Dylan wants and feels like he needs to get away from the life he is currently living after the death of his father. He feels like his mom doesn't understand him and wants to send him to a special school that he refuses to go to. To get away from all this, he decides to walk the Appalachian trails until he is 18. This adventure ends up being far more than he ever thought it would be and ends up teaching him a lot of things along the way.

Overall I did enjoy this book, at times it did drag especially in the beginning when we were just trying to figure out why exactly Dylan wanted to getaway. I did get why he wanted to get away and why he wanted a chance to just be alone and to make his own choices, but I also understood why his cousin and his mom were so worried for him. The adventures and the trials that Dylan faced were ones that were hard on him but because he was alone he found ways to work through them and did things for other people for a change. We really got to see him change and face some of his fears throughout this book. His friendship/relationship with the girl he meets was one that needed to happen for both of them as they ended up helping each other deal with things that had been putting off. We also saw how sometimes you can help people even when they don't want it by just noticing things and being there.

This was my second book by Ramey and while they've both been okay books and have shown me different parts of life.

This is another author, back to back, who I've liked their work before but then I read their newer work and it just ain't good. It felt like I was reading a book from the perspective of a fourteen year old when the main character is supposed to be seventeen. It was poorly written and just not a book I enjoyed unfortunately.

I loved this book from the very first page. The characters are so easily lovable and so easy to root for. I loved how happy this book made me at times and others it made me sad. The emotion it pulled while reading is just wow!

I received a copy of this book from Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review.

The Secrets We Bury is a unique story of friendship, discovering one’s self, and falling in love. I can honestly say I have never read a book like this one before. The read was super quick and fun to read. I breezed through the chapters and finished the book in two days (while I was busy visiting my sister). The story is simply so pure and deep, full of everything people need to talk about at some point in their lives.

Dylan, the main character, struggles to communicate with others due to his sensory dysfunction. His mother wants to send him to a school for psychologically challenged students. Instead, Dylan decides to hike the entire Appalachian Trail until he turns eighteen, when he can make his own decisions. The story is so much more than Dylan’s sensory dysfunction. Dylan is figuring out how to live his life on his own while interacting with others outside of his small circle of family and friends. And he does all of this while hiking in the middle of the wilderness.

While Dylan was the main character, every character that came into the story had a purpose throughout it all. I think each character really got their time of depth and exploration, from the guys at the bar (and later in the story) to Rain Man and Ghost. I fell in love with all of them. They helped Dylan discover who he was and to navigate the trail.

Rain Man, a trail vet, and Ghost, a lonely girl, had stories of grief similar to Dylan which really resonated with me. Everyone deals with grief in their own way, healthy or not. Dylan fully dives into his own grief while on the trail which helps those around him. Tackling grief, at any mental stage, is tough. With Dylan’s heightened emotions and senses, it is even tougher. The way his journey was told brilliantly illustrated this.

The Secrets We Bury made me want to start planning a hiking trip to the Appalachian Trail even though I have only been hiking a few times in my life. This story also helped me through figuring out my own grief and fall in love with the world around me again. I highly recommend this beautiful story to anyone who loves contemporary, is dealing with grief, or loves nature. And even if you don’t like any of these things, read this book.

This book's strength is explaining a disorder and it's characters as they cope with life and interact. Dylan has a lot of grief and sensory deprivation to boot. His behavior is off the charts in some areas, but there are reasons why. Metting Sophie isn't something he expected, and it's different. There are some other people to meet as well, but you should read about them. The mystery was okay, it takes a back seat to the rest of the book the way I see it.

My copy came from Net Galley. My review, opinions, and thoughts are my own, left of my own free choice.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dylan is on the run; he only has a few months until he can decide for himself that he's not attending the school for psychologically challenged students where his family wants him. Though he lacks survival and hiking experience, Dylan decides the Appalachian Trail is the perfect place to hide. A few months of hiking until he's 18 is nothing, right?

Most people that know Dylan would say his issues would get in the way of hiking the Trail, but Dylan finds himself at home and able to think of others for the first time. Dylan isn't the only one hiding on the Trail, though, and others need the serenity as much as he does. When it comes to survival in his carefully, yet unpredictable world, will Dylan be selfish or put the needs of others before his own.

