Itching for Books: the sister pact

Release date: March 6th 2018
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis via Goodreads:

In an effort to escape his family, Dylan sets out on the Appalachian trail—but he can't escape his past—or his secrets in this novel from the author of The Sister Pact.

Dylan Taggart is on the run. His family is trying to put him in a school for psychologically challenged students, and he gets it—he has issues. But a special school is a complete overreaction. And in six months, he'll be a legal adult, so Dylan decides to disappear on the Appalachian Trail until he can make his own decisions.

Dylan wanted independence, but setting out on a 2,190-mile hike by himself is more than he bargained for. And he keeps crossing paths with another teen hiker, known only as "The Ghost." This mysterious girl is also making the trek alone, and Dylan can tell she's trying to escape too. But from what? When disaster strikes, how can they trust each other if they can't face their own secrets?

*Publisher approved request via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was first introduced to Ramey's storytelling in her previous novel, The Sister Pact, which I truly liked. As for The Secrets We Bury, while it is an interesting story, it just didn't work that much for me.

First off, I just couldn't connect with Dylan or Ghost and that was one major issue for me throughout the story because I couldn't genuinely care about their situation. Also, it felt somewhat drawn out to the point where I'd become distracted or end up feeling lost while reading. I'm not saying it's not a good story, the thing is it didn't work that much for me. I was also a bit annoyed with Dylan and all he was putting his family through. I know everybody goes through different things but I feel that after what had happened with his father, he shouldn't add more distress to the situation. The same for Ghost. Her attitude frustrated me a lot. Good thing both had a little growth by the end.

All the issues aside, I can see readers relating to Dylan's character in some ways. And I did like how he went out of his way to help other people, and all the things he did toward the end of the story were commendable. The writing is also great, with the exception of those draggy moments. Again, not a bad story. I was just expecting so much more.

About the Author

Stacie Ramey learned to read at a very early age to escape the endless tormenting from her older siblings. Where the Wild Things Are was her first favorite book and she swore she’d only marry a man who could prove he had rumpus in his heart!

She attended the University of Florida, where she majored in communication sciences, and Penn State where she received a Master of Science degree in Speech Pathology. She also met her future husband at Penn State, who surprised her one day with all of the stuffed Wild Things’ characters, proving his worth. Stacie currently works with high school aged Autistic kids, introducing them to the literary worlds she grew up loving. When she’s not working or writing, she engages in Netflix wars with her children or beats her husband in Scrabble, all while watching the Florida Gators and Penn State Nittany Lions play (Go Gators). She lives in Florida with her husband, children, and rescue dogs.

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Release date: November 3rd 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis via Goodreads:

A suicide pact was supposed to keep them together, but a broken promise tore them apart.

Allie is devastated when her older sister commits suicide - and not just because she misses her. Allie feels betrayed. The two made a pact that they'd always be together, in life, and in death, but Leah broke her promise and Allie needs to know why.

Her parents hover. Her friends try to support her. And Nick, sweet Nick, keeps calling and flirting. Their sympathy only intensifies her grief.

But the more she clings to Leah, the more secrets surface. Allie's not sure which is more distressing: discovering the truth behind her sister's death or facing her new reality without her.

*Publisher approved request via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I like emotional stories that surround topics authors tend to shy away from, so I was really curious about The Sister Pact after reading the blurb. Initially, I had a tough time getting into the story, but once things started to move along it became more intriguing and more intense.

The book opens up with the aftermath of one sister's suicide. Allie is trying to cope with the fact that Leah has taken her life without telling her beforehand that she was going to do it. Her parents decide to have her see a psychiatrist because they're worried Allie will do the same. At first it seemed like Allie was okay, that she wasn't struggling with depression or even had the intention of committing suicide, but once we start to get inside her head and see how her life was, I realized she had a lot of issues like her older sister, and mostly it had to do with her relationship with Leah and the effects of her parents' failed marriage.

Like the reader, Allie had a lot of questions. She desperately needed to know why Leah took her life and why she broke their pact. Because of this, she even started seeing her older sister and we're given the chance to experience the kind of influence Leah had over Allie. It certainly wasn't healthy. I mean, some of the things Leah said and did had me wondering how Allie could idolize her so much. Leah even led Allie to believe that by doing something in particular, she would make her boyfriend pay more attention to her. That and the fact that she convinced Allie to start a suicide pact was enough to convince me something wasn't right with Leah. She seemed like a manipulator, along with having mental issues. And the only person oblivious to that was Allie, because she was too set on believing her older sister was perfect.

Throughout the story, Allie made some decisions that baffled me and the way she idolized Leah had me shaking my head. Allie clung to her older sister so much that it drove her further down a painful path, and it truly saddened me when her life continued to fall apart. I commend the author on delivering such realistic emotions and issues that others can relate to. Allie isn't a sweet and clean YA character, she dealt with a lot and aside from her dark art, used other methods to try and control her pain. Her character was raw and imperfect, the kind I like.

There were other aspects of the story that were interesting, like their parents' personalities and how the mom was with the father. I felt that if she depicted more strength and had shown her daughters not to stand for certain things, then maybe that would have helped in some ways, especially with Allie. She didn't consider her mom to be a strong person because of how her mom allowed the father to have control over her even when they'd split. Maybe Allie could have been stronger in facing her problems, had that been demonstrated by a mom she could respect in that way. I liked how they were able to resolve some tension in their mother-daughter relationship toward the end, though, and I was happy when the mom finally made a stand for herself.

Nick was a sweet addition and I liked how he treated Allie throughout the story. She was going through a lot so the way she was with him was understandable, and the fact that she was strung up on another guy who wasn't deserving of her feelings made things even more complicated for her and Nick. Thankfully, by the end of the book Allie started to come into her own, learned to handle her pain in a healthier way, and was finally starting to let Leah go.

Overall, a great story with an emotional subject. The writing was wonderful, very fluid. The storyline definitely made an impact on me and had me taking a deeper look at mental illness and how it's often overlooked. I implore you, please reach out to someone for help if you're going through what Allie and her sister were facing in this book. You are not alone. Suicide is never the answer.