I couldn't get through this title. It ended up not being for me, but I hope it finds a hope with other readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was one that kept me on the edge of my seat. I enjoyed the writing and I loved the main character.

Interesting story. I'm not a fan of internet flirting. Not even sure how it begins, although I've heard enough about it. Seems like a bad deal. Not my sort of story, but I think it is one many will enjoy. If it becomes a movie at some point I may watch it, but not my sort of story.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVia for my copy of The Secret Talker by Geling Yan in exchange for an honest review. It published May 4, 2021.
I don't know if this was lost in translation, but I had such a hard time following this book. I had a hard time keeping the characters in order, and that could just be my bad, but I was glad that this one is short.

I started reading this book and found that it was not for me. It didn't seem fair for me to review a book that I didn't finish.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. This was a interesting thriller featuring a stalker and a married college professor. While this book is well written, this book is a three star read. I would recommend reading this book to anyone and everyone. This book is in stores for CA$29.99 (CAD).

The Secret Talker is an unusual psychological drama that follows the young Chinese American wife Hongmei as she receives unusual communications from a secret admirer of sorts. It isn't clear how she is found or what the person knows about her but she slowly comes to believe that this observer/secret talker knows her even better than her American professor husband Glenn. We follow Hongmei as she tries to make sense of the communications and relationship and as she looks back at her previous marriage and the start of her love story with Glenn. It's an engrossing read and Geling Yan is a master at suspense and tension.

Hongmei, a college professor and wife to Glen, begins to receive odd e-mails from someone she later on refers to as the secret talker. The secret talker reveals he has been following her and commenting on things he notices about her marriage as well as Hongmei's personality. Instead of not responding to his e-mails, Hongmei responds and eventually forms a sort of relationship with the secret talker. The novel also goes into Hongmei's dark past in China and discusses this for the first time with the secret talker. These conversations with the secret talker are making Hongmei realize dart parts of herself and begin to affect her marriage to Glen, who she moved to the U.S. for after her divorce.

The writing begins clear and concise, but its unclear at all why Hongmei is intrigued to respond to this strange e-mail she has received. It is possible she felt it was psychologically intriguing to reveal the dark parts of herself to a stranger, but it was clear she was annoyed at first but kept none-the-less responding to a total stranger. Anyone would normally block a person who received an e-mail like that, but not Hongmei for whatever reason. This made me not really believe why she would do this, and them dragging out who the secret talker was only made the novel more annoying. I will admit that made me want to continue reading to find out, but that was very disappointing since if done well, it could have been very interesting. Unfortunately, since it dragged and wasn't written to attract my attention, I wouldn't recommend this book to another reader. The ending as well left me lacking.

For those who like thrillers, you may or may not like this. It does drag a lot so it will take you a lot to get to the ending, if you decide to finish the book. However, as I stated before, I did finish it but it took me a long time because of how the book dragged.

I rated the book 3 stars since it did keep me intrigued at times, but I would have preferred a more cohesive and exchanging plot overall.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was billed as a psychological thriller, but I didn't find it either. The heroine is not sympathetic for readers and that made just a so-so read for me.

Perhaps because of the short length of this novel, the author grabs the reader's attention right away with the mystery of the secret emails. However, the marketing makes it seem more like a thriller than it really is. The novel gives more of a psychological study of the repressed main character, but the twist ending is satisfying.

DNF. There were several points in this book where I believed the author could have gone deeper and probed the root of the MC's issues and main conflict. However, I found much of this book to be lacking in depth.

The Secret Talker by Geling Yan follows discontented Hongmei, who currently lives in San Francisco after giving up her life and reputation in China to marry an American man. One night she receives a strange email from an unknown source--the secret talker--and the two begin a clandestine conversation.

I went into this believing it was going to be a psychological thriller and that is not the case. Even though Hongmei has a stalker that knows intimate details about her life, she never feels a sense of fear or urgency. Instead, this novel is a commentary on marriage, relationships, social institutions, and expectations. I think it also might be a commentary on Chinese culture but I don't think I can comment on that.

I enjoyed parts of this but I was frequently made uncomfortable by some of the remarks made about the stalker behavior, abuse, and racism. It just didn't sit well with me and took me out of the story...but then I had to remind myself I was reading a book about a woman who liked how her stalker was interacting with her...so the whole experience was a little bizarre.

**I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

I started reading this book and had to actually take a minute to ask what the heck was going on. By the end, I was absolutely obsessed. I guess I would characterize this as a psychological thriller, but it's not an adrenaline-high thrill, more of a "this is super creepy how do they know so much who is this person" thrill. The book is written as an email exchange, and with each email there are memories that pull you back in time. I loved it, the vulnerability and self-awareness was so unique.

Delicate is the first word that comes to mind. Hongmei strains to do the right thing, in her marriage, in the images that should conjure. Glen in a sense rescues a young Hongmei from a chaotic relationship of a marriage in her homeland. Life continues until a fateful email allows her over time to release feelings and desires on such a personal scale that her perfect life unravels and pushes her to remove herself from a living hell. The hell in mediocrity her life had become. It has a repressive and introspective nature to its dialogs. Over the course of time Hongmei faces a hard truth that time does not heal it only exposes the scar.

A woman feeling unfulfilled with her marriage is the premise for this short novel. Most of it takes place on email so there is little setting or deep character development. In fact, there are a lot of coincidences and loose threads, some of which make it interesting but not satisfying.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC to read and review.

