5 stars, it wasn't a horrible book, but it also wasn't the best book.

Thank you Netgalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

riveting thriller that I couldn't put down

thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the copy for review