Member Reviews
Wow! This was a wild ride. It’s not often that I give mystery/thriller novels five star ratings but this book deserves every single one. The story begins when Marin’s son is kidnapped from right under her nose while they’re out shopping in Pike’s Place Market. It then jumps forward sixteen months when the kidnapping case has gone cold. By then, Marin’s marriage has deteriorated and she soon learns that her husband is having an affair with a young woman. The author successfully weaves together each of these major plot points in a shocking but satisfying manner.
From the moment of the kidnapping, which occurs within the first few pages, I immediately connected with Marin and felt every bit of her fear, despair, and rage in the pit of my stomach. I completely empathized with her even when she made some very questionable choices. In addition to being told from Marin’s POV, the story is occasionally told from the perspective of the mistress and (shockingly) I found myself empathizing with her as well.
Overall, the storytelling, character development, pacing, subplots, and plot twists were all excellent and the ending really delivered. This is a fantastic novel and I would highly recommend it!
Wow! This book packed a punch - or more like a few punches!!! Brilliant Ms. Hillier writes a book that is every parents worst nightmare - the kidnapping or sudden disappearance of a child. Marin Machado, a woman and wife with it all, is suddenly faced with the loss of her beloved son. Though the investigation into her son's case is still open, it's been a year a half and she's had no word of her son. Marin decides to hire a private investigator and in doing so uncovers lies and deception that will topple her world. She will be faced with secrets that will test her love, loyalties and life. Read this book!! You won't be disappointed!! 5 stars!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.
It was hard to read this book and not put myself in Marin Machado's shoes.
Marin has what seems to be the perfect life. She married her college boyfriend, both her and her husband are successful and they have a son they adore. Then its all taken away in four hundred and eighty seconds when Marin's son is kidnapped.
A year later, she is a shell of the person she was and to be honest, I would be also. Then come to find out her husband is having an affair and that the woman he is having the affair with might be the person responsible for her sons kidnapping.
This book was fantastic. Just the whole premise to it. Its fantastically written and is a thriller in every sense. I was still in disbelief with her husband. This is def one of my new favorite thrillers
This was a pretty wild story! I was suspicious of a few different characters at one time or another but it was a surprise in the end because as the title says, there were a lot of little secrets. Overall it was suspenseful and kept me guessing, but something I can’t quite put my finger on was missing. Maybe it was the characters because that’s what comes to mind when I think about this book. I just didn’t like any of them and didn’t connect with any of them. I always want to have at least one who I’m totally on their side and it just didn’t happen for me.
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Overall I liked this book. I don’t usually do the half star ratings but this wasn’t quite a 4 for me. At the same time it wasn’t a 3 so I’m going with 3.5 stars. I do think you’ll like this if you’re a fan of thrillers.
I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Great characters in this novel. The plot has unexpected twists and turns. The ending is unexpected and satisfying.
I'm definitely in the minority of readers in that I did not enjoy this story. I felt the characters to be unworthy of sympathy, and got really annoyed with hearing about how rich the husband and wife were. I figured the plot out from the very beginning, so even a things were being revealed, it wasn't a surprise. It also felt way too long; I had to make myself finish.
3 stars for this run-of-the-mill thriller.
Nothing spectacular here, but worth the read nonetheless. The characters definitely weren't likable, but were well developed and the various reactions to grief were well written. A few of the twists did surprise me but aspects of the story line were too far-fetched and the ending was pretty predictable.
Little Secrets centers around Marin, who is a shell of herself since her son was kidnapped a little over a year ago. Her days are filled with attending a missing child support group, trying to run her chain of salons, and barely speaking to her husband. She doesn't want to move on, but all leads on the kidnapping have gone cold, until one day she finds out her husband is having an affair, and Marin's going to do something about it.
This was a unique thriller because I didn't really know the direction it was going, and it was exciting and fun while still being realistic.
Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy in exchange for my honest review.
Chilling and fast paced, this book keeps on handing out the thrills until the very end. The main character, Marin, is proof you can have it all and nothing at all at the same time. Being a successful, respectful business woman doesn't save her from the worst happening. Even when there was little to like about her, I admired her. And there was never a moment I didn't hope things would get better for her. Definitely recommend!
Her Books just get better and better! Full of twists, turns, compelling characters who are unlikable...which is exactly what I love!
A gripping psychological thriller! Jennifer Hillier has a way of writing. A dark, twisty and suspenseful read. A read you will not want to put down! Marins 4 year old son disappears and she doesn't want to live without him. Things start to take unexpected turns from there. Hard to get into too much without spoiling the book. Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced ecopy.
