The Secret

by Carol Beach York

It was supposed to be a secret...But someone knows what happened last Christmas, when Bonnie Vayle died. Elizabeth and Carrie can't forget the shock of that winter day. Even now, Elizabeth would much rather spend her summer days thinking of Greg. Someone won't let her.She knows that if the secret is not kept, her life and Carrie's will be in danger. It looks like someone intends Elizabeth takes the secret to the grave...

Genres: Mystery

Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Erica Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moody and stormy but not much else going on in this one. Girl gets attacked by a chair (twice) and has the longest, most mundane flashback ever.

You have to read through 12 chapters until the Secret is revealed and it’s not even a good one.

Also this is one of those 80s YA novels that’s low key fat-shamey. CBY, whyyyy

[C. (Don't blank click my reviews, comment please! · Rating 4 out of 5]

To look at the cover, you wouldn’t guess fine writing orchestrates these pages. This novel sat a good ten years because of its teeny-bopper portrait! The 1970s-looking hair reminds me of high school romance series I chortled at, even when I was that age. From the opening sentence of the first novel I found, “The Ghost Of The Isherwoods” 1966, I admired Carol Beach York. Youth fare or not, I would pick up her work eagerly.

I was unsure if these were mysteries and decided the former isn’t. There were unsettling circumstances but events seemed to unfold without a determined quest to solve a puzzle. I would place the 1966 story as a teen adventure. A mystery is defined by the character looking into a question. This time, in “The Secret”, the protagonists ask around and more desperately want answers. Their situation is entirely personal, there was a brutal outcome, and there is even current danger to beware of. I reasoned that this 1984 adventure is a mystery and it was very good!

A girl apprehensively joins her Mom to visit her cousin and Aunt, where something terrible occurred. Only the girls know about it. Even with a sense that their involvement was external, they feel horribly responsible. You slowly unveil whom it concerns, why it came about, and what on Earth happened.

There are no cliché vampires, accidents or ghosts on prom night, or problems with parents or siblings. This author sticks to the principal plot and keeps you invested in the goings-on. Suspense rises as circumstances become hairier along the novel’s progression, with a climax of mixed emotions that was worth the ride. It is well developed, sensitive, and Carol’s characters are always so natural, it is easy to delve into every story. I give this four stars.

[Grace Chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

My friend Erica and I had a book club read of this together, and this is what it was like:

Chapters 1-11: WHAT IS THE SECRET??
Chapter 12: the secret
Erica and Grace: THAT'S IT??!
😂😂😂

I couldn't bear to give this book 2 stars because I really love Carol Beach York so dearly. I've loved all the other books I've read by her, and highly recommend "On That Dark Night" and also "Nights in Ghostland" for some moody, atmospheric reads. And while this book carries the classic CBY mood, it falls short on not really delivering the payoff, when "the secret" is finally revealed in Chapter 12, and a not very thrilling conclusion.

3 out of 5 exasperated sighs as you read this book, trying to get to the damn secret. Stay for the moody, foreboding feels, but it's all rather benign at the end 💀

[Sofia Lazzaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you were a teenager in the 80's, then you might remember ordering books through the Scolastic program. This book was on my very first order, and it was this book that introduced me to my love of reading.
I had been feeling nostalgic for a simpler time, so I wanted to return to an existence where life was so pure and sunny and bright, like a Saturday morning American commercial. The Canadian ones were always so grainy. I pulled this book from my bookcase. At 12-years old, it took me a whole week to read, while forty years later, I read it in a day!
There's something very cosy about this book, even though the protagonist and her cousin believe they are being haunted by a dead girl. It's well-written and simple to read.
It's not an easy book to find, but if you do come across it, do yourself a favour and get it. Enjoy!

[Laurie D'ghent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good plot line, easy read. It was nice to read a mystery free from sex and swearing.

[Mell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved mysteries as a teen. Luckily friends were willing to lend me their books. :)

[Tessabella76]

I'm sure I read this book. The cover looks so familiar to me.