Book Review: A Simple Secret {Darcey Bell}

Do you remember a few weeks ago when I picked up 3 new (to me) books from a generous library donation?  Last week I decided to read one of them and it was AMAZING.  This book review was such an easy one to write because my feelings about this book were so clear cut.  I LOVED IT.  I was so impressed with this debut novel by Darcey Bell and I’m anxiously awaiting future works by this clearly gifted writer.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

It starts with a simple favor—an ordinary kindness mothers do for one another. When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son Nicky after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and her son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together—just like she and Emily. A widow and stay-at-home mommy blogger living in woodsy suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a sophisticated PR executive whose job in Manhattan demands so much of her time.

But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong—Emily would never leave Nicky, no matter what the police say. Terrified, she reaches out to her blog readers for help. She also reaches out to Emily’s husband, the handsome, reticent Sean, offering emotional support. It’s the least she can do for her best friend. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over.

Or is it? Because soon, Stephanie will begin to see that nothing—not friendship, love, or even an ordinary favor—is as simple as it seems.

My Thoughts:

(Disclaimer: I will never post spoilers in my reviews HOWEVER the comment section is completely fair game to discuss any and all specifics including spoilers)

5 Stars

From page 1, I was hooked.  This book is AWESOME.  I read it in 3.5 days although if I had the time I could easily have knocked this one out all in one sitting.  There were twists and turns all throughout this story (some I saw coming, some I did not) that kept me interested until the very end.  I loved the writing style, I loved that there weren’t too many characters, I loved that the story wasn’t told from too many perspectives, I loved the twists,  I loved how utterly MESSED UP some of the parts were (I actually felt my eyes widen quite a few times while reading…the sign of an awesome book), I loved it all!

And obviously, I loved that Stephanie (one of the main characters) was a blogger 🙂

I posted about my love for this book on Instagram:

And in the true spirit of paying it forward, I held a giveaway on Facebook for my personal copy of this book to share with someone else in the community:

Congratulations Dianna!!!

As I was reading, I was told there was a movie version of this book starring Blake Lively (Love her, LOVED Gossip Girl) but I reused to watch the trailer as by now you know how I feel about spoilers 🙂  Within 5 minutes of finishing this book, I Googled the trailer…and was completely underwhelmed by what I saw.  Even from watching this 2 minute clip of the movie, I can already tell that there are WAY too many differences from the book!  I know people who loved the movie and people loved the book…but I’m curious as to how they compare.  Have any of you seen the movie AND read the book?  They look so completely different!  Based upon this trailer I have no desire to now watch the movie…

Here is the movie trailer:

Bottom Line:

LOVED.  THIS.  BOOK.  The movie looks to be waaaay too different (not in a good way) from the book!?!?  Why do movie studios do this?!?!  Don’t mess with a great thing!!!  Ugh.

Xo,

Jenny

Did you read this book?  Have you seen the movie?  What did you think?  I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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