Helpful Score: 1
I LOVE this book and the author is a great woman as well. Very vivid writing. I reccomend her to anyone! I can't say enough about this book! Perfect portrayal.
Not just a book that appeals to LGBT people, I was able to empathize with the plights of the main character on many levels. It is well categorized as a book aimed at teens, but I feel that people of many ages would be able to appreciate it. The book does have it's faults, it drags until you get about halfway in and a lot of the occurences seem to happen a bit fast, but by the time I was done I felt that what few flaws I could pick out were insignificant in comparison to everything else I liked.
Adored this book. It was amazing. .A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
cute story about coming out in high school but mature enough to be enjoyed by adults
wonderful book. I absolutely love it!
A stroy about young love and finding out who you really are.
This book is a great read for anyone who is questioning or coming out in school. The story is very heartwarming.
This is a really wonderful book i gave it to a friend who was coming out and he loved it and came out along with his beau and they are now getting hitched soon. I recommend this book to people who are having trouble telling their parents, friends, etc..
I loved this book and after reading it 4 times in high school I've decided to list it so someone else can get the reassurance it gave me. Its truly about finding and accepting yourself as much as it is about love.
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com
The second book I've read by Julie Anne Peters, KEEPING YOU A SECRET is another sure-fire winner about the highs and lows of first love, the terror and joy of "coming out", and the good and the bad that is the thing called family.
Holland Jaeger is the "It" girl everyone envies--she has great friends, she's President of the Student Body, she's the girlfriend of Seth, she's the popular girl who can be counted on to always get along with everyone. That is, until Cece Goddard transfers in, and Holland's once-perfect life no longer seems so great.
The first time she sees Cece, Holland feels something that she's never felt before. Although sexually active with her boyfriend, Seth, having sex is more like a chore--she'd much rather sit around talking, the way they used to do when they were friends rather than lovers. As Cece flaunts her homosexuality, wearing shirts proclaiming herself out and proud, Holland wonders what it means when her attraction to Cece becomes almost an obsession.
College looms on the horizon and no one, especially her mother, will quit asking her where she's going. They have big plans for her, you see, both her mother, who became a single parent way too young, Seth, and the career counselor at her school. Forced into a role she doesn't want, Holland escapes into her art class, drawing away from her former friends as feelings and emotions she can't control rush to the surface.
As Holland realizes that she is, in fact, a lesbian, her perfect life is suddenly out of control. She's shunned by her former friends at school, her mother kicks her out of the house, she's forced to live in a run-down motel that's now a shelter, and she's not sure she'll be able to attend college at all.
Holland must learn what's really important in life, that it's not about being popular but about being true to yourself. As she loses old friends she gains new ones in the gay and lesbian community, and forms a bond with Cece that is beyond her wildest expectations.
KEEPING YOU A SECRET is a great, emotional read, perfect for anyone questioning their sexuality or their place in the world. A truly recommended read.
The second book I've read by Julie Anne Peters, KEEPING YOU A SECRET is another sure-fire winner about the highs and lows of first love, the terror and joy of "coming out", and the good and the bad that is the thing called family.
Holland Jaeger is the "It" girl everyone envies--she has great friends, she's President of the Student Body, she's the girlfriend of Seth, she's the popular girl who can be counted on to always get along with everyone. That is, until Cece Goddard transfers in, and Holland's once-perfect life no longer seems so great.
The first time she sees Cece, Holland feels something that she's never felt before. Although sexually active with her boyfriend, Seth, having sex is more like a chore--she'd much rather sit around talking, the way they used to do when they were friends rather than lovers. As Cece flaunts her homosexuality, wearing shirts proclaiming herself out and proud, Holland wonders what it means when her attraction to Cece becomes almost an obsession.
College looms on the horizon and no one, especially her mother, will quit asking her where she's going. They have big plans for her, you see, both her mother, who became a single parent way too young, Seth, and the career counselor at her school. Forced into a role she doesn't want, Holland escapes into her art class, drawing away from her former friends as feelings and emotions she can't control rush to the surface.
As Holland realizes that she is, in fact, a lesbian, her perfect life is suddenly out of control. She's shunned by her former friends at school, her mother kicks her out of the house, she's forced to live in a run-down motel that's now a shelter, and she's not sure she'll be able to attend college at all.
Holland must learn what's really important in life, that it's not about being popular but about being true to yourself. As she loses old friends she gains new ones in the gay and lesbian community, and forms a bond with Cece that is beyond her wildest expectations.
KEEPING YOU A SECRET is a great, emotional read, perfect for anyone questioning their sexuality or their place in the world. A truly recommended read.
Oh my wow! Ha ha. The book was absolutely AH-MAZE-ING!!
Possible spoilers.
I finished this early this morning and have been trying all day to figure out what to say about it. It was... all right. I didn't hate it, but definitely didn't love it.
The protagonist Holland Jaeger...she got kind of a raw deal. She was the product of a teen pregnancy. Her mother was kicked out of her home, forced to quit school and raise a child on her own. I think Holland was made to suffer some of her mother's bitterness. She practically ran Holland's life, planning her future, going through her personal belongings, the whole nine yards. Later in life when Holland's mother meets a nice man, marries and has a baby, she let's slip that she wished she had waited to have Holland. She thought she would have been a better mother. She thought she would have wanted her. For realsies?! How do you tell your child you didn't want her and think it's just causal conversation?
Holland is in her senior year of high school and is completely over extending between classes, extracurriculars, work, and trying to live her life for her mother instead of herself. She's struggling to even spend time with her friends and boyfriend of a year, Seth.
