The Lying Game

Where have I been?!?! Why in the hell have I never read anything by Sara Shepard before? I’m usually a lot more technical and not as emotional with my punctuation, but this book was seven shades of awesome!

Yeah, I know, I usually am all about the depressing ‘issue’ books! So, maybe this book was a breath of fresh air. And that air smells de•li•cious, as if it was laced with Auntie Anne’s cinnamon ‘n’ sugar pretzels and Chanel No. 5. The Lying Game is that kind of yum! See, I’ve never even watched Pretty Little Liars. Ever since Dawson left the creek and Felicity graduated, I just haven’t been able to look at teen/young adult shows the same.

Sigh. Does anyone else hear The Boys of Summer playing? Oh, that’s just me? show more Sorry, I’ll return to the point.

So, as you can tell from the synopsis, Twin A, Sutton Mercer, is dead. Murdered, in fact. Twin B, Emma Paxton, has been stuck in foster care her whole life and finds out she even has a twin through the evil creepiness of her foster mom’s bio-son-spawn. So, Emma is more that thrilled and excited to greyhound it to Arizona from Vegas to meet the rich, long-lost sister she’s never known. When she arrives, however, she falls into her twin’s murderer’s plans, and through a strategically placed note and other freaky events, is made to understand that Sutton is not only dead, but that she is to take her place. Unfortunately, Emma soon learns that Sutton makes Regina George look like Anne Shirley, and she has to quickly learn the ropes of playing an overly privileged, self-centered mean girl to A) protect herself from her sister’s murderer; and B) find out who the murderer(s) is/are.

This was such a fun, high school who-dunnit thriller. I wasn’t bored once throughout reading it. Twists, turns and maddening intrigue kept my attention the entire time. There is a very small part of me (both in size and pettiness) which genuinely enjoyed seeing the rich girls squirm and Sutton show regret for her living transgressions. The stance from which the story is told is also very interesting. I’ve seen reviews where readers think that the point-of-view switches between Sutton’s post-mortem first-person narrative and Emma’s third-person limited. I disagree – it’s Sutton the entire time. Sutton is in an in-between state from what I can surmise, and her death has somehow left her dependent on and attached to her twin, both in body and mind. So, when the book describes Emma’s actions, it’s actually Sutton observing Emma, and when the you are reading what Emma thinks, it’s Sutton telling you that. You can tell it’s not third-person because Sutton directly comments and reacts to what Emma thinks at times, particularly towards the end. Through Sutton, we learn about Emma’s abandonment by their mother, her life in foster care, her hopes for a family, her opinion of Sutton, her friends and their lifestyle, and her attraction to a certain, brooding high school hottie, who is so not Sutton’s boyfriend, the guy who Emma has to pretend-be with. Equal parts dreaminess and awkwardness ensue.

The best part? You really don’t know who did it. Anyone and everyone is a suspect. The Lying Game is an actual creation of Sutton and her friends, and they treat it like a high school version of Fight Club. It literally makes it impossible to for Emma to trust anyone. Also, death conveniently has rendered Sutton an amnesiac. Her memories ebb and flow throughout, but they’re spotty to say the least. At times, she is as surprised and horrified as Emma is to learn what she did to others when she lived, and you soon learn that any number of people may have wanted her dead. The facts of what Sutton did are mostly only alluded to and vaguely referenced, though, which frustrates both sisters and impedes Emma’s investigation. It ends in a grand manner, and you are not much closer to the truth than Emma was when she first arrived in Arizona.

Never have I ever read a mean girls thriller more fun that this. I can’t wait for the sequel.

