Where Secrets Lie by Eva V. Gibson

Where Secrets Lie
by Eva V. Gibson
Published April 20th 2021 by Simon Pulse

Told in two interwoven timelines—the summer when everything changed, and the summer that changes everything—Where Secrets Lie is a seductive thriller as dark as it is enthralling.

Amy Larsen has spent every summer with her cousin Ben and their best friend Teddy in River Run, Kentucky, loving country life and welcoming the break from her intensive ambitions and overbearing mother—until the summer she and Teddy confront the changing feelings and simmering sexual tension growing between them, destroying the threesome's friendship in a dramatic face-off.

One year later, Amy returns to River Run dreading what she might find. But when Teddy's sister disappears, Amy, Ben and Teddy agree to put aside their differences to search for her. As they dig deeper into the dark history of their small town, all three friends must unearth the truths that tie their families to tragedy, cope with their own toxic upbringings and beliefs, and atone for the damage done to each other and themselves.

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Review

4 Stars

A young-adult mystery thriller that feels almost a touch too real for comfort. Three best friends held together by familial bonds and summers spent running wild and free. The summer of 16 pushed them apart, putting a school year's worth of space and silence between them, but the summer of 17 holds promise of connecting again. Amy, Ben, and Teddy feel the pull to be together, even when they're mad at one another. The summer pulls them together again, breaking the silence, allowing the silent looks and hushed connections to start once again. Then, the unthinkable happens, Teddy's sister disappears and the friends must fully set aside their differences.

I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. I was just not into it at first, Amy is so surface level, but as I kept reading I realized she is meant to be this way. She's straight up an onion character, the kind you have to peel back to understand, and only Teddy and Ben have the ability to do it. Eva V. Gibson, you're a genius writer. Learning about Amy, her past, her family's past, all of it, it just was incredibly well done. Then, you mix in a missing girl? Three friends becoming detectives on the most horrific crime? I was hooked.

Where Secrets Lie is so much more than a missing child thriller, that missing child highlights the differences in society. From class differences, family secrets, money, and first love, Where Secrets Lie has a bit of it all. The secrets these kids and their parents and the community are secret? Holy SH! It's an unputdownable young adult romance thriller, the kind I think teens and younger readers will enjoy the most, but is worth picking up for any well-written novel fan.