The Secret Year was a book with so much potential. It didn't quite make it there for me though.

Two kids, wrong side of the tracks, we have been here before. But this time the girl dies before a secret relationship ever came to light. With all of this being said Colt has to grieve the loss of his secret girlfriend alone. No one can know it will ruin her reputation as she had a boyfriend from the right side of the tracks during their year long secret relationship.

I feel like this would have been 100% better story if Colt wasn't obsessed with sex. It makes me question their relationship, was it even a real relationship or was he in it for his benefit? Anyway I do feel for him in having grief and needing to process but not being able to talk about it. Maybe it was his way of coping, I don't know.

Favorite part though is that we have a male POV! my favorite.

I would recommend this book to the right person however. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers for an ARC of this novel, originally published in 2010.

There is no note to the effect that this is in any way a revised or updated version of a now 24 year old publication, so I found myself reading it as a ‘snapshot’ of the early days of what is now classified YA. The main characters typify the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ pairing of much of the genre that persists to this day. Julia is the spoiled rich girl who belongs to all the right clubs, has fancy clothes and fancy cars and an equally fancy boyfriend. Austin. Colt is from the wrong side of everything—poor family, unemployed heavy drinking father, the so-called ‘white trash’ of a deeply divided small town society. Everyone, rich and poor, drinks heavily. Everyone, rich and poor, at least among the high school set, seems to be sexually active. Sex, in fact, is more a transaction than an intimate relationship.

The book takes a different approach, certainly for the times, by relating the story from Colt’s point of view. It can’t do otherwise, since Julia dies in a car crash right at the start and Austin knows nothing about Colt, who had been the secret in her life for an entire year. the crash could have made the secret permanent. But Julia’s brother finds her diary, containing her straight from the heart impressions of Colt. When Colt reads it—it is excerpted throughout so that Julia remains alive for Colt and the reader—he is drawn in, despite himself. It’s as though he was never able to get beyond social and familial expectations until he saw himself through the eyes of someone so different that their secret year might have been entirely imagined. I found this a gritty, realistic novel about 21st century teens, and, despite the familiar tropes, still very moving.

Thanks to Netgalley, Jennifer Hubbard and Penguin Group Young Reader's Viking Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this seemed interesting but I had a hard time enjoying. The characters were hard to relate to.

Secret love and then death. I liked the idea of this book and for the first half, it was pretty good as Colt was reading the journal entries. But then it just dragged on and on. Dead Julia wasn't likeable. Her friends were awful. And they had this greasers as socs thing (a la the Outsiders) going on between the rich and poor kids. While I think some of my students will love this book, it was just okay for me.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

Forbidden love. Something that appeals to so many, but this book contains forbidden love, and death and shows the rift between poorer families and the high regard the wealthy families have for, themselves and their social standing.
Colt is your kid who comes from nothing and has a passionate romance with Julia who has it all. When Julia dies in a car accident suddenly, Colt is beside himself. He has nothing to remember their romance other than her diary filled with entries to him. With each entry written to him, he can't forget the moments they spent time together. However, no one knew about their romance except for the two. How can you mourn and get over someone who was never actually yours to begin with?
This was an addicting interesting read that had me hooked from the beginning. If you are looking for a quick steamy read that's YA then this should be your next read! Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group for the opportunity to read and review this one!

The Secret Year is a young adult romance by Jennifer R Hubbard. Colt Morrissey had a secret relationship with Julia for an entire year and no one had a clue. They seemingly had nothing in common. Julia comes from the country club world and Colt is from the other side of the tracks; but it didn’t seem to matter to them. Until one day when Julia dies in a car accident and Colt pays a price for their secret. He can’t mourn her in the way he wants to and is even tormented with his possible role in her accident. When Julia’s brother hands him a journal Julia wrote to “CM,” Colt relives their time together as he tries to move on as if he never knew her. Can her words help him move on?
Advertised as a mixture of Romeo and Juliet and The Outsiders, I was looking forward to a drama filled story about two teens and a secret love. However, it was disappointing. The author does a lot of “telling” and not a lot of “showing.” It is horribly cliched with the rich girl and the poor guy, the homophobic family and the stereotypical high school characters. And Romeo and Juliet meets The Outsiders is misleading. Romeo and Juliet is not a romantic story and the boy and girl from opposite sides of town whose parents aren’t really forbidding their romance aren't the same. Also, The Outsiders is a beloved favorite of mine and this story just doesn’t not compare! Colt is weak and has no growth throughout the story. I do not recommend The Secret Year.

