Book giveaway: The Secret Place by Tana French

Thank you for my copy. I let DH read it first so some of the feedback is from him! It's not my usual sort of read but I enjoyed it, found it a little slow going at the beginning but once I got into it (about half way through) really wanted to read to the end and was staying up to finish the chapter etc. I quite enjoyed the alternating chapters, I thought that worked well.

Like other reviewers we couldn't really see the point of the "magic", seemed to be no reason for it and then it just went away, DH in particular was bemused by it. DH found some of the teenage speek a bit distracting but I coped ok. I liked the two detectives and their growing relationship, thought that worked really well.

I think I would recommend it to a friend if they liked that type of book.

Loved the cover and the anticipation but I also found the book a bit bulky and rather over long and wished it was shorter. The plot moved slowly and I lost interest somewhere before I got to the middle, but I did persevere and finished the book. I like the chapters alternating between the ‘now’ from the detectives point of view and the lead up to the murder from the girls side and the countdown to the murder. Not sure about the supernatural bits, whether it was really necessary for the plot.

Thank you for the book. It isn't something that I would ordinarily read but really loved it. The countdown, the characters relationships, the alternating chapters and especially the way the story slowly played out. I will look forward to reading more of tana french's work in the future.

Ok - just finished & have to say that as someone who gets through books very quickly, this seems to have taken ages to read. So I have to say it was too long & seemed to go over a lot of ground repeatedly.

I have read one other Tana French book - Faithful place - & loved that one so can only think it was the length that bored me.
However the theme of the book was excellent & with about 100 pages less would have been perfect.
Love being part of the book club & really appreciate receiving a copy especially when it is so eye catching
I will now get the other Tana French books that I gave missed.
Here's to the next book club book
Auntie laraine

Just finished!

At first I wasn't sure whether I'd actually persevere with this book as it didn't instantly grab me. However, the more I read the more interested I became and wanted to find out who killed him.

I enjoyed the alternating chapters and the countdown to Chris Harper's murder, but agree with others who've said the teenager speak isn't quite right. "Er hello, do teenagers actually like seriously speak like that all the time?" Also, the supernatural bit was odd and, for me, somewhat extraneous.

It's not the type of book I'd usually read, although saying that it kep me gripped far better than othe 'whodunnits' I've read.

Thrilled to be a winner with such an exciting looking book. One of the most striking covers.
I did find it too long, although my partner solved that by skimming over some pages and reading it in less time than me! I've been fascinated by the supernatural in my time, but it was explored too much.
This was an insight into boarding school. This comprehensive girl would have had some difficulties!
I liked the countdown to sleazy Chris having so many months, days, etc, left to live. Kept me interested!
Thanks mumsnet.

Possible spoilers below

Thank you again for sending me this book. It's exactly the sort of thing I would normally read and was really looking forward to getting stuck in.

I found the book very easy to read and was engrossed immediately. I used every minute of free time to read it over a few days!

Overall, I enjoyed it. I really really enjoyed the first 350 pages - the setting, the relationship between the girls - and the boys, the detectives and their relationship, the individual interview with the girls in particular.

I glossed over the supernatural bits as it's not my thing but it didn't really interfere with the main flow of the book for me. I was a bit disappointed that the culprit was obvious for the last 100 pages or so of the book and expected a major twist that never came. The rationale for the killing was ok but could have been stronger too and I would have liked all 8 to have remained suspects for longer.

The packaging, cover and PR campaign has been really well done and I have found it very eye-catching.

I shall read 'In the Woods' now too....

So (with some spoilers)

I liked that the book ended with the beginning (Holly about to go to Stephen).

I liked that it kept me guessing to the end. Including doubting that it was even though theyd basically told me it was.
And the doubt was because theyd already convinced me it was , but then it wasnt. So I wasnt certain of anything up to the end really.

Id have liked a chapter on the actual incident, to make it clearer - as the key event was just skipped?

I liked the alternate chapters idea, and the way the 2 viewpoints met and even overlapped.

I got the feeling the final chapter was partly for the people who have read a previous book and know Mackey as a character already.

I think there is a strong suggestion there that he has engineered the whole thing planting the seed of the idea to Holly for helping Selena by talking about her possible problems in the future with her undiagnosed condition. And I think the reason is he knew there was an unsolved murder that involved his daughter and her friends in some way.

