Book 26: A Secret Kept

        A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay was a strong book that was both different from her previous book (Sarah’s Key) and yet kept true to that book’s success. The book had rich descriptions of locations and people while at the same time sucking the reader into the saga of a person discovering their family’s secrets.

        I loved Sarah’s Key when I read it in the previous year (didn’t realize it was in 2011 but my magical Excel sheet tells me it’s so).  So this book was purchased pretty quickly as a birthday gift courtesy of a gift card from my sis.

        I was glad to see how the book was as magical as Sarah’s Key. I felt like I was transported to France as Tonio and Mel went to the beach. Then there is a tragic accident as Melanie was about to tell Antonio about a family secret she remembered on their visit. But the accident makes a difference in Tonio’s life. He meets a woman to help him get over his wife and the digging he does with Melanie, he learns more about his family.

        It’s interesting to see the family dynamic that Antonio has. He’s in love with his ex-wife until he meets Angele and is disconnected from his immediate family aside from Melanie. He desperately wants to connect with his children but feels helpless on how to do. But with is father and grandparents, he doesn’t feel the need to connect with them nearly as much.

        The main issue at play is his mother and the circumstances around her death. In some ways, what he finds is extremely shocking and part me understands why Melanie would like to back away from the investigation as way to prevent herself from getting hurt. But I a major part of me doesn’t quite get why she backed away so suddenly.

        The characters were amazing in the book. It was one of those stories where the author really nailed the genders perfectly and you forget that the author is female and the main character is male. She understood him perfectly.

        One of the things that surprised me as I was reading the notes in the back of the book was that Angele has her own facebook page that Tatiana will write responses for. Plus other people have created pages for the other characters. That’s a really neat thing in my eyes and a great way to use social networking sties as a way to connect with fans.

        This book took me longer to read then I would like. The novel was impeccably put together. There weren’t any phrases or dialogue that pulled me out of the story. IT was more a little heavier read and you took your time reading it.

        But I hated how Melanie pulled away from the investigation. Mainly because it wasn’t fully explained. I needed to know a little bit more to the why.

        Overall I was in love with the book. It’s such a good read. Tatiana de Rosnay is becoming one of my go to authors for something a little different yet completely relatable. It’s fun to watch her dig into her family’s secrets.