Review: Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Title: Deadly Little Secret

Author: Laurie Faria Stolarz
Publisher: Hyperion
Publishing Date:  December 08, 2008

Pages: 252
Genre: YA Mystery Suspense

Series:  Touch #1
Source:  Hardcover

 

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.

This book was a reread for me. I read this a very long time ago and finished half the series but then stopped for no good reason. I was really enjoying the series and I think it just got lost when I was waiting for the next book to come out. So I decided in my goal of finishing series off my TBR this year... good one to finish. I still loved this book. It was just as good this time around as it was the first time I read the book.


Camelia and her friends have a pretty normal life until a new boy starts school...right after saving Camelia's life. From that moment on things get weird and creepy and dangerous. Someone is stalking Cam. The new boy in school has a questionable past. It is said that he killed his last girlfriend. Also he is just plain creepy with his actions and words... always going on about how Cam is in danger. So yes lots of strange and creepy stuff going on. 

So like I said I read this book years ago and I really loved it. I remember one thing I loved about this book... it reminded me of the 80's teen horror/thrillers I used to read. It has the same feel. Someone being stalked, strange calls and presents, lots of creepy people that could be the stalker. Yup it had that vibe. When I re-read this book, I got the same vibe and I loved it. 

There are many characters in the book and so many of them were on my suspect list. Yes, I did read this book before but I couldn't remember who the stalker was and it was great. I think I had a better feeling this time around because I kind of guess who it was and I might have had a remnant of the stalker from my previous read... but I am not sure. The mystery was good. The book was well written and very fast paced. 

I really enjoyed the characters and the different types of relationships. Something I don't see much in YA is the appearance and guidance of parents. Now they weren't the best and figuring out something was going on but Cam hid it well. The parents were present. Not only were they present they shared in some of the drama with their own issues. 

Cam was a great character and I really liked her. She didn't think things through all the time but what teenager does. She had a pretty good head on her shoulders and she was pretty strong natured. I think there were a few times she should have asked for help from her parents but I understood her fear with everything going on in her parents life. 

The one thing I didn't feel much of was the romance. I think the first time around I didn't mind it as much as this type of romance was pretty common in YA books. But this time around I felt it was a bit rushed and on the surface. I know further in the books it gets better, well that is what I remember. Really though the romance didn't put any negative effect on this book. The rest of the story was great and interesting and thrilling and I really loved it. 

It's still super good and I so loved it! 

Laurie Faria Stolarz grew up in Salem, MA, attended Merrimack College, and received an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College in Boston.

Laurie Faria Stolarz is an American author of young adult fiction novels, best known for her Blue is for Nightmares series. Her works, which feature teenage protagonists, blend elements found in mystery and romance novels.

Stolarz found sales success with her first novel, Blue is for Nightmares, and followed it up with three more titles in the series, White is for Magic, Silver is for Secrets, and Red is for Remembrance, as well as a companion graphic novel, Black is for Beginnings. Stolarz is also the author of the Touch series (Deadly Little Secret, Deadly Little Lies, Deadly Little Games, Deadly Little Voices, and Deadly Little Lessons), as well as Bleed and Project 17. With more than two million books sold worldwide, Stolarz's titles have been named on various awards list.