This book reminds me of "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Scream". I like the mysterious messages, the creepy masks, the dark secrets, and the twists and turns we experience, as the author weaves us through the story.
Christopher Gebauer and Jennifer Jill Araya do a great job narrating this novel. I will definitely look for more books narrated by them in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for this audio ARC.

The performance was wonderful, the narrators did brilliant.

The story was great… until it wasn’t. The ending fell flat for me.

Secrets Never Die was the type of thriller that makes you want to pick up thrillers for the rest of life.

I really wanted to give this author another try after not really loving Five Total Strangers, unfortunately I just think the writing and plots are not for me. I feel like there is just something missing for the books to really WOW me.

This book was well-paced for a thriller with plenty of twists and turns. The characters are likeable and flawed just enough so that the story has plenty to work with. I didn’t figure out who the guilty party was at all and while that should have created a lot of tension, I was underwhelmed by the whole story. There’s nothing wrong with the story; it just didn’t grab me the way I wanted it to. I never connected with any of the characters. If you’re looking for a thriller with twists and turns, then you will enjoy this. If you are, however, looking to be scared by it, then this is not for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher of Secrets Never Die for an ARC of this audiobook! This book tells the story of Sam and his friends, who have a Halloween tradition of telling their secrets in the Dark Place. But this year things are different, and Sam and his friends need to figure out why. I really enjoyed the ways the book kept you guessing, even the ending! I also loved the sibling relationships shown, as well as the flashbacks which were a fun surprise. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good young adult thriller. The only feedback I have is I did have trouble hearing some of the titles of the chapters, could be that there needs to be more space between the end and start of the chapters? Thank you again and thanks for reading!

This was a solid thriller that will give teens a little spooky fun. I don't think that there was anything new here, and the ending was a little underwhelming for anyone who reads the genre regularly, but it was an enticing read throughout.

If you want a boy version of Gossip Girl, this is it!

A child actor and his friends go to the woods each Halloween to make confessions of their deepest, darkest secrets. But this year is different. Someone found their place. And left something creepy behind. Then it gets weirder. They start getting cryptic messages. And their secrets start to come to light.

I enjoyed the book. It kept my interest. There were lots of twists and turns in the plot.

I listened to the audio book version of this. I don't find myself often listening to audio books with a make narrator, but I didn't mind it.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

I got this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This is an entertaining suspense thriller that keeps the reader guessing until the very end. It is full of friendship, betrayal, disguises, and - of course - secrets. A group of friends meets every Halloween at a cabin in the woods and they individually leave their secrets there by whispering them into the dark. This year, the group is surprised by a bloody attack that scares them terribly. It appears that one of the secrets has somehow come to life and has the friends questioning everything...including one another. Will they figure out how to close this down before someone gets hurt?

I enjoyed the quick pace of the book. The teen drama aspect was great along with the secrets each carried. While nothing in the end appears completely earth-shattering, one can imagine that it may feel this way to a group of high school teens. There is a very real thriller aspect that drives the tension up. The twists and turns are not easily discovered before Ralph wants you to. While the characters never felt fully formed to me, their interactions kept me interested in how everything would come to a resolution.

If you are a reader who loves a fun thriller mystery you may want to pick this one up. I imagine it would be the perfect read to add to your October TBR.

Spooky.Stalkers.Revenge. This book has it all. It is definitely geared more towards YA as it is a little bit immature at times. It’s a good thriller where you are constantly trying to figure out who it is and why they are doing what they are doing. The book centers around 4 friends who are being stalked by an unknown source and they must figure out what is going on before everyone ends up hurt or worse. I enjoyed it for the most part but once the ending was a bit rushed.

I typically don't read YA horror (I find it can get too scary), but I'm glad I listened to Secrets Never Die! This book nailed the horror/thriller aspect. The haunting imagery and atmosphere was there from the first minutes, with it starting on Halloween. The short chapters and many twists and turns helped keep things moving and kept me reading through as Sam and his friends try to figure out who's spilling secrets, and things escalating as the story moves along. In terms of themes and concept, it's a 10/10, everything makes sense in terms of the messages the story is conveying, which I won't spoil here. The Hall family was developed decently, especially Sam and Molly. Even though Sam was a former child star, I'm sure many can relate to parental pressures in childhood. Most of the other characters felt under-baked or one note. And by the time I got to the end, I wish there was a little more substance to even the Hall family than we got. I also thought some plot twists and choices in the second half diminished Sam and his group more than I would have liked, and slightly disjointed. In short, the themes flowed perfectly, the characters fell just a bit short, which is why I was mixed on the ending. The narration was great and easy on the ears. If you like your teen thrillers with a sense of horror, check this out!

When you're alone in the dark, some things won't stay hidden...

I absolutely loved this YA mystery/thriller! It’s got all my crucial elements…a high creepiness factor, a remote woods location, and everyone keeping secrets! Vincent Ralph had me guessing all the way through. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, he threw me a curveball, and I was sent off down another path. Secrets Never Die is not only perfect spooky season reading, but it's perfect anytime reading! Thanks for the opportunity to review!

