Review Originally Posted: Traveling With T*A stand-alone novel. A bit too long, but when the story starts coming together, it really gets good. It just takes a bit too long to get to that point.*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.Every Secret ThingIt’s a normal day. A day where a birthday party happens. A day where little girls have fun!By the end of the day, though, two little girls will be on a path that will change their lives forever.Fast forward seven years…Alice and Ronnie have been released from prison. Both girls have been told that it’s best if they stay away from each other- just to be on the safe side.When another child disappears, though, suspicions surround the 2 teenagers. Is it just a coincidence that another child disappears right after the girls are released from prison? Or is history repeating itself? Police, lawyers and family wonder and ponder…. But only 2 people know for sure- Ronnie and Alice.Traveling With T’s Thoughts:I’m a recent-ish Laura Lippman fan- having read some of her stand-alone and some of her Tess Monaghan books, I really can’t say that I prefer one over the other- I just like Laura’s style.EVERY SECRET THING starts off with a promising plot- a baby is missing, then said baby is found after it’s too late. The 2 culprits? Two 11 year old girls. (Pause for chills). Throw in a dash of race relations (the baby is black, the girls are white) and a heavy dash of wondering how this would have played out if situation had been reversed- and you basically have the plot in a nutshell.Overall, I did like the book. It did seem to get bogged down at times in either not so necessary details or maybe the pace just slowed down. When, though, the pieces begin to fall into place- the story picks up quite a bit and the final revelations made me gasp.So, should you read this book or not? If you are a fan of Laura’s and like her story-telling style, I say yes. If you are new to Laura, this is not her strongest book that I’ve read- I would recommend AND WHEN SHE WAS GOOD or AFTER I’M GONE.*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.Happy Reading and Bookishly Yours,T @ Traveling With T
Review contains spoilers.Oh this book...where to start. I do think Laura Lippman is a great writer, but there were things about this book that annoyed me. One was the whole Alice is fat thing. Okay, we get that she is overweight. Does it need to be mentioned almost every time she appears. "Oh, Alice is fat!" "There's fat Alice again." Even when she is thinking about herself, it was included more often than not how fat she is. The one time her weight is mentioned it was something like, "She looked like she was about 200 pounds!" Now, the way it had been spoken of, like she was this rotund whale, I was thinking she must be about 250/300 pounds. Granted, I'm not sure her height mentioned. Regardless, it grew tired after awhile, Alice constantly being mentioned as fat. Fat, hulking, rotund, it got old quick.And Ronnie...the portrayal of her character changed halfway through the book. I'm not sure if it wasn't supposed to be that way all along, but it threw me for a loop. She is written to be one way and there is not even a hint of the way it actually was.The Cynthia character I found to be so unlikeable I had a hard time feeling sympathy for her. She was so judgmental about everyone. She is quick to look down on people and she came across as very holier than thou. Sharon was beyond rude in her interactions, and I didn't find it to make much sense. I don't know, it was frustrating to me, because I did think it was well written, but I found a lot of things in this book annoying. Also, I really thought that Nancy was going to be more involved in the first crime than she was. The way the early hints were given it made it sound like there was much more than just her being the one who found the body. Also, I was confused about what happened when she was a police officer in Baltimore and why she had to leave? I read through the passage several times and still couldn't quite understand exactly what happened.Bottom line, I liked the book, but found it frustrating. However, it was quite a page turner and I finished it quickly. I will read more by Lippman, but if there's another one like this, I'm not sure I'll continue reading her novels.
What do You think about Every Secret Thing (2004)?
We both seem to like "Every Secret Thing" (see my review just posted) … Perhaps we also have other reading interests in common ... LEW ... http://lewweinsteinauthorblog.com/
—Jessica
This was Laura Lippman’s first stand-alone mystery, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a slow-building, sneaky mystery. We know from the start that something terrible happens to baby Olivia Barnes and that Alice and Ronnie were responsible, but the details leak out slowly, drip by drip. The best part of the book is that you’re never quite sure whose side you should be on. Is Alice as innocent as she seemed? Is Ronnie the sociopath she first seemed to be? What did Alice’s mother have to do with it? Why is the public defender so invested? Even the victim’s mother, Cynthia Barnes, isn’t particularly likeable. In fact, she’s quite bitchy throughout most of the book. You want to excuse her behavior, but is there a point where enough is enough?There are some quite surprising twists in the story, and that’s what makes it extra special for me. It’s hard for me to find a book with a plot that surprises me. This just cements Lippman’s place on my "Damn, She’s Good" list.
—Jaime
Yeah it's gonna annoy me that I didn't finish it but then again I'm glad I didn't waste another few days reading it! I've only ever marked two books as a DNF so I'm not too bad :)
—Sarah
