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A review by katethepodtherapyartist
Nothing But the Truth by Holly James
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
I went into this book thinking the premise, while not unfamiliar due to films like Liar, Liar, could be cute and even an interesting take with a female lead. I was horribly mistaken.
Lucy wakes up on her 30th birthday to discover she cannot lie - to herself, to others - and becomes physically ill if she tries. Sounds fun, let’s see where this goes. Where this goes is fast traveling all over LA (which if you’ve never been is difficult on a good day) over the course of a very sloppy time table, with events that realistically would take several days. Instead Lucy manages to do it all between the hours of 9 am and ? pm (though we are supposed to believe it’s somehow early afternoon), have time for a nap, andget to her roof top party early when she only had an hour to get ready and get there.
I found Lucy to be insufferable, practically yelling feminist talking points at Oliver in a manner that is neither realistic nor natural-sounding. I’m not mad Lucy is a feminist and is trying to speak up. I am a feminist myself, and think these things should be talked about more. I didn’t like that any of her talking points could have easily been a Tumblr blog post or TikTok rant with how one-sided it all was. Dialogue is often stilted, characters are far too patient with her, and she somehow is supposed to be the hero of the story while honestly being a constant jerk. There were several points I found her to be guilty of the very things she was upset with others about, and giving non-apologies where an actual apology should have been (assuming she actually did apologize, which was rare).
I found the book to be guilty of telling not showing most of the time, which made for a fast albeit unenjoyable read.
Lucy wakes up on her 30th birthday to discover she cannot lie - to herself, to others - and becomes physically ill if she tries. Sounds fun, let’s see where this goes. Where this goes is fast traveling all over LA (which if you’ve never been is difficult on a good day) over the course of a very sloppy time table, with events that realistically would take several days. Instead Lucy manages to do it all between the hours of 9 am and ? pm (though we are supposed to believe it’s somehow early afternoon), have time for a nap, and
I found Lucy to be insufferable, practically yelling feminist talking points at Oliver in a manner that is neither realistic nor natural-sounding. I’m not mad Lucy is a feminist and is trying to speak up. I am a feminist myself, and think these things should be talked about more. I didn’t like that any of her talking points could have easily been a Tumblr blog post or TikTok rant with how one-sided it all was. Dialogue is often stilted, characters are far too patient with her, and she somehow is supposed to be the hero of the story while honestly being a constant jerk. There were several points I found her to be guilty of the very things she was upset with others about, and giving non-apologies where an actual apology should have been (assuming she actually did apologize, which was rare).
I found the book to be guilty of telling not showing most of the time, which made for a fast albeit unenjoyable read.