In Seven Ways We Lie, a chance encounter tangles the lives of seven high school students, each resisting the allure of one of the seven deadly sins, and each telling their story from their seven distinct points of view.
The juniors at Paloma High School all have their secrets, whether it’s the thespian who hides her trust issues onstage, the closeted pansexual 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.
Riley Redgate’s twisty YA debut effortlessly weaves humor, heartbreak, and redemption into a drama that fans of Jenny Han and Stephanie Perkins will adore.
Note:I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Initial thoughts: There were a lot of main characters to track — seven altogether. And you know what? It worked. I've always subscribed to the notion that two people can go through the exact same thing and they will still perceive it very differently. That's why I like multiple POVs. They remind us that nobody is wrong (or right) necessarily. We are limited by what we see and it's always a lot less than what we think we know. Seven Ways We Lie portrayed that idea extremely well.
Plot-wise, I didn't think that it went above and beyond most YA contemporary books today. I wasn't surprised by anything. Called practically all of the potential twists. Nonetheless, some parts tugged at my heartstrings because the writing was tight. I definitely look forward to reading future books by Riley because what I didn't expect was to learn that she's still in college, about to graduate this year.
