{ARC Review} The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham

If you’ve been following my reviews for any length of time, you know I have a sort of eclectic taste that calls me to different genres on an alternating and completely random basis. You’ll find me reading fantasy most often, young adult after that, and then every once in awhile I love to read a suspense-filled book written for adults. They’re the perfect palate cleanser for me between fantasy tomes and darn it, I just love the books that mess with my mind and scare me silly.

When I came across this one the title and premise just called to me. I’m so glad that I was able to get a copy for review, and I will be buying a physical copy first chance I get – that’s how much I enjoyed it.

Per usual, I find suspense books difficult to review because I don’t want to to spoil anything for you guys. I can tell you that the story is told from alternating perspectives, each chapter swapping between Meghan and Agatha. Their dual perspectives on life, family and motherhood, while critically at odds, both feel unique and are incredibly important lenses for the reader to experience the events of the story through. Watching their worlds collide was tense, disturbing and threw me into a state where I sped through the second half of the story as quickly as I could, just because I had to know how it would end.

One of the things I think was so great about this story is that Robotham was clearly striving to do more than just scare the reader here, and introduces a lot of thematic content that overlaps the plot from beginning to end. While creating a tense atmosphere is definitely something he excels at, I was equally as interested in the characterization of the main and supporting characters and the way they inform on the many twists and turns of the plot, as well as the theme of the story. Agatha and Meghan, and their direct families felt real to me and it made it extremely easy to empathize with them and feel involved in their lives, even as certain secrets they’ve been cultivating begin to come to a head.

I truly think this is going to be a thriller on a lot of summer reading lists! If you’re looking for something engaging tense, with deeper themes than just plain scares, you’ve found the right book! I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future!

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Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.