The Secret She Kept is a thriller in some ways reminiscent of the popular TV show ’13 Reasons Why’ and no less intriguing. Young, beautiful Lottie is dead – and no-one knows what happened to her. In the days leading up to her tragic death she accidentally broke her best friend Andrew’s laptop and so loaned him hers to tide him over. Now Anthony has found a series of vlogs that Lottie stored on her laptop before her death as well as a mysterious password-protected folder that he just can’t get access to. Before he really knows what’s happening, he’s lying to the police, hiding Lottie’s laptop and trying to figure out what the hell happened to his best friend (and secret crush, it seems). As time goes by and the story unfolds it appears that Davian – Anthony’s best friend – might have played a part in Lottie’s demise.

This is a story of obsession, betrayal, secrets and lies. It’s a slow burner, at times a bit too slow – I can’t imagine sitting on top of the information Anthony had and not burning through it in one sitting, even if it was going to bring down your house around you – you’d need to know asap. On top of that, I didn’t like any of the characters – Lottie was spoilt and obsessive and Davian was just someone you’d avoid at all costs. Anthony was the only one who had anything about him and even he was a bit flat.

It’s a good premise and there’s some good twists in there, but there was something missing for me. I think it was maybe a bit too slow for my liking, but it is an easy, quick read and has a satisfying outcome.

Thanks to BookSirens and the author for my review copy.