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ladywren890's review
4.0
It was different from the other books in the series a bit but it was interesting that the romance in this story was somewhat of an afterthought, and played a small role in the overall storyline.
teynietiny's review
3.0
It has a good pace and you're constantly engaged with what Anna is doing. The decriptions lack and are repetative to the point where you can get bored. There is more focus on the mystery then the phychic powers which disappointed me. Though I must give the author credit, the twist at the end was awesome.
wench3rs's review against another edition
4.0
I'll be real, the mystery in this is quite well written. I had no idea who the antagonist would be, having been offered so many different characters with so many different motives. It took me by surprise when it was revealed and made the last part of the book interesting and quickened the pace.
briktaylor's review
3.0
Dark secrets one was by far the entire reason I got into this series. I found it some years ago and ended up reading it multiple times. It was one of those books I could go to when I wanted a good read but didn't want a new story. In 2015 I found out she had three more stories in the Dark Secrets collection but didn't end up getting the chance to pick them up till summer of 2016.
It is now spring of 2017 and I've finished The Back Door of Midnight and I was let down. The book started off well and I had high hopes for this collection going out with a bang. Anna was an excellent character, although her random issue with being called a redhead seemed unnecessary. Especially because you never get any explanation as to why it bothers her so much. In my opinion you were suppose to assume it was her rebelling from her birth family but she has been away from them long enough that it shouldn't have caused an issue with her own image.
I liked that her and Zack were mostly not a rushed relationship, however the fact that in the end they're all of a sudden in love and passionately kissing makes all the earlier scenes feel wasted. The worst part for me though, and the main reason I'm only giving three stars is the sloppy ending. Chandler attempted a plot twist that had she spent more time may have actually been as intense and surprising as it was meant. But she didn't use the correct character development or relationship development for Marcy and the Anna, so it seemed more off than upsetting when discovering she was the killer and Anna's cousin.
Following that poorly executed plot twist, she also took Aunt Iris out of her mental instability too quickly to be realistic. All of a sudden Aunt Iris wasn't becoming overwhelmed by her fears or anxieties. Neither was she becoming distracted by the voices and all of a sudden she could form coherent and intellectual sentences. Chandler tried to write it off as her being at peace but after the thirty or so years she spent like this for her to magically transform over night is unrealistic and takes away from the opportunity for Anna to build a stronger bond with Aunt Iris while helping her slowly recover.
Overall it was a great story, with some well written characters. It just had more potential than Chandler took the time to explore
It is now spring of 2017 and I've finished The Back Door of Midnight and I was let down. The book started off well and I had high hopes for this collection going out with a bang. Anna was an excellent character, although her random issue with being called a redhead seemed unnecessary. Especially because you never get any explanation as to why it bothers her so much. In my opinion you were suppose to assume it was her rebelling from her birth family but she has been away from them long enough that it shouldn't have caused an issue with her own image.
I liked that her and Zack were mostly not a rushed relationship, however the fact that in the end they're all of a sudden in love and passionately kissing makes all the earlier scenes feel wasted. The worst part for me though, and the main reason I'm only giving three stars is the sloppy ending. Chandler attempted a plot twist that had she spent more time may have actually been as intense and surprising as it was meant. But she didn't use the correct character development or relationship development for Marcy and the Anna, so it seemed more off than upsetting when discovering she was the killer and Anna's cousin.
Following that poorly executed plot twist, she also took Aunt Iris out of her mental instability too quickly to be realistic. All of a sudden Aunt Iris wasn't becoming overwhelmed by her fears or anxieties. Neither was she becoming distracted by the voices and all of a sudden she could form coherent and intellectual sentences. Chandler tried to write it off as her being at peace but after the thirty or so years she spent like this for her to magically transform over night is unrealistic and takes away from the opportunity for Anna to build a stronger bond with Aunt Iris while helping her slowly recover.
Overall it was a great story, with some well written characters. It just had more potential than Chandler took the time to explore
jasmineshollow's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
raven_pine's review
4.0
Really good!!!
I haven’t read a Dark Secrets book in years and I hadn’t read this one before and I loved it.
I love the psychic elements of the book as I don’t feel like there is enough of them out there.
Her obsession with Zack and her constant reliance on him bugged me quite a lot though because he never actually helped her but she seems to think he had.
I haven’t read a Dark Secrets book in years and I hadn’t read this one before and I loved it.
I love the psychic elements of the book as I don’t feel like there is enough of them out there.
Her obsession with Zack and her constant reliance on him bugged me quite a lot though because he never actually helped her but she seems to think he had.
nicolemm_author's review
4.0
So I really like these Wysteria mysteries, but I realized that Chandler's writing it sort of... detached and doesn't really flow sometimes, especially with dialogue. But I love how you think you know who's guilty and you know the whole story, and it turns out you weren't even close. That's what makes these stories great and why I keep reading them. And the little bit of romance too. Although I didn't feel like I got to know Zach as much as I wanted to. I didn't really see why she liked him besides for his body and his eyes. I guess he was nice to her and seemed to care about her, but I just didn't feel the attraction. Iris made me laugh. She may have been crazy, but when she wasn't smashing or burying things, she was a little comic relief. Overall, this was a great addition to the Wysteria chronicles and I'm hoping for more!
**SPOILERS!!**
Wasn't expecting it to be Marcy. Like I said, with Chandler you never know who it is. It's always the person you least expect, but sometimes you completely forget about the characters that don't play a big roll and then she drops the bomb that it's this random person for this reason that suddenly makes sense. Just brilliant. It was so weird that Iris was Marcy's mother. Another thing unexpected. She didn't act like it, although her attitude most of the time was crazy so it was kinda hard to tell.
I wish the ending was a little more... closure-ish. It sounds stupid because everything kind of came together at the end, but I wanted to know more about Joanna and everybody else too. It felt like only Anna and Iris and possibly Zach were developed. I wanted to know more about the relationships and secrets of the other people, and I felt like not everything was revealed.
This was still another amazing story. Now I'm waiting for that final little installment of Kissed By an Angel. Although Chandler's writing is sometimes a little boring, I find I can easily keep myself entertained with the story and get past her writing style.
**SPOILERS!!**
Wasn't expecting it to be Marcy. Like I said, with Chandler you never know who it is. It's always the person you least expect, but sometimes you completely forget about the characters that don't play a big roll and then she drops the bomb that it's this random person for this reason that suddenly makes sense. Just brilliant. It was so weird that Iris was Marcy's mother. Another thing unexpected. She didn't act like it, although her attitude most of the time was crazy so it was kinda hard to tell.
I wish the ending was a little more... closure-ish. It sounds stupid because everything kind of came together at the end, but I wanted to know more about Joanna and everybody else too. It felt like only Anna and Iris and possibly Zach were developed. I wanted to know more about the relationships and secrets of the other people, and I felt like not everything was revealed.
This was still another amazing story. Now I'm waiting for that final little installment of Kissed By an Angel. Although Chandler's writing is sometimes a little boring, I find I can easily keep myself entertained with the story and get past her writing style.
rebeccajane's review
4.0
I didn't like this book as much as the other ones in the series but i don't know why. I liked Zack, he was nice apart from the using Anna thing :/ I liked the other charcaters and i liked the mystery of the book. It's always the last person i expect it to be ^_^ I loved the ending, they're always really cute in this series and i love it :)