The Secret Year is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

This is not my cup of tea especially for a romance.

In this we are following Colt, a junior in high school, who has secretly been having an affair with Julia, a senior who is entangled with someone else. Their relationship remains a secret not so much because of the infidelity but more so because Colt is a poor kid from "the wrong side of the tracks" and Julia is supremely wealthy. Unfortunately, Julia dies suddenly and Colt is left to reckon with their hidden romance and what that means for his future.

This book felt like it was trying so hard to over-dramatize something that wasn't very dramatic. I also didn't vibe that much with the writing style. This story is also rife with cheating and I hated that it was the central focus of a romantic relationship. It becomes really hard to get invested in a relationship between two characters when the entire time you are just watching them waffle back and forth about whether or not to stop the cheating. It also felt a little odd that this book was so heavy handed with the sex/sex scenes. Listen, I'm not living with my head in the sand - I know that teenagers are out there having sex but it felt a little unbelievable that these two kids were sneaking out multiple times a week, every single week, for a year straight to bang each other in the car down by the bridge. Not my favorite thing to read about.

I also see a lot of reviewers talking about how hard hitting this is but I don't agree. Sure, there is talk about grief and class divides and homophobia but if that was the plot that the author was trying to focus on then they definitely missed the mark.

The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard is a captivating and wonderfully written story.
A well crafted young adult novel with fascinating characters.
I loved Colt and Julia’s story.
This book was impossible to put down.

Thank You NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

When you're in a secret relationship and the one you love dies, how can you grieve their loss? The impact of Julia's death on Colt is well-written and his healing process believable. I wasn't ready for this one to end.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard is kind of a heart-breaking story of a couple of teens from different side of the tracks who come together, in secret, to have sex and to talk. She had a boyfriend; he had no girlfriend except her. The met at the river, waded and swam, and made love in her car; a couple of times in her bed when her family was gone. He never took her to his house. Then, tragedy struck. As she was in a car driven by a perfectly sober young woman, the car veered out of control and hit a large, decorative post. The driver was fine. Julia was dead. Colt didn’t know how to react. No one knew about them. He went to the funeral in a daze. Lots of kids from school were there. In a few weeks, Julia’s brother gave him a notebook he’d found when he was cleaning out her room. It was notes addressed to CM and Michael had narrowed it down to him. It was written the whole time they were together. It was a journal, letters to him, and poems. He took it slow.

Other things were happening in his life so those things were covered, too as he slowly recovered. It was painful. Teen-age angst. It was also lovely. This wonderful young woman didn’t fit where she was and didn’t know where to fit. Hence, Colt. One had to keep reading. Life went on for the reader just as it did for Colt. It provided keen insight into parts of the teenage psyche. I would not call it enjoyable, but it is worth one’s time. It’s relatively short so the reader isn’t depressed for long. It is a good story.

I was invited to read The Secret Year by Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #PenguinGroupPenguinYoungReadersGroup #JenniferHubbard #TheSecretYear

****UNPOPULAR OPIONION****

I did not like this book. It started off good, especially from a male perspective. Colt is from a lower-class meighbor and Julia is from a wealthy/upper-class city. Predictably, they are soooo attracted to each other and have a secret relationship then a tragedy occurs. Colt cannot get over it....

Just as this book starts to ramp up, it becomes predictable and sizzles down. Colt, Julia and other characters have no depth to their character and their inner-voices are even worse...

This book was disappointing and I am glad it was brief being only 192 pages of annoyance.

Cannot recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley, Jennifer Hubbard and Penguin Group Young Reader's Viking Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 1/7/2025

Thank you to NetGalley, Jennifer Hubbard, and Penguin Group for the eBook. This story was both gripping and heartbreaking, exploring themes of loss and the struggle of facing it alone. The socioeconomic dynamics in the small town create ongoing grief and conflict, adding depth to the narrative.