WOW, just WOW. Talk about a thriller! I devoured this overnight. This book has everything I need in a mystery thriller book. This story had twists from beginning to end. I related to Marin as a mother, and can’t imagine the anguish of having your child kidnapped. Hillier did an amazing job of showing what grief can really do to a person through unreasonable thoughts and actions. the reader almost empathizes with Marin and all her bad decisions. *This book covers kidnapping, cheating spouse, depression.* There is a limited cast of characters to make the mystery easier to unravel, however I myself did not figure it out. Marin is searching for answers and has to accept everyone around her is lying to her. 80% into the book, you’re hit with a huge reveal and it all comes together beautifully. This was my first Hillier read and can’t wait to read her previous thrillers along with future books!
I usually don’t enjoy books where there is a missing child involved, but I am a huge fan of Jennifer Hillier so I had to give it a shot. I do not regret that decision one bit! It was soo good!
I read it in a couple days, as this was one thrilling, poignant, edge of your seat thriller! You can expect so many twists and turns and I really loved how the story was presented and developed throughout the novel. Jennifer is a great writer and does an amazing job at weaving this novel together!
The story is told in different POVs, which I really enjoyed, so my sympathy kept switching from character to character depending on the narrator.
The ending was also mind-blowing. Absolutely loved how everything ended. Great job yet again by Jennifer Hillier. Highly recommend!
Mark my words. This is going to end up on my 'favorite books of 2020' list.
This book is just THAT GOOD. I've never read a novel by Jennifer Hillier before but this book quickly cemented her as one of my new favorite authors and I can't wait to devour her other books!
What begins as a story about a missing child quickly spins out of control, shifting to broken marriages and affairs and best friends and liars and woah is there even a murder for hire? Yep, this book legitimately has it all. And then some.
Getting to understand Marin's point of view and the devastation she feels over the loss of her son is absolutely heartbreaking, and it's easy to believe how quickly someone can fall when the thing they love most in the world is taken away.
And then there's Kenzie, a girl who likes to charm married, rich men out of their money, but there's so much more to her than that. I kind of wanted to hate her, because I really did like Marin, but Hillier does a fantastic job of making you feel for Kenzie as well.
This book has so many twists and turns it's easy to get whiplash and I did not want to put it down until I knew how it was all going to end. I'm actually really disappointed it's over because I wanted this wild ride to go on forever.
If there was a grade above A+ for this book it would get it. So. Good.
I enjoyed this book. The story made it hard for me to put it down and I empathized with the main character. There was a twist that I didn’t expect, which was a nice surprise, but overall the end was what I expected. Still, a good story that kept me interested.
Thrilling and addictive.
What I loved most was how unpredictable it was. I didn’t see the final twist until 60-70% into the story.
Marin was an amazing main character. You feel her grief, her love, and her determination. MaKenzie was a very human and flawed villain. And the 2 men in Marin’s life were incredibly well painted. I never really liked the husband but Sal... oh, Sal...
For fear of divulging more of Ellier’s thrilling “little secrets,” I’m stopping my review here.
*Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.
This was a great read, it was my first from the author, Jennifer Hillier, but I will definitely be checking out her other works.
She did a great job showcasing the struggles on the main character, Marin. I can’t imagine it being easy to write about a missing child having never experienced it but it felt real, and raw. I empathized with Marin, and I did not expect the ending that I got.
Marin is a successful business woman happily married to her college sweetheart Derek with a son Sebastian. A few days before Christmas Marin drops Sebastian’s hand for just a second at the farmers market to answer her husband’s text but when she looks back up Sebastian is gone with someone in a Santa outfit .16 months later Marin is still in depression and her marriage is suffering . She hires a private investigator to keep searching and to her shock discovers that Derek is having an affair. Marian has already lost her son but is determined not to give up her husband without a fight.
Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier is a well written page turning suspenseful psychological thriller . I loved the author’s previous book Jar of secrets and can say the same for Little secrets. It has great characters and is an excellent psychological thriller with lots of secrets and twists and turns to discover that keeps misleading the reader. Definitely recommend and am looking forward to reading her next one
I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press , Minotaur Books & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.
I'm still shaking my head in shock.... All I can say is, this book blew me away.
My first title by this author, picked it up after I caught another author I love sharing and recommending it. The first book in a while that totally sucked me in, to the point where I devoured this in two days, I was so invested in the characters that I could not put it down.
Marin is dealing with more than any one person should have to handle. Her son Sebastian disappeared a year ago and now she finds out her husband and high-school sweetheart has been having an affair with a much younger woman named Kenzi. Kenzi, on the other hand, is well aware of what she is doing and finds perks in dating older, married, pre-occupied men. But she is also starting to feel like there may be more to this relationship than even she is admitting to.
Searching for answers, the more Marin discovers, the more she has to accept that she may be the only one left clueless in all of this. This book kept me on the edge of my seat as one little clue lead to another and then finally, that amazing moment when it all comes together. HIGHLY, highly recommended read!!
I really love Jennifer Hillier for giving me twists that I totally don't see coming until they happen. Little Secrets was great! So bizarre and messed up and twisty and GOOD.