I really enjoyed this book! I look forward to reading other books by this author. There were so many twists in this book I didn’t see coming. But then again I rarely can figure books out. I would definitely recommend this book

Wacky! This one kept me jumping and sometimes confused (not in bad way)
A book that kept me listening with all of my free minutes - I only stopped to sleep!
I would read another AJ McDine!
Great narration!

4 stars!

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy reader

Publish date: 10/21/2024

Everyone has Secrets is medium paced, psychological domestic thriller from A J Mcdine. I've recently found A J McDine and I really enjoy her writing style. Everyone has Secrets has you trying to figure out who's lying, who's telling the truth, only to have everything turned on its head. If you like twisty, domestic thrillers, this is a great read!

Tasmin Kennard narrates this audiobook and I always really enjoy her voice. She has a brilliant pace which suits thriller type books.

Thank you Bookouture and Netgalley for this eArc
4.5 stars, rounded up to 5

When you think you know your family only to find out you don’t know them at all. Eve walks into a mess and tries to unravel it all. She was sure she knew her husband and son, but she didn’t. This is a fascinating twisted read. Loved everything about it!

Wow - I was gripped from the beginning and really never lost interest! This is my second ALC from McDine and I've loved them both. Now I definitely plan to dive deeper into her writing deeper. I was engaged by the narrator too. I thought that the book wrapped up nicely and then that last twist at the end surprised me!

Thank you to A J McDine, Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This audiobook gripped me from the beginning. It throws you right into the story and continues the steady pace throughout although at times I did wish it would up the pace somewhat but maybe that was the point to build the suspense. There are many characters to get to grips with and many the revelation. The narration was engaging and added to the story. It all came together well. Enjoyed this one.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to listen and review #EveryoneHasSecrets

This is my third AJ McDine book, and it has been my least favorite so far.
Going by the blurb, I thought the book would be in 3 POVs: The wife, the husband, and the son. But all we get is the wife's POV until the very last chapter, and that chapter is a random other character's POV. I felt this was misleading.
I also don't feel like this book falls into the 'psychological thriller' genre. I'd categorize it as a drama instead. It covers themes of loss, drug usage, and family life, but there was no real thriller aspect. There were a few somewhat thrillerish scenes, but they were few and far between.
None of the characters were particularly likeable, except for Lisa, Annie's mom, and Annie, in the one scene she was present. Barring those two, all of the others made questionable decisions throughout the story. I didn't like Eve at all by the end. There were two very serious "secrets" she discovered and didn't do anything about them. The authorities should have 1000000% been notified, but she just said "I promised not to tell". Naw, girl. That's not how that works when inappropriate and dangerous situations occur.

I love this author's writing, but this book was a miss for me.

Tamsin Kennard did a fabulous job narrating this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for an audio ARC of this title.

2.5/5 stars rounded up.

In this title we meet Eve, married to Noah and their son Joe

They live in the old vicarage in a gorgeous village.
Joe is about to turn 16 and has asked to have a few friends round to celebrate

Eve is an overprotective mother and struggling to let go of the apron strings, husband Noah tells her she needs to let him grow up.

Reluctantly Eve agrees but has a strong feeling of dread. On the night of the party, her and Noah head over to her best friend Lisa’s house, just across the Green.

Joe and his friends including Annie, Lisa’s daughter are enjoying themselves at home, while finally relaxing into the evening Eve is also enjoying herself until her phone rings……..


Annie has collapsed and is rushed to his following an overdose of Ecstasy. Lisa pushes Eve away and the whole village suddenly seems to hate them.

Eve is determined to get to the bottom of what happened and prove her son’s innocence, so begins her own investigation.
During this investigation she discovers Everyone has secrets and no one is telling the truth.


I found this an interesting story and enjoyed how it evolved. I often found Eve frustrating and couldn’t help being annoyed with some of her actions and reactions. However who knows how you may react if this happens to you


The narrator did a good job of retelling this story

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to listen to this title

"Everyone has secrets" was brilliant and twisty, and I loved the narrator style. I'll definitely listen to and read more books from this author.

Really enjoyed listening to this book - I really didn't want to stop. The story kept my interest with twists and turns, and the narrator was very good. I'll be reading/listening to more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, AJ McDine, and Bookoture Audio for the ARC. This is the second book I've read from this author. The Photo was fantastic, Everyone Has Secrets was just ok. I didn't feel any kind of connection to the characters and didn't have much sympathy for them. It was pretty obvious who gave the drugs and why. There was no real surprise to this story and for that I found it to be just ok. Short chapters are always appreciated. Narrator was lovely to listen to and would listen to more from her.

