Written by Sasha Zatz
Here Lie the Secrets was an enjoyable and intriguing story of grief and letting go of the past mixed with mystery, excitement, and plot twists!
I wasn’t immediately captured by this book. I didn’t dislike the opening, but I didn’t feel particularly hooked for the first 100 or so pages. However, the the ghost aspects were quite intriguing and brought forward a lot of curiosity about where the story was going, which resulted in hoping for a really big plot twist to surprise me!
Halycon House only helps to become further invested in the story as the house is interesting, fascinating, and spooky – full of mystery and potential. Things got even better when the storyline became more thriller than mystery, and the story became scary, even more enthralling and heart-stopping, keeping one on their toes. This causes the reader to start to doubt the things previously read and guessed about the plot.
Despite the slow start, things did get really interesting. The big reveals were compelling, but not quite as surprising and captivating as I had hoped! They were slightly more realistic than the reveals within most thrillers, which made sense as the story was just as much about grief as mystery, but still felt a little underwhelming. The reveal/mystery around the house was pretty riveting, but it wasn’t 100% explained, which made it harder to be properly astounded by it.
At first I wasn’t a big fan of Mia, as she felt quite 2D. However I did grow to like her and feel sorry and worried for her by the end of the book. I didn’t adore her or deeply emphasise with her, but I ended up feeling relatively fond of her. The aspect of her dealing with her mother’s mental health was interesting and did make me feel sympathy towards her. The big reveal relating to Mia and her past wasn’t quite as big or jaw-dropping as I had hoped, but again I feel this was more realistic. It made sense and was quite sad, making it more of an emotional twist than a thrilling one. I think her storyline of understanding and letting go of her grief and reconciling with her past was a really powerful and moving one, definitely a highlight of the story.
I quite liked the side characters, they were interesting and added a lot to the story, the ghost-hunting squad and Tamara also brought out a lot of Mia’s best qualities and so made her character more interesting.
Here Lie The Secrets was an emotional story about moving on after loss, and an overall compelling and thoughtful story of loss as well as a captivating and exciting mystery thriller about a maybe-haunted house and the ghosts that remain there.
Here Lie The Secrets is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore!
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Mia’s best friend Holly died when they were thirteen. But years later, Holly still hasn’t left her.
Spending the summer in New York, Mia is hoping to escape the visions of Holly that haunt her life at home. There she meets Rav, a parapsychology student, who convinces her to take part in a study into why some people see ghosts. Soon she is caught up in the investigation of Halcyon House, which is reputed to be haunted by a poltergeist. As Mia confronts her fears, what she learns about the house and herself will change her life forever.
A tense psychological thriller for fans of ONE OF US IS LYING, A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER and THIS LIE WILL KILL YOU.
