Please Don’t Tell by Laura Tims | Book Review

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Debut author Laura Tims writes an intense and utterly gripping contemporary YA tale perfect for fans of Pretty Little Liars. Joy has done everything to protect her twin sister...including murder.
Joy killed Adam Gordon for what he did to her sister, Grace. At least, that’s what she thinks happened. Now Adam can’t hurt anyone ever again, and her sister can be free from the boy who harmed her.
But someone else knows what Joy did, and they’re going to out her as a cold-blooded killer if she doesn’t expose the scandalous secrets bubbling just below the surface of her mundane town. As the demands escalate, and she finds herself falling for Adam’s half brother, Joy must figure out the blackmailer’s identity before everything spirals out of control.

Please Don’t Tell by Laura Tims made my June TBR even though it is ancient in terms of YA publishing because I wanted to make a little pile of thrillers to give to a friend of someone on my periphery. And apparently I never go through the ancient ARCs on my shelves to unhaul or remove. But, I am glad I finally got to Please Don’t Tell. That is, if only to pass it along to someone who will enjoy it much more than I did. Ultimately, I thought this was an okay read.

Laura Tims’ Please Don’t Tell follows twins Joy and Grace. Joy is the bold twin that takes up space, who people remember. She is a fierce fighter for those who are bullied. Her sister Grace is brilliant and Ivy League bound. Grace is also a perfectionist and quiet. As the book opens, we see that Joy believes she had something to do with the death of Adam Gordon, who sexually assaulted her sister. No one knows this though – it is believed that Adam’s death is accidental. Joy begins getting messages requesting her to do certain tasks or else the sender is going to tell everyone she killed Adam. Concurrently, we get flashback chapters from Grace and get to see what happened up until current day in the book.

So, after reading this book I had to look up when the whole #MeToo took off. As it turns out, this book pre-dates when it went viral. However, I do think the themes within are quite applicable. There’s the Adam character who assaulted Grace, but was also engaging in toxic masculinity leading up what he did to Grace, as well as after. He’s just a terrible person overall. I like that this book is positive with regards to mental healthcare and therapy — even with a character who went inpatient. It is so important to normalize treatment. I love that this book was on the cutting edge of that, given it was published a couple years ago.

As for the characters, I’ll admit I felt no real connection to either Joy or Grace. However, I did feel empathy for both. I think that their story was important to tell. Some people will get a lot out of this book and maybe it will make them feel less alone. There is an audience for sure for this. Please Don’t Tell wasn’t my favorite but I certainly would recommend it if you want a serious contemporary book with shades of being a thriller.

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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