Book Review: The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen (December 7, 2010)

Amazon Description:

I had a life anyone would kill for.

Then someone did.

The worst part of being dead is that there’s nothing left to live for. No more kisses. No more secrets. No more gossip. It’s enough to kill a girl all over again. But I’m about to get something no one else does—an encore performance, thanks to Emma, the long-lost twin sister I never even got to meet.

Now Emma’s desperate to know what happened to me. And the only way to figure it out is to be me—to slip into my old life and piece it all together. But can she laugh at inside jokes with my best friends? Convince my boyfriend she’s the girl he fell in love with? Pretend to be a happy, carefree daughter when she hugs my parents good night? And can she keep up the charade, even after she realizes my murderer is watching her every move?

From Sara Shepard, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Pretty Little Liars books, comes a riveting new series about secrets, lies, and killer consequences.

Let the lying game begin.

******************************

If you enjoyed Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars series then you will probably like The Lying Game. It is basically a whodunnit where the readers are kept guessing who the culprit is. Threats, paranoia, conspiracy, twins...it kind of made me feel like I was reading the next book in the Pretty Little Liars series.

The story is told mostly through Emma's point of view as she is stuck pretending to be her long lost sister, Sutton. Sutton is stuck following Emma around in a ghostly form unable to interact with anyone. The story is also interjected with her point of view. I often found it a little confusing because I sometimes wouldn't realize the speaker changed.

Both girls were orphans and never knew each other. Emma was raised in foster care for most of her life so it seemed like she had some street smarts which makes it difficult to swallow the way she reacted when she was "forced" to pretend to be Sutton. I can think of a number of ways she could have gotten away...pretty obvious ways. All the characters are interesting and of course, suspicious. Sara Shepard is a master at keeping readers on the edge of their seat. One minute you think it is this person and the next minute the suspicion has fallen on someone else. I wasn't all that crazy about this book but with the way it ended I am anxious to know who did it. My curiosity needs to be satisfied so I think I will continue to read this series as it comes out. Hopefully I will enjoy the next one a little more though.

3/5

I received an e-copy of this book to review through Netgalley. Any opinions expressed are my own.