Name: Hadley 's review of Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier
Item: Little Secrets
Rating: 3
Author: Hadley

Jennifer Hillier

Overwhelmed by tragedy, a woman desperately tries to save her marriage in award-winning author Jennifer Hillier's Little Secrets, a riveting novel of psychological suspense.

Little Secrets

Demi

"Unflinching and unforgettable. Little Secrets has everything you want in a thriller" —Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author of Lock Every Door Overwhelmed by tragedy, a woman desperately tries to save her marriage in award-winning author Jennifer Hillier's Little Secrets, a riveting novel of psychological suspense. All it takes to unravel a life is one little secret... Marin had the perfect life. Married to her college sweetheart, she owns a chain of upscale hair salons, and Derek runs his own company. They're admired in their community and are a loving family—until their world falls apart the day their son Sebastian is taken. A year later, Marin is a shadow of herself. The FBI search has gone cold. The publicity has faded. She and her husband rarely speak. She hires a P.I. to pick up where the police left off, but instead of finding Sebastian, she learns that Derek is having an affair with a younger woman. This discovery sparks Marin back to life. She's lost her son; she's not about to lose her husband, too. Kenzie is an enemy with a face, which means this is a problem Marin can fix. Permanently.

A Novel

This book was entertaining, though I wouldn’t say it’s amazing. After the first few chapters I felt like we were losing the plot a bit, but I do understand how the characters ended up in the situations they were in because of the circumstances. I don’t think the story is impossible, just a little predictable at times.

Hadley 

I stumbled across this book, literally!!  I thought it was jar of hearts.  I was far enough into it that I thought I’ll keep going when I realized it was about a boy who had gone missing I thought I couldn’t finishfinish this, but I did and I’m glad I did. It was a good story with good suspense, and surprise.

Jeannie Gallagher

Robi Carballo

** spoiler alert **
           Actual rating: 3.5

The story is great and Marin is very relatable. No mother will ever stay sane with what happened to her. It's just the plot that has been the letdown. It's pretty predictable (I already predicted who abducted Bash in the early chapters, I just kept going to know the reason and how it was executed) and the thrill was just not there. But overall, it is a good and fast read. If you want to keep up with your reading goal, you can include this book as it is very fast-paced.

I truly enjoyed the writing and I think the author did an excellent job conveying what a person may feel experiencing any of the many traumatic scenarios in this book. I would not call this predictable but there were some twists I figured out early on in the story. With thrillers, there are always twists and I question everything in an attempt to figure out what they are. However, at no point did I figure out the full extent of what was happening in this story. It kept me guessing and kept me turning pages until I knew all the secrets! I'd recommend this to a friend. 

Hannah Colbert

Wow. Incredible thriller. Narrator did a phenomenal job. The whole thing was just perfection. 

Lauren Mills

It was slow, I predicated the ending so the ending wasn’t even able to make up for it 

Allie Gallo 

Lara Engle

I think Jennifer Hillier books are not my thing. They're page-turners, but they're kind of ridiculous and not very fun.

Alexa M

now thats how you do a domestic thriller! a little slow to start but very twisty and fun. definitely said "what!!" out loud a time or two lol

Rachel Kanyid

Ok, I definitely knew what happened at the beginning but the rest of the story through me for a loop!

Liz B

Great thriller. Good characters, no wimpy women (a too-common trope I hate!). Figured out the big twist, but not until like 20 pages before it happened. Lots of other smaller, surprising twists too!

Cheri McElroy

It's been over a year since Marin’s son has been abducted. She is emotionally separated from life, and even from her marriage. Until she finds out her husband is having an affair. Suddenly, anger starts driving her to take some actions that will lead to destructive consequences.

The start and end of this book were excellent, with some fun twists. The middle plodded along as an average thriller. Overall, I enjoyed this story.

Alex Flagg

4.5 stars-- fast, addictive, haunting. Best thriller I've read in a long time! Was entertained and wanting to read more the whole time. Wrapped up a little fast at the end but the twists were great!

Natasha S

** spoiler alert **
           This was amazing!!!

This book takes you on a journey and the way the story unfolds is incredible. We meet Marin, a successful salon owner, whose 4 year old son goes missing. Hillier showcases Marin and her husband's grief and the aftermath that follows their son getting kidnapped. I feel like so much happens in this story from infidelity to betrayal and LOTS AND LOTS OF LIES.

I was able to guess the plot twist but I still enjoyed this story so much. The twists and turns were amazing and this book is VERY hard to put down. I can't wait to read Hillier's other novels!

Fellowes Cynthia

This was my first book by this author, but won't be my last. I enjoyed her style of writing and was immediately pulled into the plot of a missing child, the missing child support group, family and friend dynamics, etc. Parts of it were a bit convoluted and confusing, but all in all I found it a satisfying read.

