*Thank you to Burbank Books, A.B. Whelan, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Previously published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/big-little-secrets/

We meet Nelli Horvath, a Hungarian immigrant and the wife of Clint Horvath, as she is leaving to attend her high school reunion in Hungary. On the outside, Clint and Nelli have a fabulous life, with significant bank accounts, a fabulous house, and a gorgeous little boy named Ryan.

Nelli does not talk about growing up in Hungary or any of her friends that she spent her teenage years with. Nelli is hiding a secret but what could be so bad that she can’t share it with Clint.? When their son disappears during a trip to Disneyland, and is returned hours later talking about an old woman who took him on rides, and gave him food, Nelli knows she must return to Hungary and confront the one woman who has the power to ruin Nelli’s life.

When Clint is packing to leave for his business trip, Nelli suddenly tells him she is going to Hungary to attend her class reunion that day.After three days go by with no response from Nelli, He leaves his business trip in New York to fly to Hungary, taking his brother Barn with him. He soon realizes that there is already an investigation as Nelli has been missing for days. When Clint meets up with an old classmate, Daniel, the secrets Nelli has been keeping unravel. All of her classmates seem to hide something.

Big Little Secrets is definitely a page turner. Though there were so many characters, I found it difficult to connect to them. I loved how the author highlighted the culture of Hungary and the effects of the Soviet Union, even discussing the building structures from before and after, but felt a little put off by the ending. I feel it is a little implausible, without giving spoilers. The story is told in a dual point of view, with Clint and Nelli using their voices to tell the story, allowing us to see deeper into the story. A.B. Whelan’s writing style really makes you feel ‌you are moving along with the characters. Clint’s determination to detect bullshit and find his wife is refreshing, though Barn felt like an extraneous character. This is a unique story, exploring what happens when you put your friends in the position of keeping a secret for two decades and how that one secret can affect so many lives. A must read for those who love to learn about other cultures.

This is a great fast paced domestic psychological thriller told from both the husband and wife's point of views.

Nelli, a Hungarian immigrant is married to Clint, a citizen of the USA and they live a seemingly happy life in Las Vegas with their young son until Nelli's secretive life threatens to catch up with her. She returns to Hungary for a school reunion and disappears. Clint races against time to find her and unearths a few long hidden secrets about Nelli and her friends pasts.

I have to be honest, I didn't find this thrilling or fast paced. I found it slow and tedious, to the point that I skimmed quite a bit except for the dialogue. Written in dual POV from the main female and male characters this could have been promising if only written in a different manner. Both POV's are written in the present, although the timelines don't match up with each other exactly. I feel like Nelli's POV could have been more thrilling and made more of an impact if it would have started in the past, while Clint's was in the present. Just my two cents, obviously. As it was I was expecting a suspenseful read with a mystery and a few twists and instead mostly got a book about a man who kept internally beating himself up over not knowing his wife better while trying to play cop in a foreign country. It wasn't for me.

I loved this book! The suspense had me flying through the pages to get to the end. The characters were so well developed and the plot twists were great.

When is this one coming to Netflix?! I absolutely loved this one!

Clint knows little of his Hungarian wife, Nellie's, life prior to their chance meeting in Central Park. Seemingly well-adjusted to life in the United States, Clint believes Nellie is content (though not thrilled) with their life and her role as a mom to their son, Ryan. So when Nellie takes Ryan back to Hungary for a visit on what seems to be a whim, Clint is confused, but not concerned....until she goes missing.

As Clint races over to Hungary, staying with his in-laws, and watching out for his son while the police slow-play the investigation into his wife's disappearance, Clint beings to dig into Nellie's past, including a long-ago school trip that ended in tragedy. It's clearly something that's haunted Nellie and her group of friends, and now Clint must race to get to the bottom of it.

Alternating perspectives between Clint & Nellie, and with such visually stunning settings as Las Vegas, Colorado, and Hungary, and with such a good dual-time line aspect, this book is simply begging to be adapted for streaming. I sincerely hope it gets there soon!

My only criticism of the book is easily sorted; (1) Clint is making good money, as is his boss, but for some reason they're splitting a rental house outside Las Vegas? That was a little weird and didn't really make sense. Not a major plot point, just an observation. (2) It's hard to describe without spoilers, but In two different places there are contradictory accounts of certain people. At one point Clint asks if they've checked into a certain person, they say yes she can't be involved she has no money, and then later in the book when he comes back and asks about her again they say oh yes we already know she's involved. Similarly when Clint asks about a certain male, the group says he can't be involved he's a loser with no money, and later in the book they say he does have means and isn't a loser. It was just a little all over the place but it was small details that would be easy to fix or clarify.

