Two Can Keep a Secret - Karen M. McManus

 

Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery's never been there, but she's heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.

The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone's declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself.

Blurb taken from Goodreads. 

*

I really enjoyed One of Us is Lying and One of Us is Next when I read them last year. They were actually among my top reads for the year, which is really saying something (you can read my full review of the duology here)! I was therefore expecting big things from this one too!

I think the combination of YA and mystery is something that works really well! I've read a few of these types of book over the past year, and they've all been really fun and interesting reads. And this one was no different!

I thought this story had a really interesting premise. I loved the idea of brining together victims from different generations, and the way this built up into a single plot. It did feel a bit messy and chaotic, and I'm not sure it was all completely wrapped up well. However, it's a fun and exciting read, and I did really enjoy it.

Rating: ✫✫✫✫

My Thoughts

I thought the idea for the story was such an interesting one. There are a few different victims and they're all linked in some way. It's a great starting point and I was so excited to see the story unfold. If I'm honest, it did feel very chaotic at first, and I was struggling to follow what was going on for quite a long time. I would have liked to have seen it simplified ever so slightly. When there's so many storylines going on at once, you need to make sure it isn't overwhelming for the reader, and I think this could have been handled slightly better. 

However, something that made up for it was the setting of the story. The little town gave such an ominous atmosphere and I thought that was created so well for the reader. The spooky little town gave me serious Pretty Little Liars vibes and it all just worked! The range of characters definitely helped too - you had the outcasts, the newbies, the popular crowd, and some authority figures sprinkled in too. The dual narrative felt a little unnecessarily complicated, but I can see why it was written that way. We do get different perspectives, but it meant there was just a bit too much going on. Once I got used to it, though, I didn't really mind it.

That's a bit of a theme: when I got my head round everything, I loved it! But it took a little while to get to that point because there was so much going on. There were a lot of clues and red herrings and it all unravelled in a really intriguing way. I'm not sure everything was tied up very neatly at the end, and a few areas of the story could have been dealt with a little more cohesively. I did guess what was coming quite far in advance, but that actually didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story at all. It all just had a really great impact that totally sold the YA thriller feel!

The Verdict

I had really high hopes for Two Can Keep a Secret and I thankfully really enjoyed it. I've definitely preferred McManus' other books, but I still thought this was a great YA read. It was incredibly easy to get through and I loved the thriller atmosphere, which was written so well throughout. I do wish it hadn't been quite so chaotic, but I can also appreciate that this was because the book contained so many big ideas, so i can't be too frustrated by it! A great recommendation for YA fans!