The Liar Society
Lisa and Laura Roecker
361 pages
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Kate Lowry didn't think dead best friends could send e-mails. But when she gets an e-mail from Grace, she’s not so sure.
To: KateLowry@pemberlybrown.edu
Sent: Sun 9/14 11:59 PM
From: GraceLee@pemberlybrown.edu
Subject: (no subject)
Kate,
I'm here…
sort of.
Find Cameron.
He knows.
I shouldn't be writing.
To: KateLowry@pemberlybrown.edu
Sent: Sun 9/14 11:59 PM
From: GraceLee@pemberlybrown.edu
Subject: (no subject)
Kate,
I'm here…
sort of.
Find Cameron.
He knows.
I shouldn't be writing.
Don't tell.
They'll hurt you.
Now Kate has no choice but to prove once and for all that Grace’s death was more than just a tragic accident. But secrets haunt the halls of her elite private school. Secrets people will do anything to protect. Even if it means getting rid of the girl trying to solve a murder...
They'll hurt you.
Now Kate has no choice but to prove once and for all that Grace’s death was more than just a tragic accident. But secrets haunt the halls of her elite private school. Secrets people will do anything to protect. Even if it means getting rid of the girl trying to solve a murder...
My Thoughts:
Can I just say that Lisa and Laura Roecker are my new favorite people? No seriously. I stumbled upon them from The Story Siren and the Roecker's Blog Tour of Awesome. From there I became a serious stalker and visited almost every stop on the tour. They have an incredibly hilarious blog, and I had their book on the top of my list of books to buy when I went on a spree. (I think their book was the reason I went on a spree.) Basically, they are awesome and cool and hilarious, and I want to be just like them when I grow up!
And believe me when I say that their awesomeness is simply overflowing in their novel as well. This is the debut novel for Lisa and Laura Roecker. It's a young adult mystery that incorporates secrets, preppy high schools, Latin sayings, and emails from dead people. It was intriguing, mysterious, and I couldn't put it down after the first page.
The main character is Kate (no spoiler there, read the summery above). I loved Kate. She was snarky and smart, but she had just enough confusion and "lostness" to make her loveable and relateable. She is recovering from the death of her best friend, and she is struggling so much more because she does not understand what is going on at her school. And the person she would always turn to in the past was gone. What do you do when those who help guide you aren't there? How do you travel without your compass? Those were all questions that Kate struggled with, and I was right there with her in the novel. The Roecker sisters wrote this character exceptionally well, and I certainly imagined myself saying those exact things in high school when I was figuring out who I was.
Probably the only thing I found wrong with the book: the stupid parents. Now, I know that the parents had a purpose in the plot of the novel, and I know that they had to be there and be just as stupid. But I wanted to kick some serious adult parental butt. (warning: rant forthcoming) But seriously! At one point Kate's dad is like: "We want our old Kate back. You have to make this better. Fix this." Ok, really? Her BEST FRIEND DIED. Things will never go back to the way they were. And how insensitive is it put all the work on a teenager who can't deal with everything that has happened?! And they go on and on about how she's obsessed with Grace's death. I mean, really?? Of course she's obsessed. Again, I repeat her best friend died! You don't just get over that. That's a major life changer that even in several years will be a hard topic. Let's face it: her situation sucks. How painful to have your best friend die, and you can't even go through all the details to process what happened. Stupid parents did not make it better. In fact, they only made it worse as they were NO help whatsoever. (ok, rant over now)
And even though the parents were seriously annoying and totally pissed me off, I thought they were wonderfully well written and added a great element to the book. I love the way that the Roecker sisters write about them from Kate's point of view. They do this funny thing where they have Kate's actual response and then her thought response. It made it super humorous, and I laughed out loud many times. I stayed up all night reading this book, and believe me, my dog was not happy to be woken up by my giggling.
