Gripping from the first sentence the novel goes from a coming-of-age story to a love story to a thriller and back again, dealing with the theme of grief and having a building tension. I absolutely loved both Sydney's cynical, dry humour and the sincerity Brown handles such sensitive topics.

A great read with lots to keep you enthralled. A couple of different themes to this book but always the lovely who is it to discover!

The Truth About Keeping Secrets is a beautifully plotted novel with mystery elements but mostly focusing on a portrayal of grief – one young girl and her journey through the loss of her Dad, as such it is an emotional, compelling story that will have you hooked.

I loved Sydney and engaged with her fully – her distinct sense of loss, her reaching for connections and in doing so her developing friendship with June, the golden girl, who is hiding behind a facade. But why and what does this have to do with Sydney’s loss?

Intriguing and nuanced, The Truth About Keeping Secrets is enduringly spirited and often unexpected- a page turner with real heart and soul that digs deep into human reality.

Loved it. Recommended.

The Truth About Keeping Secrets is a slow-paced novel and an exquisite portrayal of grief following the sudden death of Sydney’s father in a car accident.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The first half is an atmospheric exploration of grief and the unique coping mechanisms one can develop. Sydney is reeling from the sudden death of her father and her coping mechanism? Scrolling through a website which posts surveillance footage of deadly road accidents. We delve into her mind and see how she struggles. She’s sad, angry and she uses sarcasm and jokes as her way of brushing off serious conversations.

Moreover, a large portion of the book is dedicated to establishing the relationship between Sydney and June; the golden girl who Sydney is fascinated by. We watch her feelings develop for her, picking flower petals in her mind while she is stuck in the liminal space of ‘does she love me back?’. The 20 minutes she spends in the car rides to school with her are her only moments of joy. Although I empathised with June's story, I struggled to take a shine to her. I wish what we learned about her wasn’t confined to the climax, but rather explored further over the course of the novel.

What let the story down was the second half. It was weak. It is centred around the mystery behind Sydney’s ominous texts and peculiar incidents following her father’s death. However, I thought the answer was predictable from the get-go. Various red herrings emerge throughout which only made me more certain of the foreboding outcome.

The Truth About Keeping Secrets touches upon not only grief but other poignant relationship issues; manipulative friends and abusive relationships. This isn’t a story for the faint of heart. It is predictable, the mystery isn’t too compelling. Nonetheless, there is an abundance of beautiful paragraphs and turns of phrase which made this a pleasure to read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK Children’s for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was ‘just’ going to be a murder-mystery going in, but it was about so much more: grief, mental illness, love, friendship. I couldn’t stop reading it once I started! I quite liked the writing as well.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

This book is not a thriller, not really. It’s an LGBTQIA+ YA romance/coming of age with a dead body in the background. Which is fine, just not what I was expecting, and a waste of a dead psychiatrist

This is classic YA with a bit of an edgy twist. A really enjoyable book with fantastic main characters who are different, quirky and all have their own spark. Some LGBT themes but not in the stereotypical YA way of main characters doubting themselves over their sexuality, which is so refreshing. A great addition to any YA bookshelf.

This books first half is a fantastic atmospheric,creepy story about grief and associated unhealthy coping mechanisms that also talks about what it's like to be the only girl who is out as a lesbian in your high school, the second half was about the main character trying to piece together a mystery. The writing is gorgeous and I loved this f/f story!

Oh my goodness, I absolutely loved this book and devoured the whole thing in one go!

It's a great thriller, which was refreshing for a YA novel, but also deals with many real-life teenage issues. Grief, sexuality, friendship, online abuse, mental health...

This is going to be a big success in 2019. Well done to Savannah Brown, and thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

The Truth about Keeping Secrets by Savanna Brown a five-star read that will twist you up. I know this is in the teen and YA category, but it will appeal to so any more people than just that genre, so pick it up if you like a good plot with plenty of deep drama and mystery that will keep you turning pages till the very last. This is a story that will stay with you Sydney’s journey will be one that you will be sharing with those who need a little support and direction. I am sure that I will be recommending this to many people I know especially those I come into contact with and need a gentle help, I expect this will do for them what a certain book my aunt gave me at a similar age. It changed my outlook on life and showed me another path that I may not have been on now if I hadn’t read that one novel. This has that power, you can see it flow from the pages. I would so love to see this as a series as I know many more people would be able to see the story that way, and this is one of those stories that needs to be seen by many. Definitely one of the best stories I will read this year and that’s saying something as we are only a matter of weeks into the year.

Splendid Young Adult novel that I will be sure to pass on to any YA I know who might need some insight or support. It is a novel however and a tightly written fast paced one at that

Exploring the themes of death, loneliness, isolation and belonging it’s well written and worth exploring

I read <i>The Truth About Keeping Secrets</i> in about three days, and mind you, they were busy days. It felt nice reading a book again where the characters remain in your head while you're not reading it.

