Seven Ways We Lie.

Book: Seven Ways We Lie.

Written by: Riley Redgate.

Pages: 352.

Category: Children’s Fiction. Teens & YA.

Publisher: ABRAMS Kids.
Amulet Books.

Synopsis: The juniors at Paloma High School all have their secrets, whether it’s the thespian who hides her trust issues onstage, the closeted pan sexual who only cares about his drug-dealing profits, or the neurotic genius who’s planted the seed of a school scandal. But it’s Juniper Kipling who has the furthest to fall. No one would argue that Juniper—obedient daughter, salutatorian, natural beauty, and loyal friend—is anything but perfect. Everyone knows she’s a saint, not a sinner; but when love is involved, who is Juniper to resist temptation? When she begins to crave more and more of the one person she can’t have, her charmed life starts to unravel.

Then rumors of a student–teacher affair hit the fan. After Juniper accidentally exposes her secret at a party, her fate falls into the hands of the other six sinners, bringing them into one another’s orbits. All seven are guilty of something. Together, they could save one another from their temptations—or be ruined by them.

My Thoughts: I think I just hit the mother load when it comes to POV’s (Point of View)! Was SEVEN really necessary? No. I’m pretty sure that half the the character’s stories could have been merged together, and the author would have still gotten her point across. I wouldn’t have minded so many characters, if that were the case. Going back and forth over and over again got a little out of hand. At one point, I was mixing characters up and had to backtrack to get it all straight again. I’m surprised that I enjoyed it so much, seeing as I don’t really care for so many POVs. I know I didn’t give it 5 stars, but is was still enjoyable. I also would like to point out that, I liked how the writing style seemed to change with every individual. It gave them their own personalities. 

Since there was so much going on all at once, I am going to break my review down character by character. They all had something important to add to the story, big or small. I just don’t think that they all needed to tell their own side.

Olivia & Kat Scott.
If you ask me, Olivia and her sister Kat’s story was a bit cliche. As soon as I heard about her list of boys, I knew that she was just sleeping around to try and fill the void that developed when their mom left them with no explanations. (I’ll get back to that in a second!) I actually liked that both Olivia and Kat got their own POVs I don’t think it would have worked out if they shared one. They were both going through the same hardship, but it affected them in different ways, so it was nice to see how they dealt with their mom leaving separately.

Now back to their mother. What a loser? How dare she leave her kids like that without even saying goodbye!? She hasn’t talked to her kids in what I believe was TWO YEARS!? The problem she was having was between her and her husband. What kind of mother leaves their kids like that? I would have understood if she just moved out and it was just like every other divorced situation, but she went too far! I’m sorry, but I can’t stand parents who leave their kids like nothing. Oh yeah, and once again we had an absentee father…Sir, you have kids…PAY ATTENTION! I was so happy when the girls told him about himself. Don’t try to parent out of nowhere after you’ve been mentally absent for so long!

Juniper Kipling.
WARNING! SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED DON’T READ ABOUT JUNIPER KIPLING! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
I don’t think there is much to say about Juniper (What kind of name is that?). Okay I lied! I’m sorry and some might not agree, but I think she is stupid! I’m tired of these little girls falling for grown ass men, and when everything starts to fall apart, they want to whine and cry talking about how much they love and NEED him…COME ON! I understand that they met under different circumstances, but her relationship with Mr. Garcia, was still a big NO NO! He had no business hitting on the CHILD in the coffee shop. Maybe he didn’t know how old she was from the beginning, but as soon as he found out, he should have ran for the hills! I hate how when all of her friends find out, they tried to make us feel bad about/justify the situation by saying how 17 is the legal age of consent, and how he didn’t know she was a student at the school he was going to be teaching at…BULLSHIT! Wrong is wrong. He was a teacher and she is a student. Enough said!

Matt Jackson.
As much as I loved him, I feel like Matt didn’t need his own POV. Yeah, he had a lot going on at home, but I feel like he could have been merged with Olivia, and we still would have got to the same conclusion. His story was a little boring, but when he was interacting with Olivia, I couldn’t get enough! It took him so long to get up the nerve to even look, at her. I thought I was going to scream! Thanks God their relationship FINALLY went somewhere by the end.

Lucas McCallum.
This was another great time when an author could have taken the time to really teach the readers about a subject that is taboo. Lucas is Pan sexual. I think I barely started hearing about such a thing in 2015. I’m lost! I know he did explain that he is attracted to every sex, males, females, and others. The problem that I am having, is the so called “other”. What does that even mean? I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but really…Help! I know I can just Google it myself, but I think it would have been better if it was explained more in depth. His story could have been bigger.

Valentine Simmons.
First of all, in the beginning I thought he was a GIRL! Who names their son VALENTINE!? I’m pretty sure it is pronounced like Valentine’s Day, so again, WHO NAMES THEIR SON VALENTINE!? After getting past his name I didn’t really get what his point in the book was… Yeah, I understand that he was the whistle-blower, and he got all of the motors running, and I’m not trying to sound harsh, but what else was he good for? His story could have been told from Lucas McCallum’s POV and everything would have been fine. He did have his own little secret, but it wasn’t really attention grabbing. At first I thought maybe he has a slight case of Asperger’s Syndrome, but that was a negative. When his secret came out in the end…I was just like…O…K…

Claire Lombardi.
I don’t even know what to say about her. She was just there, being negative all the time. How can you be friends with someone, but always be judging them? All she did was sit around comparing herself to everyone else. She seemed a bit neurotic. In my opinion her character wasn’t even necessary for the story. Well, she was Lucas’ ex-girlfriend, so if anything she should have been merged with him.

In the end, I do think this books spreads a great message. I love how the author shows us that just because it may seem like it on the outside, no one is perfect. Everyone is lugging around their own baggage.. Everyone has flaws. Seven Ways We Lie is the perfect book for someone who loves multiple POVs. Even though I really did enjoy the story, and it did keep my interest, I had to give Seven Ways We Lie 4 Stars. There were just to many sides to keep up with!