TWs: Mental illness, survivor's guilt, victim blaming, death, abduction, murder.

This mind-blowing masterpiece of a book gripped me from page one so well that I dropped all of my current reads just so I could focus all of my attention on this book. Yes guys, this book was REALLY good! It put Laurie Faria Stolarz on my instant buy list, and The Last Secret You'll Ever Keep got to the very top of my favorite suspense/thriller books.

The book starts with Terra trapped inside an empty well, thirsty and without a way of getting out. And just like her, we don't know how she got there or how she would even manage to get out. The beginning of the book, literally the first chapter, hooks the reader so well with springing at us a dozen questions that we desperately want answers to. Now the question is, will the book manage to answer all of them? The answer is a big, huge, YES!

The book was written in a way that intertwines the past and the present, jumping at us with revelations and rising questions, and all of it is told by an unreliable narrator. In this book anything and everything seemed suspicious. And I found myself often changing my views on the characters and what was happening as I was reading. My head was spinning with all of the burning questions I wanted answers to, eager to get to the end as soon as possible so I could finally get them all answered. I kept on thinking: Who kidnapped Terra? Or did that even happen? What is the full story of her parents dying? Who is Paylee22? The author did a fantastic job on all of these mind games. It was really difficult to be certain at what was real and what wasn't. And I loved that a lot!

The Last Secret You'll Ever Keep was such a thrill-ride and I enjoyed every single second of it.

I would like to say a huge thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Secret You'll Ever Keep is book you will read in one sitting as it's so hard to put down. You will finish it and wonder what you just read. It's an utterly compelling and gripping read that has you so invested in the life of the protagonist and wanting the answers as much as she does.
Absolutely fantastic read.

Wow, this was so good! I was sucked in from the beginning and the story kept me guessing and wondering what was real or not. The layout is similar to Jane Anonymous and this is sort of a sequel but you can read them separately. The story is separated into Then and Now, telling you how Terra was kidnapped, got free, and is now dealing with life after.

The circumstances surrounding Terra's kidnapping and escape are odd, there's no evidence to corroborate her story and with her history of mental health issues, no one believes her. Through her eyes, we see Terra have hallucinations, say and do things she doesn't realize or remember, and it's difficult to know if everything really happened. This plays a huge part of the story, wanting to believe her but also understanding why others might not.

PTSD, depression, and anxiety are prevalent throughout the book. Terra has panic attacks, takes medication, and spends time in a mental health facility. I think the way this was portrayed felt very real and I appreciate the author showing the aftermath of surviving a terrible event.

This was excellently paced, with a compelling storyline and kept me wanting more. I'm so happy I got the chance to read this and excited for it to be out in the world!

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed the story. I liked the build up and plot twists. I'm hoping this has at least one more book. I feel like the ending was very random though.

*Thank you very much to Laurie Faria Stolarz,We Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of "The Last Secret You'll Ever Keep" in exchange for an honest review.* I really loved "Jane Anonymous" , so I was excited to read this. This is technically a companion to "Jane Anonymous " but it can be read as a stand-alone. Similar to JA, The author uses the same switching between "Then"(the mcs time in captivity) and "Now" (after she returned home), which normally I'm not a fan of, but Ms.Stolarz uses it flawlessly. In addition to the usual twist and turns, I thinks it really engaging to have an unreliable narrator. Definitely would recommend for thriller fans.

One of my favorite genres of reads is YA Thrillers and Mysteries. I had quite enjoyed in the past several Laurie Faria Stolarz's books and so when I saw this one, I was excited as I was certain I would enjoy it. This book presents itself as an unofficial sequel to her book Jane Anonymous. As you will recall in Jane Anonymous, the main character Jane was kidnapped, and then she decided to chronicle her abduction and then start up a blog and an anonymous chatline for those who were victims as well. In The Last Secret You'll Ever Keep we meet Terra who claims that on her way home from a party, she was kidnapped and held for four days. The thing is there is no evidence and sadly, she doesn't have the best reputation, and the people who should have her back - don't believe her. Now six months later, she is still searching for answers and proof and spending her time on the JA chat with other victims and people who get her pain and confusion. One chat member Peyton and Terra have struck up a good relationship and friendship online and bonded. What happens though when Peyton after confessing in a private chat that she thinks her kidnapper is back and then goes missing from the chat? Terra believes that something terrible has happened and will take a road trip and try and track down Peyton. However, along the way, it seems that Peyton's and Terra's kidnapping are connected, and will Terra find herself another victim but this time she won't be so lucky and getaway in one piece? Find out in The Last Secret You'll Ever Keep by Laurie Faria Stolarz - coming to an e-reader near you in March 2021.