A child is missing. Broken relationships. Who is trustworthy? Who is not? Secrets revealed.

No spoilers here.

Shannon Lamoree

Jennifer Hillier is one of my go-to authors. She is a master at unveiling details a little at a time, enough to keep you enthralled. It took some time for me to get to this ook, but once I started, it was finished in a matter of days. 
It is told from two different female perspectives. It starts when Marin's son is taken. Marin is the narrator for the majority of the story and her close relationships are examined. I highly recommend this book if you like thrillers. 
Thank you, NetGalley for my gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Lauren Attaway

Following the disappearance of her only child, a woman tries to save her marriage in this perfect blend of thrills and a study of grief. 

Full disclosure, I have been having an especially hard time reading thrillers during my social distancing. I think I must have subconsciously decided I needed happy endings for mental stability. This past month I have read a lot of romances and literary fiction, which I also love, but I have always loved a crazy book prior to stay at home orders.

Little Secrets, with twist after twist, really brought me back to the thriller genre. It reminded me that a good story is a good story, and I don't need a certain category of ending to satisfy some self-imposed checklist. 

I really enjoyed Jar of Hearts more, and I will be making the rest of Jennifer Hillier's books part of my summer reading list. 

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Caitlin Snyder

Bek Garven

It was really good! I didn’t see the pieces coming together until Marin did. I didn’t expect that ending either. Definitely hooked me.

Moon of Pages

Kayla Smith

Thank you to the publisher for providing me an e-ARC of this book on NetGalley!

Woo, this was a ride. I read this in two-three days. I haven’t read a book that fast in months, I feel like. I have to be honest, when I requested this book on NetGalley I wasn’t really sure what it was about. I’d heard about it here and there on Youtube and I always love a good thriller especially when I’m in need of a palette cleanser in between some high-fantasy. Which is exactly why I picked this up. I’d just finished Nevernight and honestly, I wasn’t sure what other fantasy book could top that so I decided to go for a palette cleanser instead.

I have a hard time reviewing thrillers. I think I’ve said this before. I just don’t want to give anything away, which is easy to do with this genre. Like I said, I didn’t even really know what this was about going into it because I like to be completely surprised. If you feel the same way, maybe skip this review but just know, I do recommend it. It’s a ride and I’ve heard some people say they saw the twist coming from miles away but I didn’t! However, I also didn’t see the twist in The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides coming either and I’ve read a million reviews saying it was completely obvious in that book so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Even without the twist at the end though, I think I would have given this thriller a 4 star rating. That speaks a lot to the author’s ability to keep me on the edge of my seat throughout. Usually, I rate thrillers based on how I felt once I knew the twist. If it was a bad twist, I’ll bring down the rating. If it was good and took me by surprise, I’ll usually up the rating. I just love when my mind is completely messed up by a new piece of information, especially right towards the end of a story. This thriller wasn’t relying on that twist though and it really worked for me. Maybe I won’t just pick up thrillers that I’m told have a “great twist” in the future because apparently, they can still work for me either way.

The only gripe I have with this one is that it all felt a little too drawn out. There was so much description, I honestly felt it could have been edited down quite a bit and I would have enjoyed it even more. This book kept me on the edge of my seat for the most part, but I think I would’ve finished it in just one sitting if some of the extra description had been cut out. I just don’t care about all of the descriptive details of individual character’s houses in my thrillers. That’s not what I’m here for. For example, in this book, the main character is on the phone with her friend while she’s in the bathroom. The author goes as far as mentioning that the main character hopes the person she’s on the phone with doesn’t hear her…using the facilities. Obviously, that really stood out to me. I would’ve been fine without all of this unnecessary extra filler in there but, that’s probably a very personal opinion and probably won’t impact most readers one way or another. Just a personal gripe that ultimately hindered my enjoyment.

If you’re looking for a palette cleansing thriller, I’d definitely recommend this one! It’s not a new all-time favorite, but it is definitely one of the best I’ve read this year. Let me know if you’ve read Little Secrets and what you thought!

Zoe Smolen

Y’all I figured out the big twist in this one and feel brilliant.

Claire

I did not hate this book the way I hated Jar of Hearts, but I think I can safely say now that Jennifer Hillier is just not for me. (Also, please stop using song lyrics as chapter headers. I think that trying to make 90s hit Closing Time ominous actually had the opposite effect.)

Kathy

Sorry I am so late with this review. 
*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.this review.


Sebastian is kidnapped her world is turned upside down. A year later and no trace of her son, Marin discovers her husband has secrets he’s been keeping from her. Jennifer Hillier delivers a thriller that will take you on an emotional rollercoaster and have you turning page after page. Five stars!

Demi &
Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

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