Customer Reviews

The Secret Year

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For a year, Colt met Julia Vernon every week by the bridge near his house. Their relationship was kept secret; Julia was the most popular girl in school, and one of the richest, and Colt is no one to the rest of the rich, popular crowd on Black Mountain. But right before Colt's junior year begins, Julia is killed in a car accident, and Colt is left alone with the knowledge of what he and Julia shared. Then her brother gives Colt a journal of letters Julia wrote to him, and by working his way through Julia's documentation of the previous year, Colt struggles to confront his feelings for the girl who was never really his and attempt to keep living his life.

Colt is a very personable and convincing character. His memories and narration are very vivid, yet never appear out of character. The pain and emotion he feels are palpable, but not overwhelming, and The Secret Year strikes just the right balance between the grief, thought, and memories Colt experiences and the mundane aspects of everyday life. Colt's ever-evolving and confusing feelings are very well played out, and they are almost suspenseful in that it is hard to predict what Colt will do next, or what exactly he is feeling, until he experiences the moment for himself.

Colt isn't the only well-written character--the entire cast of supporting characters, from Colt's circle of friends and his good friend Syd to his family (his brother Tom is especially interesting and entertaining) to Julia, who is always alive through memories and her journal, are all multi faceted and intriguing. They all help the reader understand the world that is Black Mountain and the flats and the vast differences between the two. The war between social classes played out in a high school setting is certainly not a unique premise, but Hubbard does an excellent job at keeping it fresh in her novel by drawing the reader into the drama and showing how it relates to Colt's past, present, and even future.

Overall, The Secret Year is a beautifully written and authentic read. Readers will be hypnotized by Colt's story; it's not hard to feel sympathetic toward him as he struggles to deal with his grief and isolation, and you won't be able to help but be proud of him when he learns and grows. This is one tension-filled, romantic (but not overly sappy) novel. I've got my eye on Hubbard!

Cover Comments: As a girl, I like the black background and the couple kissing. I think it fits the story quite well. However, as a more objective reader, I can't help but think that the swirly font and kissing couple will turn off certain male readers. It'll be hard to sell such a romantic cover to a guy, despite the excellent male narrative. Nonetheless, this is a very nice cover.

Taken From [...]

My Thoughts: Wow. This is my kind of book, right up my alley. I have been wanting to read this one since it was titled Black Mountain Road (I believe that was it). The first time I read the summary I knew I had to read it! We meet Colt who is lower class than Julia. Julia is from Black Mountain Road aka rich people territory. Colt and Julia start to have a secret relationship, meeting every week for talking,making out, etc. Than all of a sudden Julia dies and Colt is left in the aftershock of her death and he can't tell anyone he even knew her since they had the secret relationship. How does one even cope when they can't share their grief with anyone? We meet all their side friends and each one has his/her own story and way they relate to this book. I also loved the journal entries/letters to Colt that Julia had wrote in her diary. This book is intense. At times, I really felt for Colt and other times I hated Julia because she couldn't dump her boyfriend and be seen with Colt out in public.I've heard good and bad reviews on this one, so your either going to love it like me or hate it like others.

Overall: I loved it. I will be reading anything else Jennifer writes. I adored Colt from the beginning. I just felt like I was inside his head from the very first page. Adored this book.

This is one of those books that is so achingly beautiful that you can't stop thinking about it. I was maybe 10 pages into the story, and I was already emotionally invested in Colt's life. And that just goes to show you how amazing Jennifer Hubbard captures a male voice. I've dabbled at writing a male first person narrative, and let me tell you, it's difficult! But Hubbard does it flawlessly. I kept forgetting that the author hadn't lived as a guy teen at some point in her life.

Though a short read, The Secret Year is full of character development. Sometimes, short books can seem rushed, but I never got that feeling. The pacing was perfect.

I also liked how Colt told the story of how he and Julia spent their time from after Julia's death. The story even skims over the first few months after the accident she died in so we don't actually dig into Colt's narration until much later. That being said, you don't miss out on any raw emotion. Colt is still reeling, even six months later.

But this story isn't about grief. It's about recovery. Just like the summary suggests, Colt has to deal with the reality that he can't mourn someone publically when no one knows that he even knew her. And that definitely takes its toll on him emotionally. It messes up a lot of his relationships. And I think there was a really great message here: how grief can totally screw up your life.

There were some less positive messages, as well, which kept me from giving the book 5 stars. I would definitely only recommend this for older teens. The book is heavy on language and sex. I also felt like the sex was handled *slightly* poorly on the author's part. I had a hard time accepting that Colt had been having sex since he was 14. I also had a hard time accepting that every girl he ever had a relationship with was ready to do it with him after one or two dates. I could believe that one girl would do that, but four?

