Publication Date: October 22nd, 2013
Publisher: Forever
Pages: 336
Series: The Secret
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 4/5
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On the surface, Lila Summers is flawless: good looks, expensive clothes and a big, beautiful smile. But a dark past and even darker secrets are threatening to bubble over her perfect facade. She'll do anything to keep the emptiness inside hidden-which leads her into situations that always end badly. Whenever she hits bottom, there's only one person who's there to pull her out: Ethan Gregory.
Ethan set the rules a long time ago: he and Lila are just friends. He doesn't do relationships. Although his tattooed, bad boy exterior is a far cry from Lila's pretty princess image, Ethan can't deny they have a deeper connection than he's used to. If he's not careful, he could be in serious danger of becoming attached-and he's learned the hard way that attachment only leads to heartbreak.
When Lila falls farther than she ever has before, can Ethan continue to help as a friend? Or is he also getting close to falling...for her?
Alright, first off going in I didn't realize this is actually part of a series. But you can definitely read it as a stand alone (which is obviously what I did) as it's from the POV's from two side characters, the best friends of the main characters, from the series. So it is their story this time. The good thing this book made me want to do is pick up the other books from the series because now I need to know everything!
This is also the kind of NA book I'm looking for when picking up this genre. It's more mature than YA and also tends to have a darker story.
This is my second Sorensen book now and I'd say she's easily going to be one of those authors I'll just pick up any book she writes because her name is on it. I feel that's one of the highest compliments you can give an author. I quite enjoy her writing. She knows how to get the story across. Or more specifically the feels across. Especially because a lot of the story is pretty dark and gritty. These characters for the most part aren't living happy lives. They have dark pasts or are currently into something not so lovely. So you need to feel for these characters and understand what has lead them to where they are now. I definitely get all the feels when reading.
Lila definitely defines the term that appearances aren't everything. On the outside you've got this beautiful, rich girl. Underneath is anything but. Her parents are awful people and never showed Lila any love growing up. Sure they bought her expensive things, but it was all for appearances. Put up the perfect front and that's all that matters. Unfortunately behind closed doors it's far from that. They are nasty to Lila. Telling her she's useless and can't do anything right. And than at 14 when something terrible happens to her, instead of getting her the help she needs. Her mother calls her a worthless slut and gives her a "happy" pill that will make everything better. Thus starts Lila's addiction. So when we are with present day Lila, she's been popping pills for over 6 years. Her parents have cut her off because she's not leading the life they want. She also sleeps around because she feels that's all she's worth. But because the pills numb her she doesn't feel anything. Even though she knows this isn't what she wants, she feels it is what she deserves. There were many times I wanted to slap Lila because she just kept walking into the same situation. But over the coarse of the book Lila does change a lot. She grows and starts to lead a healthy life. The changes weren't sudden and there was some set backs. But that's real life.
Ethan is such a good guy. Sure he's had his rough past but at this point he's cleaned up and the help he gives Lila is probably what saves her life.
Like Lila, Ethan had a not so great childhood. His parents loved him, and the love wasn't hidden. But his dad also had a lot of demons. Pain killer addiction and anger issues which lead to him hitting Ethan's mom. And she would just take it. Ethan watched this, so of course it affected him. He drops out of school at 17 and gets into drugs. Which leads him to meet a girl named London. From what we're told their relationship was based off of drugs and sex. But he loved her(he thought anyhow). And that's why she haunts him because he walked out on her when she lead him into a situation he knew was very wrong. And she pretty much destroyed her life that night. Now Ethan constantly goes back to that night and how he should have stayed and made her leave. It's the coulda, woulda, shoulda and it's something he needs to come to terms with. After that night, he cleaned up his life. Now he's drug free with the occasional drink. Yea he's a bit of a playboy, but he's up front about it. So that doesn't bother me.
As for Lila and Ethan together, well for most of the book they are just friends with a lot of sexual tension. You know pretty much from the get go how much they care for each other, and do want to be together. But they individually have a lot of personal shit to work out before that relationship is really plausible.
They do lean on each other quite a bit. Lila a little more than Ethan but they are there for each other. And Ethan is the one to give Lila her reality check about her pill addiction(and life too). He's the one to pick her up, start her on her sobriety and help wean her off them. As much as you just want them to realize their feelings for each other already. I still really enjoyed seeing their relationship progress and they are being smart about not jumping into with each other. There's things they are scared of(like turning into their parents relationships) and they don't want to lose each other if it doesn't work out. But in the end, as a reader, I was very happy with Lila and Ethan's story.
I can't wait to pick up the rest of the books in the series, especially since it did kind of leave off on a cliff-hanger. And I just really want to read about Ella and Micah.
Happy reading!
Brittany
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