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Nov 03, 2010

karen rated it:

i know all of you are off writing your damn novels this month, but don't forget to support me in my own writing project: NaReWriMo, where i write reviews for teen fiction and you all applaud my brave attempts to keep up despite finding it harder and harder to be charming as every book underwhelms me and i am forced to resort to gimmickry like adding soundtracks; a different song to each paragraph.

this is my last gay teen novel for class, so i wish i could be all flamboyant and anthemic More...

41 comments like (36 people liked it)

Dec 22, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

The second book I've read by Julie Anne Peters, KEEPING YOU A SECRET is another sure-fire winner about the highs and lows of first love, the terror and joy of "coming out", and the good and the bad that is the thing called family.

Holland Jaeger is the "It" girl everyone envies--she has great friends, she's President of the Student Body, she's the girlfriend of Seth, she's the popular girl who can be counted on to alw More...

0 comments like (12 people liked it)

May 21, 2011

Emily rated it:

Let’s start with some positives.

I loved the writing. It was simple, yet so captivating. I read this book in only two hours. Peters also really gets you to care about the characters. In most books, sure I like a certain character, but I wouldn’t be sad if they suddenly vanished. But I very much would have cared if any of the characters in Keeping You a Secret had vanished. (Actually, there was one character I didn’t like—but we’ll get to her later.) Holland especially had a very real More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 06, 2010

jo rated it:

i'm on a semi-professional kick of reading books with young protagonists dealing with sexual awakening. it's semi-professional because, while i'm slated to teach a class about teens' sexuality, teaching is never far from the soft nub of my life, and i tend to teach what my mind is working at figuring out at the time. managing to do this requires a constant whirlwind of reading-list changes and in-between-semesters reading -- my mind re-adjusts its focus constantly, and even a tiny little adjustm More...

5 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 05, 2008

Meagan rated it:

Holland is, by all appearances, the perfect high school student. She is student council president, she's taking extra and advanced classes in pursuit of a college scholarship, she's on the swim team, and she has a popular and devoted boyfriend. Despite all this, she feels pressured by her mother, friends, and guidance counselor to pursue a particular kind of life that she's not sure she wants. Everything changes for her one day when CeCe transfers from another school. CeCe is confident, beau More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 07, 2008

kates rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2009

Jennie rated it:

Reading through the YA fiction available for GLBTQ readers has been a somewhat disappointing experience. I would really give book this book 2.5 stars because there are some things the book does right, but really I can only classify it as "okay."

While the topic in this book is really important, I would love to see it handled by a truly skilled writer such as Laurie Halse Anderson. The writing in Keeping You a Secret is just not that great and I'm sorry that GLBTQ YA lit ofte More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2011

Bette rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Nov 14, 2011

Kathryn added it

The main character, Holland, is just about to give in to societal norms for girls: meet a guy, fall in love. This is, until she meets CeCe, who is an “out” lesbian. CeCe introduces her to a life she never imagined was in store for her. Holland is awakened in more ways than just sexually.
I would recommend this novel for every reader. This is a piece of literature that can touch every single person – that’s right, even heterosexuals. Keeping You a Secret allows us to recall our first love a More...

0 comments like

Jul 30, 2011

Johnp rated it:

Another pick from Goodread's GLBT list and another solid hit!

We meet Holland - a senior who has her life in order: heavy class load, school council president, a doting boyfriend and a boatload of colleges to apply to. Enter Cecelia (or CeCe) - a new girl who transfers in. Holland becomes intrigued with CeCe - to the point that she is always thinking about her. CeCe is an out-and-proud lesbian. This makes Holland take a hard look at herself and realize that her feelings for CeCe More...

0 comments like

Jun 18, 2011

Rebecca rated it:

I love the Auckland central library, I rarely have to venture past the recently returned shelf to find something that peaks my interest, but their selection of YA fiction is seriously lacking. I have a few pages on my list of YA books and hardly any of them are stocked. And it costs money to have books moved within the system, so I am SOL in reading them while I am here. And something you just need a mindless quick read! This was defiantly one of them. A pretty heavy subject, but a super easy qu More...

