Enjoyed this book about 2 sisters who don't communicate well but want to help each other better their lives.

I enjoyed this book but felt the ending was a bit rushed considering the build up of the different parts of the story. The characters are well written and I really warmed to Alice.

I enjoyed this book, it just got a bit boring on the middle and then rushed at the end. However the story was interesting and quite different to any I've read before

Alice and Louise ,two sisters lead completely different lives. Alice is homebound and suffers through anxiety attacks meanwhile Louise is a married, hardworking mother who feels Alice has it too easy.Taking advantage of Alice’s situation Louise often asks her to take care of her 8 year old son Archie.Soon Alice starts noticing signs that something or someone is troubling Archie and she plans to get to the bottom of the problem.

The Secret by K.L.Slater is a gripping , tense ,psychological thriller that is told by different POV’s and switches back and forth in time. The characters are well drawn and the story has lots of twists and turns with a few secrets making it difficult to put it down.

I would like to thank Bookouture & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/

Another enjoyable book by KL Slater.
A good storyline that keeps you guessing until the end. I did have a little trouble keeping up with the backwards and forwards from past to present to begin with but once I was used to the idea and realised it was necessary for the story to unfold it became easier to grasp.
Unlike many of the thrillers I read, I did not guess the ending or even a hint as to the outcome. This, to me shows the author has done a good job of keeping the reader on their toes and the ending a closely guarded secret.

Be carefull when you pick someone to believe ...

My first K.L. Slater and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The first page already gives you the creeps but when you read on, it feels a bit like a love story. BUT don't let yourself be fooled by this!! You will soon find out that there is a lot more going on.

It refreshing the way the story was built. You went back and forth in time but not in the usual way. The present was a fluent line, but you were thrown back to different events in the past happening at different ages of the main characters. Was it confusing? No, never! It made your brain work a bit harder (which I love) but it was always mentioned how many years the author took us back.

And then there was Archie ... I wish I could have crept into the book and put my arms around him.

When you think you have discovered everything you need to know, there is still that one more secret ...

Thank you, K.L. Slater, Bookouture and Netgalley.

Having read several of K.L. Slater’s previous psychological thrillers I knew that I was going to be in for one good read with The Secret and thankfully I was right. The Secret took only a few page turns to pull me in and easily became one of those books you just don’t want to put down until the end.

The story is about two sisters, Alice and Louise, and switches the point of view between them while also flashing back at various times in their lives. Louise is the married, confident, working mother who leads a very busy life and looks down upon Alice thinking she has had it too easy in life.

Meanwhile Alice suffers everyday with bouts of anxiety and can barely leave her apartment that she used to share with her mother before she passed. Since Alice is home and not working Louise often calls upon her to watch her young son, Archie. With Archie in her care so often Alice begins to see signs that something is bothering him and vows to find out the cause.

I think we can all guess from the title of this one that there were going to be at least one good secret that needed unraveling between these sisters but really the story had a lot going on to hold one’s attention. To be quite honest though I think K.L. Slater for me is the type of author that could sell me on Kermit the Frog being the villain in the end because the journey is always so enjoyable. Thankfully though the ending also lived up to the journey with this one and I’d definitely recommend this one to the thriller fans out there that enjoy a dizzying ride.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Read all my reviews at: https://brainfartsandbooks.wordpress.com

I'd like to shake K.L. Slater's hand on this one. She really did it in this one. Brava! I really loved all of the characters in this book so much. They all "played" their part so, so well. First, we have Alice. Alice is a recluse, however all through the book, you can tell she's a good person. Louise, Alice's sister, is married and has one son, Archie. Louise has been working hard lately and seems to hardly spend any time with her son. She calls on Alice to watch Archie and bring him to and from school more and more as the story carries on. The whole time I thought how lucky Archie was to have an auntie who cares about him so much. Archie and Alice develop a wonderful bond. Instead of plopping him in front of the XBox, she plans fun board games to play when he's over and finds science shows that he would like to watch with her. Alice acts like more of a mum to Archie than Louise does. There are secrets each character in this book holds. The biggest two secrets (without giving anything away) are given to the reader towards the end of the story. They are sloooowly fed to us for a jaw-popping reaction. Well done K.L. Slater.

