Title: The Lies About Truth
Author: Courtney Stevens ♥ @Quartland
Expected Publication:
November 3, 2015Publisher: HarperTEEN
Pages: 336
Genres: Young Adult ♥ Contemporary ♥ Romance
Source: Edelweiss
Summary from Goodreads: Sadie Kingston, is a girl living in the aftermath. A year after surviving a car accident that killed her friend Trent and left her body and face scarred, she can’t move forward. The only person who seems to understand her is Trent’s brother, Max.
As Sadie begins to fall for Max, she’s unsure if she is truly healed enough to be with him — even if Max is able to look at her scars and not shy away. But when the truth about the accident and subsequent events comes to light, Sadie has to decide if she can embrace the future or if she’ll always be trapped in the past.
Average Goodreads Rating (as of 10/08/2015): 3.95
- Christina thought this title was moving. It goes on her second shelf. To find out why…
**Disclaimer:** An e-ARC of this title was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. However, that did not influence this review in any way. All thoughts, quotes, and opinions will be of this version and not of the published edition.
♥ Quick Thoughts and Rating:
4 stars! I think I went into The Lies About Truth expecting the heavy-heart-hitter that Faking Normal was, and while it tackles some tougher topics with a lyrical prose and lots of emotion, I was never bowled over completely by feels like I was in the author’s debut novel. That being said, there were so many things that I loved about this book, but the biggest of those was how realistically Stevens captures loss and how that kind of tragedy can ripple effects into every aspect of a person’s life: family, friends, and love. This was a book of personal triumph, learning that letting go doesn’t mean you can’t remember, and that the support of the people around you is infinitely better than tackling something alone.
♥ The Lowdown: Sadie Kingston’s world feels irreparably damaged. Not only does she suffer the mental anguish of losing her best friend at such a young age, but she also carries the scars of that devastating day all over her face and body. It’s been almost a year since the car wreck that changed her physical appearance, but the people missing at her side- her best friend, Trent, gone forever, her ex-boyfriend Gray and Trent’s former girlfriend and Sadie’s former best girlfriend, Gina, now estranged- are the most drastic, upsetting difference from her former life. It used to be that where one went, the others followed, but now they’re completely scattered and one will never be there at all. The only person that seems to understand this new version of herself is Trent’s younger brother, Max. He was always the tag-along to their fierce foursome, but now that he’s stepping out of his brother’s shadow and taking up a more permanent role in Sadie’s life, she has to decide just how far she’s willing to push herself to make things better again.
Once upon a time, there were four friends, two couples, who stopped being friends before they stopped being couples. Little questions niggled the back of their heads like splinters buried in the skin. Questions of trust and intention. Who loved whom the most? What if he wasn’t the best person for her? What if she wasn’t?
No one talked about the questions, because talking ruined plausible deniability. Talking burst the bubble of innocence. Talking ended the happily ever after.
These were the truths they believed.
And they were lies.
They should have talked while there was still something to say.
~quote taken from the eARC of The Lies About Truth at 74%
♥ Review: Courtney Stevens’ sophomore novel was a story that really tugged on the heartstrings, so basically exactly what I was expecting from her. She earned herself a spot on my automatic read list with her debut novel, Faking Normal, but this one only cemented that fact further. There’s a certain quality to her writing that pulls you in easily and keeps you emotionally invested the entire way through. Her prose has a stunning simplicity that leads itself to being gloriously uncomplicated while also remaining entirely memorable at the same time. I found myself highlighting section after section again in this book just as I did with her first. Her turn of phrase will have you pausing to reflect over the layers of depth and emotion she conveys so easily with a few short sentences.
I missed Trent like I missed the person I used to be.
Makeup covered parts of my scars, but nothing covered up grief.
~quote taken from the eARC of The Lies About Truth at 6%
And let’s talk about Sadie’s journey. I liked that it all really hindered on her and what she wanted from her life. Yes, she had an amazing support system, people that had her back and gave her nudges when she doubted her ability to capture what she wanted, but the evolution of her character and finding her new self was all her own doing. I enjoyed watching her traverse that path; seeing that moment when she realized that these “impossible” ideas on her wish list could actually become attainable goals. She was a character that I wanted to root for, and I feel like that’s something you can depend on when it comes to Stevens’ books. She has characters you want to champion. Characters that you’ll connect with, understand and sympathize/empathize with, and ultimately learn to love.
Sometimes the journey to let someone love you is the journey to loving yourself. I still had plenty more miles to go, but I had Pink Floyd, Tennessee, Idaho, and Max for company.
I had a feeling we’d get along just fine from here.
~quote taken from the eARC of The Lies About Truth at 96%
So, now I want to discuss that lovely support system of Sadie’s that I mentioned above, which is comprised of valuable, lovable characters. First are her parents, and can I just say that I love when families are present in YA? Like, really present and an active part of the story. I loved Sadie’s parents and how they felt so real. I appreciated that they were stern with her, but also loving and compassionate, willing to listen and understand her feelings about enduring the circumstances of such a traumatic time in her life. Not only were they present for the reader, but I felt like they appeared to be there for their daughter, too, worming their way in so that she knew undoubtedly that they could turn to her no matter what. Also, they were just pretty phenomenal characters on their own. I laughed at them more than once.
“This isn’t a punishment,” she said. “We almost lost you. We’re not going to stand back and watch you lose yourself.”
