SEVEN FOR A SECRET, by Mary E. Roach, Disney Hyperion, Sept. 30, 2025, Hardcover, $18.99 (young adult, ages 14 and up)
One of eight girls who went missing returns to the group home where they lived in Seven for a Secret, a YA mystery-thriller by Mary E. Roach.
In the town of Avan Island, there was a group home called Sister’s Place. It housed girls no one cared about, girls who had nothing and no one but each other. Over the course of six months, eight girls from the home seemingly disappeared, never to return.
But one girl did.
Nev is the girl who returned. The girl who survived. She’s done her best to leave what happened in the forest on Avan Island behind her, but now, five years later, the men in charge of Sister’s Place, the men who brushed the missing girls off as “runaways,” are turning up dead. And Nev realizes that confronting the town that was all too happy to forget her may be her only chance to get answers about what happened to her sisters.
As Nev is pulled deeper into Avan’s secrets—and as more bodies pile up—she must unravel the mysteries locked in her own mind as she hunts down a killer who is willing to do anything to make sure the past stays buried. —Synopsis provided by Disney Hyperion
Seven for a Secret is not an easy read. It’s an emotionally draining piece that is dark and is not appropriate for everyone. In fact, potential readers should look at the content warning first before reading it. Author Mary E. Roach does include murder, violence and allude to abuse throughout the novel.
Seven for a Secret is a thriller, but that thriller is tied to the stories of girls that society wants nothing to do with. They’ve been discarded and ignored, and that has had a direct impact on their lives. They desperately loved their “sisters” and want to see justice. They are fueled by rage and loyalty and love.
All of the characters in Seven for a Secret are flawed, particularly Nev. She’s a product of her situation and never apologizes for that. To her, revenge is justified. She’s messy and the narration emulates that. But there’s also a pulsing, underlying current that pushes the story forward with a thrumming necessity.
Seven for a Secret is a dark, emotional thriller that holds interest.
Copyright © 2025 Cracking the Cover. Unless otherwise noted, all books — digital and physical — have been provided by publishers in exchange for honest and unbiased reviews. All thoughts and opinions are those of the reviewer.
