Secret Society
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1. HALF TRUTHS by Claire Contreras
SYNOPSIS
You’ve heard of these groups – the secretive ones that only the crème de la crème are invited into, the ones outsiders speculate about for centuries – I’m the second in my family invited to attend, but to them, I’m fresh meat. New blood. New money, too. They think they’ll elbow past me, that I’m here for their amusement, for them to walk all over, they’ll find out soon enough that I’m not.
I may look like one of them, with my designer bags and clothes straight from the Parisian runways, but I’m not. I’m here for answers, to take revenge for the blood spilled on their centuries-old Persian rugs. I transferred here in search of answers about what happened to my older brother, who hightailed out of here, and my friend who seemingly disappeared into thin air. I certainly wasn’t here for the attention of the star hockey player, regardless of how much he willed my eyes his way. I wasn’t here for his scrutiny or his judgment or to read into his mysterious aura. I was here for the society, because only they held the answers I needed. That was until I found out that in order to get those answers, I needed to go through him. He’s saying if I want in, I have to play by their rules, follow their lead. It’s a game I’m willing to play.
I may be the second person I know of to be invited into their society, but I’ll be the first to make it out intact.
BOOK REVIEW
Half Truths was such an atmospheric book, very eerie and soul-gripping. It was full of agonizing suspense and layered mysteries around the privileged world of contemporary secret societies. The author was generous enough to give little clues here and there that were quite helpful in the process of guessing what was about to happen next but more often than not, caught me completely off-guard and basically threw me under the speeding train (I had lots of theories, some of which turned out to be right but some—not).
The romance was definitely there but felt somewhat underdeveloped. Although it was obviously not the main focus of the book, the romance aspect was way too hidden behind all the darkness of the overarching secrets, at least to my taste. But I didn’t mind it too much since I understood the priorities.
He left a lot to the imagination. Maybe that was it. He gave just enough to pique interest, but not enough to satisfy.
Amelia “Mae” Bastón was fearless and determined to seek answers about the creepy unapproachable people in cloaks wandering on campus. She embarked on a dangerous quest for answers to mysteries surrounding her brother’s unfortunate accident and a strange disappearance of fellow students somehow related to the activities of the infamous secret societies. And that’s exactly how she stumbled upon Logan, triggering their strange relationship (palpable animosity intertwined with physical attraction and unexplained tension). Logan Fitzgerald was the big guy at Ellis University, arrogant but mischievous. I absolutely loved the fact that he was very protective of Mae and super caring. But the chemistry and overall interactions between the two were just off… Conversations felt odd and extremely repetitive (honestly, the referencing to Logan’s ‘harem‘ sounded annoying).
Anyway, Half Truths was great, a quick and entertaining read. The plot was thrilling and unique. The writing was crisp and tight. The only real problem I had with the book was the ending. It was very rushed and thus, felt kind of unfinished… I would have preferred a duet for this story or at least a few more chapters to elaborate on certain things that were mentioned throughout the book but left out in the end. Maybe, they will be clarified in the upcoming second standalone in the Secret Society series. We shall wait and see.
2. TWISTED CIRCLES by Claire Contreras
SYNOPSIS
When someone tells you who you are, do you believe them?
The first question the cops asked me was if anything out of the ordinary happened to me lately. When I woke up this morning in the room of a mental institution I couldn’t remember a thing - not my name nor how I got there. Not how I left or how I ended up in that interrogation room. The only thing I knew came from the contents inside my bag. A wallet, a student ID, a key that opened an unknown door, and two notebooks.
They tell me my name. It matches my IDs.
They tell me my story. I shut my eyes and try to piece it together, but can’t.
They tell me why they picked me up in the first place. They thought I was my sister. My brain stays stuck there. I try to rewind and fast-forward, as if my memories were on a videotape, but it’s no use. I can’t recall having a sister.
They put me back in the car and drop me off in front of a mansion they call The Manor and I discover what the mysterious key in my backpack opens the front door, and just as quickly wish I’d never unlocked it at all.
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BOOK REVIEW
Twisted Circles, just like Half Truths was such an eerie and atmospheric book. It was full of mystery and suspense and most importantly, action. Another secret society with some fucked-up shit going on behind the scenes. The veil so sick that even the brightest star couldn’t light its way through the darkness. The book was truly twisted but not in a dark romance kind of way, which I didn’t like. It was more of a thriller rather than anything else. And that was a huge NO for me, I don’t know…
The female heroine was Eva Guerra. Confusingly enough, she had lost her memory for a couple of days and had no idea how things turned out the way they did. When she found herself at a police station being told she had a twin sister, Stella, who was apparently in danger and needed help. Besides all that, it turned out that Eva’s sister was invited to be initiated into the Swords, the most elusive secret society at Ellis that assumingly had something to do with the missing twin, considering all the past history with secret societies at that uni. Well, Eva decided then to pretend to be Stella in her own search of truths, and that was when the shit went down.
“I’m done with playing it safe.” I stood up, holding the folder to my chest. “I need truth.”
“Truth always comes with a price.”
“I’m ready to pay whatever it costs.”
The Manor was the enclave of the Swords and the place where Eva met mysteriously captivating Adam. Unsure of who to trust, Eva kept her distance while trying to get some information about what was actually going on. Despite all the reservations, however, Adam became an ally in a matter of moments and so much more in a very insta-lovey kind of way. Not going to lie, I didn’t get it. One moment, they were talking and the next one, they were kissing each other. But I didn’t feel any chemistry or pent-up energy or even tension between the two… Anyway, more than a mere love interest, Adam was of so much help in finding answers to all the crazy amount of questions hanging like a sword above Eva’s pretty head. Whether they both liked the answers was another beast of its own.
Obviously, I had my own theories, but it was not something you could easily guess without knowing of things circling in the author’s mind... The story hooked me from the start but the pacing was weird. And the editing this time around was just confusing. It felt like there were chunks of text missing in-between…
I really like Claire Contreras’s writing style but Twisted Circles was a miss for me, unfortunately.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Claire Contreras is a New York Times best-selling author who traded her psychology degree to write fiction. Don’t worry, she still uses her knowledge on every single one of her characters.
She’s a breast cancer survivor (x2), who was born in the Dominican Republic, raised in Florida, and currently resides in Charlotte, NC with her husband, two adorable boys, and French bulldog.
Her books range from romantic suspense to contemporary romance and are currently translated in over fifteen languages. When she’s not writing, she’s usually lost in a book.
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