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A review by pelicanfreak
The Secret by J.L. Beck, C. Hallman
4.0
First of all:
Props to Beck & Hallman for writing a character who suffers from anxiety. It’s not easy to find representation for things like this. Sure, it’s a trauma / PTSD-type response, but she’s living with crippling anxiety and I felt like it was depicted pretty well.
The continuity could’ve been a smidge better, but it seemed like the authors look some liberties with this for the sake of ‘showing instead of telling’ so I’ll take it.
When I read this one, I was 3 books deep into binging this series and I mostly like it—these characters are a bit sweeter than books 1 & 2’s and the ‘mystery’ a little less obvious. The misunderstandings were less stretch-y, etc. Overall, pretty well-played.
Some of this one even made me laugh … if you’ve read book 2, picture Ava about to ‘rearrange someone’s face’ in standing up to a bully/ for a new friend. This whole scene was fun!
Oh! And towards the end, I couldn’t help but notice the Corium crossover—absolutely loved this.
Overall: 4 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
It’s likely I’ll read on in this series.
Audio:
Both of these narrators continue to sound great and I’d definitely listen to either of them any time. I do appreciate the perfect sound quality as well. 5-star performance, 5-star production.
Props to Beck & Hallman for writing a character who suffers from anxiety. It’s not easy to find representation for things like this. Sure, it’s a trauma / PTSD-type response, but she’s living with crippling anxiety and I felt like it was depicted pretty well.
The continuity could’ve been a smidge better, but it seemed like the authors look some liberties with this for the sake of ‘showing instead of telling’ so I’ll take it.
When I read this one, I was 3 books deep into binging this series and I mostly like it—these characters are a bit sweeter than books 1 & 2’s and the ‘mystery’ a little less obvious. The misunderstandings were less stretch-y, etc. Overall, pretty well-played.
Some of this one even made me laugh … if you’ve read book 2, picture Ava about to ‘rearrange someone’s face’ in standing up to a bully/ for a new friend. This whole scene was fun!
Oh! And towards the end, I couldn’t help but notice the Corium crossover—absolutely loved this.
Overall: 4 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
It’s likely I’ll read on in this series.
Audio:
Both of these narrators continue to sound great and I’d definitely listen to either of them any time. I do appreciate the perfect sound quality as well. 5-star performance, 5-star production.