BOOK REVIEW | Keeping Her Secret by Sarah Nicolas

Title: Keeping Her Secret
Author: Sarah Nicolas
Publication Date: August 22, 2016
Source: I received Keeping Her Secret in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.

Two girls. One Kiss.

The last person Riya Johnson expected to run into at her new summer camp is Courtney Chastain—her childhood best friend and the girl who broke her heart after a secret, mind-blowing, life-altering kiss. She definitely didn’t expect to be sharing a bunk bed with her for four long weeks.

Courtney has what every girl wants—she’s beautiful, rich, and the object of every boy’s desire at Camp Pine Ridge. Too bad none of them make her feel an iota of what Riya’s kiss did all those years ago. But Courtney needs to uphold appearances at all costs—even if it means instigating an all-out prank war with Riya as her main target.

Neither girl can stop thinking about the other…but that doesn’t mean they can give up past hurts and take a chance on a future together.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains drinking, sexual situations, and a fairy-tale romance sure to make your heart melt.

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I didn't know what to expect coming into Keeping Her Secret. I have been wanting to read more diversely this past year, and this is a step in the right direction! I don't think I've ever read a f/f romance before, and it exceeded my expectations!

 The story was very compelling, and I kept on rooting for Riya and Courtney to finally realize that they are perfect together. The characters seemed real; I've never been in the closet before as a heterosexual female, but I still felt as if I could connect to Courtney. I loved that Nicolas drove home that homosexuals are normal people. They are no different from straight people except for their sexual orientation, which doesn't make them any lesser than straight people. I really appreciated that Nicolas portrayed an accurate representation of sexual orientation. I hate it that most YA contemporaries every single is straight and white. That is not what it is like in real life, so I don't understand why it is portrayed like that in novels. 

Anyways, I'm getting besides the point. Keeping Her Secret was an accurate representation of real life with a compelling romance and characters that I could relate to. The story progression was authentic. Even when I did get frustrated with Riya and Courtney, I could see where they were coming from.  Unlike most YA characters that make decisions with no thought to the consequences, Riya and Courtney were responsible. I loved it!

The two things that made me not give this a full five star rating was the repeating drama. The characters kept on having the same problems over and over again. After a while, it seemed redundant. It seemed as if Riya and Courtney were just having the same fight over and over again but in a similar, but not same, setting. Though I understand why, it just didn't have the same impact after the third time. Lastly, the ending seemed a bit too rushed. I wish that I could have had 10 more pages of resolution to the novel. 

Besides that, I have no qualms. Keeping Her Secret was such a fun book, and I would recommend this to anyone who is trying to read more diversely like myself!


With that, I give this book 

3.75 Stars!