Monday in Books - The Liar Society by Lisa and Laura Roecker

Mood: Monday (it's a mood)
On the interwebz radio: Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars (*sigh*)

It's Monday and I'm trying something new - you know, actually blogging and stuff. Yay blogger me! Okay, well I'm trying the whole "blog in advance and let it post on Monday" thing but whatever - it's almost the same thing, right? Right!

So onto the next new for me thing - book reviews. I don't usually (read: never) do them. Now don't get me wrong, I'll chat books all day in person. I'll tell you the good, the bad, the ugly and twist your arm to the point of snapping to either get you to buy a good book or stop you from wasting your money on what I considered a monumental waste of perfectly good trees and ink. However, putting those thoughts into actual written words? Not so much.

Until now. As I started thinking about what would make a good book for my very first blogging book review, I didn't have to look much further than my pink haired avi on Twitter for the answer.


THE LIAR SOCIETY by LISA and LAURA ROECKER

Since when do the dead send emails?

Kate Lowry's best friend Grace died a year ago. So when she gets an email from her, Kate's more than a little confused.

To: KateLowry@pemberlybrown.edu

From: GraceLee@pemberlybrown.edu

Subject: (no subject)

Kate,
I'm here... sort of.
Find Cameron. He knows.
I shouldn't be writing.
Don't tell. They'll hurt you.

Now Kate has no choice but to prove once and for all that Grace's death was more than just a tragic accident. She teams up with a couple of knights-in-(not-so)-shining armor-the dangerously hot bad boy, Liam, and her lovestruck neighbor, Seth. But at their elite private school, there are secrets so big people will do anything to protect them-even if it means getting rid of anyone trying to solve a murder...
Sourcebooks Fire (March 1, 2011)

My Take

Lisa and Laura Roecker have hit an absolute YA home run with their debut novel The Liar Society.

Sporting pink hair and her best friend's pearls and prompted by e-mails from her dead best friend, Kate Lowry is on a mission to solve the mysteries that haunt the hallowed halls of her prestigious private school, Pemberly Brown, and in the process get to the bottom of what really happened the night her best friend died in a tragic fire.

First, let me say that Kate Lowry has taken up residence right next to Nancy Drew and Veronica Mars in the YA mystery niche of my heart but she has a very special space all her own. In Kate, the Roecker sisters have created a main character that is so real, and perfect in her imperfection that she really is the girl next door - if the girl next door got e-mails from her dead best friend, had a dorky side kick with an undying crush on her and a super smexy love interest who may or may not be involved in the deadly secrets that are buried at Pemberly Brown.

Told seamlessly in a mixture of flashbacks and present day, the story carries the reader along through an adventure that will keep you guessing from one minute to the next.

At a Glance

1. No one dimensional "mean girl" or "rich spoiled kids" stereotypes for the Roecker sisters which I LOVE! The characters are real, flawed, and three dimensional - even the more minor characters - did I mention that I LOVE this?

2. Kate is not only sassy and sarcastic, which = awesome but she's SMART. Like 'knows Latin' smart. Also, she knows enough to know that when she's heading into a potentially dangerous situation she should probably at least leave a text message for her knights in shiny tin foil (okay, maybe the tin foil thing only applies to Seth and the tin foil was probably in the form of a hat, but still)

3. The "love story". All good books have one and this book is no exception - except that it is. Seth has a major thing for Kate. Kate may or may not have a thing for Liam. It's a nice side story that unfolds in a very real awkward teenage way but it doesn't take over the main story. Which is all kinds of awesome! No pining away for some guy for our Kate! She's got mysteries to solve and butts to kick. She might have time to steal a kiss or two in between but really? That's not her focus.

4. The ending - I'll admit that some might find the ending somewhat unsatisfying but I was not one of those people. I'm okay with endings that are a bit open ended because life is often that way. Not everything gets pulled together in a neat little package and that's okay because, like Kate, we always have the option to keep pressing forward. And she will and I will be there to read it when she does! :)