Family Secrets

By: Ellie Jay

Narrated by: Dr. Mansur Hasib

The discovery was a complete accident, of course. Nadezhda never set out to make an enemy of the woman she believed to be her adoptive mother.

When Nadezhda Moroz finds a photo of her adoptive mother and realizes she's been living a lie, she ignores all warnings from her family and sets out to discover the grisly secret that killed her father just days after his wedding.... What she finds reveals just how twisted up her family's history is. Her search for the truth pushes her into the arms of the mysterious Vasily Volkov, who promises he knows her story...

And his strange, sinister family, who seem to have other secrets on their minds. The family seems to operate like a mafia group, and before long, Nadezhda is helplessly entangled with them, trapped in the town they appear to control.

She meets old and new allies while in their clutches and escapes with her allies to bring them to justice, risking her life to fight them.

©2020 Ellie Jay (P)2021 Ellie Jay

Summary of a great Story

compared to the first book in the series this one is a little bit better.
the story is still enjoyable. the narration is good. the dialogue, limited as it may be for my taste, is well written.

this book is great for middle and high schoolers.

three first 40% of the book or so is much better written than the rest of the book. i feel like I'd the writing style had continued i would have enjoyed it much more.

i would have loved more 'in the moment' scenes late on the book in the courtroom instead of a summary of what happened.

for my taste there were a little too many descriptive words but like i said for YA it's fine:)

overall i enjoyed the book and the main character's growing and story. i wouldn't mind reading the third one. she was relatable and the complex history of the family came to life.

Enjoyable and fun

The author quickly introduces the main character who finds a family photo which starts her quest to find answers to her Family Secrets.  The author did a great job keeping the story engaging and moving at a pace that wasn't boring allowing me to look forward to the next scene or the introduction of the next character. The strategic introduction of additional characters throughout the book added to the drama with each being introduced at the precise moment to keep the story moving.  I couldn't wait to get to the end of the book to learn how all of the characters would come together to help provide answers to Family Secrets.


Family Secrets was a fun book for me to listen to during my commute to and from work.  The narrator did an awesome job and did more than just read the words, he used his voice to bring the story to life.  The audible version of the book is an excellent way to have a "theater" experience of Family Secrets.