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janagaton's review
4.0
I enjoyed this so much more than How We Fall Apart! The story was much more intense and much less of a copy-paste from TV shows the way the first book was. I thought this was a sequel, but not really at all. I liked how the story progresses, and the reveals are so well done, in my opinion. A lot, if not all, these things could very much happen in real life, and as an Asian woman, this shit is terrifying.
TW: fetishization, racism, hate crimes
TW: fetishization, racism, hate crimes
meisbooknook's review
4.0
The Lies We Tell is one of my most anticipated thrillers of 2022. I was not disappointed. Similarly to How We Fell Apart, I predicted the plot of this book; however, that did not make it any less enjoyable.
This fast-paced mystery had a grip on me. It hooked me from the start, and before I knew it I had finished it in one sitting, I definitely thought that this book was more plot driven over character driven, which was a nice change of pace from a novel in a college setting. I felt that Anna knew what she wanted out of life, to get justice for her babysitter, and nothing was going to stop her.
I did feel like there were many subplots in this novel. Nothing was left unresolved at the end, but I couldn't help but think that some were underdeveloped in comparison to others. I do feel like to fully develop everything as much as I would have liked, that it would have had to be a duology. Nevertheless, this is a solid novel that accomplished what it was supposed to do.
The romance between Anna and Chris brought some light to an otherwise dark novel. I did feel that it was a bit rushed. I would have loved more scenes that showed how their relationship blossomed from reluctant allies to something more.
As a mixed Asian-American woman, I appreciate that Katie brought awareness to hate crimes and the fetishization of Asians. I hope that this helps non-Asian readers that realize that as disturbing as this was for them to read...this was the reality that many of us have faced for years. The pandemic just brought it to light.
This story has it all - romance, friendship, family ties, social issues, and the pursuit of justice. I would highly recommend to anyone who likes page-turning contemporary thrillers and social justice elements!
Thank you so much Katie, Bloomsbury YA, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this lovely book. I cannot wait to get my hands on a finished copy!
This fast-paced mystery had a grip on me. It hooked me from the start, and before I knew it I had finished it in one sitting, I definitely thought that this book was more plot driven over character driven, which was a nice change of pace from a novel in a college setting. I felt that Anna knew what she wanted out of life, to get justice for her babysitter, and nothing was going to stop her.
I did feel like there were many subplots in this novel. Nothing was left unresolved at the end, but I couldn't help but think that some were underdeveloped in comparison to others. I do feel like to fully develop everything as much as I would have liked, that it would have had to be a duology. Nevertheless, this is a solid novel that accomplished what it was supposed to do.
The romance between Anna and Chris brought some light to an otherwise dark novel. I did feel that it was a bit rushed. I would have loved more scenes that showed how their relationship blossomed from reluctant allies to something more.
As a mixed Asian-American woman, I appreciate that Katie brought awareness to hate crimes and the fetishization of Asians. I hope that this helps non-Asian readers that realize that as disturbing as this was for them to read...this was the reality that many of us have faced for years. The pandemic just brought it to light.
This story has it all - romance, friendship, family ties, social issues, and the pursuit of justice. I would highly recommend to anyone who likes page-turning contemporary thrillers and social justice elements!
Thank you so much Katie, Bloomsbury YA, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this lovely book. I cannot wait to get my hands on a finished copy!
librarydosebykristy's review
3.0
2.5 stars. I just thought this was kind of bland and the characters lacked depth. The end was underwhelming and a little too on the nose.
There’s better out there for sure.
There’s better out there for sure.
cassandra46's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
angay_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Anna Xu arrives at Brookings university hoping to get good grades, make new friends, and maybe solve the murder of Melissa Hong that took place 7 years ago. She teams up with her childhood rival as she digs deeper into the secrets of the past and the dangers of the present.
This is a decently written book, the plot is interesting, though some parts of the book I found a bit slow. I think the writing could've been better. Idk, maybe just compared to some other writers, I feel the writing could be improved. (But honestly who am I to judge when my own writing is trash-) The characters are realistic (especially the texting!) and the rivals to lovers are expected but really cute!!
Now, as someone who's Chinese, I really appreciate the representation and the spread of awareness about Asian hate crimes. Especially with the pandemic going on for the past few years, it's important that people know this behavior is disgusting and needs to be stopped. This book delivers a strong message that we all have to band together to stop racism if we truly want the world to be a happy place.
