3.5⭐️

I enjoyed this book and the pacing of it a lot. The chapters were very short and there was action from the beginning. Overall, this was a twisty thriller that left me guessing until the end!


This ARC was provided to me by netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

I really liked that the story immediately got right to it and I enjoyed the pacing. I liked the characters, they were likeable and well layered. I also found the story to be a bit creepy and gave me chills, so it did what it was supposed to! A 3.75 star book for me!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Every year Sam Hall and his friends hold funerals for their secrets in an abandoned hut in the woods that they call the Dark Place. But this year, their secrets are coming back from the dead…to terrorize them.

When I read the synopsis for this book and saw the cover, I was instantly intrigued by this book. I am pleased to say that this book did not disappoint at all. The book starts out at Dom's Halloween party, which is the party of the year for this group of friends, but not for the reasons you might originally think. Every year, they sneak out of the party and go to the Dark Place to whisper their secrets. But this year is different. Someone knows about the Dark Place and their secrets and isn't going to stop using those secrets against them until their lives are destroyed.

This book was a great, fast-paced read. The characters were relatable and likeable. The story doesn't have a slow take off. It gets right into the main plot and I felt like the very few parts that were slightly slower were important to the main plot of the story and character development. I really loved the unexpected plot twists in this book. There were a few that I thought I had figured out and then realized I had no idea what was actually happening. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves YA thrillers. Definitely a good one!!

So this was definitely one of those books that I thought I had it all figured out, but I could not have been more wrong. In the middle of this book there is a massive plot twist that I never saw coming and made the book even cool and more interesting. Halloween has always been a special time for this group of friends, their chance to go to the dark place and let out their secrets and start the year oh fresh. However where they were that someone may have been listening to their secrets things will never be the same. Friendships and families will be broken and who knows if they’ll ever get the trust back. This was a great read and really kept me on the edge of my seat

**I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review**

The first few chapters were hard to get into, even though on could argue the action starts fairly quickly. Then the story gained momentum. For me, a 3 stars usually means it was readable and meh. In this case, it means I enjoyed it and will read more from this author but I had some issues. I really enjoyed Ralph's other book, 14 Ways to Die. I would also like to read Lock the Doors. But "friends go into the woods for a weird ritual" is overdone, to me. I've seen a lot of book plots start off that way.

Brief summary: 4 friends go to a secret place in the woods to confess their secrets on Halloween. No one knows anyone's secrets...or so they think. Because the secrets start coming out and dangerous things start happening.

Characters and first impressions: Dom is one dimensional and bleh. I don't care about Sam's excuses for his douchery. Elisha, Lauren, and Molly are surprisingly fleshed out. Even Sam is kind of one dimensional - all you know about him is that he was a child star and feels guilty all the time. But it IS very refreshing to see a brother who loves his little sister and wants to protect her. Haran...I'm not sure about him. It seems that he gives a lot to Sam, way more than he gets in return. All I know about Haran is, he's poor and likes theater and is Sam's bff. Sam's dad's character is vivid, which in other novels the parents can just be background characters (sadly Sam's mom is one of these).

I don't want to give any spoilers but the blackmail in Sam's case was not believable at all. However, I do feel like the way he reacted to it is very true to his age. He acts before he thinks when a lot could've been avoided with some reflection. I'm torn between thinking this is typical of teens and wondering if the author is not giving teens enough credit with their thought processes. When i was a teen I was an idiot so judging by myself, I think he's right on track. I want to know what everyone else thinks, though.

Just gonna put this out there - didn't like Sam's & Elisha's relationship. It wasn't deep enough to see the chemistry and I felt that Elisha didn't give much to Sam in the way of support or literally anything. I don't only blame her trust me, but Sam has no depth besides GUILT so it makes sense.

The twist was interesting. There's like a mini twist *gasp* and then kind of a bigger twist *extra gasp*. I'm not being sarcastic; I was very surprised. I think the characters had some growth over the book's course which is the sign of a good author.

Thanks Wednesday Books and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. I absolutely loved this book so much I read it all in one day! I just couldn’t put it down! Have you ever wished your secrets could die? Sam and his friends have found a way to allow this to happen. A remote dwelling where one by one they go is and whisper their secrets aloud, they call it the Dark Place. It’s freeing to get away from the guilt, fear, and pain their secrets bring. That is until someone starts using their secrets against them. How is that possible? No one knows about the Dark Place right? And how far will they go to keep their secrets? There were twists on top of twists, secrets, revenge, tension and intrigue, this book had it all! Definitely a favorite Vincent Ralph book! If you like twisty mysteries that’ll have you needing to know more then I highly recommend this book! Can’t wait for it to come out!