Nasty Little Secrets Author Gabbie Hanks
Book Review
5 out of 5 stars!
They say to write about what you know and Rose knows her brother was innocent of the crime that took place eleven years ago in their hometown. She was there for all of it except for that fateful night, but she knows in her bones that Will did not murder his high school love. Writing a book to prove his innocence and that not everything was as it seemed.
Being away from her subjects helped her to write freely. But when her youngest sister is reported as missing, she has to get reacquainted with her fractured family, the small town she grew up in, and the family next door who she caused more tragedy for. Her search for her sister will lead her down dark memory lane and reopening her brother's case. Could the same person who ended Alex's life be the one who kidnapped Hazel? Will her true crime book be the key to everything?!
I honestly didn't write down any cool quotes because I was so engrossed in this read after a long spell of DNFs. I just wanted to know who did it and try and guess the culprit before the ending!
I loved the passion with which Rose was emboldened with. How she wanted to free her brother and knew he wasn't the one who did it. No matter what anyone said or called her. But in writing her true crime novel and taking on Will's lawyer fees and whatever else, she has neglected the rest of her family. Coming home she has to face them and remove her blinders. She cannot hide up in her writing tower and be surrounded by New York. Rose has to physically face it all.
It helps to have a different perspective when reworking something. Her brilliant younger sister left her a very valuable book with notes and thoughts! Rose has to reopen her scars and take a step back from her first-person narrative. Dual timelines! While reading the past we get to see how narratives were easily manipulated. Fingers pointed and two families who had been inseparable suddenly have a giant divide. Seeing how pressure as kids from adults helped shaped things but as adults' scripts are changing. Everyone's little secrets finally surfacing but who's will be the worst truth and the convicting one. . .
This book is gritty and has some crude language, not just pertaining to cursing. I know some people have commented on the usage of "slut" and "whore" but growing up in a small town with eight churches, I get it. Also, as a millennial that was unfortunately the language back then to describe characters like Alex or Rose. Details of case and what was believed to have been done to Alex. Just going to mention this trigger but fourteen-year-old getting SA by an adult man, first person POV. Feelings of desperation, ostracized, breaking down, violence, family trauma and healing.
This book touches on utilizing sex as a form of self-harm and toxic coping mechanism. There's underage sex between teenagers as well as drinking. A student-teacher relationship in which she had just turned eighteen, still a child, with a man eight years older. Some of the scenes I felt uncomfortable with, but I believe that's what the author was going for.
I did figure out the big whodunit but there was a twist I didn't catch. I loved how this book was written and wove such a nice story. Was refreshing after so many DNFs! My only thing is after the twist I felt like some DNA could have been collected and case solved a lot sooner. I get that for the narrative it needed to be missed but the cops found certain DNA that I thought if they collected that why not other things? Anyways, trying not to give anything away! This was a great read, and I'd be down to read more from this author!
Conclusion with some HEAs! Enjoy the read and don't forget to give the author some stars!
Thank you, NetGalley and Zando!
Amazon.com: Nasty Little Secrets: A Novel eBook : Hanks, Gabbie: Kindle Store
Nasty Little Secrets: A Novel | Barnes & Noble®
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