This mild thriller was a quick read with lots of secrets unraveling and stranger danger vibes. There were times I thought I knew who the culprit was but then was wrong hahaha. Overall it was a great read!

At first, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this story and decided to just jump in and read instead of reading anything about it online. I’m so glad I read it this way!

It felt like I was standing inside the book by all these wild characters through all of the sneaky shenanigans that were happening. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but Vincent Ralph rocked the telling of this story and clearly captured the moment when your past comes back to haunt you… quite literally!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read this one in exchange for an honest/unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this book, regardless of the small flaws in it. I loved how it was written, and it kept me captivated the whole time. Although I love horror and thrillers I don't read books of those genres often and this was my first one in a while. The story was very interesting, but I felt the secrets were not blackmail worthy. The reveal was sort of lacking with how boring the secrets were. Although the plot twist made up for it a little, the story could have been better if the kids secrets were worse especially for a book about "secrets never die."

This book was so well written and very compelling. It isn't often when I literally cannot put a book down. I get easily distracted lol but this book really kept my attention. It was a very interesting story, and a pretty unique storyline as well, so it was fun to read something different than I normally read. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me early access!

Secrets Never Die is a shining example of the types of YA thrillers with grit under their nails and an ability to tap into that darkness lurking in the shadows.

Vincent Ralph is up there in my list of underrated YA thriller writers. His books are always so well plotted, with excellent twists and turns and a deep investment in their central characters. Are You Watching? and Lock the Doors are stellar stories, with twisty and atmospheric plots and a real investment in their authentic and flawed teenage protagonists. Secrets Never Die is no exception, with a plot that had me gasping and racing through the pages until the early hours.

Sam Hall is a fantastic protagonist - a former child star with a somewhat chequered past. He is so genuine and loving, but also entrapped by his own guilt and secrets. Around him is a varied cast of different teenage types, elevated through careful character development over the course of the book. Most of the twists are devastating precisely because you find yourself so deeply invested in these three-dimensional characters.

The way Ralph weaves in the glimmering entrancement of fame, particularly in relation to children, is incredible here. It is like the ultimate high to enjoy those fifteen seconds. However, the ramifications of this are severe. The yoke of fame still hangs heavy around Sam, especially with a certain major incident. For him, the Dark Place allows a form of escape and cathartic release. Here, your darkest secrets can be unleashed and freed from your mind. So when it is twisted and corrupted, all bets are off.

Secrets Never Die is another carpet-pull of a beauty from Vincent Ralph - an eagle-eyed and fiendishly detailed gem within the YA thriller genre.

I am always down to try a YA Mystery / Thriller. It is a fun way to break up the cycle of reading fantasy.

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Sam. He is a former child star with a history of his name, as well as family, being in the news. You can tell that it has taken a toll on him I can understand why he would act the way he did and keep secrets from the people around him. Now a days we understand the impact that acting has on children. I liked the relationship he had with his sister. He would do anything to protect her and it was really sweet. I love sibling bonds.

The other characters in the book all have secrets too. I wasn’t expecting it to be a generational thing either. The secrets and lies kept piling on. Even though the plot had all of this going on I still wasn’t entirely into it and I think it’s because some of the lies just felt weird to lie about. I also felt like the whole revenge thing was just kind of meh and I just didn’t get it. Maybe it is because I am older.

Everything does work out in the end and there is a lot of closure. I also felt like it brought him and his friends closer.

Overall, this was okay. It was interesting at times but didn’t catch my attention as I had wanted it to.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this advanced copy. Sam and his friends visit the Dark Place each year to get rid of their secrets. They feel free after and keep the tradition every Halloween. But now someone knows their secrets. Lots of characters and short chapters.

This cover is what drew me in and made me want to read this book. I have never read anything form this author before so I didn't know what I was going to get from this book.
I think I am just starting to really enjoy thriller books ( I have been reading a lot lately). This was no exception.
I like our main narrator in this book but I didn't love all his friends. I found him young, but full of potential, where his friends felt stiff and not as well written maybe.
I liked the over all story though, the twist was interesting, something I could see happening once the prices fit together but in the beginning wasn't a thing I thought of. I like all the family relationships as well they felt real and like my own feeling of my family.
It was a pretty good read and I had a good time reading it.

The quick cut: A group of friends find their lives turned upside down when their secret Halloween ritual is discovered and exposed by a mysterious enemy torturing them.

A real review:
Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing the arc for an honest review.

Secrets can eat you from the inside out, especially when they are dark or feel important to hide. They have a way of turning your good relationships to bad and putting an unexplainable distance between you and others. For Sam and his friends, it makes their secrets feel inhumanly large when a mysterious enemy finds out and uses them.

Every year on Halloween, Sam and his friends go to a hut called the dark place and one by one let go of their biggest secrets, letting the wind take them away. When a mystery stranger starts messaging each of them and exposing that they know their secrets, each one wonders who is blackmailing them and why. Will they figure out the truth? Or will it be too much to handle?

I've read the authors previous books before and enjoyed them, so seeing another one of his stories interested me. I love thriller and horror stories, so I was excited to see where it went. Overall, I do feel like the stakes were too low to justify the plot.

Sam is a kid who was a child actor who left the profession in a shocking way. He's got secrets in his past, but I expected them to be more significant. His friends also don't have these types of secrets that would cause this type of intense response.

That's the aspect of this book that feels too unbelievable. Even once the full plot and reason behind what's happening is revealed, it feels very much like an overreaction. The connections are twisty to the point of being unnecessarily complex.

I like the surprise plot reveal, but I also like it to be believable or based in reality. The final solution feels too fantasy based that way. It needed true stakes worthy of that devious a reaction. The characters are likeable, but the plot could've used more finesse.

