⭐Rating: 5/5⭐ - n  Recenzia pe Secretele Simonein

Foarte reușită!! Mi-a plăcut mult de la început până la final. Cu toate acestea am început să sesizez că în cărțile citite de la John Saul cumva apare și motivul copiilor chinuiți de diverși factori, persoane etc.

Cadrul și atmosfera pe care le-a creat Saul au fost din nou tare reușite!

I loved this book! It was my second John Saul book, the first being his first novel Suffer the Children which I really enjoyed.
There were times I really wanted to put this book down but only because the mother's character made me so mad! There was absolutely nothing likeable about her and honestly I just wanted her character to disappear.
The ending was satisfying for the most part. I only wish that the truth of Teri's crimes would have been revealed and we could have known how the family reacted. It seemed a little rushed but overall I'm okay with it.

John Saul va fi mereu autorul meu preferat de cărți horror. Explorează teme profunde care te fac să te gândești la cât de nedreaptă este lumea. Bineînțeles că această carte nu face excepție.


Mereu John pune în cărțile lui un personaj pe care vrei să îl învelești într-o păturică pufoasă și sa îl protejezi.

I’m not sure how to feel about the fact that I related to the main character so much…

A tale of abuse and potential hauntings, this was a very good and quick read. I’m glad I discovered this book but some scenes were hard to read because of how similar they felt to my life.

Didn't have anything anticipated as I first opened this book beyond the cover flap which enticed me into buying it. It fulfilled anything I wanted and more. It didn't shy away from doing what needed to be done. The characters, while based off of simple stereotypes, evolved beautifully into their own self's and merged with the plot which I thoroughly enjoyed. From the beginning I knew this was going to be a great ride and John Saul delivered.

I found this book on the book shelf in my parent's basement when I was about 13 or so. My mum had read it at some point. I was moving on from the R.L. Stein's Fear Street books (I freaking loved those) and thought this book sounded scary. And boy was it ever! It scared the pants right off me! I must have read it 3 or 4 times after that first time as a teenager. Just the other day I found it sitting on my own basement bookshelf.... It's nostalgic and still a little creepy even after all these years. I might just have to leave my salt lamp on tonight ;)

I have to start off this review by saying John Saul has been my favorite author for the past decade. It has been a while since I read one of his books, but I am determined to get through his full catalog.

This one though? I just couldn't get into. It had the classic Saul style of a family with too many secrets. A misunderstood daughter, a cartoonishly evil parent and a blissfully unaware parent take in the half-sister who is more than she seems. Normally I would eat it up but this time around I just didn't care. I think it has something to do with things just always lining up perfectly for plot convenience and nobody questioning anything until it was too late. I did like how it ended in typical fashion for one of his books, but it wasn't enough to salvage the rest of the story. It makes me sad I didn't enjoy this book and I hope I can get back into his other works.

I enjoyed this book the same way I enjoyed The Room, in a it’s so bad it’s good type of way. While the writing isn’t terrible there were little things I found annoying, like how he started way to many sentences with For. For she knew, For if she did, For it was....once I noticed that it was hard to ignore. The story itself was pretty good and similar in a lot of ways to the other John Saul book I’ve read, The Unloved. A secluded rich community, cruel mothers, family secrets, clueless fathers, and ghosts(?). The way the characters act is so outlandish but that’s what makes the book fun.
Even though I enjoyed reading this book I felt wether I really liked it or not depended on the ending and luckily it did not disappoint.
This book was published in 1991 and it definitely feels like a book written in the eighties/nineties, it’s bananas and that’s what I liked about it. It’s so far removed from today’s reality that it was a nice semi-spooky escape. I could see it being covered on an episode of Teen Creeps and I definitely think this is one I would have loved as a teenager. Anyways, four stars.

Wow! What an absolutely frustrating and thrilling novel. Saul made you feel so helpless and horrible for poor Melissa. Child abuse and dog killings are definitely content warnings. I was riveted start to finish.

This was the first book I have read from this author and will definitely be far from the last that I read. In this book, Charles' daughter returns home after a fire kills her mother and stepfather. Tera has a ready made family with a younger sister and a stepmom that has always wanted to raise her as her own. I loved the complexity and the ghost story element in this book. It was definitely dark and original.

I enjoyed the book, however I wish that Teri had left a note explaining everything she had done and that Phyllis had gone crazy or something. I don't feel either of them really got what they really deserved or that Melissa was vindicated

Haven't been this upset/angry while reading a book since "A Child Named 'It'" and while thankfully the book ended well I wish more justice (and bloodshed) was served