I know there's been a lot of talk recently on the blogosphere about sex in YA. I'm not going to go there. I just felt like maybe the author could have portrayed some balance within this particular story. I would have liked to see at least one or two of Colt's girlfriends to wait to have sex. There are certainly girls willing to give up their virginity; but there are those who aren't, as well. I just would have liked to see both sides, especially in a book that so revolves around the theme of sex.

However, I do think that she made a good point about how it's pretty much impossible to have a "no strings attached" relationship with someone - even if you don't want to admit it; you're going to get emotionally attached. And that does something to you emotionally.

Overall, a great book! It almost feels like literary fiction in a way. The prose is beautiful, and I became so attached to Colt that I hurt for him - the mark of a great read.

Colt and Julia's year-long relationship was made up entirely of secret late night trysts, until it was cut short by tragedy. While Colt was at his home in the poor side of town, Julia was attending a party with her upscale friends when she drunkenly got into a car that was later involved in an accident that took her life. Stunned by Julia's death, Colt relives their relationship through letters Julia wrote to him but that he never received until after her death. Colt struggles over his feelings for Julia, her death, and how he should grieve for her and move on when no one in his life even realizes he is mourning.

The Secret Year is a short book, but it packs a powerful punch. Grief takes center stage, and while there are a number of other events mentioned, all of them are experienced through Colt's mourning. What I found interesting to note is that Colt and Julia were not deeply in love. This, even more than the secrecy of their relationship, is what I think makes this book stand out. A number of times, Colt and those around him objectively observe that he should move on because their relationship wasn't that strong, yet he can't. While guilt plays a part, I found their relationship and Colt's feelings especially interesting to explore because they highlight how even surface-level relationships can affect us deeply when they are severed by death.

Where the book fell short for me is in the characters. We get to know Julia a little through her (surprisingly few) letters and Colt's memories, but I found it very difficult to connect with her. She came across as very shallow and selfish with little to recommend her. Though Julia is in many ways a mystery to Colt, and so then also a mystery to readers, I think this served to distance Julia from readers just as much as it served to make the author's point about their relationship. While the first person narrative helps readers feel for Colt, he is so consumed by his confusion and grief that this is all we ever really get to know about him. This is perhaps realistic, but it made it difficult for me to determine whether or not I liked Colt. I felt sorry for him, I understood his grief, but I still feel like I don't *know* him.

I've heard this story compared to both Romeo and Juliet and The Outsiders. I can definitely see the comparison to The Outsiders (there were several times, especially one scene, where I felt very strong S. E. Hinton vibes), but I think the Romeo and Juliet comparison is a stretch. Julia and Colt were from two different social classes, true, but their relationship was characterized far more by ambivalence and confusion than passion and love. A feeling of still melancholy dominates, rather than the gut-wrenching, tempestuous sadness a Romeo and Juliet type of relationship would imply.

In addition to the main issue, normal teenage issues involving parental and sibling relationships, friendships, dating, sexuality, and cliques are all addressed by the author, and she does so as sensitively and accurately as she handles Colt's grief. The book lingers long after the last page has been turned, and readers (both YA and adult) can find a number of topics to discuss. This makes this a good choice for the classroom, though I should also note that teenage sex and drinking occur frequently and are treated as standard operating procedure. The lovers feel like more of a cardboard vehicle for the issues the author wanted to explore, but she explores those issues with such a deft hand it is difficult to critique this too much.

Believe it or not, this novel is surprisingly low on melodrama. For such a dramatic premise--the kid from the wrong side of the tracks has a secret affair with the queen bee, then she's killed in a car accident and her diary winds up in his hands--the emotion of the novel is very real. The fact is a teenage boy wouldn't pine for a lost love forever, even under such circumstances. He dabbles with other girls in the aftermath. Hubbard doesn't try to convince us what Colt had with Julia was anything more than that: young, forbidden love. Julia wasn't an angel or a serpent either, which I liked. And Colt's internal journey after her death is affecting, even for an old gal like me. A beautiful book for all ages.

For a year, Colt was with Julia, but no one knew but themselves. How could they tell anyone? Colt and Julia were from completely separate worlds. She lived in a mansion on Black Mountain Road, and his entire house on the flats could probably fit in her living room. Besides, Julia already had a boyfriend from the right neighborhood. Nobody would understand why the two continued to secretly meet up at night; sometimes, Cold wasn't sure he did either. When Julia suddenly dies in a car accident, his secret life with her threatens to throw his life into complete chaos. Though he outwardly pretends everything is the same, he continues to agonize over thoughts of her, especially their last, less than cordial meeting. But what Cold struggles with the most is why he can't even get over the girl who wasn't his to begin with.