It's obvious from almost the beginning of the book that the shiney-newness of Seth had worn off, but Holland was too clueless to see things for what the were. And she was busy applying to colleges she knew she couldn't get into (and got rejected from) to please her mother's need to live vicariously through her.
Enter CeCe, a transfer student who is gay, out, and immediately caught Holland's attention. Holland was drawn to her. After several encounters she finally realized that she's attracted to CeCe and that it wasn't the first girl she'd crushed on. She never thought about it meaning she was gay until she was faced with out and proud CeCe. After breaking up with Seth and crushing his fragile boy heart, she and CeCe started seeing one another, but CeCe insisted that they keep it secret, claiming to want to protect Holland from the hate and bigotry she faced daily.
But of course, as it always does, it came out that Holland was gay and dating CeCe. Seth was angry, one of her best friends, Kristen, turned out to be a total bigot, and her other best friend was just hurt that Holland had ditched her with no explanation. And of course her mother lost the plot and did exactly what her parents had done to her, she kicked her daughter out. Holland's life fell into a shambles, all because she fell for CeCe. But not really.
CeCe confessed to betraying Holland by suppressing her right to out herself--which was seven kinds of effed up--all because she was being selfish. CeCe had previously helped her first love come out and once she did the girl became a whole new person. She became confident and vibrant and bold and eventually fell for someone else and effectively cheated on CeCe. This was what CeCe didn't want to happen with Holland, so she suppressed her. Holland agreed that it was a betrayal, but at the same time, Holland agreed to the secret. So it's just as much her fault, and honestly, nothing would have changed her mother's reaction.
I didn't like CeCe. I didn't like Seth, or Kristen even before we found out she was a bigot. I hated Holland's mother and CeCe's mother. And I hated the choices Holland made, and the choices she allowed to be made on her behalf. If she was old enough to purchase her own vehicle and have car payment and work, she was old enough to make her own decisions about college, especially since was was either relying on scholarships or paying for it herself. Her mother had no right, and while I know it's hard to go against your parents when you're dependent on them for everything (leaglly and financially) at some point you have to say this is my life not yours. The best thing Holland did was walk out on her mother when she attempted a half-assed, bull-crap reconciliation. Her mother hadn't planned to change, understand or accept Holland for anything other than what she wanted her to be. And just as her mother never forgave or reconciled with her parents, I believe the same was true for Holland.
This book just wasn't it for me.
I finished this early this morning and have been trying all day to figure out what to say about it. It was... all right. I didn't hate it, but definitely didn't love it.
The protagonist Holland Jaeger...she got kind of a raw deal. She was the product of a teen pregnancy. Her mother was kicked out of her home, forced to quit school and raise a child on her own. I think Holland was made to suffer some of her mother's bitterness. She practically ran Holland's life, planning her future, going through her personal belongings, the whole nine yards. Later in life when Holland's mother meets a nice man, marries and has a baby, she let's slip that she wished she had waited to have Holland. She thought she would have been a better mother. She thought she would have wanted her. For realsies?! How do you tell your child you didn't want her and think it's just causal conversation?
Holland is in her senior year of high school and is completely over extending between classes, extracurriculars, work, and trying to live her life for her mother instead of herself. She's struggling to even spend time with her friends and boyfriend of a year, Seth.
It's obvious from almost the beginning of the book that the shiney-newness of Seth had worn off, but Holland was too clueless to see things for what the were. And she was busy applying to colleges she knew she couldn't get into (and got rejected from) to please her mother's need to live vicariously through her.
Enter CeCe, a transfer student who is gay, out, and immediately caught Holland's attention. Holland was drawn to her. After several encounters she finally realized that she's attracted to CeCe and that it wasn't the first girl she'd crushed on. She never thought about it meaning she was gay until she was faced with out and proud CeCe. After breaking up with Seth and crushing his fragile boy heart, she and CeCe started seeing one another, but CeCe insisted that they keep it secret, claiming to want to protect Holland from the hate and bigotry she faced daily.
But of course, as it always does, it came out that Holland was gay and dating CeCe. Seth was angry, one of her best friends, Kristen, turned out to be a total bigot, and her other best friend was just hurt that Holland had ditched her with no explanation. And of course her mother lost the plot and did exactly what her parents had done to her, she kicked her daughter out. Holland's life fell into a shambles, all because she fell for CeCe. But not really.
CeCe confessed to betraying Holland by suppressing her right to out herself--which was seven kinds of effed up--all because she was being selfish. CeCe had previously helped her first love come out and once she did the girl became a whole new person. She became confident and vibrant and bold and eventually fell for someone else and effectively cheated on CeCe. This was what CeCe didn't want to happen with Holland, so she suppressed her. Holland agreed that it was a betrayal, but at the same time, Holland agreed to the secret. So it's just as much her fault, and honestly, nothing would have changed her mother's reaction.
I didn't like CeCe. I didn't like Seth, or Kristen even before we found out she was a bigot. I hated Holland's mother and CeCe's mother. And I hated the choices Holland made, and the choices she allowed to be made on her behalf. If she was old enough to purchase her own vehicle and have car payment and work, she was old enough to make her own decisions about college, especially since was was either relying on scholarships or paying for it herself. Her mother had no right, and while I know it's hard to go against your parents when you're dependent on them for everything (leaglly and financially) at some point you have to say this is my life not yours. The best thing Holland did was walk out on her mother when she attempted a half-assed, bull-crap reconciliation. Her mother hadn't planned to change, understand or accept Holland for anything other than what she wanted her to be. And just as her mother never forgave or reconciled with her parents, I believe the same was true for Holland.
This book just wasn't it for me.
good story
Wonderful book.