A horror story with an unbelievable plot.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5

Secrets they can eat you up from inside. So, when someone tells you they have someplace you can go and let them go safely, why not they can’t hurt anyone right? Well, there is this funny thing about secrets. They don’t just disappear. While you may no longer feel burdened by them, that doesn’t mean that someone else doesn’t carry their scars. And scars from secrets can run deep. While they may not always be visible to the naked eye, they can eat someone up until there is nothing left but pain and revenge. What would you do if all your secrets you thought were buried suddenly were being threatened to be revealed? That is what happens to Sam and his friends. The secret place is where they go every year to unburden themselves from secrets that are eating them up inside. There is never anyone there with them when they go and speak their secrets into the dark, yet suddenly Sasha seems not only to know all their secrets but she is more then willing to use them to get Sam and his friends to do her bidding. Can Sam and his friends figure who Sasha is and why she is out to get them before it is to late?
This book is filled with twist and turns. You will never see a secret coming until it is revealed and everyone has a secret. Get ready for a twisted ride. The biggest downfalls of this book truly was pacing. There were parts that dragged on when it wasn't needed, and other parts that needed more time which were rushed.
Thank you to St Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for allowing me to review this book.

I really did enjoyed this book. Thanks so much for the review copy of it. Vincent Ralph books are so suspenseful and fun to read. I even love the cover to it. I'm looking forward to more read by this aurthor.

I loved this exciting and intense read! The characters were jumped off the page and the twists kept coming. Vincent Ralph is really adept at weaving a really complex story which maintains momentum all of the way through. You won't be able to put this book down!

A Halloween ritual gone wrong?

Child Star - Sam is a child star with a big secret

Halloween Ritual - he and his friends head into a hut in the woods called The Dark Place, to throw those secrets in the wind

Threats - Sam and his friends start receiving threats and dares, not to mention menacing encounters

Blackmail - Someone knows these secrets, and Sam needs to find out who, even if it could be one of his friends

This book is a true ride especially if you like YA books. I was compelled to just keep reading to find out who was doing these things and why. When the kids' secrets are revealed, honestly they aren’t that bad, but the final twists really do shock you in the end. It’s for sure one of those books that could go either way with someone though.

This book will transport you back to the days of R.L. Stine's Goosebumps.

This was a YA Horror (so not too horrifying) about a group of kids. They have a secret place in the woods that they refer to as "the dark place," where they go once a year on Halloween to whisper their darkest secrets into the darkness. The friends don't know each other's secrets.

One day, they all start receiving texts from a mysterious person calling themselves Sasha, who knows all of their secrets. They think it is impossible, no one other than them knows about the dark place. The situation escalates when Sasha is blackmailing them, breaking into their houses, and forcing them to do things.

Eventually, they are forced to bring their parents into the situation, and the secrets only get worse from there.

I loved how the plot twist fit together really nicely. It was somewhat unrealistic to me that they didn't go to their parents with the problem sooner, but other than that, I thought it was a fun and fast paced quick read.

Keeping in mind that it was YA, I appreciated that there was a moral at the end of the story, and the main character learned a lesson.

This was my first ARC and my first book by this author. I enjoyed the short chapters. I also enjoyed the suspense. There were a few twists I did not see coming, but I felt were a little weird/out there. I also really did not feel a connection to any of the characters. They were just kind of blah and there to me. Overall, I enjoyed the book. I am interested in reading more by this author!

I was soo honored to read an arc by this author, I heard he does the YA/Thriller hella exciting, and a page turner, and he did just that for me. The plot in the book was promising, and it was exciting even though at times it was really repetitive, and a little bit of a slow burn, Sam was like an on him when a ton of layers and right when you thought you knew the kid, something else comes up and THATS what made me want to keep reading. As a matter a fact the whole book was an ONION!!! Lol the author set this up so each and every characters secrets got revealed little by little and then the BIG surprise is when the people these teen least expect ALSO have secrets that might harm them too…….

Ok I don’t want to give anything away like that, but towards the end everything felt a little rushed, and I wished it wasn’t, certain parts were dragged a little too long, and the added characters was great but I wish I had a little more….. but aside from that the ending left me SHOOKETH…. Which is a good thing….. thank you NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This is a classic YA thriller/horror! It starts with a big Halloween party and an annual "ritual" in the woods that turns creepy and ominous. Sam and his friends are being tormented and blackmailed by "Sasha" and the secrets they've left in the woods over the years. I was definitely feeling the YA-ness of it in the beginning as the secrets seemed more like horrible misunderstandings of childhood than anything worth tormenting over but it definitely picks up as the story goes on. This was a really fun read! I love a good I know What You Did Last Summer esque YA horror.

A propulsive and nerve-racking novel! The premise is very interesting even if the execution is not wholly original. The characters are likeable and relatable, making the reader want to know their fate that much more urgently. A great thriller!

I really, really enjoyed this book up to the last 10%. Then it went completely off the rails. The twist came out of nowhere and there was nothing about it that made you say, “Oh I guess that thing foreshadowed it.” The friends secrets were a little dull too. Still I enjoyed it enough to probably give it another read closer to Halloween.

I wanted this book to be for me, truly, I did.

I've had a lot of friends read things by this author that they loved. When I saw him come up in my mailbox, I was thrilled. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't quite connect to the characters. The mystery itself wasn't compelling enough for me to care about when I barely felt any sort of feeling towards what happened to our protagonists.

That being said, I did think the book was fun and the mystery played out in a way that made sense. The motive was a little weird, and I couldn't make myself care *that* much about the secrets. However, it was an enjoyable quick read on a rainy day.

Thanks to the publisher! I will post the review on goodreads closer to pub date!