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marcidarling's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
yapha's review against another edition
3.0
Francie is Dana's daughter and Abby's granddaughter in this third book which continues their family saga. Like the other two, it skips large portions of their lives to trace Francie's life from third grade through college. In it, Francie has to deal with assorted changes in her life, including death, divorce, and friends moving schools. As this series continues, I find myself less and less interested in what happens to the characters. Too much time passes and there is not enough room to learn enough about them. It is a great idea for a series, but it is lacking in the execution. Recommended for die hard fans only, grades 5 & up.
lberestecki's review against another edition
3.0
A well-written book, but I did have a few problems with it. One issue I had was that at times it seemed a bit disjointed - the jumps between chapters and years could have been smoother, and the author sometimes didn't seem sure what genre she wanted to write in. My biggest problem with the book was that there were some major incidents that were never resolved and were largely ignored after they happened - this made the book feel a bit unfinished. Received from NetGalley.
matamgirl's review against another edition
3.0
Okay first of all the author really likes the name Claudia. There is nothing wrong with that of course but I was not expecting a Babysitters' Club babysitter name. She does not appear until the end of the book and this is not a spoiler at all.
So this is the third in the series of books following four generations of women growing into adulthood. Abby, Dana and now Francie. Francie is growing up in the late 70s and early 80s. Francie is an only child. This is, like the other books, small snippets of the important events in her life. There is one major even and that is what the title is referring to. I am not going to spoiler it but Francie really shouldn't have kept that secret.
My main problem with the book is the same as my main problem with the last one which is that Dana is a horrible brat. Even as an adult. I still don't understand why she hated her mother.
Anyway I will definitely read the last one.
This was review copy provided to me by Netgalley.
So this is the third in the series of books following four generations of women growing into adulthood. Abby, Dana and now Francie. Francie is growing up in the late 70s and early 80s. Francie is an only child. This is, like the other books, small snippets of the important events in her life. There is one major even and that is what the title is referring to. I am not going to spoiler it but Francie really shouldn't have kept that secret.
My main problem with the book is the same as my main problem with the last one which is that Dana is a horrible brat. Even as an adult. I still don't understand why she hated her mother.
Anyway I will definitely read the last one.
This was review copy provided to me by Netgalley.
cveeders's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book, because it presented a character I felt I could relate to. It deals with some difficult topics (ex: kidnapping, JFK assassination) and deals with them well. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the fourth book.
mrskatiefitz's review against another edition
3.0
Best Kept Secret is the story of Francie (granddaughter of Abby from Better to Wish and daughter of Dana from The Long Way Home), who is growing up in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Though Francie doesn't experience the same turmoil as her mother and grandmother, her story is marked by its share of difficulties. As a young girl, Francie is approached on the street by an abductor. She doesn't go with him, but neither does she report the incident, so she experiences terrible guilt when another young girl goes missing. The guilt of this incident follows her through the rest of her childhood, causing her to become preoccupied with being good and feeling safe.
Francie doesn't really have much of a role in her own story. Rather, she observes characters introduced in the previous books and comments on their relationships. Abby's free-spirited sister Adele, Dana's brother Peter, who has Down Syndrome, and Papa Luther, the tyrannical family patriarch all reappear in this book. I was also thrilled to note that Martin has not forgotten Fred, Abby's long-lost disabled brother who was banished to a home as a child. I expressed my hopes for this character in my review of The Long Way Home, and was not disappointed.
This book is the weakest of the series so far, and the least evocative of its time period. (I think this is partly because the time period is still so recent.) Still, reading these books is like watching an historical soap opera, and even when the writing is sometimes bland, the overall sense of being allowed to eavesdrop on 100 years of family history is hugely appealing.
Francie doesn't really have much of a role in her own story. Rather, she observes characters introduced in the previous books and comments on their relationships. Abby's free-spirited sister Adele, Dana's brother Peter, who has Down Syndrome, and Papa Luther, the tyrannical family patriarch all reappear in this book. I was also thrilled to note that Martin has not forgotten Fred, Abby's long-lost disabled brother who was banished to a home as a child. I expressed my hopes for this character in my review of The Long Way Home, and was not disappointed.
This book is the weakest of the series so far, and the least evocative of its time period. (I think this is partly because the time period is still so recent.) Still, reading these books is like watching an historical soap opera, and even when the writing is sometimes bland, the overall sense of being allowed to eavesdrop on 100 years of family history is hugely appealing.
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