Official Review of Scorn of Secrets
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- ALynnPowers
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Official Review of Scorn of Secrets
Scorn of Secrets by B. Truly is a young adult novel that tells the story of one teenager’s life-changing experiences. Madison was always a daddy’s girl, but she is left feeling out of place with her mom and sister when her father’s debt and gambling addiction leads to his murder. With no funds to survive, Madison’s mother quickly takes the opportunity to pack up the family and move in with her new boyfriend in Houston. Moving on without her father is hard, but Madison is prepared to deal with a new home in a new state. What she didn’t expect to find was the love of her life within the walls of her new home. She also didn’t expect her new home to become the setting for her worst nightmare.
I would describe this book as a realistic drama disguised as a romance. If there was anything in the book that I didn’t like, it was the romance part. Although it’s not technically incest, getting into a relationship with a potential step-sibling is just something I’m not super comfortable with, so I have to caution readers right from the beginning that such a theme is strong in this book. There are also pretty graphic scenes of sexual assault that might be triggering or traumatizing for some readers. Because of this, I think that this book is only suitable for older or more mature teens.
Though it is a fictional story, it is easy to believe that this could be based on a true story. The characters are very realistic, and I especially enjoyed the portrayal of the relationships between Madison, her mother, and her sister. Though Madison’s sister and mother were quite close with each other, Madison was more of the black sheep, and their relationships only became more diminished when Madison merely reached out to them for support. I think that many young readers can relate to this feeling of not fitting in within your own home, and finding more support from friends than from those supposedly closest to you.
While I absolutely adored the story (romance aside), there was still something that felt a little off about the pacing of the book. More than one year passes throughout the span of the story, and a lot of major events take place within the last few chapters of the book. This is a big contrast to the first half of the book, which progressed at a much slower pace. While much character development and set-up for the main plot points took place at the beginning, the ending felt a little too rushed in comparison. There is also not a strong conclusion to the story, with the expectation that there will be a sequel to this book.
Overall, I give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. I loved most of the characters and the (non-romantic) relationships between them. The events are believable and filled with suspense that kept me reading for hours. I wasn’t a huge fan of the romance nor the inconsistent pacing of the book, but I still enjoyed the book as a whole. I recommend this book to mature young adults who enjoy realistic fiction. There are lots of instance of profanity and a couple of disturbing graphic scenes. With only nine very minor errors throughout the book, the writing itself is decent as well.
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Scorn of Secrets
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- Kavita Shah
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I guess the ending will be a major cliffhanger for me, and I might consider not reading it for now.
Thank you for your review.
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