The Summer of Secrets - Sarah Jasmon

"The summer the Dovers move in next door, sixteen-year-old Helen's lonely world is at once a more thrilling place. She is infatuated with the bohemian family, especially the petulant and charming daughter Victoria.

As the long, hot days stretch out in front of them, Helen and Victoria grow inseparable. But when a stranger appears, Helen begins to question whether the secretive Dover family are really what they seem.

It’s the kind of summer when anything seems possible . . .

Until something goes wrong…"

This was a slow burner for me - I picked it up, didn't think I would be able to get into it despite reading the blurb and thinking it was right up my street, and then before I knew it, it had hooked me completely and I couldn't put it down. 

Although a fairly slow, what I would call "quiet" story line, in which not a lot really seems to happen until THE THING - the main point of the plot - it was the characters that drew me in, rather than the storyline. Helen is quiet, shy, a bit of a loner, dealing with the departure of her mother, whereas Victoria appears to be the complete opposite. I felt a bit sorry for Helen, as in the beginning she is the kind of girl that no girl wants to be as a teenager, but she seems to blossom under Victoria's guidance until THE THING happens, and it all goes terribly wrong. 

There didn't seem to be much alluding to the terrible thing, or as much build up of tension as I was expecting, but I enjoyed the book and any story that keeps me thinking about it, and then going back for more can't be a bad thing. 

The Summer of Secrets is out now and you can get it here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk

**Thanks to lovely Ben Willis at Transworld for my ARC**