This was an excellent book!! I enjoyed the character development as well as how the plot was developed throughout the story. The author was able to to do a good job with all aspects of the story. I would recommend to others.

The Secret Year was an anticipated read for me this month, but unfortunately, I didn't end up liking it like I thought I would based on the synopsis and cover. I love books meant to evoke emotion, but I never felt connected to Colt, so it was hard to feel for him. He ended the book in the same place that he started it; alone and in love with a girl he can never have. There was no growth, he repeated the same mistakes, and I didn't feel like there was any sort of resolution or learning experience seen in his character. Grief isn't linear, but people tried to connect with him to no avail. Books like this don't need to end on a happy note - I'm not even sure it'd be realistic if they did - but it was chapter after chapter of the same thing. I'm not sure if a lot of this stemmed from the choppiness of the first-person perspective, but it was hard for me to truly fall in love with this book. It was very bingeable, however, and I loved the journal aspect.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Viking Books for the ARC of The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard.

The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard is a captivating novel that delves into the intense emotions of love, pain, and grief. This book is truly captivating; I found myself unable to set it down. While certain aspects of the plot could have been further developed, The Secret Year offers a poignant and somber exploration of a forbidden romance, reminiscent of a modern-day Romeo and Juliet. It is the perfect read for a cozy day indoors, enveloped in the book's smoky atmosphere.

I was able to read "The Secret Year" by Jennifer Hubbard on NetGalley. I couldn't put the book down & finished it in one day! This is the story of Colt, a high school boy, and the year he had after his "secret" girlfriend died. Nobody knew that he was secretly seeing Julia, a rich girl, while he was a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. When Julia dies suddenly in a car accident he has to come to terms with their relationship on his own.

Thank you to Jennifer Hubbard, Penguin Young Readers Group/Viking Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley for an eARC of The Secret Year in exchange for an honest review!

"Like I told you on Thanksgiving, pretending is a lousy way to get through life."

The overall vibe of this book is pretty melancholy. A teenager (Colt) is coping with the loss of his secret girlfriend (Julia) who he'd been seeing for a year. We see Colt dealing with Julia's death in private because no one else knew they were even acquainted with each other. He is trying to move on when Julia's brother gives Colt a journal of letters she had secretly been writing. As he reads through the letters the reader learns more about their time together.

This novel is hard to put a rating to. It sucked me in and is a super quick read - I finished the book in less than a day - but it is more character development than anything else, The book doesn't really building toward any big goal and the reader just follows Colt's story in the year after Julia's death in a car accident. It was sad to see him move through the stages of grief in private. Colt tries to move on and the journal keeps in stuck in the past. I found myself feeling frustration and sadness right along with Colt.

I didn't absolutely love this book but I did enjoy the read. It had a few good tidbits of advice for a grieving teen, but wasn't an earth shattering read, I'd give it a solid 3.

A secret high school romance. Colt is from the lower income and Julia is from the country club set. So at school there is no indication they know each other. But Julia dies in a car accident leaving behind a notebook of letters to Colt. A heart warming story of young love and heart break. I enjoyed the story.

Colt and Julia couldn’t have been more different because of their social differences. Julia had everything—a wealthy lifestyle, friends, a car, and a country-club boyfriend—everything except true happiness. Colt was the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Despite their differences, they had been in a relationship for a year…until Julia was killed in a car accident. Their story felt like a mix of Romeo and Juliet and The Outsiders.

Julia died on Labor Day, returning home from a party. I never got to see her that night. We used to meet on Friday nights, sneaking off to the riverbank, hiding in her car, stealing moments together. It was our secret. No one else knew.

After Julia’s death, Colt grieved alone, keeping their relationship a secret. Julia had a boyfriend—Austin. For Colt, their relationship was simple at first, just physical. At least, that’s how he thought of it…until she was gone.

After Julia’s death, Colt receives a notebook—Julia’s journal. In it, she wrote letters addressed to C.M., pouring out her emotions and feelings. Reading it slowly, Colt gains insights into Julia’s life that he never knew. Through her words, he experiences her emotions from her perspective.

The Secret Year was a quick read. I wasn't really ready for it to end. Awesome book. I loved it!