4.5 stars
I'd heard wonderful things about Jar of Hearts and Jennifer Hillier on Twitter, so I was thrilled to receive an eARC of Little Secrets from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for review consideration.
I was hooked from the first page.
Jennifer Hillier's story of a woman dealing with the kidnapping of her son hit me right in the heart. I was with Marin when she got distracted by her phone, when she counted down the minutes, hours, days of her son's absence, when she refused to move his belongings because she didn't want to tuck him in a corner and pretend that he hadn't existed.
I can't begin to explain how emotionally exhausting parts of this book read. As a mother of two, I know what it's like to have to take your kids to a busy, public place, to get swept up in the frustration and hunger and crankiness, and at that moment, to have the phone ring. It tore at all the deepest fears I have of that moment in the best possible way.
I couldn't put this book down.
The kidnapping is as layered as the characters, deeply-developed and complex in their motivations. I did find the plot to be a tad predictable, and wasn't altogether shocked by the ending, but it was a refreshing, beautiful take on kidnapping story with intricately-woven strands of intrigue.
What truly makes this story, though, is Hillier's wonderful writing style. Scenes leaped of the page, and I'd be surprised if someone doesn't make this into a Netflix series in the near future. Cinematic, clever, and dripping with emotion, Little Secrets is a 2020 Must Read.
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