~quote taken from the eARC of The Lies About Truth at 7%
-♥-
I loved my mom so much in that moment that I almost dropped my plate and threw my arms around her. We were the kind of family who said I love you, so I said it then. Just so she’d know.
“You’re the best,” she told me. “And stop cussing at cards.”
“Mom, you cuss at cards.”
“Do as I say, not as I do, or whatever bullshit saying that is.”
~quote taken from the eARC of The Lies About Truth at 54%
Then there was Fletcher, her therapist. His enthusiasm for his job and passion for genuinely helping people came easily through the page. I loved that he was an integral part of Sadie’s journey to recovery- from both her grief and her insecurities over her scars. While he didn’t have a lot of actual page time in the book, he was a constant whispering voice in Sadie’s internal thoughts and you could tell that he influenced her decisions and made an impact in her life.
“Scars tell a story, but this week, you decide what that story’s going to be.”
~quote taken from the eARC of The Lies About Truth at 78%
Then there was Metal Pete, a gruff, widowed old man that worked in a junkyard and became almost like a surrogate grandfatherly figure in her life. He was her go-to person and place when she needed to escape the constant pressure to be better and do more. The junk yard was almost like a sanctuary, where she could go and reflect on what and who she had lost and even more of what she stood to gain. I liked that his nudges were subtler, but also a little more forceful. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy, and sometimes I think Sadie needed that type of voice in her ear, too.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry, I thought as I considered Pete’s generosity. “Pete . . .”
“Nope,” Pete warned. He took my hand the way my grandfather had when I was a little girl. Squeezing it once, he said, “I won’t have any of that sap. You’re not a tree.”
~quote taken from the eARC of The Lies About Truth at 83%
Lastly, there were the friends, Gina and ex-boyfriend Grayson, and Max. I liked that Gina and Gray gave her the space she needed to grow, but also constantly reminded her that they were there and willing to be a part of her life, of the one she was making for her new self, in any way that she’d allow it. It made my heart squeeze a little tighter knowing that they weren’t going to let Sadie give up on such a long friendship, or let her give up on herself either. Now for sweet, thoughtful Max. Max was a quiet force, but one of the biggest proponents for the change we see in Sadie. Even though she basically does all the major moves on her own, he was the one that knew her goal list and set up some opportunities for her to challenge herself for her. Almost like he said, here’s one of the finish lines on your desired path, are you going to cross over it or skate around it? I appreciated that about him.
Aside from the characters, the other real driving force behind this book was Stevens’ ability to capture the impact of losing someone close and for them to be so young. She easily depicted the consequences that has on a single person and a family, as well as a community. I was able to really connect to this aspect of the story. In high school, I lost two guy friends a year apart, two young teens who also happened to be each other’s best friend, because of fatal car wrecks and I saw firsthand how that can radiate hurt in every direction. The first boy was only 16 at the time, and I was close with the family, his older sister was a good friend of mine and I even happen to be the godmother to her oldest daughter. I saw how it truly rocked the core of their family. I saw how people, friends and fellow students, realized that life can be blinked out so much sooner than we ever expect. It’s a solid jolt to this idealistic nature that we’ll all grow old, and that those who get snatched away too young won’t be someone you know personally. It always feels like it’ll happen to some other poor soul in some far off place that you’ve never been before. When it hits close to home, it really hits. I appreciated that the author allowed us to know Trent through Sadie’s memories and the people he knew and loved and that loved him in return. His presence and absence were both very apparent, and that made connecting to the level of hurt, shame, and betrayal that everyone experienced because of his death all the more real.
I will note that I took away a star because of one singular problem I had with the book, and had it been changed or erased altogether, this title would have more than likely been a five star read for me. Dispersed throughout the story are emails from Sadie to Max while he was living in El Salvador. I wanted the email exchanges to be written differently. As it stands now, we only have Sadie’s side of those correspondences. I feel like that hindered the reader’s ability to not only get to know Max, but also kept us from getting to experience them falling for one another. Not only that, but since we don’t get to form our own attachment to them as a couple when they make that transition from helping each other to loving each other, it’s hard not to feel like it’s a little insta-lovish when they finally do have those face-to-face interactions. It’s difficult not to feel like we missed out on all those important parts of them starting a relationship when we basically had to decipher what he said in all his emails from what Sadie was saying to him. Additionally, I felt like the emails interrupted the flow of the book and pulled me out of the story emotionally.
♥ Swoons: Max was an absolute sweetheart. I wish there were more chances for me to get to know his swoonier side better; however, the glimpses we were shown are pretty stellar.
♥ Rec it? Yes! The Lies About Truth was a touching story of forgiveness, family, friendships, forging new identities, enduring hardships and weathering storms, and, lastly, realizing that loss isn’t only saying goodbye. It’s about acceptance, learning to relive the good memories, tucking away the past, and letting those you love and lost live on in your heart long after they’re gone.
“It’s been a year. It’s been a really hard year without you. Losing you felt like jumping off the bridge and forgetting which way was up. I don’t think I’ll ever be over it, but I’m starting to find my way through it. Mom said when a person dies, you don’t get over it by forgetting; you get through it by remembering. I’ve been remembering everything lately.”
~quote taken from the eARC of The Truth About Lies at 85%
As for this author, I’m very much looking forward to more of her words. I can’t wait to see what other emotional journeys and amazing characters she has in store for us!
♥ A very special thanks to HarperTEEN and Edelweiss for providing me with an advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.
