Today's book is Liar by Justine Larbalestier.
I really wanted to like this book. I read another book of hers, How to Ditch Your Fairy, and thought it was cute and humorous. This one, Liar, looked like it would be more thriller, suspense, with a lot of anxiety.The MC, Micah, is a chronic liar, so you know right off that everything you're reading is subject to the unreliable narrator. But instead of being a book where you could infer things and figure it out, it went from being a thriller to being bizarre.
Without giving away any spoilers, there's a point where Micah announces something paranormal and supernatural as if it were a fact. From that moment on, the book lost all meaning to me. It was like listening to someone tell me their dream. Uh-huh, uh-huh, cool. Just a dream. A little weird, but nothing to be remembered.
One time in an English class we had to read "The Yellow Wallpaper," a short story about a demented woman, only in the beginning she doesn't know she is. As a reader, you believe her until her dementia begins to be apparent. When the story ends, it's fascinating to analyze because you can see how the 'facts' she told the reader were delusions in her mind. It makes sense.
Which is more than I can say for this book. I finished it and felt like I'd wasted my time. I had no idea what happened. No idea what was real and what wasn't, and not in a good way. It didn't leave me thinking and pondering, it left me frustrated for reading it when I could've been reading something else.
My opinion: skip it. I give this book a D.
A = Buy this book NOW
B = Buy this when you can
C = Check it out from the library
D = Don't bother reading it
F = Burn it
I haven't read this yet, but have been wanting to, although I'm starting to re-think it LOL ... you are not alone, check out this review: http://themoodyteenager.blogspot.com/2010/04/liar-by-justine-larbalestier.html
ReplyDeleteHappy Sunday :D
if you read it, let me know what you think!
ReplyDeleteI remember "The Yellow Wallpaper." Now I want to hunt it down for a re-read.
ReplyDeleteSomewhat spoilery comment:
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think that saying that there's a paranormal/supernatural element to Liar IS a spoiler. A pretty major one, actually. If I had gone into it with that in mind, I would have read the first part completely differently. And maybe the entire book, because, in my opinion, you CAN tell how Micah's lies form her delusions, and if you interpret it one way, there's nothing paranormal or supernatural about this book at all. She TELLS you she's a liar, after all.