0 comments like

Feb 23, 2011

Alisha rated it:

Keeping You a Secret is the first book I've read where being gay was the main topic. I've read books where this was more of a minor topic or something in the background, ~~but nothing that had you focusing solely on the subject of LGBT~~ (heh. Never mind. I just remembered that I read Fingersmith about two years ago. Amazing novel!) or rather coming out. While I did like it, I felt that it was just okay.

My main issue with this was that all of the characters seemed very one-dimensiona More...

0 comments like

Oct 25, 2010

Lisa rated it:

when i first bought this book from the store i didnt read the back cover or the first page. I just thought the title was interesting and decided to give it a chance. To be honest, looking at it during first glance i thought the cover was of a boy and a girl and didn't even realize it was a gay couple. Reading the first few pages i was alittle skeptic on weither i'd like it or not because id never read anything like it before. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful and amazing stories i h More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 11, 2010

YA Reads rated it:

Holland has it made: she’s pretty, popular, and she’s got Seth – the most popular boy in school – all to herself. Sounds perfect, huh? Well, we all know what happens to perfect stories: they don’t stay perfect for long.

Perfection, though, depends on your perspective.

Enter Cece Goddard. She’s new at school and Holland can’t help but notice her. Actually, Cece makes it her business to ensure that she’s definitely on Holland’s radar. Cece is beautiful, confident, and much to Cec More...

0 comments like

Mar 04, 2010

Cidmarie rated it:

What i learned from this book called "Keeping you a secret" is that its hard comeing out to your parents. some perents take it easy, some kick you out of the house, and others accept you for who you are but don't completely accept you. This book is about 2 lesbian girls that fall inlove with eachother. One of themm came out to her parents and her friends the other didnt and does'nt know if she is a lesbian or bi. The girl that came out already lives with her mom,dad,and her brother . T More...

1 comment like

Aug 28, 2010

Amie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Feb 02, 2010

Kayla rated it:

This book is beautiful. I cannot express enough how glad I am to have come in counter with it. I'd love to read more LGBT books. All of them, every romance novel based on a homosexual paring has such an intensity that cannot be measured the same as a heterosexual one, or at least with the same qualifications.

So what's the big deal? The main character is a normal straight girl in the beginning, well, that's what she thinks. Holland has expectations set for her, she has a boyfriend, sh More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 25, 2011

Hope rated it:

When I got this book I did not realise that it was about homosexual romance, about two young adults. I thought it was just another romance. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that this is about homosexual relationship; I read this book in one sitting and it was a good book.

At first I thought that this was going to be a meaningful book, but it turned out to be a romance book that touches on sensitive topic of homosexuality. Book deal with self realisation, coming out and dealing More...

0 comments like

Apr 06, 2010

K. rated it:

This is a great LGBT/Queer book. It's got great characters, a protagonist whose heady revelry in the dawning physicality of her first really passionate relationship is romantic and wonderful, and an ending that is hopeful but not too cinderella-y.

Holland has a boyfriend, parental pressure to do well enough for a good college, is student body president, and an athlete. She's popular and a perfect life is laid out for her, hers for the taking. So why does she find it so hard to walk th More...

0 comments like

Nov 24, 2009

Molly rated it:

I was a little uneasy when picking out a LBGTQ book to read. After learning a little more about this book, I realized the exact truth of everyday situations that kids and adults face of falling in love for the first time and dealing with "coming out". This book has opened my eyes to a whole new world of literature. I think that by reading this book, and being a future teacher, I will be more at ease of confronting students that are going through the same situations as the girls in this More...