I’m hooked. Game on, Ms. Shepard. Game on. show less

“The Lying Game” the book by Sara Shepard is different from “The Lying Game“ the tv series. Both are GREAT, but quite different.
PLOT: Emma Paxton, Las Vegas foster girl, has just discovered that she has a twin sister, Sutton Mercer, rich girl of Tucson. When Emma is forced to leave her foster home (similar to tv series), she decides to take Sutton up on her offer for a meet-and greet in Arizona. Only when Emma arrives, Sutton is dead, and Emma is threatened into stepping into Sutton’s life or else!
POSITIVE: I found this book by watching the tv series. As usual when I do this, I am looking for more depth and details to fill in missing pieces. However, this is a very different story. When the book begins, Sutton is already show more dead. Rather than looking for their birth mother, Emma is trying to find out who killed Sutton and why. With Emma available to take Sutton’s place, there is no police investigation: no body equals no crime. Someone has gotten away with murder…literally.
If you are looking for the familiar cast of characters from the series, they are here. Madeline and Charlotte, Sutton’s besties; her sister, Laurel; Garrett, Sutton’s boyfriend, and Ethan, Emma’s new friend and possible boyfriend. Thayer, however, is a “missing person.” What is also conspicuously missing are the parents who in the tv series are potential threats. In the book, the killer is most likely a peer not an adult.
NEGATIVE: The character of Sutton is an ever-present spirit who doesn’t know who killed her or why. She comments on Emma’s choices and actions. She has flashbacks that add information to the plot and her murder. While she cannot speak directly to Emma, she can communicate some of this information through her twin connection. As other reviewers have noted, at times, it is confusing who is narrating: Emma or Sutton.
This is a six-book series. Don’t expect the mystery to tie up in book one. Reading this book is like a sample spoon of ice cream. If you want to truly enjoy the plot, you need to commit to reading the whole series.
As in the tv series, you will not be bored. There is plenty of friend drama and romantic entanglements to keep the plot moving forward. Most are new or different from the tv series. Don’t expect the book to answer any questions from the tv series. The Garret birthday scene is hysterical!
I RECOMMEND: If you liked the tv series, you will love the book series. Just don’t expect one to replace the other or to answer questions for the other. The characters are the same, but the plot is quite different.
CONCLUSION: Watch the tv series. Read the book series. It is a two-fer deal. The same characters, but a different plot. Both enjoyable! show less

After reading this book I am utterly ashamed to say I never read the Pretty Little Liars series. The Lying Game was so wonderfully written that I can't believe Pretty Little Liars never came up on my radar (though I do watch the series is that makes my ignorance any less disgraceful). The realistic characters only make the suspense and mystery even more unbearable . Each laugh, fall of the face, and slight hesitation is described so well that vivid mental images of each character come to mind. Whether it’s of Emma, the foster child who’s been thrown into a world of money, secrets and lies; or Laurel, Sutton’s sister who may know more than what she’s giving off; or even Ethan, the outcast boy who’s no doubt been victim of the show more Lying Game’s pranks more than once. That’s not even mentioning Charlotte and Madeline, the only two possibly guiltier than Sutton herself. Sara Shepard creates a world so intense and imaginable it will have to second guessing everyone you know.

Going from the comfort, however dysfunctional, life of living with her mother to foster family after foster family gives Emma Paxton more skills than she would have thought - ordinary skills that prove very valuable to her. When an Internet video is discovered by Emma’s conniving foster-brother, more than a few questions come to mind. For instance, who is that girl being choked to death, and why does she look exactly like Emma? Doing a little Internet sleuthing herself, Emma’s “revelation” changes more than she could have ever imagined. Emma has a long-lost twin sister, Sutton, and she wants to meet up. There’s only one problem, and the witty narrator, Sutton, will be the first to tell you, the invite did not come from her… Sutton is dead.

Torn away from home, just a few months away from the freedom of her eighteenth birthday, innocent Emma is dragged into a life far from her own. Impersonating a privileged girl, wealthy and popular, doesn’t seem like a bad place to be at. However, the situation is dramatically changed when there are secrets, murder and betrayal involved. The new question becomes, can Emma survive the Lying Game? Or will she have the same fate as Sutton, dead without a trace?

I would recommend this novel five times over. I would say anyone thirteen and up who likes suspenseful, dramatic fiction would love The Lying Game. It could fall under a few different words; amazing, astonishing, remarkable, wonderful, incredible, mind-boggling and surprising. Not predictable at all, you will be consumed by the pages and guessing till the very last word. By the end there is only one thing you will know for sure; the sequel couldn’t seem further away. show less

I don't really know what to say about this book except that I've never felt such irritation and annoyance at an author before.

