Audience
Teenagers
Genre
Mystery, Thriller, Whodunnit
Pages
400
Recommended For and Similar Reads
Tired of reading mysteries and figuring out the puzzle halfway through the book like the rest of us? Finally, a novel that has a shocking ending no matter how hard you try to figure it out! All Your Twisted Secrets is a thrilling masterpiece for mature teenagers looking for realistic and complex whodunnit mysteries. If you have watched and loved "Clue" and "Game Night" or read and enjoyed One of Us is Lying and Murder On the Orient Express, you should read All Your Twisted Secrets!
Summary by Diana Urban
“Welcome to dinner, and again, congratulations on being selected. Now you must do the selecting.”
What do the queen bee, star athlete, valedictorian, stoner, loner, and music geek all have in common? They were all invited to a scholarship dinner, only to discover it’s a trap. Someone has locked them into a room with a bomb, a syringe filled with poison, and a note saying they have an hour to pick someone to kill...or else everyone dies.
Amber Prescott is determined to get her classmates and herself out of the room alive, but that might be easier said than done. No one knows how they’re all connected or who would want them dead.
As they retrace the events over the past year that might have triggered their captor’s ultimatum, it becomes clear that everyone is hiding something.
And with the clock ticking down, confusion turns into fear, and fear morphs into panic as they race to answer the biggest question: Who will they choose to die?
Quick Statements
All Your Twisted Secrets is easily 2020's most anticipated YA novel! With the plot turning every which way, the characters' emotions boiling to the rim, and time ticking down, readers are in for a big treat. All Your Twisted Secrets raises the bar of expectations for all other YA mysteries and thrillers! If you're exhausted of cookie-cutter, easily solvable, and apathetic monologues, you must read All Your Twisted Secrets to “cleanse your palate” and reintroduce you to the big-leagues!
Selling Points
All Your Twisted Secrets has everything...⠀
🚪 A locked room⠀
⏰ A ticking time bomb⠀
💉 Poison⠀
🎼 A protagonist obsessed with movie scores⠀
👯♀️ Female friendship⠀
😡 Bullying⠀
👩❤️💋👨 Kissing⠀
🎮 Fortnite ⠀
🔗 Twisted secrets⠀
♟ An impossible choice⠀
Review: 5/5
Initial Impressions: From the moment I read the summary, I knew I had to get my hands on this book! I am the biggest "Clue" and Murder On the Orient Express fan, so I knew I'd be reading All Your Twisted Secrets whether it was an ARC or a book I'd buy in 2020. I can't wait to begin reading; the One of Us is Lying vibes are strong!
Halfway-Through Notes: I try not to fangirl about books in my reviews, but Oh. My. Goodness! Diana Urban has created a masterpiece of mystery, emotion, and fear. I'm debating whether I should stop and take notes or just keep reading because I am so engaged!
Opinions: Apologies for the short Initial Impressions and Halfway-Through Notes, but I haven't read a book this rich in a very long time. It is easily 2019's best read! I am all-around impressed with Urban's All Your Twisted Secrets; the characters, the conflict, and the ending. The ending, for the first time in a long time, is not something you see coming. It was a complete shock when I arrived at the conclusion! A full star was given towards the final five chapters. The characters were also astounding. For once (that seems to be a common phrase), they acted like normal teenagers. Peer-pressure, playing Fortnite, quoting Talladega Nights, being lazy, actually having intelligence, and how they react to a bomb threat; it was all very believable and made the read more satisfying. The conflict and plot was also well-planned and written. I have read and watched many whodunnit mysteries that have failed to meet the mark, but All Your Twisted Secrets was thrilling, high-intensity, and heartbreaking. A full 5/5 rating!
My Favourite Thing: There are too many things for me to choose my favourite element from All Your Twisted Secrets, but if I must, I'd say I appreciated Diana Urban's writing style. It was strangely comforting and yet completely unfamiliar, as if the characters were just out of your reach. I had a strong understanding of what was going on, but as Urban slowly released more and more information, I began questioning everything I'd been told. Urban wrote the chapters in alternating timelines, meaning Chapter A is current time and Chapter B is ten years ago and back and forth. This gave the impression of time running out, a big motif when discussing the themes. Diana Urban did not just tell an interesting story, she crafted a marvelous novel.
My Least Favourite Thing: Unfortunately, My Least Favourite Thing contains a big spoiler. If you would honestly like to know because you have already read the book, please feel free to contact me. Otherwise, continue reading this spoiler-free review and enjoy!
Per FTC regulations, please know that I received this title for free for review from the original author. I'm honest in reviews, meaning the fact I received the book for free does not alter the rating I gives it.
Author Information
Diana Urban is an author of dark, twisty thrillers. When she’s not torturing fictional characters, she works in digital marketing for startups! She lives with her husband and cat in Boston and enjoys reading, video games, fawning over cute animals, and looking at the beach from a safe distance. Visit her online at dianaurban.com and enjoy!
Interview with Diana Urban
What is your favourite part of the writing process?
Revising is my favorite part; it’s where the magic happens. Early developmental edits — making huge structural changes, adding or removing characters, or creating red herrings — are like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle, and I love jigsaw puzzles. I love seeing how pieces of the story fit together in ways I never would have initially imagined. Later rounds of edits — strengthening the character arcs, improving the dialogue, finessing sentences — feels like molding a lump of clay into something beautiful. And seeing the story take its final shape is incredibly gratifying.
When did you realise you wanted to be an author?
The craft of writing always fascinated me, but if I told you I always wanted to be an author, I’d be lying. While growing up, I didn’t think I was remotely capable of writing a novel! World building, red herrings, character development, tension, pacing… it all seemed like rocket science to me. The problem was, I envisioned authors plopping down at their desks and writing a finished book in one go. I didn’t realize all the steps that come in between.