Secrets Never Die is a past paced suspense driven novel. A group of friends go out on Halloween every year and speak out their biggest secret alone to try and let go of the past. This year is different. Now someone knows all of their secrets and is willing to do anything to manipulate them or threaten to expose their deepest darkest secrets.
Sam will do anything to protect his family, especially his younger sister. He doesn’t even know if he can trust all of his friends at this point as secrets start to be revealed and friendships are tested.
I was not fully expecting that ending and it seems like it leaves off on a more sinister note than you’d expect.
I believe its marketed as young adult/teen but as an adult I thoroughly enjoyed the fast paced story that was this book.

Young adult novels are more miss for me than a hit. But this one was enjoyable. Never saw the end coming so that’s a plus.

Sam and his friends tell their secrets every Halloween. But this Halloween….something goes horribly wrong. Sam and his friends work to solve the mystery. And I was pleasantly surprised with the twist.

3.75 stars rounded up to 4

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to have an advance copy of Secrets Never Die by Vincent Ralph as an audio book cover. It was interesting to say the least. It did take me a little time to get used to the narrator but by the end it was all good. This book thrives on secrets upon secrets. And slowly they all start to come undone and things start to make more sense as to why it is all happening. It is hard to state more as it all builds and I do not want to give away the ending. But it was fun and very suspenseful. So if you like suspenseful thrillers this book is for you.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars.

This was a decent read. Nothing special, but nothing terrible. At times it felt like there were a few too many storylines going on. Each character seemed to have their own side story at times, but then it was also short, so it felt like too much was happening.

I felt like in the last 25% of the book when a big "reveal" of what the heck is going on was taking place and we switch narrators, that was a little difficult to follow as well.

This book was more unique than other YA thrillers I've read. It doesn't follow a lot of other thriller tropes and had more originality than some other storylines so that is a big positive.

Fans of YA thrillers will enjoy this book a lot. Otherwise, I would decide based on the plot if you do or don't want to read this one based on the book description.

This book was a wonderful rendition of children paying for the sins of their fathers. The kids thought it was their own secrets they were paying for, but in the end, it turned out to be much more sinister. I enjoyed the authors previous 2 books so I can add his 3rd to that pile.

Each year Sam and his friends visit the Dark Place, an abandoned hut in the woods, to confess their secrets and then leave them behind. It’s helped them to unburden themselves of deeply held secrets, but this year is different. Someone has been listening to their secrets, someone who wants revenge.

This is a well paced YA Mystery Thriller. We follow this group of friends as they are stalked and blackmailed for the secrets they revealed in the Dark Place. With several twists along the way, I suspected just about everyone at one point. While I didn’t love every twist along the way, I did love how the book leaned into the importance of true friendships.

This is a perfect spooky season book for YA readers; and adults who are looking for a fun read with a little bit of spooky sprinkled in.

The Narrator did a great job bringing this story to life.

⭐⭐⭐💫 (3.5)

Thank you to @netgalley @macmillam.audio @wednesdaybooks and @stmartinspress for the gifted copy of this book.

Every year, Sam and his group of friends go to the Dark Place and hold funerals for their secrets. But this year, something disturbing happens while they’re at the Dark Place, and soon after they are all contacted by a mysterious person on social media who seems to know their secrets. Sam finds himself unsure of who to trust and what exactly their blackmailer wants. Will he be able to figure things out before it’s too late?

This story is largely told from Sam’s POV in the present time, though it does briefly jump to the past with a different narrator. There were two larger plots in this book: the primary plot focused on the mysterious figure who seems to know all of the friends’ secrets; the subplot was about child fame and Sam’s father’s search for fame and fortune. This subplot never really felt like it melded well with the primary plot, especially when the father’s focus shifted to Molly. I believe it was supposed to explain some of protagonist’s motivations since the father’s actions in the past led to Sam’s secret, but it just didn’t quite work to have it happen again with the younger sister in the present timeline.

The characters were not that well written. They were lacking the depth and development that’s required to bring tension in a read like this. I also didn’t find the motivation for many characters’ actions very compelling. The parents were unwilling to act when their child was threatened (in a very real and dangerous way) seemed extremely unrealistic, and the motivation for the antagonist made them feel like a caricature rather than a real, threatening entity.

I wanted more from the secrets and that aspect of this read. If these friends have been doing their ritual every year, a ritual that involved spilling their secrets, then why was there only one secret per person used? There should have been more smaller secrets incorporated near the beginning of the read to create some sort of buildup and escalation, rather than just jumping straight into the big stuff. This aspect contributed to the characters feeling one-dimensional, like they only existed for this plot/story and weren’t real people. There was just no time committed to the development or growth of the characters. It also detracted from the tension and suspense that should have been present and contributed to the lack of atmosphere.

I did like the ambiguous and slightly darker ending, and overall this will probably be an enjoyable book for younger YA readers. There were simply too many things that didn’t quite work for me with this one. If you like extremely fast-paced YA reads with short chapters and a few big secrets, then you’ll likely enjoy this. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read and review this work, which will be published August 29, 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was a really good YA book. I found this to be a quick read for me. I was invested from beginning to end. There are a few twist and turns that will make you think omg I didn't see that coming. I would definitely recommend this book for someone wanting a good YA mystery and thriller. I thought that Christopher Gebauer and Jennifer Jill Araya did a good job at the narration of this story.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners for allowing me to listen to this ARC for my honest opinion.