Every Last Secret

I’m months late to this party, but man am I glad I finally showed up!

Neena Ryder is a woman on a mission.  She knows what the ho-hum middle class life is like, but  when she and her husband, Matt, move in next door to uber wealthy William and Cat Winthorpe, and she starts working for William’s company, she gets a taste of the good life and she wants more of it, no matter what, or who, she needs to “do” to get there.  (Yes - that means two things.)  There’s only one problem:  she’s not the only one who intends to do whatever it takes to get what she wants.  In Neena and Cat’s chess match, everyone is a potential pawn.

I’ve had to think a lot about how to word this review, because on the one hand, I was completely absorbed into this story, and on the other, I was frankly just a little stressed out by it!  Torre’s writing is amazing and her characters come alive on the page.  I was surprised to feel as much as I did for them, since it could be argued that none of them had the kind of character you’d be rooting for, with the exception (maybe) of Neena’s kind, but doting, doormat of a husband, Matt.  

As despicable as their behavior was at times, I was still ultimately rooting for William and Cat and felt very protective of what they’d built together, so I experienced some pretty intense feelings of hostility toward Neena, in her blatantly narcissistic and increasingly unhinged efforts to climb the social ladder.  Is Cat a good person?  Eh.  She’s got her own less-than-stellar issues.  Did I still feel for her situation?  Heck yeah!  Whatever detachment from reality wealth brings, at the end of the day, insecurity makes us all a little crazy, doesn’t it?  Does William get a free pass for his behavior?  No way!  However, I did appreciate how he handled his part in the fall-out of events at the end.

Speaking of the end, I was actually really pleasantly surprised and almost touched by it.  I expected it to go in a very specific, predictable direction, and Torre didn’t go there, though at first it seemed she would.  Between the character insights and her author’s note, I could see certain characters and aspects of the book in a softer light.

Anyways, I’m leaving plot points vague, since it’s better to let this story unfold on its own, but all I can say is buckle up, because it’s one helluva ride!

★★★★ ½  (rounded to 4, though I may round up after thinking about it some more)