This book's pacing was all over the place some parts were bogged down with overly detailed description--some of it was fabulous, making me feel like I was in Hungary with those teens, but a good portion of it went too far and was too much--a lot of emotional monologue that felt a little redundant or over the top. I skimmed through those after a while. The rest was so fast I was on the edge of my seat. However, this felt like it was more of a YA thriller than adult. It had the teen warning as a back bone and teen drama running rampant. Not bad though. Lots of twists.

Big little secrets is a good face pace psychological thriller about a group of teenagers whose lives have been destroyed because of a secret. Definitely highly recommend I felt like this book had so many twists that make you want to keep reading. This is a first book setting for me being in Hungary, it had so much detail on the history of the country and the places in the town where Nelli was from it made it really interesting. I just wish this book was longer but still I enjoyed it!

Big Little Secrets
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 4/26/22
Author: A.B. Whelan
Publisher: Burbank Books
Pages: 351
Goodreads Rating:4.10

Thank you to NetGalley and Burbank Books for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Nelli Horvath is a Hungarian immigrant, seemingly living the American dream with her husband, Clint, and their son, Ryan, in Las Vegas. After receiving an invitation to her 20th high school reunion, Nelli flies back to her home country for the first time after nearly two decades, and that’s the last time her American family sees her. Determined to find his missing wife, Clint travels to Hungary for the first time, where he races against the clock, chasing clues through historical towns and dangerous places to investigate the whereabouts of his missing wife. Caught in a web of old secrets and murderous lies, Clint realizes how little he truly knows his wife, leaving him to wonder if he really knows her at all.

My Thoughts: The story is narrated from both Nelli and Clint, told in their perspective POV. There are some slow parts of the book but overall it was fast-pace,and some parts were absolutely page turning. The author did an amazing job of describing Hungary, so much so that I felt I was there, walking along Clint trying to find his wife. The author did an amazing job developing the characters and providing the bridge for connecting with them. You could really feel the love that Clint has for Nelli and depths he will go in order to find the love of his life. The story grabbed my attention from page one until the end, and it was a thrilling page turner for me that I read in a short time. This was a great book that I will highly recommend.

✨ Book Review ✨


📖: Book: Big Little Secrets
✍🏻: A.B. Whelan

Rated: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫


Synopsis:

Nelli Horvath is a Hungarian immigrant seemingly living the American dream in Las Vegas with her husband, Clint, and their son, Ryan. After receiving an invitation to her 20th high school reunion, Nelli flies back to her home country after nearly two decades, and that’s the last time her American family hears from her.

Determined to find his missing wife, Clint travels to Hungary for the first time, where he drops into the middle of a race-against-the-clock investigation, chasing clues through historical towns and sketchy places.

Caught in a web of secrets and lies, Clint realizes how little he knows about his wife’s past, leaving him to wonder if he knows his wife at all.

Thoughts: 💭

When I first read the synopsis I was shocked to see the name of the main character, Nelli Horvath. Long story short my brother-in-law is engaged to a woman named Nelli. Just so happens our last name is Horvath. What a coincidence. They are actually going back to Hungary for part of their honeymoon. I was going to buy her a copy of this book to read of her flight to Hungary. That being said, so glad I didn’t get her this book before her honeymoon. It’s better to have her read it when she returns. I’m can’t give too much away but, wow. The book is told by two POV’s Nelli and her husband Clint. This is a fast paced rollover coaster of a thrill ride. It keeps you guessing at every twist and turn. If you haven’t already read this you need to add it to your tbr list now.

Thank you to NetGalley and A.B. Whelan for my ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Four star read for me!

Thank you, NetGalley for providing this ARC for me to enjoy!

Nellie is a Hungarian immigrant, living the dream in Las Vegas with her son and husband, Clint.

Nellie decides to return to Hungary for her 20-year reunion and disappears!

What happened to Nellie? What secrets is she hiding? What about her friend Eva that disappeared 20 years ago?

Clint travels to Hungary to find his wife and answers to his questions.

Will he find Nellie in time? What are her friends hiding?

