Title: Lying Out Loud
Series: companion novel to The Duff
Series: companion novel to The Duff
Publisher: Scholastic Books
Genre: Young Adult Fiction - Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Source: ARC provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and the reader's own. – review policy here.
The main character, Sonny, is a compulsive liar. She tells lies about everything; about how her mom kicked her out, how her dad is in jail, and how she is secretly living at her best friend Amy’s house because she has nowhere else to go. Sonny has always told lies, but Amy is the only one that she has never lied to.
Ryder Cross is their nemesis, and they both have a strange hatred towards him. Ryder is the new kid at school and he is an annoying prep school snob. But Ryder has a weakness: Amy. She is the only person in Hamilton that he seems to be interested in, and she is too nice to tell Ryder that she doesn’t like him. However, Sonny isn’t. So when Ryder emails Amy asking her out, the best friends see it as a prank opportunity that is too good to pass up. When Sonny unintentionally stays up until the crack of dawn talking to Ryder, she has a shocking realization that might actually like him. But, Ryder thinks he has been talking to Amy, so that kind of puts a damper on things. In order to try and fix it, Sonny comes up with a plan that might end up costing her both Ryder and Amy.
I normally don’t like contemporary books, but for this one I can make an exception. I loved everything about this book: the characters, the plot, the writing, and pretty much everything else. The characters were so relatable, and down to earth. The struggles that they went through were so inspiring, and they make you look at your life and reflect and appreciate the things that you have. Sonny is a character that draws you in and makes you want to keep reading. She is witty, and funny, and she is into Grunge music, which is definitely a plus! Amy is another character that I absolutely adored. She is so adorable and quiet and she reminds me of another side of myself. Another character that I found myself liking was Ryder. I loved how trusting, and real he was as a character. In most books, they try to make the male lead the stereotypical guy, and try to make it seem like he doesn’t have any flaws. That is not the case with Ryder and, in fact, Sonny actually points out some of his flaws in the book. I guess that is another reason that this is an amazing novel to me.
The main thing that attracted me to this companion novel was the plot. I really liked how original and fun it was. I personally like books that tear at your heart a little, and I knew that this book was going to do just that. I was definitely right, because it pulled at my heart strings so hard. The plot flowed very well, and the pace was good and almost soothing. I finished it very fast, and the rhythm was so well that it made me want to flip to the following page just so that I could find out what happened next.
With all of the things that I loved about this book, there were still some aspects that I didn’t particularly care about. For example, I didn’t like how Sonny was very persistent about keeping her secrets, and telling so many lies. She was keeping herself from telling the truth, and it kind of got frustrating at times because I knew that she would be much better off if she would just tell the truth. Another thing that irked me a little was the ending. I’m not going to give anything away, but the ending did not leave me feeling satisfied. I felt like there should have been more closure, but I would be fine if Kody finished it like that just so that she could do another book in Amy’s point of view! *crosses fingers*
Well, that’s about it. I recommend this to anyone that loves contemporaries and I also recommend this to anyone that is in a reading slump. It is a fun, quick read and it will most definitely get you out of a reading slump!
Thanks for reading!!
I will leave you, my lovelies, saying:
“Boys are whatever, Friends are forever”
-Someone on google :)
Sarah from YA Headquarters
