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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent start, June 29, 2009
This review is from: Deadly Little Secret (Touch, Book 1) (Hardcover)
Deadly Little Secrets is a fast paced, plot and mystery driven start to what I believe will be an incredible series. The book is fun and easy to follow, and the characters are believable. The main characters, Camelia and Ben flawed and likable. The elements of their personalities that make them flawed are the elements that make them believable. As a hero, Ben is torn and broken, dangerous and struggling with himself and the things around him. He is a loner just trying to be normal when normal is not an option. Camelia is quirky and artsy and is mysteriously drawn to Ben. Camelia and Ben are a couple that just shouldn't happen, but does, and you want to see it work. But Camelia is plagued by strange and scary calls, and even more frightening photographs. And Camelia just doesn't know who she can trust or believe. The secondary characters are fun and could easy be people walking the halls of any high school. They add just the right amount of fizz to the story.
Part of the story telling strategy is filling in chapters with journal entries, which works incredible well in setting up the suspense and the whodunit. The progression of the entries from thoughtful to scary creates a curiosity of who exactly is stalking Camelia. And just when you think you know who, you start questioning it.
Some people may compare this book with the Twilight series but please, read it as a stand alone. While there are scenes that seem familiar, like a near fatal car accident and Ben and Camelia being Chem partner's, the plot and storyline are different. The road that it starts to create as a series will lead down a different path. Not to mention the characters are not like Bella and Edward. I am a Twilight fan, but as characters, Edward is near perfect and Bella is a damsel is distress. Ben is not perfect, he's not rich, he's got problems and conflicts that are along a totally different wave length and you love him more because of that. Camelia is not weak, she's independent and curious.
Stolarz is an incredible writer who has a way of setting up and unfolding the plot. After finishing this book, I was definitely left wanting more. I can't wait to uncover more of this world, and these characters.
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43 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exciting, but semi-similar to Twilight, February 3, 2009
This review is from: Deadly Little Secret (Touch, Book 1) (Hardcover)
This book was extremely entertaining with a great plot and storyline- there are no slow parts in the book (unlike what some reviewers said) and the ending just screams for the next book in the series. I loved the stalker-ness of the book, becasue the whole time I was reading it, I was trying to find out who the lingerie-leaver was.... is it really Ben? Spencer? Wes? Matt? John Kenneally? I would recommend this book to anyone who is hunting for an entertaining book.
Oh, and the Twilight-ish part is this:
-Ben and Camelia meet when he saves her from being hit by a car.
-they are lab partners in chemistry class.
-the whole "I don't want to hurt you, but I love you" thing.
Anyway, it's really good!
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good start for a teen paranormal mystery..., February 11, 2009
This review is from: Deadly Little Secret (Touch, Book 1) (Hardcover)
Sixteen-year-old Camelia leads a rather normal life. She has a group of interesting friends and loves art. But then she is almost killed one day. A car almost hits her, and a young man saves her life. He is darkly handsome and somewhat mysterious. He is also hated in town and in school. After all, it is believed that he murdered his girlfriend. So when someone begins to stalk Camelia, leaving her creepy presents and making harassing calls, everyone is certain that Ben is the one doing those things. Ben does have a dark secret, one that Camelia had never thought possible. At least it explains why he seems to go out of his way to have some form of physical contact with her...
This is a good premise for a paranormal mystery series. The characters are fun and bubbly and this lighthearted aspect is mixed in with a darker language and theme in the book. I agree with the other reviewers that this novel is somewhat similar to the Twilight series. There aren't any vampires in this book, but there is plenty of romantic tension between the two main characters as well as a paranormal subplot. I give this three stars because I was disappointed with the mystery aspect. The stalker is the person I suspected all along, which made the ending somewhat anticlimactic for me. Other than that, I enjoyed the romance and mystique surrounding the Ben character. I don't know if I'll give the second book a whirl, but this is worth looking into if you're in the bargain for a series similar to the Twilight saga.
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