Seven little secrets was a fun quick read, with a good storyline.

check trigger warnings before reading it.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

I don’t know what to say about this book.

I wanted to begin this review like I normally do, explaining what happened and calling it captivating or enticing, but I can’t do that for this one.

SEVEN LITTLE SECRETS was a mess. In every sense of the word. It begins with Natalie. Natalie committed suicide and basically it seemed like this book was going to be similar to AN INSPECTOR CALLS, in which we get the backstory as to why Natalie killed herself and how the other characters pushed her into making that decision.

But, that didn’t quite happen.

We’re lead down the POVs of six characters, I believe. There’s Gigi, Danni, Sasha, Brynn, Tina and Haley. It alternates between past and present, but in a way that made it confusing because I kept loosing track and having to flip back a couple of pages to figure out when we were. There were too many POVs, which made my head spin because there was just so much to remember about each individual POV. Sasha had body issues, Danni was madly in love with her teacher, Haley’s boyfriend was cheating on her etc.

This book handled very serious topics and absolutely botched it every time. There were mentions of STDs, rape, suicide—obviously—child abuse and every single one of them was handled to terribly.

To me, this read like someone’s very first book. I know if I were to open the first or second book I’d ever written, I’d find a mess of hastily thrown together tropes that I thought I could get away with using despite the fact that I had absolutely no knowledge on any of them. It was a child’s attempt at writing something serious, and it failed.

Gigi—or, well, Georgina Abelard—rubbed me the wrong way. Gigi was a Black character written by a white woman. I’m aware this book is five years old, so white writers weren’t held to the same standards back then as they should be now, but this gave me the ick. With Gigi, she felt more like a token character for diversity than someone worthwhile and meaningful. She was the stereotypical Black character with ‘daddy issues’, and the author tried to talk about racism as if she had any first hand knowledge on what it was like to experience racism. My theory about her being a token character only strengthened when she was mentioned maybe five times after her chapter and only had one more chapter at the end of the book. The other white characters were mentioned constantly, but Gigi was oddly absent. It’s sad, too, as she seemed like the only character who had any real depth to her.

The next character we were introduced to was Danni and I don’t know how many teenagers the author has talked to since becoming an adult herself, but Danni was a mockery of a teenager. A highlight of hers was when she said, ‘I was discriminated against because I could do a split.’ I mean, excuse me? In what world did that make sense? She was stupid and shallow and she made me mad. Her crush on her teacher had me wanting to DNF right then and there. It was stupid enough she was imagining a script between her and the teacher in which he’d confess his love for her. C’mon.

Brynn. Brynn was a stereotypical fourteen year old obsessed with being popular. She’d somehow wrangled herself into the popular squad of girls—nicknamed ‘Janes’—and she was insufferable. ‘They’re big boned, y’know? Plus, my stepmom’s pretty fat, so I guess it’s not too far-fetched for me to say they’re going to be oinkers someday.’ Who said this was okay to include? There was never any character development for any of the characters so this left me assuming that this was the authors bigotry and fatphobia spilling through, rather than the characters. She met a guy, Nick, and about every five paragraphs or so, she was explaining how ugly he was. He was a ‘butt-ugly, nerdy social out-cast’.

Next is Sasha. Sasha is bulimic. Natalie—the girl who died and the girl we’re supposed to feel sorry for—told everyone this the second she found out. ‘Bulimia is so last year,’ one of the characters, Meghan said. ‘We need you on the squad so the rest of us look thinner,’ Natalie said. And this is the girl we’re supposed to feel sorry for? I don’t get it. Sasha wasn’t too bad of a character. She was shallow, like the rest, and didn’t seem to have much of a personality to her other than hating her body and causing an accident that disabled her father.

Haley wasn’t too bad of a character. She was mostly self-obsessed and didn’t seem to care about the other girls all that much. One of her bangers was, ‘STDs were for sluts, not people like me who’ve only had sex one time in their entire life.’ This was an odd thing to say. Again, I think this was some of the author’s bigotry creeping in.

And finally, there was Tina. Tina was alright, I guess. She hated Natalie and I still don’t really know why. She didn’t care when her best friend of probably almost two decades passed away, which was definitely strange. And then, the big reveal. At the end of the book, Tina is thinking about the kiss she and Natalie shared and realising she had a crush on her, then it’s revealed she’s gay. And that’s it. With her character, anyway. This was not authentic in the slightest. This was a ‘oh, I need a plot twist what can I do to add a plot twist’ plot twist.

This book was a joke. Sasha stole Natalie’s diary and read some of it, where it’s revealed Natalie was abused by her grandfather and then raped by a couple of boys when she was thirteen or fourteen. And then this fact is forgotten. Brynn witnesses Natalie cutting. She mentions this maybe once, twice? And that’s it.

