Review: Keeping Secrets by Lisa Eugene

Title: Keeping Secrets
Author: Lisa Eugene
Releases:
Souce - ARC
Links:
Goodreads

Synopsis:

Is that how a little girl sits?
No, Daddy.
How should a little girl sit?
Shoulders back and tummy in.
And how should a little girl look?
Always neat and pretty
That’s my girl.

Twenty-four-year-old Alexa Kennedy is beautiful, sharp as a whip, and at the top of her medical school class. She’s also been waging a war in her head for as long as she can remember. Depression. Hatred. Self-loathing. These feelings feed the pain inside her, fueling her quest for a perfection that she can never achieve. 

In one life-changing moment, Dex Blakewell crashes into her world. Dex is funny, gorgeous, and irresistible. He chases away the darkness and fills her with light and laughter. An unusual friendship blossoms, making no demands or expectations. 

Friendship turns into an unexpected love and a delicious passion. Alexa realizes that the only thing tethering her to sanity is their connection. But even Dex’s strength can’t keep her demons at bay forever. 

When life overwhelms her, the outside world starts to mirror her inner turmoil. And when Dex discovers she’s been keeping horrible secrets, will she finally shatter or find a way through the darkness? Will the promise of love be enough to save her from self-destruction?

My Review:

Keeping secrets tackles some serious subjects, but it does so in a truly realistic way. The characters and their stories shine through but more importantly, I think are the lessons learned.  I don't want to give away parts of the book, because I feel it is best left for the reader to find out all the details and characters secrets on their own, so I'm going to try to keep this spoiler free. Alexa is determined and goal oriented but she lets this be a detriment because while she has focus, she's also lost it. Parts of this story were hard to read and I think that's what made it so valuable. It really strikes home the fact that you never know what someone is struggling with, no clue to their internal suffering. I loved that though their initial meeting was rife with pain and anger, Alexa and Dex were able to build an amazing friendship. Dex was a hard but sweet man who needed someone in his life to prove his past experiences were not indicative of all relationships with women. He cared deeply and it was shown clearly throughout the book. Keeping secrets is an emotional story. It shows us a lot about what motivates a person and how those that should support us the most often let us down. We saw growth within struggles, we saw turmoil followed by smiles. This book is important because it truly sheds light on serious problems but does so in a way that is less in your face. You know that feeling when you know something is going to happen but you are powerless to stop it, I felt that while reading this book and I think it fits. People who have these issues in real life often suffer in silence unable to share that part of themselves, but those in their life question what they could have done. If only they knew. Lisa Eugene did an amazing job piecing this tale together.