Deadly Little Secret

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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Beth says 4 Stars...

This book seriously creeped me out. I didn't mind it for the most part, but it was still so creepy. The chapters that were felt like pages out of the stalker's notebook were very disturbing, yet so fascinating. It really gave insight to the character, but didn't go overboard. I thought that Camelia was an interesting character, but not my favorite person. She was so unaware of everything and everyone else, particularly those who cared for her. I wanted more depth and awareness from her. Her parents were fun characters, but I feel like I just read another book with the exact same parents. I thought the plot moved along nicely, but it wasn't always clear what it was. It took it a while to get going and clarify everything, but once it happened it was fantastic. I enjoyed the suspense and the thrill of the story. I was on the edge of my seat for the last two-thirds of the book. I particularly appreciated the twists and turns; I didn't expect the ending. There was a small amount of predicatability, but that really was the only way to move the plot forward and actually have a story to tell. The characers were fun, but many of them lacked substance. I wanted more depth in everyone, and more screen time for the supporting cast. Camelia's best friends were so funny that I wanted the focus to be on them! I hope that the characters will grow a great deal throughout the rest of the series. This continues in the vein of what I expected from Stolarz, thrilling with a bit of the supernatural thrown in for good measure. This has the beginnings of a really fun series, and I'm excited to read the second book.

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