I received this ARC from Netgalley after i read Jane Anonymous. I am a big fan of Laurie Faria Stolarz, and love how different these books are from the traditional YA books. while i loved the writing and plot twist in Jane Anonymous, I really couldn't connect with Terra the way i could with Jane. I really did like the plot of this story, but just didn't care the way it unfolded. It was a very interesting read, and i read it in one day, so it definitely held my attention. All in all I'd give it three stars. It is worth a read.

Thank you so much to #NetGalley and St. Martin's press for the ARC.

Terra believes that she was held captative in a well for 4 days, but nothing is really adding up to match with her story. She can't find the well, she can't find proof of being taken from her aunts house.

While I liked this book, I did keep getting a little confused and almost feeling like there was too much being thrown at you at once. It did keep me engaged and I went from feeling sorry for Terra, to almost hating her at some points. As wordy as it was, it still kept me guessing!

Rating 4 

"The Last Secret You'll Ever Keep" by Laurie Faria Stolarz was a good book. It kept me interested all the way through wanting to know what was truly happening with Terra. The author did a great job with the writing style especially with how unreliable Terra was as a narrator. It kept me guessing what was actually happening and what was being made up. I liked how trauma was handled in this book showing that it is okay to ask for help in unlikely places. How isolated Terra felt through the majority of the book made me feel bad. I couldn't help but think this is how some victims all around the world feel. Without giving anything away, I found the ending to be interesting and not at all what I thought it was going to be.  Overall, I enjoyed this book and am happy I read it. Good mystery/light thriller.  

Should you read "The Last Secret You'll Ever Keep"?
Yes, it is worth the time in my opinion. However, I think it is one of those books the less you know the better. That way you can make your own assumptions as you read. 

**Received an advanced copy through NetGalley in return for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this title.

After Terra is abducted from her bed and held captive for four days in a well, she returns with no real injuries. Her aunt doesn't believe her. The police think she's making it up. It's as if she made the whole thing up, for attention. She finds solace on the website "Jane Anonymous", becoming friends with Peyton, among others. When aspects of Peyton's case begin to sound perilously close to her own abduction, has her kidnapper struck again? Or is it all a figment of Terra's imagination and trauma?

This book had a good build. I liked that it even made the reader question what the truth was, and ultimately, whether Terra's abduction actually happened. It was cleverly written and not heavy handed.

I really wanted to like this book, but the ending was so disappointing. I felt like the author could have gone in a completely different direction than she did, which would have made for a unique book. I have never read a book with such an unreliable narrator; I have never doubted what I was reading so much before, so that was really intriguing. But the ending was such a disappointment that it ruined the rest of the book for me.

****ARC provided by NetGalley for an Honest Review****
I’m conflicted in how to rate this book. While reading there is so much misdirection and second guessing taking place I’m not sure how to feel having finished. We’re led to belive time after time that the chances of the heroine and narrator being unreliable are high. Even as she looks for her own proof and evidence, luck is not on her side and everything points to her being a liar. <Spoiler>The one thing I question the most is her tooth. That’s not even something the villain could have fixed so I feel out of sorts. She’s so adamant on it breaking & her choking on it, seems like a big chunk of story for her to be wrong about. There’s just so much detail the villain would have had to manipulate that makes me question everything-even knowing that she was in fact taken and held for days. I hate how all the people blaming her, vilifying her and calling her a liar just get to go on as if they weren’t active participants in turning her world upside down. I can’t imagine being made to question yourself to this extent. I find though I’m most saddened by the behavior of her so called friends. One just drifted away and the other played the worst role in turning everyone against the heroine, the first to brandish her a liar. In the end, I did not see her one true friend and ally turning out to be Garret, a random guy she meets at a party the same night her life is turned upside down. If not for Garret I don’t think even she would continue to have so much faith in her story. It’s made that much worse given the heroine has already suffered something tragic-the fire and death of her parents. Sure there’s still lingering pain there but for people to use that as a smokescreen was beyond wrong. Also more importantly her role in the fire and the mountain of guilt festering inside of her did not help her mental health at all. I will say even after all that I’m still a little puzzled and wondering if things in fact did not turn out how we think and instead this is another manipulation of the heroine/narrator. Then again these psychological reads often leave me questioning everything lol.</spoiler> Overall it’s been years since I’ve read anything by this author and I’m glad she’s still around. The story was pretty engaging from start to finish and I did enjoy the entire mysterious air throughout. There are many references to [book:Jane Anonymous|45045194] which I’ve been meaning to read but never got around to. On that note the mentions are more based on a virtual chat room for survivors which is probably created in the book. While I haven’t read the book and can’t vouch that you need to read that first, personally I did not feel left out or as if I needed to read that book to understand this one. It certainly worked for me as a standalone.

