Review: The Lying Game

The Lying Game is the first in the new series of the same name from Sara Shepard, the author of the Pretty Little Liars series.  It's just as bad addictive to read.   It's apparently a show on ABC Family as well. 

The plot borders on ridiculous, as a lot of murder series do.  A foster child, Emma, discovers that she has an identical twin sister, Sutton, who was adopted by a wealthy family.  They plan to meet, but when Emma arrives, she finds out Sutton has been murdered, and she's forced to assume Sutton's life as some sort of cover-up. 

Ridiculous, yes.  What I did enjoy was the fact that Emma goes to the police about this almost immediately, to knock a little bit of credibility into the story and not be the girl in the slasher film who runs up the stairs and not out the open door.  The author also works in a good backstory for why the police don't believe Emma.  So that was refreshing.

The narration is funky, but I liked it once I got used to it.  Non-spoiler alert, we actually know that Sutton is dead from the prologue, and also because she's the first person narrator.  She's reporting everything that Emma does, so it seems like it's in third person then it abruptly switches back to first person pronouns and your whole world is shaken up. 

The main problem with the books is that, similar to most YA series about rich teens, there are numerous references to brands, styles, fads, and things that won't be cool in a year or two.  Sure, people are familiar with most of them now, but when they're replaced, this book will feel dated because it relies so heavily on these references. 

I'm a sucker for series, so I already need to read the second book.  But not gonna lie, it's more because I want to laugh at the ridiculous figurative language.  At one point she compares destroying a friendship with a disposable lipstick tissue from Sephora.  #literary. 

All in all, it's a quick read that definitely reads like the Pretty Little Liar series.  If you're a fan of those books (or the TV show), you'll probably enjoy this series as well.