The Secret Year

The Secret Year

by Jennifer Hubbard

2010

208 pages

“I knew Julia, but nobody else knew that. We were good at keeping secrets. So after Labour day weekend, I was the only one who knew about us.”

Summary: Colt and Julia dated for a year, but no one knew about it. She was rich and had a boyfriend, and he was from the other side of the tracks. No one would have understood why they were together. It never mattered until Julia died in a car crash and Colt couldn’t openly mourn her. Things get even more complicated when Colt is given her diary, containing letters Julia never gave him. Going through the letters only reminds Colt how much he cared for Julia and it seems impossible that he will ever move on.

Review: I thought The Secret Year would be more about romance but it’s really about moving on with life and being comfortable with who you are. The story in and of itself didn’t contain a whole lot and I didn’t really connect to any of the characters, but I still thought it was a captivating read. I enjoyed the sub plot of the different groups and the lines that are drawn in high school between the haves and the have-nots. I also appreciated that Hubbard left Julia tainted and shallow and didn’t make excuses for her which made the story so much more compelling. The ending felt kind of abrupt, but I liked that it wasn’t tidy. Overall, I thought it was an okay read and I think that there is definitely an audience for this book.

You might like The Secret Year if you like books with: male main characters, story told through a mixture of present day and flashbacks, typical high school settings, some romance but not the main plot point.

This is Jennifer Hubbard’s debut novel

If you liked The Secret Year you might also enjoy: The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, The Snowball Effect by Holly Hoxter and Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder

Author Website: http://writerjenn.livejournal.com/

Rating: W2/4 C2.5/4 P2/4 O2/4 PP3/4 CR3/4
Grade Level: S