"Everyone Has Secrets" proved to be a captivating read, especially because of its surprising ending, which left me feeling satisfied.

The novel explores trust between spouses and within a broader circle of family and friends, raising questions about secrets and the lengths we go to protect loved ones. It challenges the balance between love and justice.

I found the plot engaging, despite its melancholic tone. The well-crafted characters added depth, with their lives intricately interwoven, creating emotional conflicts.

The finale was nothing short of shocking and gave me a sense of joy—it's rare to find a novel that resonates so deeply and offers such satisfaction upon finishing. As I read, I was not only eager to see how the story would unfold but also compelled to reflect on how I would respond if placed in the main character's shoes.

Overall, the novel’s brisk pace and compelling storytelling kept me on the edge of my seat, making it difficult to put down. I want to express my gratitude to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

This was fun. I usually like psychological thrillers and this one was no exception. The characters are relatable and realistic enough, some of them are likable others not so much, but I did like everyone. There are multiple plot twists, which is a nice treat. I particularly like when a thriller has more than one twist, it gives the book a nice pacing and it is more entertaining.
Personally, I've enjoyed this author's previous book, The Photo, more than this one. But I definitely recommend this book to anyone who has read a book by this author before, as well as to anyone who enjoys domestic and psychological thrillers with flawed - but realistic - characters.
The audiobok is really well done. It is the same narrator, Tamsin Kennard, of The Photo, and she makes a very good by voicing all the different characters. Also recommend it.
Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture Audio, for providing me with a free audio copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is a thrilling mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end. It's about a family whose perfect life is shattered by a single event at a 16th birthday party. The story follows a young woman named Eve as she tries to uncover the truth behind this event and protect her family.

As a parent, this book made me realise how important it is to be aware of what's happening in our children's lives, even if they think we're being too cautious.

A twisty family drama. A good look at damned if you do, damned if you don’t parenting. I really enjoyed the perspective of giving your kid a touch of freedom and how it can go wrong in a moment. It wasn’t particularly surprising but a good read nonetheless.

3.5/5

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the ARC of this audiobook for my honest review

This is a simple mystery, nice if you want a mystery but don’t want it to make you go crazy haha. It was pretty well done, just a bit basic for me I think. Well written though. I didn’t really care about the characters, I didn’t like anything bad happening to people but also didn’t feel like I cared that much. It was a nice ending though.

I'll be publishing my review on Goodreads and StoryGraph 18th November and on Tik tok most likely will add to a monthly wrap up post with review the beginning of December.

🎧Audio Book Review🎧

Everyone Has Secrets
AJ McDine

🌟🌟🌟🌟

After reading The Photo by this author a couple of months ago, I was excited to dive into this new release in the hope that it would be just as good.....I was not disappointed!

The title is perfect for this book as literally every character has something, big or small and as the storyline unfolds more and more is uncovered or revealed.

I loved the way that the storyline developed, guiding us to think one way, but then revealing just a little more to have us taking another route.

The characters were great and although we only follow this from the one pov (Eve's), this worked really well to keep the suspense and intrigue going from start to finish.

The writing style was totally addictive with an amazing prologue which sucked us in from the first page.
The short punch chapters that follow often ending on a mini cliffhanger that meant this was impossible to put down!

This was another great read and I'm already looking forward to my next read by McDine.



💕Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my ARC copy - this is my honest review 💕

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for the ALC.

Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Narration: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

An addicting and thoroughly entertaining thriller. Two close-knit families are torn apart when tragedy strikes one’s daughter and the other family’s son may be the cause.

This was such an engaging read with complicated and interesting characters. Tamsin Kennard was amazing as always. I immediately look up the author’s backlist because I enjoyed this book so much. Highly recommend.

ALC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

5 friends are holding a secret about their classmate/ friend's death - and the parents dont know what caused Annie's OD of Ecstasy drug - when the police start inquiring about the incident that happened on the day of Joe's birthday party a lot of secrets come out - but no one is willing to give up the name of the person who supplied the "E"

As more and more truth come out Eve has to fight against every odd to prove her son Joe's innocence!
Overall a very fast pace thriller and kept me wanting for more, had to finish it in one sitting!

I enjoyed this book and the characters. My only disappointment was that there were no surprises in the story.