First of all, this Savannah Brown has written a beautiful book. We know she has a way with words because of her poetry, but not everyone can translate that talent to prose as well. She can. Some will promote this book as a thriller, but I'd say it's a thorough exploration of grief. Beautiful friendships and connections and relationships are woven throughout, with intriguing multi-faceted characters. Yes, there's mystery as well, and thriller aspects are certainly present, but my gosh, the grief and pain and struggles make you <i>feel</i>.

3.5 stars (Rounded up)

Thank You NetGalley, Savannah Brown snf Penguin Random House UK for this book.

I'm not 100 percent sure on this book although I did read it all the way through. Yes it had emotion and that mystery element but something made me feel unsure when I'd read it.

Don't get me wrong Savannah Brown wrote the story really well and she did manage to keep me reading but I cant help think that the story was a bit drawn out in places and maybe there could of been a few more dark twists and spruced uo in parts.

This is one of those books that I think not everyone will enjoy. If you want to read it don't let someone put you off. Read it, Make your own mind uo and see what your own opinions are.

The first thing that hits you when you start reading this book is how refreshing the narration is. Although the story begins at a funeral, there is a clear indication of the level of intelligence of our lead character (and a twisted sense of cynical humour).

Sydney's father died in an accident and she is mourning him in a completely unhelpful way. The better part of the book consists of different stages of her grief which may not be textbook. Her father would have known how to deal with the situation since he was the local psychiatrist, but he is no longer around. The book may be targeted at young adults, but it deals with grief and trauma in a way that would appeal to anyone who can empathize/sympathize with the situation. To make matters worse for Sydney, her suspicions of foul play with regards to her father get compounded by some unexpected things and one of them lead to a new friend (of sorts). I do not want to reveal any more information because each character is introduced in an equally interesting fashion which helps the reading experience. The one thing I would like to mention for when you read the book (or those who already have), is the attitude Sydney has in the beginning of her current 'best friend'. The differences between the two has made their relationship seem a certain way to her and she is sure she is right. The maturity of that thought seemed very realistic to me when push came to shove as well as the dynamics with her mother.There is a bit of suspense which is brought into the forefront every other chapter but for the most part it sticks around like a background score.

It may seem slightly slower in parts but it is mostly fast paced and well written.

4.5 Stars.

Trigger Warning: This book features discussion and description of multiple deaths, discussion of elements of the embalming process, discussion of an abusive relationship: controlling and manipulative behaviour, stalking, abduction, attempted murder, discussion of racism, and homophobia.

I quite enjoy a YA thriller, so when I heard of The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown, I was really excited to read it! It wasn't quite the story I was expecting, but I really enjoyed it!

Sydney's psychiatrist father died in a car crash, and she's struggling to come to terms with it, and deal with her grief. The police investigation have written his death off as an accident, but that doesn't sit right with Sydney. She is convinced there's more to it. People don't just drive their cars into telephone poles for no reason. And, being a psychiatrist, he's going to know people's darkest secrets. Sydney knows he must have known something someone would have preferred he didn't, and killed him. When June, the post popular girl in school, turns up in the middle of her father's funeral, and is found days later at his grave, Sydney can't stop wondering why. The two form a friendship, and it's not long before Sydney falls for her. When someone starts sending Sydney threatening, homophobic text messages, Sydney is sure that whoever it is killed her Dad, but no-one will believe her.

I really, really enjoyed this story, even though it's not quite as thriller-y as I expected; for a lot of the book, it felt a lot more like a contemporary, with something strange happening one day, and something strange happening weeks later. Until the last 40%, the focus is mainly on the relationship between Sydney and June. I really liked them! As people, I couldn't help but warm to them. But neither of them are ok.

Sydney is struggling with her father's death, and as she's convinced someone killed him, she can't move on. As well as struggling under the heavy weight that is grief, she's also developed an overwhelming fear of death. She can't stop thinking about it; her dad's death, and how she might die, could die, at any moment, and sometimes wishes she was dead, just so she could stop thinking about it, stop being so scared. When online, she accidentally comes across Time of Death, a website that illegally shows camera footage of various real life deaths, be it from a mobile or CCTV. She becomes obsessed with it, spending hours watching video after video, an unhealthy coping mechanism; if she knows death, maybe she won't be so scared. The only thing that helps is June. Being with June, thinking about June. A friendship between the two forms after a conversation at her father's grave, and another when June turns up outside Sydney's dad's home office in the middle of the night. From then on, June is taking Sydney to and from school every day, and these are the only moments Sydney feels any kind of reprieve. June is beautiful and warm, and she cares, and Sydney holds on to her like a life raft. She forms an unhealthy attachment to June that eclipses everything else in her life - including her best friend, Olivia - as thinking of June and being with her are the only things that will keep her fear and grief at bay. My heart broke for her so many times, and I was always worrying about her.

