REVIEW: Deadly Little Secret - Juhina

A Touch novel #1: Deadly Little Secrets

by Laurie Faria Stolaz

Genre: Mystery, paranormal, romance, highschool

My rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis (via goodread)

Some secrets shouldn’t be kept…

Up until three months ago, everything in sixteen-year-old Camelia’s life had been fairly ordinary: decent grades; an okay relationship with her parents; and a pretty cool part-time job at the art studio downtown. But when Ben, the mysterious new guy, starts junior year at her high school, Camelia’s life becomes anything but ordinary.

Rumored to be somehow responsible for his ex-girlfriend’s accidental death, Ben is immediately ostracized by everyone on campus. Except for Camelia. She’s reluctant to believe the rumors, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. She’s inexplicably drawn to Ben…and to his touch. But soon, Camelia is receiving eerie phone calls and strange packages with threatening notes. Ben insists she is in danger, and that he can help–but can he be trusted? She knows he’s hiding something… but he’s not the only one with a secret.

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My Review and thoughts:

So ive been meaning to pick up more paranormal books (nonvampire relatred however) and the synopsis of this book interested me. Also ive been pining for the “Blue is for Nightmare” series a couple of years back (havent read them yet though). The setting is at a highschool and with a bit of romance, just the way i like it, so this seemed like a good way to dive into this paranormal genre.

While i did end up finishing the book, i can’t lie and say i couldn’t put the book down or im dying to read the second book in the series. It wasn’t bad to the point that i would stop reading it. I tend to do that sometimes; stop reading a book if i don’t enjoy it. I actually have a long list of books ive stopped reading, i know this is shameful.

I feel the paranormal elements of the book weren’t deep enough. We didn’t submerge in the paranormal elements enoguh. Yes i know Ben has supernatural powers, he touches and  is engulfed in past memories, future predictions, etc. I would have really liked it if we ventured more into his power and his past. Something also confused me while reading the book. Ben can’t seem to touch Camelia without it hurting or him losing control. However several instances (such as when she rides behind on his bike and wraps her arms around him) he doesn’t seem to mind it or even feel the slightest discomfort.

What i did love about this book is the twist in the book. After every couple of chapters, there is a small chapter (1 page) where they show us a small piece of a person’s thoughts, and the person is always watching Camelia. Throughout the book i predicted who the person is, but at the end, boy was i surprised! it was such a pleasant surprise actually. My prediction was too easy, so im happy i was wrong.

Overall i enjoyed the series, i WILL pick up the next book in the Touch series and read it, since i want to find out what happens next. But i do hope the second book is better than the first.