Today, I'm sharing my review of a book I absolutely devoured. I had planned on taking my time with this one, but then, as it happens, I read it all in about two days. I couldn't put this book down, and I was even reading it during work, so you know I was addicted.
Paloma High School is ordinary by anyone’s standards. It’s got the same cliques, the same prejudices, the same suspect cafeteria food. And like every high school, every student has something to hide—whether it’s Kat, the thespian who conceals her trust issues onstage; or Valentine, the neurotic genius who’s planted the seed of a school scandal.
When that scandal bubbles over, and rumors of a teacher-student affair surface, everyone starts hunting for someone to blame. For the unlikely allies at the heart of it all, the collision of their seven ordinary-seeming lives results in extraordinary change.
When that scandal bubbles over, and rumors of a teacher-student affair surface, everyone starts hunting for someone to blame. For the unlikely allies at the heart of it all, the collision of their seven ordinary-seeming lives results in extraordinary change.
This book was a mess, and I mean that in the best way possible. How can that be a good thing? Well, it was supposed to be a mess. A student and teacher are having an affair, and as soon as the principal announces this to the student body, everyone has an opinion. Even though that's the central problem of the story, that's not the main problem for each character.
Olivia is dealing with her mother leaving, and she's taken to sleeping with as many boys as it takes to fill that space inside her. Kat, her twin, throws herself into acting while pushing aside her true feelings. Juniper, Olivia's best friend, is perfect in every way, but she wants people to know that's not exactly true. Their jealous friend, Claire, can't quite hide her wrath at those who have wronged her, including her own friends, but she doesn't know where the anger comes from. Matt, the stoner, is reluctantly dragged into this mess, but when he realizes Olivia is there, it's not so reluctant anymore. Lucas, the jock, is all smiles and happiness, with a side of drug-selling and pansexualism. Valentine is the one that tells the secret that glues them all together, but even he doesn't understand what he's done.
We get the story from these seven, their points of view changing with each chapter. The story starts to unfold, each character added more details to their lives and the problems that they're facing. I loved Juniper's chapters, because she tells hers through shattered poems, and it's beautiful. Near the end, I realize how well that style fits her. It's gorgeous and sad, and you're constantly trying to put it together to make it make some kind of sense.
None of these characters could be mistaken for the other. While it seems as though Olivia, Juniper, and Claire could be interchangeable, we quickly find that this is definitely not the case. Neither are the other characters just cookie cutter versions of themselves, if that makes any sense. Valentine is a recluse, one of those genius students that hates people, but that doesn't stop him from being friends with Lucas, because Lucas is the type that can break down walls and force himself into your life. I'll be honest: I don't think I've ever read a pansexual character in any book, which makes me kind of sad. But Lucas. LUCAS. He was so perfect and it wasn't overtly obvious. The author wrote him beautifully, not making his sexuality the main part of him, only one facet of himself.
I think that's what was really enjoyable about these characters. They all had reputations, but they weren't their reputations, you know? Like, sure, Olivia slept around, but she didn't start wearing "slutty" clothes (whatever those are) and she fought for herself. She believed in her decisions and didn't let people stomp all over her. It was refreshing to read teenagers as actual teenagers, and not ones that are pretending to be adults. They understood the wrong that they were doing, but they did it anyway, because that's what happens sometimes.
This is one of those books that I know I'm going to go back to. I'm going to read it again and again until I memorize it, because not only is the writing so awesomely like a teenager (thank god), but the story is so sad, yet so uplifting. It's like, high school sucks, but I'm going to make the best of it because it's either that or I die.
And, really, isn't that being a teenager?
Seven Ways We Lie comes out on March 8th. I seriously recommend that you pick it up. Click here and find where to pick it up!
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