To be honest, I don’t know why Natalie committed suicide. I don’t know why this book exists in the first place. It set up so many plot points and just abandoned each one. The characters were horrible people. They had little to no personality, no meaning, nothing other than being stereotypical mean girls in high school who everyone bowed down to. They even had a stupid little, ‘HOT or NOT’ list. They’re immature, stupid, shallow and I hated every single one of them. Apart from maybe Gigi, because other than being a little mean, she didn’t do anything.

This book took serious topics and threw them around like they were tennis balls. Meaningless. Easy to replace.

I wouldn’t recommend this book. I wouldn’t even recommend this author, unless she’s grown and lost whatever prejudices that were evident in this book.

The cover of this book interested me, and it made me want to dive in. This book did not disappoint!

It was like Mean Girls mark 2 and who couldn't like that! I was hooked from the very beginning, couldn't put it down. With the story started with a suicide from one of the cheer leading members and covers so may hard but important topics throughout which need to be said. It gave me a Thirteen Reasons Why vibe.

4 Stars!!!

This book will get stuck in your feels. It brought me right back to the high school days! I love a good popular girl story and this one give you the ugly side of being popular and how all that's glitter isn't gold.

I loved that the story was told from each of the seven cheerleader's perspectives and how it hopped back and forth in time. I also loved how each girl's voice sounded different. It was cool to see the same situation playing out from their different vantage points.

I'm very excited to check out the rest of KL Gore's books!

A special thank you to NetGalley, Reedale Karma Press, and KL Gore for providing me with a reader copy.

So this book was definitely interesting and it was filled with a lot of drama. When I read the description it kind of sounded like Gossip Girl but a little darker and I was surprised because outside of the secrets they weren't that similar. This book was more about friendship and understanding that small things can create a chain reaction that can't be stopped and every action has a consequence. This was a great read but has a lot of triggers.

It’s hard to put into words what I think about this book. First, let me give you a trigger warning: this book contains suicide, rape, and bullying. And it broke my heart.

We are following the story of seven cheerleader and friends, how they navigate through life and high school and how they handle their problems.

In the beginning I found it hard to identify with the girls, honestly, I still do, they were shallow and some of their secrets and problems didn’t seem to be that bad. We get to know Natalie through their eyes and as a reader, who knows what happened to Natalie, it’s hard to see her in the same way the girls do. I found Natalie to be the most interesting character in that book and she wasn’t even one of the girls who got a voice to tell her story.
The book started of boring, and it took me some time to get invested in the story. The whole time I was trying to distinguish the different girls from one another. I still can’t differentiate between some of them, even though they have different motivations, their characters were so similar.

Like I said, the end was heartbreaking. I didn’t think I would shed a tear but seeing the girls grieve and confront their thoughts and secrets made me really emotional and care for them. Especially for Natalie. The book has a great way of showing how small acts and things can turn into something way bigger if we don’t pay attention. Also, it was great to see the girls find strength in their friendship again.

***4 Stars***

The title, the cover, the premise of the book peaked my interest ~ despite the fact that it isn’t what I typically read ~ but once I got into it, these girls definitely fascinated me with how they viewed themselves, each other and just the world around them. They were all selfish, insecure, blind to things right in front of them and all too aware at the same time.

They all needed to be a “Jane” as it kept them, maybe not grounded, but gave them something else to focus on other than the issues they didn’t want to or couldn’t face. Natalie, as seen through six lenses, was so much more than anyone could have ever imagined and had me wishing I’d gotten more time with her.

This was a read that fed my fascination with human nature. Suicide isn’t an easy issue to talk about in any way, but I think the author did a good job with it and showing how it can affect each person differently.

~ Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley & voluntarily reviewed ~

I really looked forward to reading this book. I was not impressed at all. The book just dragged and was not my cup of tea. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving this book in this manner had no bearing on this reveiw.

Gigi is part of a group of cheerleaders called the Janes, one morning she wakes up to a call that Natalie (another cheerleader) has died. Shortly after, we learn some of Natalie’s secretes, she has bullied all of the Janes in some way and of course this reminds me of PLL but it was also completely different in a way. This book deals with so many heavy subjects and although I had a hard time getting into it at first, I ended up completely hooked!

I liked how we get the POV of all of the Janes so we get to see into their heads, but since there are many of them, I kept forgetting who was who as first. I really enjoyed it and I definitely would recommend it!