Since it seemed so impossible, I didn’t even bother to try. Instead I let my story ideas swirl around my brain without release. I was too afraid to fail.
Then one day in my mid-twenties while on a business trip in Paris, I saw something terrifying happen right in front of me on the metro, and it inspired me to write my first novel. The desire to tell that story overpowered my fear of failure. I wrote that book and completed two revisions in just three months. It wasn’t impossible after all! That novel hasn’t been published yet (hopefully someday!), but once I started writing, I couldn’t stop. I think about that moment a lot—if I hadn’t been on that exact train car at that exact time, would I have started writing? Part of me likes to think so. Another part of me likes to believe in those singular moments that tear your reality in half and set them on alternate paths, a la Sliding Doors.
(And telling you what happened on that metro car would be a spoiler, sorry!)
Do you write for yourself or for your readers?
Both! I always want to write something I enjoy myself, otherwise my lack of enthusiasm would come across in the writing. But my main mission is to entertain readers — to let them escape reality for a few hours and have fun. And I secretly want to keep them up until 3am. No, seriously, that’s my goal. I end each chapter on a cliffhanger because I don’t want readers to be able to put down my book.
If you could ask a famous author three questions about their books/inspiration/etc, who would it be and what are the questions?
Hands down it would be J.K. Rowling.
1. Can I see the outlines/spreadsheets you created before drafting book one? (She once released the spreadsheet she created before writing book five, but I’m so curious what she’d planned before drafting the very first book!)
2. What is your revision process like? How much changes between your first and final draft of each book? (Her world building is incredible, and I’m curious how much simply popped out of her brain as she drafted vs. how much of it was gradual throughout her revising process.)
3. What happened to all of Harry’s grandparents? (And I have tons of other questions like this. I, however, really didn’t need to know the history of wizards’ bathroom habits.)
Is there a story you’ve always wanted to write but never have?
Of course. Stay tuned.
What was your favourite book when you were a kid?
I’m getting repetitive with Harry Potter, but it’s true — reading and re-reading those books got me through some dark times while I was growing up; 9/11, bullying at school, and all the other stress I was under at the time. I also absolutely loved all of R.L. Stine’s Fear Street books, many of which I also re-read numerous times. I enjoyed getting scared, and lived for his twist endings. I also admired how each chapter ended on a cliffhanger, so you couldn’t stop reading. I learned from the best!
Wow, that makes it even more amazing that he read and reviewed All Your Twisted Secrets! What advice would you give to a writer that’s just starting out?
Craft advice: Throw away the notion of writing a perfect first draft. Again, revisions are where the real magic happens. Just like you wouldn’t solve a jigsaw puzzle by pulling pieces out of the box and setting them down in order, from left to right, one at a time—you don’t write a book that way, either. Instead you scatter all the pieces on the table and start working on the edges of the puzzle (the outline, or the framework of the novel) and then you tackle one section at a time (one plot thread, or one character arc, or one red herring), building and building until it all finally fits together. It can be overwhelming to conceptualize a book all at once, but when you break it down and take one element at a time, it’s easier to manage in your brain. At least, that’s how it works for me!
Publishing advice: Get ready to be in this for the long haul. It’s easy to find success stories because you’ll first look up the publishing history of authors you know, who obviously have reached some level of success. So it’s easy to set your expectations sky high. And when reality doesn’t meet your expectations… that’s when your heart gets crushed to bits. So be aware that most of us aren’t overnight successes. Most of us take years to get published. Even after that, most authors take several books to “break out,” if they ever do (some authors earn steady income across a dozen or more books without a breakout hit). You need to have determination and perseverance in this field. Also, make friends with other writers; join writing groups, swap stories, exchange notes, encourage each other, vent together… be there for each other.
Describe your typical writing day.
It took me years to figure out my ideal writing routine, but it’s this: I wake up at 5:30am, brush my teeth, make a cup of coffee, and immediately get to work, writing or revising until around 7:30am when I have to get ready for my day job. On weekends, if I’m on a roll, I might keep going for a bit longer. That’s it! I work full-time as a marketing manager at a startup, and by the time I get home at night, I’m usually too pooped to get into a creative mindset enough to write.
Promotion is also a big part of my writing life though, especially as the All Your Twisted Secrets launch date approaches. So many of my writing mornings lately have been replaced with promotional activities, like answering interviews (like this one!), or taking photos for Instagram and writing out the captions, or planning email marketing campaigns. Sometimes I’ll do those things at night since it doesn’t take as much brain power for me as drafting or revising does.
Without spoiling anything, was the climax of All Your Twisted Secrets planned from the beginning or did you come up with it while writing?
While writing the first draft, I had a vague sense of the ending — something completely different than what it is now. But as I reached the second-to-last chapter, the true ending hit me like a ton of bricks. I will never forget writing the first line of that chapter. That line hasn’t changed since the first time I wrote it. I knew what I had to do. I knew it would make for the most delicious twist. But then I had to go back and rewrite the whole darn thing.
Do you have questions for Diana Urban? Ask her here!
Other Works by Diana Urban
Diana Urban has also written a short story called "Off the Trail" which you can read for FREE by signing up for her newsletter here! Make sure to visit Urban's blog and sign up for her newsletter to hear all of the exciting news leading up to the release!
Links
Website: https://dianaurban.com/
Twitter: @dianaurban
Instagram: @dianaurban
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/dianaurban
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2INGHpW
Full Book Review: https://lifesanovelty.blogspot.com/2019/10/all-your-twisted-secrets-diana-urban.htmlPublication Date: 17 March, 2020
