Title: Every Single Secret
Expected publication: out now
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Book Description:
Emotionally guarded Daphne Amos always believed she’d found
a kindred spirit in her fiancé, Heath. Both very private people, they’ve kept
their pasts hidden from the world, and each other, until Heath’s escalating
nightmares begin to put an undeniable strain on their relationship. Determined
to give their impending marriage the best chance of succeeding, Heath insists
that Daphne join him on a seven-day retreat with Dr. Matthew Cerny, a
psychologist celebrated for getting to the root of repressed memories. Daphne
reluctantly agrees—even though the past is the last place she wants to go.
The retreat’s isolated and forbidding location increases her
unease, as do the doctor’s rules: they must relinquish their keys and phones,
they’ll be monitored at all hours by hidden cameras, and they’re never to
socialize with the other guests.
One sleepless night, Daphne decides to leave her room…and
only then does she realize that the institute is not at all what it seems—and
that whatever’s crying out from Heath’s past isn’t meant to be heard. It’s
meant to be silenced.
My musings:
I love nothing more than being blindsided by a book. To
happily and trustingly follow my little breadcrumb trail until I suddenly stand
open-mouthed and in shock, realising I have walked right into a trap. With the
growing trend of the “killer twist”, we are so on alert for these false trails
that it is getting harder to find a book that manages to do that. I am happy to
announce that this is one of them!
The story itself sounds irresistibly intriguing. Daphne and
Heath are a young couple who are very much in love but who each carry dark
secrets from the past they have never discussed with anyone for fear of
destroying their relationship. The deal of making a fresh start without
snooping into each other’s lives works well until Heath becomes increasingly distant
and unhappy. He claims that in order to make the relationship work, he will
need to come to term with his demons and make Daphne face hers. What better way
to do that than join a reclusive couples retreat, run by a renowned
psychotherapist that specialises in couples therapy? Daphne, predictable, is not
at all eager to open this can of worms, but she goes along with Heath under one
condition – she will support him but will not be participating in the therapy
herself. And this is how the two find themselves and two other couples in the
middle of nowhere in a large spooky mansion rigged with cameras, where the
retreat will be taking place. Phones, ipads and other electronic devices are
being taken off them at the door, and there is no link with the outside world.
The fun has just begun ....
Carpenter proved with her last book (The Weight of Lies)
that she can tell a good, original story, and she certainly continues the trend
with this one. Here is a writer who can not only spin a good tale, but who is
the queen of unhealthy family relationships that lend a sinister quality to the
storyline. Whilst the unusual element in her last book was “a book in a book”
(with excerpt from one of the characters’ books “Kitten” featuring strongly in
the storyline), this story is told a bit more conventionally incorprating each
character’s flashbacks to the dark secrets in their pasts that weigh heavily on
their shoulders. And boy oh boy, you are in for some surprises here!
Three of the things I loved most about The Weight of Lies
again make a comeback here: 1) an eerie, claustrophobic and gothic setting; 2)
damaged but relatable characters who draw you into the story; 3) an
irresistibly broody narrative full of foreshadowing that keeps you turning the
pages frantically. I read this in one long night and blame my bad-tempered
sleep deprived self on the quality of the story! For those similarly afflicted
readers who, like me, find it difficult to suspend disbelief (the struggle is
real!), there will most likely come a moment when you flounder a little bit –
well, I did. It did not take away my enjoyment of the book, but left me wishing
that someone else in my circle had read the book as I was itching so badly to
discuss spoilers!
Summary:
Thank
you to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the free electronic copy of this novel and
for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
Oooooo
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