Thank you to Netgalley, K.L. Slater, and Bookouture for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Is it ok to keep a secret if revealing it would only hurt those you love? What if the secret is hurting you though?
8 yo Archie is often dropped off at his aunt Alice's place while his mother Louise is busy with her meetings and appointments. Alice has become a virtual shut-in after a tragedy three years ago. Her sister doesn't care much for her anxiety and pain, believing her to be much favoured and also an escapist.
As the story alternates from their childhood to the decisions they made in their own lives to their present struggles, it is clear there are too many secrets they are coping with.
But which of those will prove to be their undoing?
I liked the protagonist Alice.. She tries to be the person her sister and nephew need though she has no motivation or support to be so. Her attempts to win over the child are very sweet.
There is an element of 'what happens next' throughout and that made it a 4.5 * read for me.

A superb book by KL Slater. I was drawn straight into the story from the first few pages and it held my interest right up until the end. The book is called The Secret...however there is more than one secret! The reader gets drawn into the lives of Alice, her sister Louise and Louise's son Archie. All of them have secrets!

I really enjoyed the short chapters in this book, told from different POV and going back in time so that we find out how the past has moulded the sisters into what they are today, I love the way the characters develop, especially Alice & Archie's relationship. All in all a thought provoking read, brilliant plot, believable characters and plenty of twists and turns to build up the suspense. Thoroughly recommended and I will definitely be reading more books by this author.

Many thanks to Netgalley & Bookouture for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I read this cover to cover in one day. Absolutely gripped from the get go. You need to know what happens next, you need to keep going waiting for each puzzle piece to fall into place until you see the full picture.

The characters are believable if not a little unlikable at times but watching the relationships develop and the lives affected by the events that take place is gripping. Its like being a fly on the wall of a family pretending its ordinary and pleasant when a lot of the facade is just that. Secrets and lies are what separate families but also what tie them together.

This is the first of KL Slater books I have read and it won't be the last, its written very well and comprehensively. I thoroughly enjoyed being sucked into each characters world and seeing and hear their lives revolve around them.

Thank you for this early copy!

I would recommend this to anyone who loves a well-written thriller. I will be checking out more from this author in the future!

This book kept me going from start to finish. I started this book on July 11 and just finished today July 14 that’s how fast paced and gripping it was.
So many secrets kept by everyone including Archie who was actually holding the ultimate secret of all that could tear two sisters apart. You have Louise with her greed that would do anything for money to satisfy the issues she created for herself. You have have Darren betraying his family and committed an unthinkable act. Both Archie and Alice caught in the wrath of Louise and suffer sever consequences.
Just so many secrets kept trying to protect or hurt the ones they love. What would one do and how far would one person go for greed? Such a page turner.

Having read and loved all of K.L. Slaters other books, I was excited to see that she had a new book out and I wasn’t disappointed.
The Secret is about sisters Louise and Alice. Louise is the big career woman, who’s in loads of debt and has a son called Archie. Alice who is housebound and because of what happened in the past and she doesn’t have the confidence to go out. She spends the day watching this guy in a tram from her living room window. Then one day she followed him to a coffee shop but, he doesn’t recognise her. Louise dumps all her problems on Alice and criticises her for not going out. Louise thinks she has it easy and keeps on at Alice to sell her flat that was left to her by her mother. Louise starts dumping Archie around the flat, asking Alice to bring Archie to school as she has an early meeting and then also after school too. At first, Archie is a disruptive child and all he wants to do is play is Xbox, but after a while Alice and Archie develop a bond with each other. Alice find out that Archie is being bullied
This is another excellent novel from K.L Slater. I loved how she didn’t give anything much away until the very end. The characters were well developed and I enjoyed the rivalry between the two sisters. There was so much packed into this story, mystery, jealousy, rivalry and sadly bullying and more what else could you want. Well done Ms Slater can’t wait for the next one.

