Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Secret Talker.

Based on the blurb, I expected the narrative to be more suspenseful, dramatic, but a slow burning, slightly creepy story about a woman named Hongmei and the emails she's exchanging with a stranger, who knows more about her than she is comfortable with.

Yet, this person does not know everything about Hongmei, the dutiful Asian wife to Glen, a college professor, and Hongmei needs to confront the scars of her past before her marriage and life can move on.

The author makes some insightful comments about marriage, the sacrifices immigrants are forced to make, namely women, and the few choices available to women seeking a better life.

I wouldn't call this a crime drama; I guessed the secret talker's identity early on and the revelation at the end felt anti-climatic, mostly because there was insufficient exposition (or maybe the translation didn't do it justice).

This was a quick read, but I found myself wanting more; I didn't dislike Hongmei but I still didn't know much about her and I was curious about her childhood, how she survived and how her trauma shaped the woman she is now.

I found Hongmei's friend irritating and an unnecessary detail that pulled me out of the narrative.

Dark themes are touched upon including sexual violence and abuse.

The translation wasn't bad; some phrases sounded awkward but I got the gist. The tone and style of writing, which may be due to the translation, felt stiff, but that might also just be the author's trademark.

The Secret Talker isn't for everyone but I'd recommend it to anyone who is looking for something different to read.

This book was riveting! I began and finished it in one day. Hongmei is a Chinese immigrant who is settled into her marriage with her college professor husband. She is a professional student, currently working her way through her PhD, when one day she receives an email from a stranger.

This person seems to know her deepest secrets as well as her daily routine. At first, Hongmei is unnerved and gives "The Secret Talker" rebuttals, but before long she is sucked into the intrigue, passion, and excitement of the illicit and often passionate exchange between this faceless stranger.

Hongmei grows to trust this person and feels like they know one another on a deeper level than even her husband could know her. She finds herself confessing dark secrets from her past as well as thoughts she hadn't even voiced aloud to herself.

This novel explores the common human theme of yearning. Even the most happily married of people often think about alternate paths, or lovers, or possibilities. This novel explores one woman's interpersonal struggles while also shining a light on the idea of happy relationships. This novel was unnerving enough at times to feel like a thriller, but I think at its heart it is a sociological analysis of what it means to be satisfied.

The perfect wife of a college professor starts receiving anonymous and intriguing emails from a person who claims to be stalking her, but she cannot resist responding.

Thanks to netgalley for an advanced copy to review; unfortunately, this was not it for me and I stopped about ten percent in.

So, I thought I was going to get a decent domestic thriller, and did not.

I understand you lose some things in translation - I'm reading several novels translated from Chinese at the moment, actually - but the bones of this book were bad from the start. The narrative jumped right in, describing an email from a creepy stranger to Hongmei, who reads it and is attracted by the invasive, mansplaining stalker she's gained. So much about this was an immediate nope, I hope others can find it who may enjoy it.

“The Secret Talker”, by Geling Yan, translated from Mandarin by Jeremy Tiang, is a novella-sized book that follows Hongmei, a Chinese woman married to an American man, living in the Bay Area in California, US. It is a well written book about deception, and where deception can lead us. On the surface, Hongmei’s marriage is a happy and fulfilling one, but deep down Hongmei represses a lot of her feelings, craves novelty, and wonders if her present life is really what she was trying to pursue. Hongmei’s doubts and feelings intensify when she is contacted via e-mail by an “admirer” (stalker), who seems to have kept an eye on Hongmei and gets her to open up and share things from her past that she had kept hidden her whole life. This starts a psychological game, that is both thrilling and scary, that starts endangering Hongmei’s already fragile marriage.

I loved reading this tiny book. It had been a while since I read a book that I couldn’t step away from and put out of my mind, but this was it. I thought that despite its short length ( approx. 160 pages), the book was able create strong characters, flawed as humans are. The psychological thriller/ mystery part of the book was well developed, and despite suspecting the plot twist about halfway, I was still very invested throughout the whole story and would have loved it not to end. I loved the glimpses of Hongmei’s past life in China, and as someone who has moved to the US in her adult life, I felt that her doubts when matching the idealistic views she had about the world with her present life were realistic.

I highly recommend this book to fans of character driven books. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harper Via for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review. Watch out for this one coming out in May 2021.

I’m judging a 2021 fiction contest. It’d be generous to call what I’m doing upon my first cursory glance—reading. I also don’t take this task lightly. As a fellow writer and lover of words and books, I took this position—in hopes of being a good literary citizen. My heart aches for all the writers who have a debut at this time. What I can share now is the thing that held my attention and got this book from the perspective pile into the read further pile.

“Next he wanted to discuss her husband. A clever looking man, he said, and full of energy. A little old, certainly, but not bad on the whole, very suited to her. On the whole, in everyone’s eyes. Apart from him—he could see past the whole.”

I will say this: I can see myself picking up another work of Geling Yan's, provided it is translated by someone else. I saw real glimpses of a gift there; some sentences are serious gems. Additionally, the premise of the novel is interesting — especially given that it's set in the late nineties, towards the beginning of using email as a means of communication. However, this book largely wasn't for me.