THOUGHTS: Readers that like a character-driven novel will root for Dylan as he tries to remain anonymous. As more details are made available through his hike, readers come to understand why he's in the situation he is. Readers looking for a realistic adventure with a bit of mystery and a subtle love interest will devour Ramey's newest work to see if Dylan can make it.

I've read a few books lately that had hiking at the center of the plot, but it wasn't until this one that I actually got inspired to research a hike of my own. The Secrets We Bury by Stacie Ramey follows Dylan, seventeen-year-old who has run away from home and decided to hike the Appalachian Trail. Dylan believes that his mental issues are what caused his father's death, and afraid of having to attend a school for special kids decides to flee and pursue his own journey until he is eighteen.

Along his journey, he meets a girl his age, Sophie, who seems to be running away from her own problems just like he is. They also meet Rain Man, a seasoned hiker who, like both Dylan and Sophie, has experienced a devastating loss. Throughout the story, Dylan learns to connect, and even care for, others, while getting out of his own head and facing his fears for the safety and well-being of his new companions.

I really enjoyed this story. I read it in a few short hours, and thought the plot was solid. I really enjoyed both Dylan and Sophie as characters, and respect both of them for the journeys they took and what they learned along the way. I would have loved to have seen this story told from both Dylan's and Sophie's point of view. I really appreciated seeing the relationship between Dylan and Sophie develop without any of the typical tropes that many YA novels have: yes Dylan saved her but that's not why she liked him, and they bonded on a level much deeper than physical attraction and desperation.

My only real issue with this book was the ending. I feel like everyone was so nonchalant about Dylan saving the lives of two people and coming home, and that things would never actually play out this way in the real world.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for access to a digital arc of this book! The Secrets We Bury by Stacie Ramey releases March 1st so be sure to pick up a copy!

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a unique take on the teenage "runaway". I liked reading about Dylan's adventure and enjoyed seeing things through his eyes. I thought it gave the reader a great chance to see things from a child with high functioning autism. I enjoyed how he connected with and cared about other characters and how we got to see him grow through the book. Overall, a very good read.

I found this one unique and interesting!The book is really well written and Dylan's mental health issues seem very realistic.It's intense and sad.This book is about family, loss, love, and growing up.It's not your typical stories, this one is so much more! I loved reading about Dylan's story and his growth through his adventures. It was a well written and captivating story!

Not a fan. Full review on Goodreads.

This book was really interesting! The book is told in the present with Dylan hiking through the Appalachian Mountains. There are also plenty of flashbacks that lead up to why he is hiking the trail. Dylan has a lot of mental health issues. The book is really well written and Dylan's mental health issues seem very realistic. It's so well written, you can kind of feel some of the chaos in Dylan’s mind. I appreciated the way he grew throughout the book and how difficult it could be for him at times to not only trust himself, but to truly try and change. I really loved his relationship with his cousin and his dad. They understand who he is and accept him completely. His relationship with the other hikers on the trail especially “The Ghost” are really wonderful. This book is about family, loss, love, and growing up.

Received an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review from SOURCEBOOKS Fire via NetGalley.

I have already emailed my school librarian to buy a copy of this book! I loved it! What an interesting take on a survival story. Dylan Taggert has issues, emotionally expressing himself and other psychological issues, and he is running away from something that has happened involving his family. His cousin is his lifeline and she reluctantly encourages him when he tells her his goal is to hike the Appalachian Trail...alone. As Dylan begins his adventure, the author introduces the reader to some of his quirky behaviors that are a part of who he is. The reader understands Dylan's stress and discomfort in social situations as he travels the trail and through the flashbacks she presents to the reader within the story. As Dylan starts to interact with more people and become aclimated to the trail, there begins to be a shift in him. Once he meets, "The Ghost", who saves him from a near bear experience, he finds himself caring about someone other than himself (and that someone is a girl!). Through the course of the story Dylan also finds himself interacting with "Rain Man" who knows "The Ghost" and seems a bit concerned about her peculiar behaviors. The author puts three characters together who are all dealing with different levels of loss and carrying the burden of their secrets with them. She writes vivid experiences on the trail and develops the character of Dylan fully. He is on a journey alone but finds himself changed based on the challenges that he is facing. There are so many different emotional levels to this story and it was heartbreaking at moments. I loved reading about Dylan's story and his growth through his adventures. Well written story about loss, friendship, survival and the paths we all choose to follow for ourselves when we don't always have full control of what is ahead of us.