The Secret Year is a story of heartbreak and loss told from a male's perspective. It's very rare that I find a book whose protagonist doesn't gross me out by being, well, too much the adolescent male. So while this novel's character Colt does exhibit many of these tendencies (this story is after all pretty much about them), his maturity and thoughtfulness show him to be a more realistic and interesting character. I found reading from Colt's point of view fascinating, especially regarding his grief and confusion over his secret relationship with Julia. I commend Hubbard for her ability to create such a vivid main character in Cold that so that many readers will be able to connect to him. Although there were probably a few points in the story that could've been better developed, the story itself is thoughtful and very satisfying. Overall, The Secret Year is a very solid debut novel.

The Secret Year will be enjoyed by those who liked Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott, The Day I Killed James by Catherine Ryan Hyde, and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I look forward to seeing what Hubbard writes next.

Accidents happen all the time. The consequences of those accidents vary based on the severity of the accident. In this case, many relationships were destroyed and someone almost died when Caleb got behind the wheel drunk and hit his twin sister's best friend Maggie.

After a year of painful physical therapy and home schooling, Maggie is heading back to high school. Unable to play varsity tennis, or anything anymore, she isn't sure where she fits in with the other students. The one thing she is sure about is that Caleb is in jail for what he did to her.

Unfortunately even school isn't safe because after serving a year in juvenile detention and being on his best behavior, Caleb has been released and is also returning to school. All he has to do is complete 150 hours of community service and he will be home free.

Apparently though, fate has decided that these two need a second chance. Both of them end of working for a no nonsense older lady named Mrs. Reynolds. Maggie is to be her companion, helping her around the house; while Caleb is building a gazebo. The story is told from both points of view so that we gain a fuller understanding of just how easily appearances can deceive us. The biggest deception though has yet to be revealed.

Simone Elkeles has done a fantastic job conveying the reality of this kind of situation. The emotions are raw, powerful, and revealing. It read quickly, like her other novel Perfect Chemistry, and it had the same feel to it. There is an energy that you get form reading it and knowing that the ending isn't really the end. The characters are extremely likable and diverse. I really enjoyed the fact that the author made sure that the accident, that the whole story revolves around, didn't just affect the key players. Everyone was affected differently and there are varying degrees of that affect present in them. A terrific read if you like straight up fiction and a different take on high school drama.

Sixteen years old Colt relaxes in his room when he gets a call from Syd who tells him that Julia Vernon died in a car accident. Neither Syd nor their friends knew that Colt and Julia were secretly seeing one another for the past year. They hid their relationship because she was from the Black Mountain country club wealthy set and he was from the dirt poor flats.

Both of them enjoyed sex and being with each other every Friday night, but had to ignore one another in school. Her brother gives Colt Julia's diary because almost every entry involves him, and how much she wanted to be with him; yet also relished being part of the in-crowd even though that meant her public boyfriend was Austen who she did not like. Colt reads the diary and wonders who Julia really was and how will he move on without her as he struggles to get on with his life while grieving in silence.

First love can prove disconcerting under ideal conditions, but when social, economic, race, religious difference also are part of the relationship, it can prove extremely difficult. Colt and Julia had a tough time of it due to the social class differences between them. Readers get to know Julia through the mindset of people like Colt but mostly via her dairy; she was a troubled teen unable to break down her feelings for Colt from her need for social acceptance by her peers. Colt is disturbed by how much he cared for Julia as he has to still conceal his feelings especially his grief as the other man and still find a way to move on. The Secret Year is a strong teen relationship drama.

Harriet Klausner

When I first saw that this was a story told from a male point-of-view, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it--I tend to not like emotional stories told from guys. But The Secret Year was a pleasant surprise.

There were two main characters in the story--Colten, who is the narrator, and Julia, who we learn more about and read from the pages of the diary. Their secret romance is very Romeo-and-Juliet-like. And while I felt that Colt was down-to-earth and real, I found myself disliking Julia and thought that she was just using Colt and didn't really feel that stongly about him. Even when the pages in her diaries said otherwise, I felt that at some points she looked down on him. And as much as I didn't like Julia's boyfriend, I didn't like the fact that she was cheating on him.

There were other smaller sub-plots in the story: Colt's older brother reveals a deep, dark secret, and the two worlds between the Black Mountain kids and the flats kids collided in a huge brawl. But the main one was the secret affair between Colt and Julia. I will say that the end was a slight let-down. I expected there to be a bigger reveal on the last page of Julia's diary. But overall, it was a promising debut novel from Jennifer Hubbard.

It was so great to read from the guy's point of view. This book is an easy and short read; but it is a very powerful story. It has so many things involved in it, so many things to think about. The plot unfolds in a unexpected way, the way life does. It's a story full of surprises and emotions. An astonishing debut that makes you think and wonder and feel.

The characters were amazing. I absolutely adored Colt, and I did not agree in anything with Kirby or Syd but this made them real. The story that revolves around Tom was one of my favorites, how Colt never let it matter was a beautiful message. How awesome how she made so many plots work in such a short book.

The cover is fitting and interesting. I really, really enjoyed this book. To readers who enjoy romance and real stories about friendship and loss, this book is for you.