Firstly, as previously mentioned, I found the translation of the text relatively clunky. I found myself rereading sentences over and over again quite often, wondering if the words weren't forming a coherent thought or it was just me who didn't get it. Because this happened several times, I imagine it's a little bit of both, which is unfortunate.

Secondly, this just isn't the sort of thriller I expected. This book is largely a back-and-forth via email until, quite literally, the last few pages. That exchange does become a bit stale, particularly because I don't quite understand why Hongmei would continue speaking to someone who constantly belittles her under the guise of "knowing her so well". I can suspend my disbelief for the premise of the book, which requires her to respond to a stranger in her inbox to begin with, but why continue talking to someone who seems to despise you? It seems that the answer to that question is that the momentum of the story can't be stopped, so she needs to keep sending those emails. Not a good enough reason, in my opinion.

Lastly, the twist really didn't work for me. I saw it coming, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when thinking about the possibility of it, I cringed. And then it actually happened. For me, the twist relied on a generous interpretation of Hongmei's relationship with the character involved, which I was not willing to give. Therefore, I didn't buy the end of the book, and it all rang false.

There was a lot of promise here, but it doesn't all gel together for me. Maybe something else of Yan's will be more attuned to my tastes, because there's a lot of potential here.

On one hand, i'm so glad that the domestic thriller genre is getting more diverse. It's good for everyone. But on the other hand, I don't think the genre is for me. The Asian immigrant lens is an interesting and engaging angle, but I think these style stories have to be really specific for me.

A mysterious stalker leads a woman's life to the point of losing control of her own reality and jeopardizing all her achievements.

One day Hongmei receives an email from a stranger that seems to know her, her routines and habits too well. The initial interest that this person triggers in Hongmei, soon becomes fear and obsession for finding out the stranger's identity.

As Hongmei is forced to dig in her past in China, her american dream begins to stumble.
This very short novel is beautiful, lyrical and minimalist at the same time, but extremely powerful. I can't say that the ending was unexpected for me but I don't care because I enjoyed the execution anyway.
I would definitely recommend this book.

This book glamorizes and distorts victimization of women and rape culture. The writing is bad and the translation choppy.

I was intrigued by the premise of this novel, but unfortunately sorely disappointed. The writing feels a bit stilted in places, but I think the biggest draw is how little stakes matter. This didn't feel like a deep psychological thriller, but it did keep me invested. I think this title may be a big success with book clubs, but not for a deep-dive reader.

I wanted to like this book, but the "secret talker" was just too creepy and insulting to the main character, Hongmei. Hongmei gradually reveals her secret history to this obsessive stalker throughout the book, including the history of violence in her ancestral village. I really liked learning about her past and seeing how she acted at turning points in her story, but I could not get on board with the device that leads us there. The identity of the secret talker is easily guessed about 50% of the way through, but the actual reveal is cluttered by unnecessary side plots (meant to distract the reader) and a whole new concept that should have been introduced much earlier, if at all.

In the end, I was drawn to the story of Hongmei's past, but was extremely put off by the present-day part of the narrative.

This is a fast-paced read with a lot of promising qualities. The suspense makes the book engaging, and Hongmei is an empathetic character. She is also, however, extremely naive, and that's something that the reader must accept about her before passing judgements concerning the overall story. The story hinges on the fact that Hongmei is vulnerable and easily lured into this trap that was set for her. That being said, I enjoyed this novel and thought the story was well-executed.

I really struggled with this one. I wanted to love it, but I couldn't get past the sheer creepiness of "the secret talker", who was more or less a straight-up stalker. I also couldn't understand why the main character, Hongmei, would continue to engage with this stranger who often insulted and degraded her.

Hongmei, the lead character, is a shy and beautiful Chinese women who immigrated to the US after meeting her American husband. The story makes it clear that she was bored with her marriage, however, I still didn't feel that adequately rationalized her questionable behavior as far as her engagement with the secret talker (aka stalker).

While the book did keep me guessing, I had to force myself to keep reading, as I was very put-off by the seemingly irrational behavior of Hongmei.

This was likely a much more unique book, than I expected. It was quite dark and disturbing, which I love, but if you don’t love those types, definitely hold off on this one! Had some great thrills, chills, twisty turns, and shocks! Character development was fantastic! Overall, I would definitely recommend to my fellow thriller lovers, if and only if you don’t might quite dark, disturbing, and creative domestic dramas!

This book is a fast-paced read that follows a Chinese woman named, Hongmei, as she begins corresponding over email with the "Secret Talker," a mysterious admirer. Hongmei immediately feels drawn towards the secret talker as she plays cat-and-mouse throughout the book.

At its core, THE SECRET TALKER revolves around the idea of sexual attraction. In a way, Yan takes the concept of Asian fetishization and shows us how it can work in the reverse. When reflecting on why she was attracted to current her husband, Glen, Hongmei hones in on his American-ness. Glen's mannerisms seem exotic to Hongmei when she first meets him in China, but this quickly fades once she moves to the US to be with him.