For starters, the long-lost twin idea has been flogged to death in books, film and TV. Not only that, but this author already jumped the shark with it in her Pretty Little Liars series. Now to do it again with her next series right after it? Desperate much?

I also am becoming fed up with how superficial all her characters are. In Pretty Little Liars and in this new series, the importance of high fashion clothes, popularity and boyfriends is so over the top it makes me sick; and screams of an author who was a total nerd in high school and is now trying to make up for it by writing "the popular girls". All the show more characters are stereotypes and written as such. And none of them have any depth. And to top that off, as well as the long-lost twins, she's made two of the friends twins. That along with the fact you're reading a ghost's POV just adds to the complete question mark of this book.

I don't understand how her publisher/editor and everyone in between gave this the go ahead when it is clearly the same subject matter recycled, down to characters having stuffed animals with stupid names (Emma with Socktopus and Aria with Pigtunia). Even the weird, no-name text messages are back. And aside from the completely unbelievable fact that Emma would just take over Sutton's life, Sutton's views on her own life are skewed, as if she can't believe she was a bitch. Yawn. Who cares?

I could hardly finish the book and definitely won't be reading the series. I don't recommend it, you get the same story in Pretty Little Liars. For all I know; this series will merge with PLL and Emma and Sutton will wind up being Alyson and whoever her long-lost twin was. Unlikely and I'm past caring. show less

Secrets, lies, drama, and murder. Really, what more could you want? Sara Shepard is the master of YA mysteries and she definitely doesn't disappoint in The Lying Game. Emma is foster kid who has been moved from one home to another ever since her mother abandoned her. Sutton is a wealthy spoiled rich girl who has it all. Until she was murdered. When Emma finds out about her long lost twin sister she goes to visit her and gets forced into impersonating Sutton. Someone knows she's not Sutton and that someone is Sutton's killer.

Oh the intrigue! From page one this book will pull you in and just when you think you had things figured out, BAM! You don't know anything! There are a thousand questions piling up on top of each other and as soon as show more you get one answered twelve more are added! Shepard manages to pull this off without annoying the reader. She keeps you occupied with all sorts of interesting side stories and you get just a little snippet of information at a time. It will keep you hooked.

All the characters were fantastic. Emma is completely likable and the total opposite of her sister. I love how Shepard made Sutton a 'ghost'. She is there with Emma the entire time, but she can't communicate. Sutton chimes in with her opinion from time to time. It's a very interesting dynamic!

All in all, if you like Pretty Little Liars, you will like this book. I think I even liked it a little bit more! Although, I was just a tiny bit disappointed when I realized it's going to be a series. I was hoping to get some questions answered in this book, but that's not happening. I'll just have to wait right here, on the edge of my seat, for the next installment! show less

I really, really wanted to like this book…

I haven't read Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars series, but the television spin-off became one of my guilty summer obsessions. Come on. It’s fun to escape to a world filled with beautiful, haunted, wealthy teens. Especially teens who were full of delicious, dangerous secrets. The show’s characters kept me tuned in because they were pretty, yes - but also dimensional and flawed and I wasn’t quite sure what they were going to do next.

When The Lying Game was released a few weeks ago, I was kind of excited. I thought it would give me a chance to get to know some more of Shepard’s great characters on a more intimate level, and follow them from the start of a new series. I’m pretty show more sure that’s what the publisher was banking on (especially with the entirely unoriginal name tie-in) because on it’s own, The Lying Game is so very far from fabulous, I can’t even imagine her character’s recommending it.

Let me just back up and give a short synopsis: Seventeen year old Emma has just been kicked out of her last foster home when she finds out she has an identical twin sister living in the next state. Well, not exactly living. Sutton, who appears as a ghostly narrator in the story, has just been murdered, and when Emma takes a road-trip to meet her long-lost twin she finds herself pulled into her sister’s life and searching for clues to explain her death.

