The Liar Society

The Liar Society

Author: Lisa and Laura Roecker

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Pages: 368

Read Time: 4 Hours

Rating (1-5): 4

Tag Words: Secret Societies, Lies, Secrets, Murder, codes, Latin, Brotherhood, Sisterhood, Private Academy, solving the mystery

My Summary:

Grace is dead and dead girls don’t send e-mails, unless they aren’t really dead...

My Review:

Secrets, Societies, lies, betrayal and murder are becoming quite a popular plot-theme in YA. I’ve read similar titles, such as Secret Society by Tom Dolby, All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab and even Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann, but none have stood out quite as much as Liar Society in my mind.

I sat down, hoping to make a good dent, this copy was from an ARC tour and I wanted to get it back in the mail. A few hours later and I was surprised to have finished, but completely thrilled I did! I believe this will be the first in a series and you can bet I will be on board for book two!

The characters are great, the plot is surprisingly believable and the Latin is such a unique and interesting plot key. I was as impressed by the writing as I was the brains behind the plot structure.

I can’t talk too much about my biggest problem without being uber spoily, but I will say that I hope book two will make more of a villain out of part of the equation and less will be justified by “accidents.” I am still confused by why Kate needed to solve the mystery as far as a third-party is concerned and hope that is cleared up as well. Also Kate needs to keep kicking-butt, which I am sure she will!

Notes on the Names: This is where I feel things fall the shortest, and though I know this won’t matter to many, the fact that L squared was “So close, and yet so far” really bothers me. This is what I mean:

Roecker(s) had to create a world of old-money Private-School rich kids with grandiose Family names, pretentious monikers and snooty sibling-sets. There was a smattering of all of the above, but the smattering was inconsistent.

Kate is great, but I would have expected timeless Katherine to be her full name, not trendy Katelyn.

Grace Elizabeth is wonderful, but Lee is boring and I don’t see her as any form of aristocracy.

Cameron Thompson is the boy next door, he is neither dangerous, nor does he go to a private school.

Alistair Reynolds is beyond amazing, as is Porter Reynolds, but together I don’t think so... I would expect Alistair’s brother to be Sebastian and Porter’s brother to be Fletcher.

Seth Allen is dependable and on a scholarship- perfect.

Tinsley, Teagan and... Taylor? Really? The first two are part of a power Triplicate, but the Third falls Terribly Trendy. Tinsley, Teagan and Tanya. Tinsley, Teagan and Tamsin. Tinsley, Teagan and Tawny. Tinsley, Teagan and Tirza. Tinsley, Teagan and Tosca. Tinsley, Teagan and Tira. There we go!

Elisa and Abigail Moore is a perfect sib-set.

By far, my favorite name of them all is:

Josephine Fitzgerald Reynolds. Awesome.

Thoughts on the Cover: I don’t know why there is pink hair, but I am glad for it! It makes everything more eye-catching, including... the pearls... duhn-dah-DAHHHH!!! *oh, intrigue*

Parental Book Review *spoilers*

Sexual Content:

Mild/Moderate.

Porter hits on Kate who makes a Threesome crack to get him off her tail.

Mr. Farrow is considered a DILF by the fourth-year girls.

Abigail Moore was raped, tormented and later hung herself many years ago. Her tragedy is now a Pemberly Brown Legend.

Cameron is obsessed with Grace and they kiss heavily once, or twice, but the scene is from Kate’s perspective so the tone is not heated.

Language:

Moderate/Heavy

B- 4
A- 14
D- 5
S- 13
H- 9
Bas***d- 1
Jesus- 1

Violence:

Mild.

Grace is known to have died in a fire from smoke inhalation.

There is a big fight at the end where Kate stabs Alistair in the arm with a saber after he knocks Liam out.

Kate is bullied by the Brotherhood.

Other Notables:

There are many ceremony’s for the Sisterhood, such as lighting candle’s for Abigail Moore’s ghost and diving into the pond at midnight in underwear.

Kate believes she sees Grace’s ghost several times in the narrative.

Cameron is a drug addict post-Grace.

Kate sees a therapist post- Grace.