Justine's Thoughts: Liar by Justine Larbalestier

Liar
By Justine Larbalestier

Source: Won
Pages:  371

Book Description:
Micah will freely admit she’s a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she’ll ever tell you. Over the years she’s fooled everyone: her classmates, her teachers, even her parents. And she’s always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But is it possible to tell the truth when lying comes as easily as breathing?

Taking readers deep into the psyche of a young woman who will say just about anything to convince them--and her self--that she’s finally come clean, Liar is a bone-chilling thriller that will have readers seesawing between truths and lies right up to the end. Honestly.

A quote:
Not one of them has ever suggested that maybe I lie because the world is better the way I tell it.

Rating:

3/5

Any thoughts:

I have waited a long time to read this, always putting it off and saving it for later. My expectations were high just from reading the synopsis; it sounds thrilling and freaky. It would seem as if it is a contemporary novel, but after the first half it unexpectedly becomes something else entirely.

Larbalestier focuses on Micah’s grief and her character throughout the novel, but she sneakily puts in the twists and turns every now and then. Micah after all is a compulsive liar. You never know when she’s telling the truth or not. But she tries to find herself by swearing to tell the truth. I couldn’t say that I loved her as a character, but what kept me going was the search for the truth.

The big, major surprise happens at the exact half point, Part 2. The twist was too unbelievable and I didn’t believe it for several pages. But eventually she sticks with this twist till the very end and I was so worried of it not being true that I was apprehensive for the duration of the novel. Long story short, Micah is the girl who cried wolf. So I guess this is a warning to those who would like to read Liar: Just go with the flow. I liked it, especially the contemporary part although it was a little slow, but in the end, I had to settle on so-so.