All Her Secrets
Lucy has a lovely husband, a job she adores as a teacher, and a house on Mulberry Avenue that she’s decorated just the way she wants – from the floaty curtains and the softest bed linen, right down to the perfectly-chosen velvet cushions on their comfortable sofa. Life isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty close.
She’s also got Amber. Her newest friend and neighbour. They’ve got so much in common. Even if Amber’s life sometimes seems a lot more glamorous and exciting, she shares Lucy’s down-to-earth sense of humour, and Amber seems so interested in Lucy and her life, it’s like they never run out of things to talk about.
But then Amber starts acting strangely, claiming her life isn’t all it seems, talking about how she thinks she might be pregnant, and confiding in Lucy that she’s started getting threatening messages.
She’s scared, and the only person she can turn to is Lucy. She wants to stay at Lucy’s house until things calm down.
Lucy wants to protect her friend. But can she really trust Amber? Because sometimes other people are not all that they seem. Sometimes they have secrets. And they’d do anything to keep them…
The first third of this book was easy going and set the scene. I can't say I liked Lucy, she annoyed me because she was being manipulated and appeared to be lacking a backbone. She wasn't short of friends but seemed happy to cast them aside for some Z list wannabe. For someone who said she would “wouldn't tell” seemed to take great delight in telling secrets to anyone who would listen. If you want to keep something a secret, tell no one. She herself got upset when others passed on her secrets. You can't have it both ways.
The middle of the book was laborious and tedious and if it wasn't for the fact that this was a NetGalley ARC I would have probably given up, but I was glad I didn't as the action really ramped up in the last third.
Th book itself was mainly told from Lucy's point of view but also from Amber's. There was also an unidentified narrative that appears a few times. I thought that worked quite well.
My copy was provided by NetGalley for review.