3.5*
Seven Ways We Lie, as you may have guessed, has seven POVs. They represent the seven deadly sins, but really, they’re typical kids with your basic issues- granted, some of them a little more… consequential than others. I won’t tell you about each POV, because that would take forever. But some of the kids are dealing with some pretty heavy issues like sexuality, and a big old school scandal, and family/home issues, and bullying, and all kinds of stuff that people (young and not so young) deal with every day.
Some of the characters stood out more than others, and some I liked more than others, which is to be expected. Lucas was my favorite, he just seemed so… relatable, real, funny. And he talks about how diversity is so underrepresented in their high school- and even the diverse people who do exist try to hide it away. He calls the guys at school “aggressively heterosexual”, which is pretty accurate considering how they act. It’s unfortunate, and probably all too familiar for kids in some schools.
Claire is one of the POVs I liked the least. She slut shames Olivia at every turn, both internally and externally, even though they’re supposed to be great friends. While Olivia tries to explain how shitty it is when a guy is super aggressively hitting on her, Claire is completely unsupportive.
“‘Okay,’ I say, still not getting it. If she stopped sleeping around, guys wouldn’t expect anything from her anymore, right? Isn’t that the obvious fix?”
With friends like that… anyway. So there’s the school scandal, and I feel like I may be ummm wrong to not think it’s that big of a deal at all? I mean, I can see how it could be mildly troubling, but really… no. Maybe that’s just me? Anyway, there’s a few potential romances, and they’re all cute enough, if not completely ship-worthy.
Bottom Line: I liked it. I enjoyed the stories of the characters, for the most part. I liked how they developed over the course of the book. Some of them fell a bit flat, but with seven points of view, I think that’s bound to happen.
*Copy provided by publisher for review
**Quotes taken from uncorrected proof, subject to change.