I'm thinking somewhere around 3.5.

Let me start by saying, this series should have wrapped up with 2 books. NO reason whatsoever to drag it to 3, not to mention four books.

I like the flow, I like the characters, even though 70% of the time they ALL piss me the hell off. And I like the story, in general.
What pisses me off are a few things:
1) When there's a comedy of errors, it's cute and fun and funny. It helps induce angst and normally helps the story progress. But there's a limit to the number of errors and the ridiculous sequence of those errors.
2) The "articles" at the beginning of every chapter - *yawn*
3) Callie Andrews is a world class idiot and her "secret" was the dumbest ever. That's not something to ruin her life. She's not a fucking celebrity. Who gives a shit if she was video taped having sex in high school. She made it an issue just be her actions and reactions.

If it weren't for the 3 above points, this story would have received a 5 star rating for being a nicely written, cool idea, and fun story to read.

Onto book 3. Sigh. ( )

SECRETS, by Lauren Kunze with Rina Onur, is the highly anticipated sequel to The Ivy. This book added more drama and fist-clenching tension than the first (if you can believe them).

At this point Callie is under Lexi's pretty little manicured finger after she found out about Callie's secret, Vanessa isn't speaking to Callie, and Callie's man-situation is all over the place. Kunze and Onur really know how to keep a reader glued to the pages! Each chapter dug Callie deeper into a hole I had no idea how she would ever get out of the semester alive.

I am a total Callie-Gregory shipper so I was cheering for them the whole time. But miscommunication and murky third-party conversations threatened to rip apart their fragile and new relationship after what happened at the end of The Ivy.

I don't want to ruin too much of the plot but this book is definitely one of my top books this year. It was full of intrigue, scandals, back-stabbing, steamy chemistry and so much more. So for anyone who is a fan of the first book, be sure to get your hands on this one! ( )

I absolutely loved The Ivy. Oh, the scandals, the frenemies, the boys, the binge drinking, and the occasional classes. How utterly wonderful. Secrets starts up right where The Ivy left off and continued the drama-filled prestigious college experience I loved. The story progressed nicely in The Ivy, but it was clearly a middle of the series sequel. The plot continued as expected, but nothing shockingly huge occurred.

Misunderstandings, both accidental and those caused with malicious intent, were definitely the theme of Secrets. Callie's relationships with both Gregory and Vanessa in this book were one constant misunderstanding after another. While it kept Callie constantly unsure of herself and where she stood with each of them, it often times caused me to wonder why no one ever seemed to talk to each other. Not just Callie and Gregory or Callie and Vanessa, but all the other characters as well. Does no one at this school gossip about their friends behind their backs in the normal curious manner? It seemed as though the only time anyone spoke of anyone else's situation it was usually mean-spirited, such as Vanessa purposely giving Gregory false information about Callie's feelings. It worked for the plot, but I can't imagine it playing out this way in real life.

Callie's incessant need to keep things from Clint became grating in Secrets. Seriously, just tell him about the video already. It really isn't a big deal. And why would she possibly continue to hide what Lexie's doing to her? Where is the benefit in that? I understood the motivation in The Ivy, as Callie was flustered having just had all of these things happen, but by Secrets, she really should have come to terms with events and gotten over whatever misplaced embarrassment she was holding on to.

I wished more new things were infused into Secrets. As I said earlier, the story progressed well, but there was nothing that made this book stand out from The Ivy. It felt as though it was missing the big, main event that would have made the novel outstanding. As it is, it's fun and entertaining, but can't compare to The Ivy.

As I understand it, there are two more books planned for this series. I can't imagine where the story will go from here. While nothing is completely wrapped up by the end of Secrets, it doesn't really hint at what's to come. While I liked Secrets, I'm hoping the future book will be scandalous, shocking, and able to stand alone. ( )