ARC Review: Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus

“I want to do something. For the missing girls, and the ones left behind.”

 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a free eARC in exchange for an honest review. This did not, in any way, affect my opinion.

 

About the Book

Title: Two Can Keep a Secret

Author: Karen M. McManus

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller

Release Date: January 8, 2019

ISBN: 1524714720 (ISBN13: 9781524714727)

 

Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery’s never been there, but she’s heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.

The town is picture-perfect, but it’s hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone’s declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she’s in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous–and most people aren’t good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it’s safest to keep your secrets to yourself.

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About the Author

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Karen M. McManus is the New York Times bestselling author of the young adult thriller One of Us Is Lying, which has been translated into 38 languages worldwide. Her second book, Two Can Keep a Secret, will be released in January 2019. Karen lives in Massachusetts and holds a master’s degree in Journalism from Northeastern University, which she mostly uses to draft fake news stories for her novels.

 

My Review:

This is the first book from Karen McManus that I’ve read so I can’t compare Two Can Keep a Secret to One of Us is Lying. But I can tell a good whodunnit when I see (or read) one, and this book is one of those.

Two Can Keep a Secret made me madly flipping pages. It kept me up all night, literally. The title and the plot itself was inspired by Pretty Little Liars. I watched PLL last year and although I love it, I’ve only gotten through season one but I can tell you that I was chilled to the bone. Just like this book.

 

This book has queer characters. I normally don’t make a big deal of it (please don’t take that as offensive, I believe queer people should be treated like regular, normal people) but I feel like I should state it in this review. All in all, I love the characters. Ellery and Malcolm are so cute together and Ezra and Mia are two cinnamon rolls that I wish had gotten their own POVs.

As I read through this book, I’ve rejected countless theories (made both by myself and the characters) and had to come back to old ones. Just when I thought I’ve gotten the theory right, new facts and evidence proves otherwise. Normally I’d be frustrated, but it’s a different case when you’re reading a blood-chilling murder mystery alone in your room at night. I couldn’t risk to bond with any characters I like, in case they turned out to be the culprit. Or culprits. This book is a compilation of plot twists. And a Sherlock Holmes character? Count me in!

Right, the plot. As mentioned, before, it’s based on Pretty Little Liars, we a few twists. If you’ve watched that series, though, I doubt you’ll ever find out the cuplrit/s in this book until halfway through atleast. Gosh, I was around 85% done when I finally unraveled the mystery. Well, took me long enough.

While reading this book, I was not only invested in the shady characters but also the haunting history. Echo Ridge not only has cold-blooded killers (who enjoy making a good show of it) but also a history with a blood-chilling pattern. This seemingly peaceful town (with an amusement park that has a sinister name living up to its sinister past) holds dark secrets that keep on resurfacing again and again. Two Can Keep a Secret gives a new meaning to the phrase “history repeats itself”.

 

I wish the author could write a sequel for this book!

 

 

My Rating:

5 / 5 Dragon Eggs

 

 

Have you read Two Can Keep a Secret?

How much did you like it and what were your thoughts?

If not, is this book in your TBR pile? I hope it is!