Can this teen find her father before it’s too late?
Welcome!
First, I would like to thank Goodreads Giveaways, through it I won a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.
And if it’s honesty you want..
This is the first of Mary Elizabeth Summer’s books that I’ve picked up but, although I have several others by her on my TBR, this one didn’t impress me. It’s entirely possible that I set my expectations too high and.. here we are.
Still—if you’re looking for a quick read full of young, rash characters following vague clues that may or may not lead to the protagonist’s missing father.. you might just like this. If it’s a TBR for you though, fair warning, there will be spoilers below.
Good luck.
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Trust Me, I’m LIying by Mary Elizabeth Summer
Publication date: February 21, 2023
Pages: 282
Genre: Teen and Young Adult, Crime Fiction,Mystery
Standalone
First line: I can’t say I have much personal experience with conscience.
Characters: Young. Unlikable.
Storyline: Intriguing but fell flat.
Pace: Steady. Consistent.
Writing: Smart but not compelling.
Cover: 2/5
POVs
One: Julep
Three Stars ⭐⭐⭐
Julep Dupree, a sophomore and talented con artist, returns home one day to a trashed apartment and her father missing.
Now she’ll have to use every trick she knows and call in every favor owed if she’s to decipher the clues he’s left behind, discover who took him, and avoid ending up in foster care..
This has been a “must read” for me for a while now so I was really excited to finally pick it up.. until I did.
Julep bothered me. She came off as reckless, inconsiderate, and conceited. I expected her to be this smart, cunning, slightly devious creation, instead, she’s this exhausting pile of contradictions. Unsure but overconfident. Naive but suspicious. Hard and soft. She was all over the place and it made it difficult to connect and sympathize with her—and while there is some noticeable character growth by the end of the book, you still have to get that far.
All of the kids/teens/young adults (whatever we’re supposed to call them these days without causing mortal offense) were frustrating in some way. Young. Enabling. Prone to making bad decisions. Completely willing to go along with whatever craziness Julep came up with.
The adults are almost worse.. they’re supposed to know better.
And the romance? Not only unappealing but also annoying. There’s a love triangle.. and it’s not even an interesting one.
One thing I did not expect, and could not have seen coming, was the way it ended.
Shame, then, that I’m not sure the book was worth slogging through to get there.
If this is a book you’ve been looking forward to, I hope I haven’t scared you off, it’s completely possible that you might enjoy it.
I wanted very much to like it myself.. it just didn’t click.
That’s all folks!
Thank you for taking the time to check out my review. I’m never a fan of the disappointed ones but they are a regrettable necessity.
Have you read this book?
What did you think?
What a shame it didn’t live up to your expectations.
It is but fortunately there are many, many more fish in this wonderful sea of ours.
The name is so good, it sucks the story wasn’t as great. But that happens sometimes.
Right? You end up setting yourself up too. “This sounds awesome! I’m going to love it!
.. I don’t love it.”
Lol, they warned us with “don’t judge a book by its cover” for a reason 😅
They warned us.. doesn’t mean we listened. 🤭
I’ll skip this one, Sheri. You hit on a lot of points that would annoy me. I’m glad the end worked. It would have been great it the lead up to it was just as satisfying. 🙂
I don’t blame you. That’s one of the biggest downfalls of getting excited about a book.. there’s always a chance you might not like it.
Fortunately there are more good books than I can possibly read.
Ain’t that the truth.. isn’t it wonderful? 😊