0 comments like

May 18, 2009

Abbey rated it:

Alright, first and foremost: more YA novels need to be written about GLBTQ youth. So thank you Julie Anne Peters for writing a book on an improtant issue. HOWEVER, this book is so painfully a formula problem novel that I could barely find it believable. Student body, popular Holland falls for the 'bad' girl Cece- an out lesbian activist who transfered to her school and her life changes forever. When Holland's mom finds out, she gets kicked out of the house, but her 'love' for Cece will sustai More...

1 comment like

Dec 30, 2009

Anna rated it:

This was a lot more intense than I had expected. The beginning dragged a bit and I didn't care much for Holland until she actually came out but all the drama with her family was, WOW, very intense. And I thought this character really grew and changed so much throughout the novel.

I found myself actually taking a lot away from this book, in terms of life lessons and learning what it must be like to come out. I guess I naively assumed that a lot of people are like Winslow -- okay with More...

0 comments like

Aug 28, 2011

Cal {Heather} rated it:

This is a book I found randomly in a New Jersey overstock book store. It is well-written and honest look at the life of Holland Jaeger, who is on the student council, has the perfect boyfriend, an insanely busy schedule and a different family, being pressed by her mother to figure out what college she will go to and get herself into a pre-law program when Holland has no idea what she wants to do.

The anesthetic way Holland goes through life is disrupted by the arrival of Cece Goddard More...

0 comments like

Aug 10, 2011

Courtney rated it:

Eh, this book isn't anything special. Don't get me wrong, it still sucked me in and kept me reading. But as far as LGBT novels go, it's pretty generic. However, it was written in 2003 (according to the info inside the cover), so hell, there were probably way fewer options of this type then ((though I don't know for sure! I wasn't reading LGBT novels when I was....11 xD))

This novel was also really, really strange for me if only because it reminded me soooooo much of me and my ex! I ha More...

0 comments like

Oct 16, 2010

Amy rated it:

Holland Jaeger is a senior in high school as well as president of the student council. She's popular and smart and has a secret, which she doesn't even realize until later on in the novel. However, the book starts out with obvious clues as to what this particular secret is. Holland, it turns out, is homosexual. She didn't realize it until she met a girl named Cecelia, who ended up bringing Holland "out of the closet."

This was the first book I read that was entirely about homo More...

0 comments like

May 31, 2011

Ewg rated it:

My rating depends on what hat I put on. If I read it compared to the literature that I read now, the rating would be much lower as this isn't a book meant for my age range (30+). If I look at the book from the perspective of a young adult who is curious or engaging with their identity then I see this book as valuable.

I may find the author's writing rather bland and straightforward. Yes, she does border on cliche in her choice of protagonist. In fact, having the main character so 'perfe More...

0 comments like

Jul 21, 2010

Franki rated it:

Why do our queer novels and movies always have to write about this massive plight that their gayness inevitably is? Everything that happened was so extreme and exacerbated to the point of annoyance. A girl who has no idea that she's gay meets a girl, falls in love and leaves her boyfriend for it.... that's all I ever really want from my lezzie mellodramas. But then they have to throw in crazy things like homophobic spray paintings on lockers, tire slashings out of some anti-gay retribution, snea More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 09, 2011

Geraldine rated it:

Amazing book by Julie Anne Peters. It's a pretty tear-jerker novel, I would say. The writing style is simple and captivating; I can't stop flipping the pages once I set my eyes on the first chapters.

The novel captures the essence of the struggling lives of girls or women who came to realisation about their own sexuality and are sort of 'coming out'. It really deals with the real situation that many homophobic people face now in this era where such feelings or activities are condemned i More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 21, 2010

Ellie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 24, 2011

Mae rated it:

When I saw it on Amazon.com when I was looking for books one or two years ago, I had no idea it was a GLBT novel. Although, I read GLBT fan fictions, reading a novel about sexuality is just refreshing.

This book gave me some sort of connection to Holland. I can identify myself with her in terms of just being who I want to be. It's hard to live on people's expectations that once you've got the freedom of doing what you want, you don't know what you would do with it.

Julie Anne P More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)