Doesn’t sound like a bad concept, right? It’s really not. In fact, the first part of the book had me hooked. I’m learning about Emma’s slightly clichéd but still fairly interesting life. I’m digging her affection for journaling about comebacks she should have used and writing news headlines for her life. And I’m vastly curious about the snuff-film, the ‘Mean Girls’ style game being played, and about Sutton and how she mysteriously died only to materialize in Emma’s grungy bathroom with no memory of the event.

There’s an urgency to the first portion of the book that felt real and scary and electrifying. But, one of the biggest problems I have with the book, is that it doesn’t seem able to hold on to that electricity throughout.

As soon as Emma heads south to Tucson in search of Sutton, everything begins to goes down hill. Let’s start with the obvious and glaring problem: Sutton doesn’t show. Emma is kidnapped by Sutton’s friends and her belongings are stolen. What does she do? She decides to impersonate her sister at a cool party, meet a hot guy or two, and then for bonus points, break into her sibling’s house and pretend she is Sutton there as well. True, she doesn’t learn about it her sister’s death until the next morning, but the point is: Most of the time, no one in the book, including Emma and Sutton seem to even care that Sutton is dead. When Emma tries to tell the police and her parent’s who she is, they all laugh it off and everyone moves on. And suddenly it’s a story about a pretty girl, trying to fit in at a new school where everyone thinks she’s someone else. OK. But was that the book I signed on for here? And, what about the murder?

No, no. We’d rather get into describing fancy houses, and meeting all of Sutton’s annoyingly clone-like friends who walk around saying things like, “bee-yotch” and giggling about endless parties and trips to the spa and the mall. And the clothes. It was annoying that we couldn’t get through a scene in the book without knowing precisely down to the designer and in many cases the name of the specific item what everyone was wearing. It was almost understandable in Sutton’s half-sister and friends who I guess we are to believe really deeply care about such things. It was unforgivable in Emma who supposedly grew up dirt-poor and we were lead to imagine had a bit more original interests in life and even more so in Sutton, who slips these references in while narrating. I’m sorry. You have death-amnesia. You can’t remember how you died, or really anything significant about your life, but you know who designed those cute cut-away heels? I’m now looking forward to the hereafter.

Despite the fact that this type of fashion-headed mean-girl stereotyping is distracting and boring, I could probably live with one character like that in the book. Yes, you may think you’ve seen these characters before. I felt like I was watching an episode of Pretty Little Liars on TV at times. (Sutton reminded me a lot of a lazy, non-intellectual version of Spencer.) The problem is that Sutton’s friends come across as so identical that other than Charlotte’s oft mentioned broad shoulders and red hair, I can’t tell them apart most of the time. They all play tennis, they all shop and go to the spa, and they are all frankly pretty obnoxious and nasty. And unlike the television characters, they have no personality or even real storyline to make them unique in any way.

I sometimes got the feeling the author actually knew much more about these subsidiary characters but for the sake of mystery was leaving it out. If that was the case, it back-fired. They didn’t manage to come across as mysterious. Just flat. I couldn’t bring myself to really care about any of them. And I found myself angry at the author for writing a book where that was all there was to high-school girls. She gives them no credit for being intelligent, funny, capable young women with minds of their own and interests other than fashion and boys. There is some mention of real tragedy touching the lives of a few of these girls, and yet it doesn’t seem to have affected them, at all. Even pretty little rich girls are not that shallow, and I think this book although at times fun, is ultimately un-relatable because of these demeaning assumptions.

Around this point I had to force myself to try to finish the book.

Another thing that really began to bother me was the narration. This book has two narrators. Sutton, who is dead and watching Emma’s action, while sporadically interjecting her own commentary and sputtering memories, and a general narrator who seems a bit more omniscient and able to get into Emma’s head. The problem is there is no warning when switching between narrators, and almost every time it happened I would realize half-way through a paragraph that Sutton was now speaking and have to go back and try to figure out where she started. It did not flow at all. I’m not sure why the author went with this technique. It seemed in the beginning as if it was going to be told with Sutton as the only Narrator, and was frankly more interesting that way. She even explained HOW Sutton had knowledge of what was in Emma’s head. But somewhere along the line, she either got bored with that approach, or decided Sutton didn’t really have enough to say or simply forgot from which perspective she was writing because it just grows more and more confusing as the story progresses.