A pretty good book that I enjoyed and would recommend to people who want to read a quick murder mystery! Enjoy!
This is a decently written book, the plot is interesting, though some parts of the book I found a bit slow. I think the writing could've been better. Idk, maybe just compared to some other writers, I feel the writing could be improved. (But honestly who am I to judge when my own writing is trash-) The characters are realistic (especially the texting!) and the rivals to lovers are expected but really cute!!
Now, as someone who's Chinese, I really appreciate the representation and the spread of awareness about Asian hate crimes. Especially with the pandemic going on for the past few years, it's important that people know this behavior is disgusting and needs to be stopped. This book delivers a strong message that we all have to band together to stop racism if we truly want the world to be a happy place.
A pretty good book that I enjoyed and would recommend to people who want to read a quick murder mystery! Enjoy!
emzo6262's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
irenetrexqueen's review
4.0
I am all for a book with a message but there are times in which they can be a bit heavy-handed and the end of this book it just that.
Non-spoiler section:
The story follows Chinese-American, Anna, in her first year of college as she tries to find the killer of her childhood babysitter, who was murdered at the same school. Along the way, she makes new friends and connects with old ones.
Anna was a very believable MC and person in general. I never questioned that she was a late teen and still growing up. Chris was a good outline but felt missing a bit of personality. The rest of the crew just felt like ends to a means. The roommate was just a sort of popular rich girl, Katherine was mousy(?), and so on. There was no connection built with the characters outside Anna, and Chris, which meant the "twist" really was more an oh
than and OH NO
I'll some up my final thoughts here:
I liked the book, but it lacked depth for most of the characters, and clues into who and why making the 'big reveal' fall extremely flat. Additionally, the message was subtle until the end and then hits the reader HARD on the head, and felt to take away from it. Also, it does rely on the reader knowing on stereotypes a bit much, though tries to illustrate stereotypes are bad.
No really Spoilers!
Okay
In the words of Schmidt:
I knew the roommate was a red herring and really wasn't much of a reveal. If there would have been more involvement with her or hints it would have made sense. When the "true" mastermind was revealed made a bit more sense, but had to have a long explanation, because there were really no clues.
Now the "twist" of Jessica being involved, it sort of made sense but really fell flat as there was little connection with the character. Even her reasoning, "being promised my dream job" gave NOTHING because I had no idea what that was.
The use of the secret society COULD have been good but like other parts of the book was just meh and a way to talk about how them rich white are aholes.
Now this leads to my biggest grip. The "moral" of the story, "Don't stereotype people and try to be the savior. Everyone is human with more to provide." This is a great message, but at the same time the author relies very heavily on stereotypes throughout the book. The MC had to get good grades for her parents, she had a rivalry with the other top person in the class, the other Asian character with any kind of backstory. Additionally, Katherine and Anna, until the end, being meek quiet girls. And while yes, the villain very much took the stereotype to the extreme as he fetishized Asian women and culture to fit his narrative it doesn't hit as hard when the author has relied so heavily on stereotypes.
And lastly, like Babbel, this book leans HARD into white people are all evil. Now don't get me wrong, I do know how bad anyone not pale as the snow has had it in the US, especially as of late, but how about adding more villains to your tales? It is much like when a book paints every man to be HORRIBLE. This book paints anyone who is not Asian and likes Asian culture, anime, or stories as either evil, manipulative, or elitist. I'm not asking for the story to not have the message it does but it needs to be reevaluated. The last chapter was great and would have been much more impactful if not for the weird speech about having to stay right before.
Non-spoiler section:
The story follows Chinese-American, Anna, in her first year of college as she tries to find the killer of her childhood babysitter, who was murdered at the same school. Along the way, she makes new friends and connects with old ones.
Anna was a very believable MC and person in general. I never questioned that she was a late teen and still growing up. Chris was a good outline but felt missing a bit of personality. The rest of the crew just felt like ends to a means. The roommate was just a sort of popular rich girl, Katherine was mousy(?), and so on. There was no connection built with the characters outside Anna, and Chris, which meant the "twist" really was more an oh
than and OH NO
I'll some up my final thoughts here:
I liked the book, but it lacked depth for most of the characters, and clues into who and why making the 'big reveal' fall extremely flat. Additionally, the message was subtle until the end and then hits the reader HARD on the head, and felt to take away from it. Also, it does rely on the reader knowing on stereotypes a bit much, though tries to illustrate stereotypes are bad.