Overall, I loved this book! It was incredible. Very well written, the mystery was mysterious and full of twists that I didn't see, and the characters were loveable, hateable, and jumped out from the pages. Lisa and Laura Roecker took a hard topic (the death of a friend) and wrote an excellent commentary on dealing. They added mystery, intrigue, humor, snark, and pink hair to it to push it beyond good to incredibly awesome. Their debut novel blew me away, and I can't wait for them to hurry up and write some more. I would recommend it this most definitely to all young adult fiction fans. Head to Barnes and Noble, Borders, (or Amazon for a loser town like mine that does not stock it) and buy a copy because this will be one you will want to keep. I know I will be rereading it at least once in anticipation of the next installment.
Can I just say that Lisa and Laura Roecker are my new favorite people? No seriously. I stumbled upon them from The Story Siren and the Roecker's Blog Tour of Awesome. From there I became a serious stalker and visited almost every stop on the tour. They have an incredibly hilarious blog, and I had their book on the top of my list of books to buy when I went on a spree. (I think their book was the reason I went on a spree.) Basically, they are awesome and cool and hilarious, and I want to be just like them when I grow up!
And believe me when I say that their awesomeness is simply overflowing in their novel as well. This is the debut novel for Lisa and Laura Roecker. It's a young adult mystery that incorporates secrets, preppy high schools, Latin sayings, and emails from dead people. It was intriguing, mysterious, and I couldn't put it down after the first page.
The main character is Kate (no spoiler there, read the summery above). I loved Kate. She was snarky and smart, but she had just enough confusion and "lostness" to make her loveable and relateable. She is recovering from the death of her best friend, and she is struggling so much more because she does not understand what is going on at her school. And the person she would always turn to in the past was gone. What do you do when those who help guide you aren't there? How do you travel without your compass? Those were all questions that Kate struggled with, and I was right there with her in the novel. The Roecker sisters wrote this character exceptionally well, and I certainly imagined myself saying those exact things in high school when I was figuring out who I was.
Probably the only thing I found wrong with the book: the stupid parents. Now, I know that the parents had a purpose in the plot of the novel, and I know that they had to be there and be just as stupid. But I wanted to kick some serious adult parental butt. (warning: rant forthcoming) But seriously! At one point Kate's dad is like: "We want our old Kate back. You have to make this better. Fix this." Ok, really? Her BEST FRIEND DIED. Things will never go back to the way they were. And how insensitive is it put all the work on a teenager who can't deal with everything that has happened?! And they go on and on about how she's obsessed with Grace's death. I mean, really?? Of course she's obsessed. Again, I repeat her best friend died! You don't just get over that. That's a major life changer that even in several years will be a hard topic. Let's face it: her situation sucks. How painful to have your best friend die, and you can't even go through all the details to process what happened. Stupid parents did not make it better. In fact, they only made it worse as they were NO help whatsoever. (ok, rant over now)
And even though the parents were seriously annoying and totally pissed me off, I thought they were wonderfully well written and added a great element to the book. I love the way that the Roecker sisters write about them from Kate's point of view. They do this funny thing where they have Kate's actual response and then her thought response. It made it super humorous, and I laughed out loud many times. I stayed up all night reading this book, and believe me, my dog was not happy to be woken up by my giggling.
Overall, I loved this book! It was incredible. Very well written, the mystery was mysterious and full of twists that I didn't see, and the characters were loveable, hateable, and jumped out from the pages. Lisa and Laura Roecker took a hard topic (the death of a friend) and wrote an excellent commentary on dealing. They added mystery, intrigue, humor, snark, and pink hair to it to push it beyond good to incredibly awesome. Their debut novel blew me away, and I can't wait for them to hurry up and write some more. I would recommend it this most definitely to all young adult fiction fans. Head to Barnes and Noble, Borders, (or Amazon for a loser town like mine that does not stock it) and buy a copy because this will be one you will want to keep. I know I will be rereading it at least once in anticipation of the next installment.
Well when you put it that way....
ReplyDeleteWow I guess I really need to read this one huh? I admit i was sceptical...and then it's the fault of the pink hair but i shouldn't be because their blog IS hilarious!
Thanks for the great review!
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