Sara Shepard - The Lying Game

n the Lying game Emma finds herself stepping into the life of Sutton, her long lost (and dead) twin sister after seeing a video of a snuff film starring Sutton placed on the internet. The novel is narrated by the dead Sutton (who doesn't remember much of her life) who watches as Emma tries to find out who killed her. The matter is complicated by The Lying Game which is popular with Sutton and her friends which involves cruel pranks that often include making the victim feel as though she is the victim of a crime. The Lying Game is by the author of Pretty Little Liars which is one of the novels that has been packaged by HarperTeen for multiple media distribution. The book reads like a TV show (and the TV show is already in pre-production) and is a very entertaining and fast read. The mystery is intriguing but does not resolve at the end of the book (all of the characters are still suspects) there is a bit of resolution regarding a clue but the reader is still left a bit unsatisfied with the ending. The back cover (of my ARC) presents the novel as part Pretty Little Liars and part Lovely bones and honestly that's giving far more credit than the novel should get. The book is fun and trashy but can't be compared with a novel like The Lovely Bones (although if you can use this to convince your child that she should read The Lovely Bones then go for it). Appropriateness: This is one of those books that will give conservative parents lots of worry. There is plenty of sex talk (although no actual sex), lots of drinking (complete with drinking games), criminal activity, mean girl bullying and even a bit of drug use. As is common with this genre book there is also an obsessive amount of "label dropping" as the author describes all the clothing with super-high end labels (even Emma as a foster child is obsessed with designer clothes). However, the characters in the book in no way appear normal (they're super rich) and Emma quite frequently looks down on their bad behavior. I wouldn't give the book to a high reading elementary schooler but if your middle grade reader wants to read the book it would be good to use it as an opening to have discussions of how to deal with situations (such as being at a party where everyone is participating in a drinking game) that they may find themselves in when they're older.