And then we have what I’m going to call “The stupid factor.” There were just so very few intelligent characters in this book. Not only do they seem to not really care about anything intelligent, they do really dumb, stupid things. Repeatedly. The dangerous pranks are just the beginning. More problematic was the annoying way that the author wrote as if she were assuming anyone reading the book was as stupid as her characters. She would hint blatantly at things so that you knew what was going to happen and then offer a big reveal of what she had already made clear was going on. Again, if this had happened once, I would let it slip, but over and over throughout the book to the point that I was literally groaning out loud as I read it, and I started to wonder exactly who her target audience was. I laughed out loud at the thought of any male (teen or otherwise) trying to make it through this thing. And if he did, what on earth would he come away thinking about girls?

Finally, towards the end of the book we start getting back into the murder and some suspense and action. Unfortunately, all we get is a set-up for the next book, and not even a big, revealing or shocking one at that. No mystery was solved. Nothing really changed for any of these characters from the point that Emma arrived in Tucson, and at the end of the day, I sadly felt as if all I had done was kind of meet some pretty poorly developed characters and learn about a murder that will likely get solved in book four.

I’m disappointed, mainly because I feel like this book really had so much potential. I’m not sure what happened along the way. Possibly it was decided that it needed to be stretched out into a series when it might have packed a punch as a single book. It just felt very unfinished to me, almost as if I was reading a rough draft.

I can’t say I don’t entirely care what happens in the subsequent books; I just don’t think I can wade through them if they are as poorly developed as this one. Especially when there are so many other great books for young adults on the shelves these days. For this series to stand a chance, Shepard will really have to step up her game for the next book. show less

Imagine Princess and the Pauper told in the modern day American South West.

Sounds pretty neat.

Sounds neat until you add murder and then it just sounds awesome.

Emma Paxton isn’t sure that “awesome” is the right way to describe her life when, right before her 18th birthday, her life as a foster kid goes from bad to worse thanks to a lovely little internet video. The video, found by her scummy foster brother, shows Emma being strangled on camera, possibly to death.

With a few short clicks of her mouse, Emma discovers that it isn’t her in the video (duh) but her twin sister, the universe somehow forgot to mention she had. Since her life isn’t exactly honey and roses, Emma ditches her last few golden days in the foster system and show more gets sucked in to a life she couldn’t have imagined, days before.

Her sister, Sutton, was living the good life with tennis, friends, school council and other perks of being her high school’s queen bee. Hard as it might be for a runaway foster kid to play the part of “it girl”, her life (and Sutton’s vengence) hangs on her ability to do so. Though her life was pretty peachy, Sutton’s past quickly reveals to Emma that the A-lister was not exactly the sweetest chickie at school and even those in her inner circle might have wanted to see her pushing daisies.

Watching her step and her back, Emma has to race against the clock to solve the mystery before someone calls her out and she loses access to Sutton’s life and the cause of her sister’s death forever.

The is one more tiny twist. OK, maybe it’s not so tiny. While we are watching Emma solve Sutton’s murder, we are watching with Sutton herself who is somehow, spiritually tethered to Emma. Emma doesn’t know she’s there but Sutton is getting a first hand recap of the nasty things she did when she was alive. Her memory evaporated with her last breath so she’s no help aside from the occasional flash back, added into the mix enough to confuse things a bit. It’s a neat twist and I definitely like the idea. Sometimes it makes it hard to follow who is speaking but after a little bit it gets easier.

This is the first book in a four part, mega-mystery. When I first picked it up, I was expecting it to be solved in the first book as most mysteries are. I was sort of bummed that the killer won’t be revealed until the fourth and final book (due out this summer) but, I think it’ll be worth it. The story is well done and tends to follow, for all of its modern teen angst, a very classical murder plot. I’m almost done with the second, now, and loving it, just as much. This is probably one of my favorite young adult books, at least recently. It’s a little bit silly but it’s also pretty dark and twisted so it passes in my book. show less