Book Review: Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi

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Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi  was published on March 11, 2025 by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Bantam. It opens with Claire finding out that her fiancé, Noah, isn't working where he said he was and is now ghosting her. Claire must find out why. Book Review: Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Bantam for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Claire Darling by Callie Kazumi for free in exchange for my honest review. I was absolutely thrilled when my request for a copy was approved because the synopsis was so good. From the beginning, I absolutely loved the main character of Claire and her work friend named Sukhi. Throughout the novel, we learn about Claire's past and how terrible her mother was towards her. I kept hoping that somehow we would learn who Claire's father was and would eventually connect with him. It's really no wonder Claire had no self confidence as an ad...
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Book Review: Betrayal (The Secret Diaries, #2) by Janice Harrell

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young adult ya suspense book review betrayal the secret diaries 2 by janice harrell

Betrayal (The Secret Diaries, #2) by Janice Harrell picks up where the first book in the series leaves off.  When Casey starts drinking and blackmailing Johanna's group of friends, they start to worry about his well being and whether he will spill the beans about what happened to Laurie Jenkins.

This is one of my favorite series from when I was a teenager, and I have to reread it every so often . . . it's that good and in my opinion, has stood the test of time despite none of the kids having cell phones.  Although cell phones were a thing in the early 1990's, they were still expensive to make phone calls on, so not everyone had one, and that is the reason they aren't featured in this story.
 
Part suspense, part horror, this is a great young adult novel for kids thirteen and up.  It even has some romance in it.  One of the characters does have sex in the book, but it doesn't go into any detail at all about it other than the characters were kissing.  It was all very chaste, so parents needn't worry about their kids reading about it, but if you're worried about it, then I would read the book before letting your kid read it.

The group of friends do have a lot of free time to hang out.  Unfortunately, there isn't a lot to do in Barton, North Carolina.  The thing that still surprises me is how uninvolved the parents are and have no idea where their kids are going or what they are doing.

Five out of five stars is what I give Betrayal (The Secret Diaries, #2) by Janice Harrell.  I would love to see this series turned into a movie or a mini-series.  I can still hope, right?  After all, The Secret Circle by L.J. Smith was turned into a television series a few years ago.

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