Five little liars

Hello, my lovely bookworms. It’s Friday!!!! I desperately needed a weekend!!!
Today, I’ll be writing about Amanda Morgan’s Five Little Liars.

I went into this book because of 2 reasons only– Firstly, it said ‘for fans of Karen McManus’. I love her books, she certainly leads by example for YA high school mysteries like these and secondly, because the book got me hooked with its blurb.

The book is based around a summer psychology class that 5 teenagers take, all for different intents and results…

Five very different teens – Ivy, Mattie, Kinley, Tyler, and Cade – all have their own reason to sign up to Dr Stratford’s psychology summer school. None, however, anticipate watching their teacher die. Neither do they expect to end up helping hide the body and then spending the rest of the summer watching their back – and each other – as they wait for the body to be found. Will their hastily constructed cover story hold up? As nerves start to crack, will they each be able to cope as strange and sinister events unfold around them?

One summer changes absolutely everything. Ivy is the former Queen Bee of the school when her boyfriend dumped her and all of her friends are suddenly her biggest enemies. Ivy is taking the class because she has nothing better to do, although she doesn’t say that. Mattie, her next-door neighbour is retaking his exam after he cheated at his last one, it’s the only way to go to Ivy League school. Cade, the son of a so-called millionaire who’s in debt, wants to keep up appearances of the family heritage. Kinley, also known as a narc, the one who aces everything, she is also the daughter of a senator. Finally Tyler, a delinquent, always in trouble with his parole officer but he wants to do something for himself for a change. Five classmates all take the Summer Psych class from hell. Everyone has secrets, but the question is, how long will they go to protect them?

From the very beginning, this book had me hooked! When you open this book and start to read you’re immediately drawn in by the intriguing set of teen voices and the dramatic plot. While told in the third person, the reader is able to feel close to the thoughts and emotions of each of the characters. It does take a little while to fully assimilate all five but this is aided by the strong writing and the fact that all five are fully rounded characters (if not very likeable). Some characters I was instantly rooting for, while others I disliked the entire way through. Told through
each characters POV, we see them struggle as individuals. There are character developments for some of the characters while for others there are not.

There were bad boys and bad girls, not all by nature but most of them by habit. I loved how something so bad, changes them but I think it ultimately showed them who they really are too. Looks can be deceiving in high school which could be the message here. But this pact ultimately brought unlikely friendships and relationships to story that I loved exploring. Ivy and Mattie rely on each other in more ways than one. Kinley and Tyler have more in common than their exterior characters and they were my favourite characters. Cade is the poison of the group,
everything for himself and I really hated him to be honest.

There were many plots that were introduced in the book, not all were well developed or even had a proper ending. For example, Cade’s sister Jessi was talked about a lot. Their past with therapists, their ‘daddy’ problems, their relationship but nothing was ever properly explained. For me, that left me hanging with many loopholes and that disappointed me. Other times, there were many moments which got me thinking that this might be theoretically possible but in real life? I don’t think so.

However, the plot was engaging and took some unexpected turns… I’m not too sure about how this book ended though; I felt it left things a little too open. There were many loopholes, many plots that did not get a proper resolution and honestly, the ending just ruined things for me. What started out as a breathtaking mystery, did not get justice as an equally amazing ending. (unless, of course, there’s going to be a sequel).

The one thing that surprised me was that I honestly didn’t know how this book was going to end and I couldn’t put it down. It kept me guessing until the end. It wasn’t predictable like some YA mysteries can be for a whodunit, so I really enjoyed this angle of the plot-line. I’ve never read a book by Amanda K. Morgan and I know she has written more books which I will be reading from here on out. I honestly couldn’t put it down. Her writing is simply addictive. With a diverse
collection of characters, this is a fast-paced mystery.

If you enjoyed this, you’ve probably already read One of Us is Lying (book review out tomorrow!) by Karen McManus. If not, it really is a must-read. Alternatively, you might like to try This Lie Will Kill You (this one’s review out next week!) by Chelsea Pitcher.