Another enjoyable K. L. Slater book. I have read them all and am a fan of this author! So thrilled to receive an early copy of this book!

This was another good psychological thriller that added some nice twists and turns throughout. I really enjoyed Alice and Archie's characters. Alice comes off a bit unusual at the beginning and older than her years but an accident has rendered her a bit of a nervous nelly and slower in day to day movements and activities. Louise's story is revealed the further you read. She prefers staying indoors but not necessarily agoraphobic. Louise, Alice's sister and Archie's mom asks Alice to look after Archie and becomes a bit too dependent on her while she is off doing god knows what. Needless to say, I didn't care for Louise. Archie starts to open up to Alice the more time they spend together. Why is Archie so nervous? What are the bruises on his skin? Alice decides to get to the bottom of it and find out what secrets Archie may be hiding.

I will eagerly be waiting for this author's next book and can't wait to see what she comes up with next! A big thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy of this book!!!

Another excellent read from Kim Slater, I have read them all and they just get better.

I cannot fault the skill of this author and I love the way she writes and draws you into the storyline straight away, full of twists and I particularly liked the short chapters and how it went back in time.

As for the ending I never guessed 'The Secret', well done Kim and I look forward to your next masterpiece.

This psychological thriller is centred around Alice, an almost recluse whose life went badly off track three years ago and who hasn’t quite managed to pull herself together yet. However, when her sister Louise starts asking for more and more help caring for her son Archie, Alice slowly but surely starts to piece her life back together. Caring for Archie has given her a new purpose but she senses there’s something not quite right with her nephew. He’s hiding a devastating secret.

This novel is well written. It jumps backwards in time and between different POV seamlessly, which helps build interest and intrigue. It also gives a well-rounded view of the characters, they are very well developed. As you’d expect from any psychological thriller there are quite a few twists and turns and I admit there were two biggies that I just didn’t see coming. It is also an easy and quick read – I managed to read great big chunks of it in one sitting and had finished within a few days.

Despite all these positives, I just didn’t really enjoy this book. I didn’t hate it, it was a nice read but it wasn’t as exciting as other psychological thrillers I’ve read, in my opinion. In fact it all felt a bit flat until about 80% into the book and just as it was starting to get really interesting, the conclusion was reached and the story was over. However, due to the good writing and the lead characters likeability I will definitely give other books by this author a go.

I would like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Secret’ written by K L Slater in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Alice and Louise are sisters. Louise has been promoted at work, she struggles with her high-powered job and looking after her eight-year-old son Archie. Alice struggles with pain in her lower back brought on by M E and finds it difficult to leave her apartment. Archie has seen something he shouldn’t have and has a big secret he’s been told not to tell.
‘The Secret’ is a thought-provoking psychological thriller, easy to read and impossible to put down. It has a clever plot, interesting characters, a gripping storyline that kept me guessing and an ending that I wasn’t expecting. An enjoyable read!

Excellent book. It kept me guessing the storyline right to the very last page. It had a thrilling and exciting plot, which had me hooked from the very start. Five stars from me.

Many thanks to Netgalley and KL Slater for the copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

Alice lives on her own in the flat that once her mum lived in before she passed away her sister Louise lives with her 8 year old son Archie and husband Darren. Alice is more or less a recluse looking out the window every morning and see’s the same guy everyday on the tram off to work which is the highlight of her day.

Louise has begun to ask Alice if she can look after Archie more and more sometime overnight while she attends early and late meetings for work. Alice begins to feel somethings isn’t right and becomes closer to her nephew who begins to open up to her. Archie has kept secrets things he has seen but never told anyone.

There are twists and turns in this book flicking from the past to the present but wasn’t difficult to keep up with. It will have you desperate to keep reading. Believe me you won’t see it coming the last few chapters will reveal all and I bet it won’t be what you think!!