June was just awesome. We find out very little about her because she doesn't really talk about herself much (we find out why later in the book), but she is genuinely kind and warm, and just such a nice girl. I really, really liked her. Which was surprising to me, as she doesn't fit that trope of popular girls being mean girls. She isn't, at all. She's just lovely. She obviously has self-esteem issues, and issues around how she sees herself, and she kind of keeps Sydney at a distance as there are some things she just won't talk about, but at the same time, she truthfully cares about Sydney, and tries to help her with her grief in various ways. Sometimes she doesn't do the right thing - she makes mistakes, she's only human - but she has her heart in the right place. I know this kind of makes her sound insipid, but I can only say so much without spoiling the story!

Although I was expecting more from the thriller aspect of the story, I actually really liked that it was a slow burn thriller. Sydney is already convinced that someone killed her dad, so when she starts getting threatening, homophobic text messages from some unknown number, she's sure this person, whoever they are, is the killer. But they will go weeks without sending anything, and things go back to Sydney's current version of normal. But it goes from text messages to more stalkery behaviour that is actually quite sinister - and even more so because of the time that elapses in between each "event"; not only do you not know what they're going to do next, you don't know the when either. Sydney kind of thinks they've got bored and left her alone, and then something worse will happen. It really picks up in the last 40% of the story, and becomes quite the nerve wrecker. And I never worked out who it was. I was pretty much suspecting everyone Sydney knew, and even though I did suspect the actual stalker at some points, I will still completely surprised!

What I found really upsetting, though, was how people responded to it. Olivia pretty much brushes the texts off. When the police are told, they brush it off as bullying. They're going to talk to the school, but that's it. This isn't bullying, I need to make that clear. This is stalking. But even if it was bullying, the attitude towards it is disgusting. Bullying is serious, and not something to just brush off and dismiss. People have died by suicide because of bullying. But once the police officer hears of the homophobic bullying Sydney experienced in the past, his whole attitude towards the crime changes, and gives off this, "this isn't that serious" vibe. This isn't a criticism of the writing or the story, because I think it's probably realistic. It's a criticism of people in power not taking bullying seriously.

If I was to give a slight criticism, it would be that the dialogue was a little too realistic. There was a lot of "ums" and "likes," "I guesses" and "I means," things like "yeah, no" - an agreement that something is a negative. And while, yes, that is realistic, it kind of slowed the dialogue down a little, and it didn't flow so well. However, otherwise, Brown writes so beautifully, I'd just become completely captivated by the words, the flow of the sentences. She paints such pictures, that Sydney's surroundings feel alive, like characters themselves - a river, snowfall, a cemetery. It's just gorgeous, and you really feel like you're there, seeing it all. And Brown is also able to put thoughts and feelings into words that I struggle with, and not only that, but so beautifully, too! I really cannot get enough of her writing! I'm pretty much persuaded to buy Graffiti, her book of poetry, because if Brown can do this in prose, her poetry is going to be magical.

I absolutely loved The Truth About Keeping Secrets. It was such a beautiful, difficult, captivating story, and the writing is to die for! A wonderful debut novel, and I'll be keeping an eye out for whatever Brown writes in future!

Thank you to Penguin via NetGalley for the eProof.

I won't re-hash the synopsis, or even talk about specifics in the book, because, in a way, this story transcends these explanations and weaves itself in a dreamlike way around your brain and tangles with your thoughts and feelings.

This is such a good book that delves into secrets; who keeps them? why do they keep them? what are the repercussions of keeping them? It's a book about grief and friendship, love and hate, acquisition and loss. It's a powerful coming of age story, it's a story as old as time. In short it's amazing and you need to go read it now.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I absolutely adored every page of this book! The story is heart-wrenching, the writing is beautifully detailed and that TWIST. Wow. I was intending to take my time with this one but I just couldn't put it down and ended up finishing it in just over a day. Sydney's voice captured my focus from the first line - the perfect balance of vulnerable and snark; and the intricate weaving together of grief, friendship, family, love and trust was absolutely stunning.

I was expecting to like this book but ended up loving it - I've already recommended it to three different friends and will definitely be re-reading soon. There were so many important little moments that intrigued me, and so many misdirections that I truly had no idea what was going on until the final few pages and I loved it!

LOVE LOVE LOVED THIS BOOK!

And as a character-driven story, The Truth About Keeping Secrets is really good, since it succeeds where many other supposedly character-driven books fail: the main character's voice was perfect. Sydney is a teenage girl who is grieving, who is dealing with her father's death in an unhealthy way, and she's sad and angry and using sarcasm as a coping mechanism, and she felt real in a way very few characters do.