Published November 2008 by Hyperion2.5 out of 5 StarsSome secrets shouldn't be kept...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 he's trouble, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. Instead, 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.
Right, I am totally going against the grain here and am writing a review for a book that has been out for nearly a year. There is a reason for this; all will be revealed at the end of the review. I bought this book the month it was released, which was November 2008. I was trying desperately to get out of Twilight mode, I seriously read them non stop over and over and over for months. Ring any bells?? I’m sure it does.
First off, although this review may not be very peachy, I did enjoy the book, it was a good start to the Touch Series. However, this did not do the writer justice, because even though I found the book sucked me in and creeped me out more than I like to admit, déjà vu happened to me all the way through the book.
Picture this: Your stood in the school parking lot and you hear a screeching sound, a noisy horrible sound that reverberates around your mind tinged with danger and fear. Oh no, it’s a car, and guess what? It’s heading right your way. Your about to die, right there on the grubby asphalt on the crummy school parking lot. No wait!! A hot guy turns up and pushes you out of the way. He is gorgeous and stares right into your eyes and touches your belly, gives you a look that’s so hot you almost set on fire. Your mesmerised but he just gets up and walks away like nothing has happened. Is it just me or does this sound vaguely familiar?!?
Camelia is just a regular teenage girl; but weird things start happening when new guy Ben starts at her school. Yeah, got it in one; he’s the guy who saved her from the crazy car incident. Things are even worse; Ben has been accused of killing his late girlfriend. Chaos ensues at the school, but Camelia doesn’t care about the allegations, she wants him to touch her again. Now this is where my problem lies. Why on earth would you want an accused killer to touch you, when you know nothing about him apart from the fact he is a little rude.
Notes and pictures of her start to be delivered to Camelia’s house threatening her, someone is stalking her and leaving these bizarre messages. Who is Camelia to trust and is it Ben who is behind this? Plus, in Chemistry class she has no partner, so they have to pair up. I mean yeah ok, you could get away with either the lab partners or the car crash, but using both is taking it a little too far.
Ben is hiding a secret, which is the reason behind all the mystery and not letting Camelia get too close. This secret could harm Camelia, so Ben is being the good guy and trying to stay away from her; unsuccessfully. Need I say it again?
Also, for you New Moon fans, the ending of Deadly Little Secret is déjà vu from that book too, if you catch my drift. I was quite surprised by my feelings towards this book, I mean the storyline didn’t really float my boat, but it was very very addictive regardless. I was still glued to the pages as there were a lot of plot twists that I never saw coming. Plus, Laurie is a very good writer. I personally feel if some of the Twilight-esque scenes were not in the book, I would have loved this book. Regardless, I am still looking forward to the next book in the series.
Lauries writing style is very strong and is different from other authors out there, even if her plot lines are not. It is one of those books that confuses you when your reading, you don’t want to put it down despite its flaws, which is remarkable as far as I’m concerned.
And here is the big reveal, I am going to read the sequel, so the book isn’t craptastic and neither is it excellent. The sequel, Deadly Little Lies, is out in November and I will most definitely be buying a copy. Have any of you read this book? I would love to hear your comments.