Arini's Reviews > All Your Twisted Secrets

“The thing about being trapped in a room with five other people, a bomb, and a syringe of lethal poison is that at some point, shit’s going down.”

There’s something to be said about recycled ideas that just never get old. All Your Twisted Secrets is blurbed to be a redolent of One of Us Is Lying and classic mystery thrillers by the likes of Agatha Christie. It’s a great marketing strategy bcs I—as were other readers, I believe—was caught like a fish on a hook for that one little bait. However, despite the author’s best efforts to give the book its own spin, it just fell short for me.

That’s not to say it isn’t good. It’s still a pleasant read. It just doesn’t have what I’m hoping to find in a genre such as this. That being said, this book is read more like your average high school contemporaries with requisites of friendship drama, miscommunication, fluffy romance, and some type of imminent future college or career goals plotline. Add a sprinkle of mystery on top and you’re good to go.

I’m okay with this kind of scenario. You know I liked the book One of Us Is Next. But it all come back to the fact that I wanted darkness and thrills and creeps which this book delivered very little of. Rather than giving me all the chills and tingly scary feelings, this book committed itself to being a teaching life moment by incorporating themes, such as bullying, suicide, death, violence, PTSD, and drug abuse. Again, I’m not mad about it. But where’s the fun in that?

All Your Twisted Secrets is told from the viewpoint of one of the six characters, Amber Prescott, in a short bursts of present day and extended flashback that lead up to the fateful night inside the locked room. I get that this was supposed to help build suspense, but much to my annoyance, this only served as to diminish my sense of urgency in figuring out the culprit. There’s a lot of repetition that I was tempted to just skip the flashback chapters. (I didn’t.)

Basically, some tea got spilled in the locked room. Then we are thrown some time into the past that showcases how said dirty little secret came to be. This setup is not entirely useless bcs we find out how the characters are connected to each other and this, in fact, also helped me find my own suspect. I should tell you that the BIG REVEAL was not at all shocking bcs I CALLED IT. However, there’s one other plot twist that did make me feel like the rug was pulled under my feet.

The wrap up chapters explain in great detail the motive behind the bogus dinner and locked room shindig as well as how the perpetrator organizes the whole arrangement in carrying out the plan. It was quite an unnecessary recount of the events, but I suppose it’s good to have all the facts. I also liked the ending. What with this book being an after school special “life lessons”. I appreciate the underlying message that we should always take full responsibilities of our actions.

All in all, despite the commonality of the storyline and themes, All Your Twisted Secrets is a noteworthy debut. Admittedly, it’s a watered down version of what I would’ve liked to consume as the overall tone is rather light. Nevertheless, I won’t be quitting this type of books anytime soon bcs I enjoy reading them and still have yet to find my favorite. If you’re drawn to this book bcs of all the Breakfast Club meets Saw reference, then go for it. Expect cat fights and bitch slaps, but don’t hope for gore and mayhem.

Read Alikes:
↠ One of Us Is Lying
↠ One of Us Is Next