And he saw this as a way of getting it solved? Maybe not explored fully towards the end though?

And that is backed up by the new bit on the back of the book in the shops, which strangely makes it look like Mackey is the main character?

I actually quite liked the supernatural side of it. It never took over too much from the basic whodunnit storyline, and it added a nice other-worldly feel to the whole thing.

I'll definitely read more of her books :-)

After the quirky packaging, the promising plaudits from major authors and the hype on the inside front cover; I was expecting something much more. I didnt feel the suspense and the killer wasnt a surprise after all, I kept an open mind in the hope that I was wrong and a twist would be thrown in at the end but it wasnt.

I didnt really warm to any of the characters and the interplay between the two detectives didnt work for me. Like others have mentioned the supernatural material seemed unnecessary to the story and at one point I did go back to the synopsis thinking I hadnt realised it was that kind of book. If this had been promoted as young adult fiction I would have approached the book with a different view and thought it was OK for that category. I will probably pass it on to my daughter and she might feel the suspense more being new to thrillers and closer in age to the girls in the story.

It is an OK book but I wouldnt pass it on to someone saying you must read this book, its fantastic. Its shame that it didnt live up to the hype.

I took the book with me to read on holiday.
I do like mystery/detective stories, and the tagline did intrigue so I was happy to receive a huge book to read at my leisure.
I did enjoy it and thought the basic story was very good. I liked the way it switched between the detectives and the girls and how it was split between the 2 different points in time. I took a while to figure out who had done it so that kept the suspense up a bit.
I also thought that the way the girls had turned into themselves and were sort of stuck in their own little world was very well described.
What I did not like so much was the language used - it jarred a bit on occasions. Both the teenage slang and how the detectives spoke detracted from the ease of reading for me. A few times I found I had to re-read a sentence several times to make any sense of it.
Also, I wasn't too sure about the supernatural thing. I thought it was a great idea but then it wasn't developed further at all and was left hanging really. I think the fact they can turn lights off did not add to the story and could easily have been left out. It did not add to the motive for the murder or the circumstances.
Overall, I still think I'd recommend it to others, but with the precaution that some of the writing is a bit odd.

As a teacher, I have to say that I usually avoid reading books about teenagers during the summer holidays, but I can never resist a free book and found that I really enjoyed this. The characters were compelling and the intensity of the timescale really pushed the plot along. Even when I had worked out who killed him and why, I really enjoyed discovering the way that the detectives worked it out.

Like others, I found the supernatural stuff detracted from the story rather than added to it. It was difficult to see why it was necessary. This is a great portrayal of how relationships between some teenage girls can be both amazingly supportive and horrendously destructive at the same time. They didn't need to be witches for this to happen.

I have already passed this book on to someone else to read, so definitely would recommend to others.

Finished reading The Secret Place at the weekend - wow! I couldn't put it down. I loved the contrast between characters and the split storyline of the detectives and the schoolgirls. I could definitely see this being dramatised for TV (hopefully). I'm on the lookout now for more from Tana French and can't wait to read her other books

I am here to admit defeat. I've got about half way through and I realise I don't care who did it or why. I liked the alternating chapters but none of the characters have me engaged enough to want to find out who did it or why.

The language of the teenagers jars a bit - it may be realistic but it doesn't read that way to me.

My husband read it before me as he is a very fast reader and always looking for things to read. I'll be asking him to fill in details just so I know. He did say that he expected more to be made of the supernatural stuff and it's not and that there isn't a twist at the end so he knew from early on who did it and he was right.

Sorry just hasn't hit the right now with me.

yes i thought some of teenage slang was a bit off too, but that must be quite hard to do naturally. the text speak in the text messages jarred too i thought - most of hte teenagers i know use smart phones and have unlimited messages and it's jsut as quick to type the full word as it auto-completes

hmm, this was a "curate's egg" sort of a book for me. Initially I was gripped and enjoyed the writing with a few minor quibbles (I found the language used mildly irritating - especially the teenage slang which seemed dated to me) but as the plot progressed I was a bit disappointed - not keen at all on the supernatural element and the girls, rather than developing their own characters, seemed to sink deeper into their stereotypes (the bitchy one, the dreamy one, the intense one etc etc). But that makes it sound dreadful and it wasn't at all, just not as good as I feel it could have been. Having said that I have passed it on to my daughter who I think will love it!