Hongmei finds satisfaction in the pursuit, which is what draws her to the Secret Talker even when it becomes apparent that they are stalking her. As a result, she makes some very questionable and frustrating decisions throughout the book.

The ending felt a bit rushed albeit predictable. Even then, I was left wondering what kind of implications the reader was supposed to draw after the Secret Talker's identity was revealed.

cw: stalking, abortion, child abuse

Hongmei is an intelligent, ambitious, independent young woman living in northern California. She is happily married to Glen, an American professor. At least she was happily married to him, until the secret talker popped into her life. Having contacted her by email, he has been following her around. She is enticed, because he actually sees her, and he listens to her. To him, she starts to explore and reveal her own past as a child growing up in China, growing closer to him each day. Who is he?

The writing in this book is slightly stilted, as it is a translation from Chinese, however, it is still an enjoyable and exciting book of self-discovery. The characters are realistic and human, and they carry the reader effectively through the plot as the tension builds. This is a unique experience.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

4 stars

Utilizing tropes common in domestic thrillers, The Secret Talker is a lyrical study on buried secrets, deceptive harmony, and wandering desire in a seemingly steady marriage.

Once you accept the rather archaic method of exchange Geling Yan chose as the primary narrative device (it has been a long time since I personally write / receive meaningful, lengthy emails; texting and other apps have since taken its place.), it's a rather effective storytelling device; organically revealing events in a stream of consciousness manner, providing suspense and twist without feeling overtly manipulative.

Being an #ownvoices novel, the Chinese protagonist feels authentic, and her cultural background and upbringing is what validate the realism of The Secret Talker's narrative; the trope can only be sustained convincingly with a conflicting immigrated Chinese's state of mind: glorification of the Western culture (and maintaining it at all cost), internal turmoil beneath a placid facade (unwilling to be seen broken), and disdain, but the same time, nostalgic, for one's humbled, 'uneducated' root.

The ending twist is emotionally rewarding, if not The Sixth Sense level surprisingly, nor as flawlessly executed. The puzzle pieces come together abruptly with many conveniences, as if the author has hit the minimum page count for the assignment, rather than letting the narrative reach its resolution in an appropriate pacing. This shortcoming aside, the reveal does warrant The Secret Talker a second read-through, as it alters the reader's interpretation of a specific character.

The Secret Talker is more literary fiction than thriller, it uses suspenseful scenarios as catalyst to deep dive into a character's psyche, rather than simply for shock value. If you are a fan of beautiful prose and well-rounded, flawed protagonist, this book is worth a try.

I truly loved the set up and premise of THE SECRET TALKER. There's a sort of allure that comes from the unknown, from the dark, and Hongmei's struggle between complacency and a hunger for novelty taps into that seduction. However, as much as I loved the idea of this book, I was still felt feeling as though it was left largely unfinished, as though we were reading the outline or a draft.

There are a plethora of themes included in the book concerning marriage, ambition, cultural difference, identity, and I really liked how they were incorporated to the core of Hongmei's dilemma/struggle, but none explored at significant depth. The same can be said for the plot details themselves, while somewhat forming an answer at the end, these story threads are very loosely tied together with no real structure. The clues are disparate, often random, and more often than not, baseless.

Moreover, the thriller aspect of the book (in which Hongmei plays cat and mouse with a stalker) barely leaves an impact since Hongmei herself never fears this interaction in the first place. From the very get go, she is itching for change, and I believe the book could have benefitted from first showcasing her dissatisfaction with idyllic American life before jumping into the thick of the "thriller" aspect of it.

What I will say about this book is that its undoubtedly unique, and it has the bones of a truly captivating novel. I was still drawn to see the answer to all these strange occurrences, and Yan makes Hongmei a compelling character on her own right. That being said, this book really needs to be more deeply fleshed out on: (1) a cultural level (ie. how the difference in American and Chinese culture plays into Hongmei's satisfaction) // (2) a personal level (ie. how Hongmei's hometown and past informs and haunts her actions even now and // and (3) a relationship level (ie. exploring the parallels between both of Hongmei's dissolving marriages. Beyond this, more clues as to why the ending is how it is (the motive for this entire plot is a bit too convoluted), as well as tightening up the details, would have made this intriguing premise into a much more cerebral and whole piece.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for proving me with an E-ARC. The Secret Talker is an emotional rollercoaster, Hongmei is married to Glen, a college professor in Northern California, and seemingly living a perfect life. Until one day an anonymous email arrives in her email, apparently from a stalker. Intrigued initially by the novelty of a new conversation, Hongmei gets swept up into an emotionally fraught game of cat and mouse with an unknown individual. While unnerved by this persons interest, Hongmei tells them her secrets in the hopes of uncovering whoever this individual is. A Secret Talker is a tense and dark psychological examination of a woman's past, but falls a bit short. While I did enjoy the story, I unfortunately was able to guess the ending. While that didn't lessen my enjoyment, I was hoping to be surprised at the end. If you're looking for a quick psychological read, The Secret Talker would be a good choice.