I just finished the book LIAR and cannot get this book out of my head. I have never read anything like this before. I want to know if there are any books where the main character/narrator lies to the reader? I cannot think of any examples of this type of story off the of my head.
I haven't read
Liar, but I have read books with an unreliable narrator.
The Thief comes to mind right off the top of my head. Some adult books that come to mind are
The Remains of the Day and
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. These are all very different, but they share the fact that the narrator either lies to the reader, or doesn't give them all of the information. Maybe others will have more examples. You might also search Tags for "unreliable narrator" -- maybe do a tagmash with "young adult" and "unreliable narrator" and see what comes up.
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. He doesn't lie exactly, but he sure does keep some vital information to himself!
One of the best teen novels I've ever read with an unreliable narrator is Chris Lynch's Inexcusable (2005). A seemingly perfect teenaged boy rapes a girl. He tries to convince everyone that he couldn't have done it by relating anecdotes from his senior year of high school. It's chilling to read how he rationalizes what happened.
A new book that has an unreliable narrator is called Gentlemen by Michael Northrop about a group of troubled kids that suspect their teacher of being involved in a fellow classmate's disappearance.
now you see her by Jacquelyn Mitchard- about a girl who stages a kidnapping with her secret boyfriend.
The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler is a great YA book with an unreliable narrator.
(back to top)