Finally finished the book whilst on holiday. I really liked it. It wasn't exactly a gripping thriller, but it did have a nice easy feel to it. Ideal for on holiday. I liked the way the friends all stick together. I would definately buy more of Tana's novels. Thanks. Mumsnet

i really enjoyed this, though i was curious that it was about relationships between women/girls but observed by a man (and written by a woman)

it was fairly clear whodunnit halfway through, but that wasn't the point

i loved that the main story spanned just 24 hours, very clever and intense

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the book through the giveaway. Fantastically explores the facets of teenage friendships. Dark and thrilling!

I haven't read the thread because I don't want to be swayed by what other people have written or get into any barneys! Just wanted to check-in and give my views so far. I'm about 160 pages into the book and really don't care about any of the characters and don't find the plot sufficiently engaging to make me want to read on. I will read on, of course, because I'd feel like I was letting the side down if I didn't . Some of the mangled English is really annoying me. I suppose it's meant to be a bit 'stream of consciousness' but I just find it annoying.

I'll come and comment some more when I'm further in.

I have just finished reading this fabulous book. It was very well written, characters developed well along the way. The author was able to get into the mindset of young teenage girls, and boys for that matter, bringing out all their awkwardness and angst for the reader to enjoy. I was kept guessing until the very end - a great mystery novel, and one which I shall recommend to my friends. I shall look out for more books by Tana French!

I took mine on holiday last week and added it to the pile of reading, despite its size I read it in a day by the pool. I love crime fiction and although I liked this book I didn't love it.
For me it could have been condensed slightly and lost the 'magic' aspect and it would have been a stronger book. It did generally pull me through the book though, I enjoyed the descriptions of the girls, their changing relationships & the school itself. I've never read Tana French before and I would give her another go based on this book but it doesn't grab me as a must read book I'm afraid.

You know as soon as you start reading whether a book is going to grab you or not and 'The Secret Place' by Tana French had me hooked from the beginning. I was probably pre-disposed to enjoy it, as I always enjoyed boarding school stories when I was young, but St. Kilda's is certainly no 'Malory Towers' with cardboard cut-out characterisation.
Both the teenagers and the detectives are well-drawn and fully developed. The language helps with this – the teenage idiomatic expressions are well caught – but it is the imaginative descriptive passages which really flesh out the book.
'..Becca knows what they're like when they're happy, and that's not it. Their faces on the way home afterwards look older and strained, smeared with the scraps of leftover expressions that were pressed on too hard and won't lift away.'
It is not just a story of murder, but the potential fracturing of an intense, idealised, relationship between four friends. There are mystical, poltergeist-type elements, which do serve to reinforce the almost unhealthy closeness between the four, although I did find these elements slightly annoying.
The two detectives are also well drawn and completely believable characters, whose investigation, compressed mainly into the space of twenty four hours, is painstakingly thorough and reveals as much about them as their suspects.
Stephen Moran, who would like to move on from his current work with Cold Cases, says - 'Your dream partner grows in the back of your mind, secret, like your dream girl. … Mine was everything that wasn't Conway, and I would've bet hers was everything that wasn't me. But the click was there' The click is certainly there, and his working relationship with the prickly, feisty, Antoinette Conway develops gradually out of a grudging mutual respect as the investigation proceeds.

The book involved me from beginning to end with its intelligent mix of descriptive and analytical writing, great characterisation and who-done-it style plot. I hadn't read any of Tana French's books before, but I will certainly make up for this remission. Thank you for the chance to read it.

Hi had email on 11 August saying I was going to get a copy of this to review but haven't received it yet so can't review

I got the book and my initial thoughts were that it's a long read but it didn't put me off. However, I have only managed about 6 chapters of the book and I'm afraid that's as far as I'm going with it.

I don't like the main female character - it's as though she's trying too hard to fit into a man's world and it makes her unapproachable and I don't like her as a character. Put simply, I just don't want to read any more about her.

I didn't like the way the chapters jump from past to present to past to present etc. Once or twice is fine but every single alternate chapter is just too much - it's disjointed and just as I got into the flow of the story it jumps back to the past or present.

I really wanted to enjoy this book but there's nothing in it I liked and I won't be rushing out to buy any more of her books.

I would be happy to pass this book onto someone else if you'd like it as I won't be reading any further - sorry.

Marking place as I'm still reading!