ARC BOOK REVIEW: The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard



REVIEW: 

Thank you Netgalley.com for a free copy of this book.  I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are mine. 

A great book about a tough topic.  No one in High School thinks they will die or thinks anyone they know will die but in an unfortunate accident Julie does die, leaving behind a boyfriend she planned on breaking up with and a diary full of letters to her secret boyfriend. 

This book is very readable as Colt grapples with grief that he can't share since no one knew about the relationship. He also lives in a town where the lines are very clearly drawn. The kids on Black Mountain are the haves and the kids in the Flats the have nots. The two don't mix. But Julia was from the Mountain and Colt from the Flats. 

Beautifully written you could feel the struggle Colt has with his relationship with Julia, her death and how everything seems so big in their little world but he knows that things are different outside of Black Mountain. How do you let go of something that you aren't sure was yours in the first place? How do you move forward when you struggle to forgive yourself. 

I was immediately drawn in to this book and couldn't put it down. There is a lot to this little book that will leave me thinking about it for a while.

Publication Date: January 7, 2025
Format: Ebook
Genre:  YA/ Death/Coming of age

Publisher: Viking books for young children
Length: 
 207 pages
Buy: Kindle | Audio

SYNOPSIS:
 

Colt and Julia were secretly together for a year . . . and nobody knew. Not that anyone would suspect—Colt and Julia were from two different crowds: Julia in her country club world on Black Mountain and Colt down in the flats. They’d meet in secret by the river—their chemistry electric, exhilarating, intoxicating.
 
Until everything came to a screaming halt.
 
Julia is pronounced dead from a car accident, and suddenly Colt’s memories come flooding back. One about the fight they’d had on their last night together . . . 

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