THE SECRET TALKER is a secret stalker, both cyber and real-world—someone that the main character Hongmei seems all too enamored with, revealing more about herself through their email correspondence.

‘Desperate and self-destructive, she embarks on an investigation into her emailer’s secret history…one that may tear her life and marriage apart forever.’

Though THE SECRET TALKER isn’t a favorite for me, it’s definitely one I want to reread in the future.

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Inc., for loaning me an eGalley of THE SECRET TALKER with the request for an honest review.

Geling Yan’s story of a woman bored with her marriage and her upper middle-class American life is a psychological portrait of marriage, discontentment, and self-repression. These important themes are explored throughout the novella with thought-provoking and emotionally in-depth clarity, but unfortunately the novella’s details present much more of a blur. For instance, the method of real-time email communication seems dated (even for 15 years ago, when this novella was originally published) and the chosen career of a particular character does not align with that character’s past. Moreover, Hongmei’s willingness to engage with the secret (s)talker may strike a note of discomfort for those with #metoo awareness—but this strange draw adds to the story’s complexity. Overall, and despite these fuzzy plot details, the story of hiding or revealing one’s self to spouses, ex-spouses, and lovers is compelling and worth the read. 3 1/2 stars.

Hongmei is a middle-aged Chinese woman who has issues with commitment. She has patterns of abandoning people when she isn’t content. Her character is criticized by an unidentified antagonist who stalks and emails her frequently.

To start with the positives, I think that this novel does well in discussing taboo or difficult topics like abortion, cultural differences, and marriage dynamics. China has its own unique history with its own challenges within its own culture. Hongmei has gone through certain events in life that could very well be a reflection of real-life and make her act the way she does. Another main focus is Hongmei’s strained relationship with significant people in her life. Hongmei was an interesting character to read. Her moral compass wasn’t always aligned, but I did keep turning the page. I like the book’s short length. It wasn’t my favorite book so I appreciate it being short.

As above, I said that this book left much to be desired. For a thriller, the twists felt predictable at times and “big” reveals weren’t shocking. With the way, things were set up throughout the novel the outcome seemed obvious. For multiple reasons, Hongmei and Glen’s relationship felt like it had a weird dynamic. I also felt that Glen’s character was 1 dimensional and not entirely fleshed out. He had little life off of the pages he was on. I didn’t feel compelled to keep reading because of his character and I feel like his impact on my experience was minimal. Overall, I feel like this was a bit lackluster for what was meant to be a thriller.

In conclusion, this novel did keep me interested in seeing where the story would end up. For me, the supporting characters fell a bit flat and Hongmei’s relationships felt one-dimensional and superficial. I think some topics worth thinking about critically and discussing more were explored which was nice. If this niche of thriller is your thing, definitely give it a try. Much thanks again to Netgalley and HarperVia for the advanced copy of this novel.

In the 1998 rom-com You’ve Got Mail, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, Ryan’s character anticipates what her mysterious emailer may write next: 'What will NY152 say today?' I wonder. I turn on my computer. I wait impatiently as it connects. I go online, and my breath catches in my chest until I hear three little words: 'You've got mail'. I hear nothing. Not even a sound on the streets of New York, just the beat of my own heart. I have mail. From you."

Imagine this rom-com shifted to the dark side, and you will have a rough idea of Geling Yan’s The Secret Talker.
Married several years to Glen, an American professor twenty years older and whom she met in China, Ph.D. student Hongmei has received a disturbing email as the story opens. The mysterious sender comments that he had watched her enter a restaurant with a tall American man and goes on to comment on her clothes, gestures, irresistible smile, sexy beaded sandals, and her insincere laugh at a joke her husband made. Shocked but intrigued by this stranger’s detailed message in her inbox, Hongmei shudders and breaks out in goosebumps.

Although she should block the stalker, she replies to express her disinterest but also thanks him for his flattery. Because she and Glen often communicate only by notes on the refrigerator as they go about their busy work, research, and study schedules, Hongmei soon finds herself drawn to this stranger’s emails. Now and then, she tells him to stop writing, which he does for days or weeks. She misses the contact and breaks down, sending the next email. Becoming obsessed and yet reassured by the attention, she shares often horrifying information about village life back in China that she has never shared with Glen.

As the virtual relationship intensifies and it becomes apparent that the secret talker on the other end of the online communication constantly watches her, Hongmei understands the threat to her marriage and takes precautions to hide her growing obsession from her husband. Then the secret talker asks to meet her face to face.

Having revealed her deepest, darkest secrets in her emails, what will Hongmei decide?

Although I was sometimes unsure what happened in China and what happened in the U.S., all eventually became clear. The main problem was my uncertainty whether the emails began in China or began in the U.S., which was the case.

Written in Chinese, Geling Yan’s The Secret Talker is skillfully translated into English by Jeremy Tiang. Yan’s creepy story held my attention, making it difficult to set aside. In the end, I read it in two late-night sessions.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for the advance reader copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

This story concept was good but it felt short for me, especially the end because it felt unfinished.... it also is not much of a thriller it’s more of “ some suspense” as the story goes on and we learn who the person emailing her is. Perhaps somethings were lost in translation.....

I did enjoy how the author gave us some background/insight to the main character (being an immigrant and wanting a better life) but it was bizarre that a wife was opening up to a complete stranger via email. (Anyone else ?). I could also appreciate the length of this book. Over all, I felt like this book was missing something ...

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for e-ARC.