Terra says she was kidnapped and kept in a well until she escaped, covered in dirt. The only problem is, no-one can find this well, and there’s no evidence anyone ever broke into her Aunt’s house to take her. Even the book she says the kidnapper left for her – a fairytale about a girl and a well – doesn’t exist. The reception from Terra’s town goes from sympathetic to scornful in the blink of an eye. With no-one to believe her, including her aunt and her therapist, Terra turns to an online forum for victims of crime, where she finally feels at home. Can the people online help her figure out what really happened to her and track down the kidnapper? Or will she end up helping them instead.

The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep was an interesting concept, but it didn’t keep me as engaged as I hoped it would. I really enjoyed a lot of the lead up and the ‘did it really happen?’ mystery, but I wanted the ending to blow my mind and it…didn’t. Unfortunately, I can’t actually say what it was that disappointed me about the conclusion to the mystery, without spoiling the ending, but it was something that took the story from an intriguing thriller into a confusing and lackluster end. However, I think the story up to that point was good enough on its own to make it an enjoyable and quite unique read

Four days…
Trapped in a well, surrounded by dirt, scratching at the walls trying to find a way out.

This novel was such a fast paced read for me.
I enjoyed this one. Because of the way it's written. The storyline. The plot. The ending. The characters
Everything was great.
Thank You NetGalley Publisher and Author for this copy

No one believed Terra’s story when she returns from being held captive for 4 days in a deep well, somewhere in a local forest. And why would they? Terra has a reputation for being a bit unreliable and her troubled past along with the death of her parents makes her seem to everyone in her life (including the readers) that it may be all in her head.

Terra takes her frustrations out on a message board - Jane Anonymous - where others post about their troubles. It’s there that Terra finds like-minded friends, especially one that seems to have a situation similar to Terra’s.

I found this novel a bit too <b>much</b>. It felt like it was all over the place, maybe similar to Terra’s emotions? But I found it hard to keep pace with and tough to stay with, even in the last few chapters.

Four days…
Trapped in a well, surrounded by dirt, scratching at the walls trying to find a way out.
Four days of a thirst so strong, that when it finally rains, I drink as much as possible from the dripping walls, not even caring how much dirt comes with it.

Six months…
Since my escape. Since no one believed I was taken to begin with – from my own bed, after a party, when no one else was home…
Six months of trying to find answers and being told instead that I made the whole incident up.

One month…
Since I logged on to the Jane Anonymous site for the first time and found a community of survivors who listen without judgment, provide advice, and console each other when needed.
A month of chatting with a survivor whose story eerily mirrors my own: a girl who’s been receiving triggering clues, just like me, and who could help me find the answers I’m searching for.

Three days…
Since she mysteriously disappears, and since I’m forced to ask the questions: will my chance to find out what happened to me vanish with her? And will I be next?

This book is full of twists and turns my head is still spinning. A story of survival and intrigue.
What is real and what isn’t?

This book is perfect for fans of One of us is lying and A good girls guide to murder

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of the book. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I didn't think it was terrible... But I didn't think it was all that great either.

This is a story about trauma recovery, and the value of feeling believed.

I thought this was going to be a thriller, and it was- but it was also a story about trauma, recovery, grief and the importance of having supports who believe in us. It felt easy to empathize to empathize with the protagonist, and her fatigue at feeling unheard. I also loved how suspenseful moments of this were- although I would have liked for that to be a more pervasive element of the story.

3.5 stars rounded to 4-

Thank you Netgalley & St. Martins Press for this e-Arc!

this was such a suspenseful read, I loved the characters and the story itself. it kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. I look forward to more from the author.

OK so this was a super anticipated read for me. I absolutely love Jane anonymous, and I was so excited to get approved for this book. I literally flew through it. The author really has a way of making you feel in touch with her characters that so many authors can’t do. I start feeling like the characters are a real part of my life. I have a serious book hangover from this on 🤣