Gigi gets a phone call a little after seven a.m. from Dani telling her that Natalie is dead. Gigi asks how she did it. Dani is surprised but Gigi gives her a general answer. Natalie was the head cheerleader of the cheerleaders group. Gigi didn’t think it would happen but now wonders if she did the right thing by not telling. At lunch in school, they decide to say a prayer for Natalie but are rudely interrupted. It’s decided that they need to go some place more private like the forest where Natalie died. When they get to the forest, they each end up telling a “little secret” they knew. It hurts but makes the survivors stronger. They never thought that Natalie had secrets.

This is a story that revolves around secrets kept and Natalie killing herself. It is a subject not talked about — that is suicide. Secrets one has don’t usually get talked about. Is it good to keep secrets? The story is written expertly about the two subjects. I think the conversations seem real. It’s a great book for discussion with your friends or even a teacher or parents. Death is never easy but suicide is worse yet so very seldom talked about. It’s something that would be a good thing to do.

Wow. This book was amazing. I've always loved book that revolve around the high school drama and high functioning teenagers. This book also shows the flipside of all the popularity and fame that the Janes aka the cheerleaders experience on a daily basis when one of them commits suicide. It goes back and forth in time to bring us to the main incident. It is narrated in different POVs that makes it an interesting read and gives us a deep insight into the mind of every Jane.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. If you're looking for a fast paced book, this is it.

I feel like this book had so much potential. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. The timeline felt a bit off to me and I just felt like I was being thrown around to different characters in different times. For real though, sometimes the time shifts within a POV and I had no idea if the scene was before or after the girl died.

There were a lot of characters in this book with very detailed and interesting backstories/issues they deal with, but there were way too many. I don't even remember the names of the seven main characters! In the end, all the characters meshed into one big person and I couldn't remember which issue went with which person. I couldn't make myself care to remember. I honestly don't see a point to this book because the rest of the Janes seem the same before and after the girl died.

I don't mean to bash this book, but it's just not for me.

I had high hopes for this book and unfortunately, I was disappointed. While it was a decent read, it felt very shallow and ultimately fell flat.

When I started reading “Seven Little Secrets,” I thought it would be a young adult mystery that spoke about how Natalie died and if it included a murder mystery. However, the story turned out to be something different, and in a way, made me appreciate it more. It’s a story about how a group of girls reveal their secrets after Natalie’s death and come to terms with what they have done.

Firstly, I adored the way the author told the story. All the characters brought a new perspective to their relationship with Natalie. Brynn was my favorite, and I liked her backstory with Nick and the tough time with her stepsisters. Similarly, I also like Tina and her complex relationship with Natalie. Even though Tina got on my nerves sometimes, my heart went out to her towards the end. Sasha and Haley also had intriguing backstories. Probably the weakest one was Gigi, perhaps because she did not get prominence compared to the others.

Moreover, the author also covers topics like rape, body shaming, and other relevant issues. Natalie’s diary entries were the highlights of the tale, and I thought the author portrayed her emotions realistically. The entire story is beautiful and heartbreaking and makes you think twice about the company you keep.

However, the only downside to the tale was the pacing. It was a bit slow for my taste sometimes, especially the repeated conversations the characters have, like Danni trying to impress Mr. Harrison.

Overall, “Seven Little Secrets” turned out to be a beautiful book that turned out to be much better than I thought. I encourage anyone who loves contemporary YA to give it a chance.

From the first paragraph, I knew this book would be a good one. I immersed myself into the book from the first chapter and I cannot say enough good things about this book! Honestly amazing! The writing is incredible and the plot is just one to die for. I am absolutely obsessed with this book. My favorite part would have to be the character development throughout the book. Character development is something I look forward to and this book did not disappoint.

I almost gave up on Seven Little Secrets as I didn't like the first POV but the book actually cycles through 7 of the cheerleaders' POV after a traumatic event that seemingly blindsided everyone. I found it a quick and intriguing read.

Being a girl in this society is hard. These girls' characters opened up the discussion to how our society pushes young ladies to act or look a certain way. The girls' pain came out in different ways, usually in self-harm. Even though the content was sad, it was realistic. I identified with these characters and it was interesting to see that the "popular cheerleader" persona could be a negative one. The book helped me realize someone's life can look perfect from the outside, but we never know what they're going through.

This was definitely a Mean Girls book. I loved the fact that we got the perspective of the popular girls and not of some minor unpopular character who hated the popular girls.
However, the girls were a lot meaner and had absolutely zero redeeming qualities.
I did enjoy seeing the drama of the cheerleaders as a group, and individually after Natalie's death (and the fact that they included texts, emails and social media posts in between chapters was a good touch).
All in all, a solid a read.

This story had so much potential and it was not realized.

I loved the premise, but the wording in this book was odd and at times the paced slowed to the point of being boring.

I just could not get into it, despite the main plot.