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A review by jolietjane
Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus
3.0
Ive been on a roll with ya thrillers, so coming off absolute bangers like Burn our Bodies Down and A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, I think I just approached this one with my expectations too high. I did the audiobook of this one, and it was a slow read for me. The pace is fast and entertaining, the characters are okay...so where did we go wrong?
From the get go, "Two Can Keep A Secret" follows what is becoming an archetype for the genre. A girl with a messed up family moves to a smell town and gets caught up in a mystery with some relation to her family. Or two mysteries. Three? I think a big issue for me was how hard it was to keep track of all of the threads of the story, because at some point I found myself asking "Wait, what exactly are we trying to solve here? Where are these leads coming from? It's not that the story was confusing, as much as I felt like it was ambitiously trying to create a web of red herrings but not doing a great job stringing them into the details of the primary mystery. It was disjointing to read at times.
The main characters Ellory and Mal were adorable and genuinely likable, along with most of the main cast, though at times, I felt like many of the interactions (especially between the two leads) felt a bit forced. Listening to the story on audiobook, both narrators were full of personality and had beautiful voices that did a great job defining the characters.
The Audiobook also helped a little with the pacing- it was easy listening and I found myself listening to it while working out, doing chores, etc.
Still, I think Two can Keep A Secret will sadly go in my "forgettable but not bad" pile.
From the get go, "Two Can Keep A Secret" follows what is becoming an archetype for the genre. A girl with a messed up family moves to a smell town and gets caught up in a mystery with some relation to her family. Or two mysteries. Three? I think a big issue for me was how hard it was to keep track of all of the threads of the story, because at some point I found myself asking "Wait, what exactly are we trying to solve here? Where are these leads coming from? It's not that the story was confusing, as much as I felt like it was ambitiously trying to create a web of red herrings but not doing a great job stringing them into the details of the primary mystery. It was disjointing to read at times.
The main characters Ellory and Mal were adorable and genuinely likable, along with most of the main cast, though at times, I felt like many of the interactions (especially between the two leads) felt a bit forced. Listening to the story on audiobook, both narrators were full of personality and had beautiful voices that did a great job defining the characters.
The Audiobook also helped a little with the pacing- it was easy listening and I found myself listening to it while working out, doing chores, etc.
Still, I think Two can Keep A Secret will sadly go in my "forgettable but not bad" pile.