Book Review: Never Have I Ever

Author: Sara Shepard
Title: Never Have I Ever
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publish Date: Aug 1, 2011
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: My perfect life was a lie.

Now I’d do anything to uncover the truth.

Not long ago, I had everything a girl could wish for: amazing friends, an adorable boyfriend, a loving family. But none of them know that I’m gone—that I’m dead. To solve my murder, my long-lost twin sister, Emma, has taken my place. She sleeps in my room, wears my clothes, and calls my parents Mom and Dad.

And my killer is watching her every move.

I remember little from my life, just flashes and flickers, so all I can do is follow along as Emma tries to solve the mystery of my disappearance. But the deeper she digs, the more suspects she uncovers. It turns out my friends and I played a lot of games—games that ruined people’s lives. Anyone could want revenge . . . anyone could want me—and now Emma—dead.

Review: The Lying Game was an absolutely fun read. Never Have I Ever picks up where that book leaves off and pulls you in, and once you are in, you don't want to leave.

These books are like candy and Red Bull. Stuff you know that's bad for you, but ooo its so good.

In Never Have I Ever the plot thickens as Emma tries to find her twin's (Sutton's) killer. Sara lets us see some of the events that lead up to the day Sutton was killed through memory flashbacks from the dead girl.

The book moves along really quickly and it is a short read at only around 200 pages.  In this story Shepard helps cross a few suspects off the list of people that might have killed Sutton, and there are a lot of people that have motive to do it. Sutton was not a very nice girl.

We see some of the more dangerous things Sutton has done from shoplifting to a really scary prank that could have gotten the whole Lying Game clique killed.

Since this is the second book in the series, we can assume we aren't going to figure out "whodunit" yet, though there are times when you feel like Gabi and Lilli could have been the ones.  Shepard also leaves us with a nice cliffhanger ending that will have you wishing book 3 would be out sooner.

This is fluff reading for sure, but it is really fun, especially if you liked the Pretty Little Liars series.

Rating: 4 flowers

Book Review: The Lying Game

Author: Sara Shepard
Title: The Lying Game
Publishisher: HarperTeen
Publisher Date: Dec 7, 2010
Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley and the Publisher
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: I had a life anyone would kill for.

Then someone did.

The worst part of being dead is that there’s nothing left to live for. No more kisses. No more secrets. No more gossip. It’s enough to kill a girl all over again. But I’m about to get something no one else does—an encore performance, thanks to Emma, the long-lost twin sister I never even got to meet.

Now Emma’s desperate to know what happened to me. And the only way to figure it out is to be me—to slip into my old life and piece it all together. But can she laugh at inside jokes with my best friends? Convince my boyfriend she’s the girl he fell in love with? Pretend to be a happy, carefree daughter when she hugs my parents good night? And can she keep up the charade, even after she realizes my murderer is watching her every move?


From Sara Shepard, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Pretty Little Liars books, comes a riveting new series about secrets, lies, and killer consequences.

Let the lying game begin.

Review: This is the kind of book that really grabs the reader and draws them in. Twin sisters separated for years but kind of drawn together only after one of them is dead.

The Lying Game is really a fast read. Once you start it, you won't want to put it down, even though the whole thing feels a bit too familiar. One twin had a privilidged existence, the other was in foster care. One twin was nice, the other was a bit of a beoytch!

Part of the story is comes via Sutton, who is the dead twin. We're not sure yet if she was the victim of her Lying Game or not, though she appears to be. The rest of the story is told from her "down on her luck" twin, who finds out about her sister through a Youtube video and Facebook.

I had a hard time with the plot, because it was just so unbelievable, but that didn't stop me from reading. I really loved getting to see how Emma, sort of became Sutton, to stay alive. Plus everyone kind  of loves that whole "Mean Girls" thing that Sutton and her friends have going on, even though in real life we'd all like to stay far away from them.

This is definitely the kind of teen book I would have loved when I was growing up. It had glamour, mystery and a ghost! It was even pretty well written, even though the plot seems like it has been done before.

Rating: 4 flowers