This book was a fast read and I would like to read other books by A.B. Whelan.

4 stars!

I couldn’t get through this book. There were too many of the author’s opinions woven in regarding things such as Mexico taking advantage of America for money and the ‘evils’ of socialism. The author is free to have and express these feelings, but I’m free not to read them.

The author went so far as to say that Mexico has plenty of money, but the wealth distribution is unfair, which allows the US to be filled with guilt over “sob stories.” Um, what exactly happens in America, huh? As if our wealth distribution is fair?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Actions have consequences. This is what the book is about. It was filled with a lot of extra content that I thought didn’t really create any sort of momentum for the story. I think it would work for YA, but even then it’s a little intense. I struggled to read this one, and I’m unsure I could say with certainty I would suggest others read this book. Perhaps for someone who likes YA like revenge stories?

Thank you NetGalley and Burbank for the digital review copy.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Burbank Books and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

An okay read, not terrible yet not spectacular. I liked it, didn’t love it. It has entertaining moments and moments that lost my attention.

3.5 stars
This was a fun and somewhat twisty mystery/thriller. Pretty fast paced. Great for the ya/new adult readers.

How does one thoughtless teenager manage to ruin the lives of her six best friends and countless others caught up in the fallout? How can one grieving mother – after two decades – execute such hatred and revenge, destroying even more lives? If this is your kind of story, Big Little Lies is your kind of book.

There’s a very slow build up to the finale, padded with all sorts of fluff. I suppose it could be a good YA book, warning teens of what one thoughtless action could lead to, but I wouldn’t want my grandchildren reading it.

I appreciate Burbank Books contacting me with an offer for this book that they sent me through NetGalley following its publication. This review reflects my own thoughts of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Big Little Secrets.

I enjoy mysteries with multiple suspects because I love having to guess whodunit from a cast of characters.

On one hand, I really liked the local history of Hungary and its customs and foods; the author adds historical and social context as well. I've always wanted to visit Budapest and reading about a country I'd love to visit is the next best thing.

On the other hand, I wasn't happy with the mystery, which takes backstage to what most of the narrative really consists of, Nelli's husband Clint trying to retrace her steps and find out who killed her and getting roped into crazy shenangians with her childhood friends.

The reason behind her death is beyond corny, and the whereabouts of her missing friend was a twist I saw coming.

I didn't connect or sympathize with anyone, not Nelli, or her friends, or even Clint, who seemed to be a decent guy.

The writing was okay, but the narrative lacked suspense and intrigue.

One thing that did resonate with me was how one mistake could ruin your life and affect all the choices you make in the future.

Not sure how I feel about this book
I found myself skimming parts that seemed too rorfy or too much Information on surrounding etc. I kept reading as it had great reviews so gave it a solid chance. Just wasn't for me.
The ending was good. Just had a hard time connecting to any of the characters.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

Not really sure what to feel about this book. It was OK, I guess.

For the first time after nearly two decades, Nellie Horvath flew back to her home country in Hungary for a high school reunion. A week later, she went missing. Her american husband Clint decided to follow and investigate the whereabouts of his missing wife.

Although this book was dragging and repetitive at times, I liked the mystery sorrounding Nellie’s disappearance. I couldn’t really figure out who was guilty or not even though the author deliberately planted doubts in every character’s actions. The incident that happened years ago during Nellie and her friends Austrian trip was the key plot that drives the story to a rather unimpressive momentum. I didn’t like the ending and how shallow and pedestrian the twists were.

To be fair, I was shocked by a certain event in the book which I think would surprise most of the readers.

Thanks again to Netgalley and Burbank Books for the ARC!

Clint has traveled to Hungary to try to track down his missing wife, Nell. A Hungarian immigrant, Nell has been living in Ls Vegas and their son for years, but has traveled back to Hungary for a 20th high school reunion. When Clint hasn’t heard from Nell after three days, he decides to track her down. He doesn’t realize that Nell made a very big mistake as a teenager and now, she’s being forced to pay for it.

Big Little Secrets is a fast paced, gripping story, that had me extremely anxious to find out what would happen next.
A thrilling tale, that's cleverly plotted, beautifully written, and characters that are extremely engaging and interesting.
I thought this was a quick, entertaining, suspenseful and twisty domestic thriller that kept me on my toes and had me flipping the pages as fast as possible.
A dazzling psychological thriller!

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Burbank Books,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.