Review: No One Needs to Know by Amanda Grace

Sometimes, the cost of love is too steep

Olivia's twin brother, Liam, has been her best friend her whole life. But when he starts dating, Olivia is left feeling alone, so she tries to drive away Liam's girlfriends in an effort to get her best friend back.

But she meets her match in Zoey, Liam's latest fling. A call-it-like-she-sees-it kind of girl, Zoey sees right through Olivia's tricks. What starts as verbal sparring between the two changes into something different, however, as they share their deepest insecurities and learn they have a lot in common. Olivia falls for Zoey, believing her brother could never get serious with her. But when Liam confesses that he's in love with Zoey, Olivia has to decide who deserves happiness more: her brother or herself?

My Review:

I started this book at almost midnight, thinking I would just read a few chapters and then go to bed.  Well, I was wrong about that.  This book kept me up until 2 am, and I stopped reading it because I was tired, and I still had a bit over 50 pages left.  Then, when I woke up in the morning, I immediately started reading it again, and didn't put it down until I finished it.  So, basically, I loved this book.  It was pretty light and fluffy overall, with a few heavier topics in there as well.  The love story was well written, and the characters were wonderful.


POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD


The evolution of the relationship between Zoey and Olivia was so well written throughout the book.  At the beginning, they didn't even like each other as friends, and they had frequent arguments.  Both of them made wrong judgments about the other, because they didn't really know each other.  I loved seeing how they first became best friends with each other, as they began to share more things with each other that neither of them had told each other before.  Then, I could see the attraction starting to develop through both of their perspectives, though neither of them would admit it at first, and then they began to fall into a relationship that was more than a friendship.  It seemed to happen naturally, without any big questioning of their sexualities.  I don't know at the end if they were bi or lesbian, but it wasn't particularly relevant to the story itself.

I liked how there was a good sibling relationship showcased between Olivia and Liam.  One of the things that keeps Olivia from jumping into a relationship with Zoey as soon as she discovers that they both have feelings for each other is that she cares about Liam and doesn't want to hurt him, and Liam was Zoey's boyfriend.  They don't have a perfect relationship, especially when he wants to something else on their birthday instead of their usual tradition as twins, and so Olivia has nothing to do on her birthday.  Liam wants to help Olivia to not rely on him quite as much as her main friend, which is why he does this. 

If you like YA contemporary, read this book.

Katie