No really Spoilers!
Okay
In the words of Schmidt:
I knew the roommate was a red herring and really wasn't much of a reveal. If there would have been more involvement with her or hints it would have made sense. When the "true" mastermind was revealed made a bit more sense, but had to have a long explanation, because there were really no clues.
Now the "twist" of Jessica being involved, it sort of made sense but really fell flat as there was little connection with the character. Even her reasoning, "being promised my dream job" gave NOTHING because I had no idea what that was.
The use of the secret society COULD have been good but like other parts of the book was just meh and a way to talk about how them rich white are aholes.
Now this leads to my biggest grip. The "moral" of the story, "Don't stereotype people and try to be the savior. Everyone is human with more to provide." This is a great message, but at the same time the author relies very heavily on stereotypes throughout the book. The MC had to get good grades for her parents, she had a rivalry with the other top person in the class, the other Asian character with any kind of backstory. Additionally, Katherine and Anna, until the end, being meek quiet girls. And while yes, the villain very much took the stereotype to the extreme as he fetishized Asian women and culture to fit his narrative it doesn't hit as hard when the author has relied so heavily on stereotypes.
And lastly, like Babbel, this book leans HARD into white people are all evil. Now don't get me wrong, I do know how bad anyone not pale as the snow has had it in the US, especially as of late, but how about adding more villains to your tales? It is much like when a book paints every man to be HORRIBLE. This book paints anyone who is not Asian and likes Asian culture, anime, or stories as either evil, manipulative, or elitist. I'm not asking for the story to not have the message it does but it needs to be reevaluated. The last chapter was great and would have been much more impactful if not for the weird speech about having to stay right before.
mermaird's review
3.0
“Too bad humanity is a force of ugly destruction.”
Reading about racism has always made my blood boil in disgust, and that’s exactly how I felt when I read The Lies We Tell. Anna Xu chose to attend Brookings University for many reasons: one of it being investigating the truth behind the murder of her former babysitter. All she wanted was to ace in her classes and perhaps retrace the mystery of the cold case. Well, trouble would come rolling when you’re sniffing too close, they say.
The story mainly mentions about racism towards Asians which I find to be really infuriating. The fear and anger that Anna feels when facing these racist remarks were realistically written, but just like in real life, there’s nothing much you can do when someone chose to be racist. If I have to be honest, the mystery element in this book is rather weak and not really surprising, as I was able to guess the real perpetrator from the-go. But it did not make it any less disgusting. To be fair, the storyline does feel realistic, like it can happen to anyone in actual reality.
I was not really sure what to feel with Anna’s character at first, because for someone who wants to be on top in her class, she focuses too much on other things. But I do like her curiosity and the way she stands up for herself in the end was very courageous of her. There was a potential enemies-to-lovers with Chris Lu, the son of her family’s rival, but it wasn’t really developed too deeply, as the “being enemies” part seems to run one-sided only. They were still cute, though I wish there were more banter going on
firefox's review
5.0
(Arc)
I loved Katie Zhao's previous novel so I was giddy with excitement to find out that I had access to the eARC of her new book: 'The Lies We Tell'
This book follows Anna and I was obsessed with this. Anna's story follows several plotlines from the murder of someone she knew to racist scums attacking Asian people. I loved Anna's determination throughout this story and how eager she was to find out certain pieces of information - which may be a spoiler so I'll keep my definition to that. The reveal shocked me but I was even more shocked when the plot twist came which was wonderful for me because sometimes these stories never shock me.
Overall, Katie Zhao didn't disappoint with this novel and she is still up there in my favourites.
I loved Katie Zhao's previous novel so I was giddy with excitement to find out that I had access to the eARC of her new book: 'The Lies We Tell'
This book follows Anna and I was obsessed with this. Anna's story follows several plotlines from the murder of someone she knew to racist scums attacking Asian people. I loved Anna's determination throughout this story and how eager she was to find out certain pieces of information - which may be a spoiler so I'll keep my definition to that. The reveal shocked me but I was even more shocked when the plot twist came which was wonderful for me because sometimes these stories never shock me.
Overall, Katie Zhao didn't disappoint with this novel and she is still up there in my favourites.