{Review} The Secret Year - Jennifer R. Hubbard

Take Romeo and Juliet. Add The Outsiders. Mix thoroughly. Colt and Julia were secretly together for an entire year, and no one, not even Julia's boyfriend, knew. They had nothing in common, with Julia in her country club world on Black Mountain and Colt from down on the flats, but it never mattered. Until Julia dies in a car accident, and Colt learns the price of secrecy. He can't mourn Julia openly, and he's tormented that he might have played a part in her death. When Julia's journal ends up in his hands, Colt relives their year together at the same time that he's desperately trying to forget her. But how do you get over someone who was never yours in the first place?

I've had this book sitting on my shelf for a long time so I thought it was about time I got around to reading it. Plus I wanted a quick read and this was one of the shortest books I own.

So it's been a few day since I finished reading The Secret Year and I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about the book as a whole. I liked the way the story was told through Colt's flashbacks and Julia's letters in her journal as well as Colt's current situations, the style reminded me a lot of Thirteen Reasons Why which I enjoyed quite a bit.

 The story is definitely one that pulls on the heartstrings watching Colt privately go through his grief over the girl that was never really his while reliving their year together through Julia's notebook as he tries to find the answers to the questions he has about what their relationship meant and the guilt he feels over her death. I wish there was a bit more character development with some of the more minor characters and some more insight into the relationships amongst the characters. At the end of the book I still feel like I don't know what kind of person Julia really was as she is mostly seen through Colts eyes.
All in all The Secret Year was an enjoyable read and a good one if you're looking for something quick to read.



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