Secrets and Lies

by Kody Keplinger

Kody Keplinger both returns to the halls of Hamilton High and explores new territory in her collection of two e-book exclusive novellas. In these short stories, the author revisits a familiar cast of characters from THE DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) and A Midsummer's Nightmare. Explore the uniquely teen world of high school drama, secrets, and romantic entanglements from completely fresh perspectives that will intrigue fans of Kody Keplinger and new readers alike.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Short Stories, Ebooks, Novella, Fiction

91 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2013

About the author

I'm a 19-year-old college student and young adult author. My first book, THE DUFF, debuted on September 7, 2010. I write books for teenagers and strive to be honest and true-to-life. For more info, check out my website.
http://kodykeplinger.com

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first short story, Abbreviations & Alliterations, features Casey from The DUFF, when she starts to date Toby, Bianca's ex. The major conflict of the short story comes in with Casey feeling like she is braking girlcode by dating Toby, since he is a friend's ex. There are both secrets and lies in this one :)

I loved this story - it was so fun and I read straight through in on a train ride into the city during BEA. It was lovely. Casey is such a fun character who uses a few too many abbreviations. She is such a genuinely good person, and her quest for continuing to be a good person is what allows us to have our story as she is afraid to tell Bianca for fear of her reaction. I loved revisiting Biance and Wes - hello cuties :) They are one of my favorite characters. I was sad when Abberviations and Alliterations ended - as I just loved Casey and could have read about her all day :)

The second short story in this collection is titled People Worth Knowing and features Bailey, Nathan's younger sister. It really zeroes on on bullying - only in Bailey's case she is not the one being bullied, but dealing with the consequences of others doing the bullying and that question of whether she should interfere and face others wrath or stand by and watch it happen. While I didn't love this one quite as much as the first short story, I still enjoyed it quite a lot.

I just love whatever Kody Keplinger writes - they always have such a fun feel to them and are fast paced reads. This is a perfect read for fans of Kody Keplinger or anyone looking for a great beach read. This would be great to fill up an afternoon for someone looking for some fun :)

[Chelsey with a y · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book, Abbreviations and Alliterations, was from Casey's point of you and I'm so glad her love life worked out in the end. After just finishing Lying Out Loud I did see some similarity between the two but still loved it. The second book, People Worth Knowing, was from Bailey's point of view and I was so proud of her for sticking up to the bully and doing what was right. She was worried that Brody wouldn't like her but it pays to be yourself!

[Faylogic · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh

[Alaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since I read The Duff I have wanted to dive into this book.

One reason is because the first story has to deal with Casey, who is one of Bianca's best friends. She is dealing with a major conflict: dating Toby, who just happens to be Bianca's ex. Why is this a major problem for her? Because Casey feels like she is breaking some type of crazy girl code. In my opinion she isn't because Bianca is very happy with her boyfriend. So yeah, I didn't really care about her dating Toby or whatever but I just really wanted to read that short story, I was so freaking happy that I did and now my life is complete.

Then there's the second story that revolves around Bailey, who is Nathan's younger sister. She is dealing with the consequences of bullying. Now it's been a while since I've read a book that was about bullying so I was all for this. Plus you usually read books about the MC getting bullied not actually being the bully. So I really liked that this was the opposite of what I'm used to reading.

I enjoyed both books a lot and I can totally see myself rereading Secrets and Lies over and over again.

The second reason is because I just love Kody Keplinger has a writer and it's been a while since I've read one of her books. And no, I'm not counting my reread of The Duff last month because.. well.. it was a reread. I want to dive into the books I haven't read. I can't get enough of her books - I want them all!

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

I really Toby and this was a cute little story to wrap up his story.

[cεℓтïcεяαƨ мυƨε]

"In Spring 2013, Little Brown will be releasing a collection of 3 short stories (each about 5 or 6 chapters long), featuring characters from my other books. Squee!One story is about Casey from THE DUFF, and it’s a story I’ve wanted to tell since I wrote the book but had no outlet for, so I’m SO EXCITED to finally get a chance to tell Casey’s story. Another story is about Bailey from A MIDSUMMER’S NIGHTMARE. And the third is about Julie - a character you will meet in Goldfish - and it serves as sort of a prequel to the book.The collection doesn’t have a title just yet, but the theme is secrets.These will be released in digital format only (so for your Nook, Kindle, iPad, etc) and they’ll be out in Spring 2013 (wait, did I already say that part?)Guys, I am really, really excited! I”m so glad I got to share this with you all. And there is more news on the horizon, so stay tuned!" -Kody

[Fafa's Book Corner · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a quick and delightful read! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this it was fun, quick, and did have good lessons in there. There are two short stories in this book. One is about Casey (from the DUFF) and the other is about Bailey (from a midsummer's nightmare). Casey's story is about how she find outs out she has a crush on Toby (Bianca's ex). She feels terrible about liking him and decided to keep the relationship between the two of them a secret. Eventually she is honest with everybody about her relationship with him. Bailey's story is about bullying. No Bailey is not the victim but she is involved by remaining to be a bystander. The bully is caught and through this experience Bailey learns some valuable lessons. Just to clarify Casey also learns some lessons. I preferred Bailey's story more than Casey. You do not have to read A Midsummer's nightmare to read this. I didn't and it made perfect sense to me. Overall this was a fantastic read! Hope you all enjoy it as well :)

[Vem Night · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute as always. Love it.

This consists of a novella from THE DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) and THE MIDSUMMER'S NIGHTMARE which both book I really enjoyed.

I was thrilled to know there's a sneak peak to these books because I couldn't help but wonder what happened after all these crazy and its lovely endings. Although it is set in a different persons POV, how they see these couples is totally worth it.

Love.Love.Love.

[Sónia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was nice to read about our beloved characters again! Funny and witty as usual!

[Amy Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Secrets & Lies features two short novella’s by author Kody Keplinger. If you are not familiar with this author in the young adult world, then I highly recommend that you start with The D.U.F.F. I will also warn you that this authors writing is highly addictive. Once you read one book by Ms. Keplinger, you will not want to stop at one.

Novella One: Abbreviations & Alliterations
The main characters featured in novella one are Casey Blithe and Toby Tucker. If you have read The DUFF then you know that Casey is one of Bianca’s best friends. Toby was a guy that Bianca briefly dated in The DUFF. With this short story we get to see both of these characters slowly fall in love with each other. Casey is also having a hard time admitting that she is falling for Toby and doesn’t want to let anyone know they are dating. She is afraid that Bianca will find out since there is the unspoken girl rule of not dating your friends ex. Toby goes along with it being a secret for a little while, but eventually he wants to know when they can tell everyone. Toby doesn’t understand why it has to be a secret since Bianca is happy now with Wesley and they only dated briefly. Eventually, this story plays out with Bianca finding out. There is drama, but not as big as it would be if it would have been a full length novel. I felt that this novella was beautifully done and Toby was sweet.

Novella Two: People Worth Knowing
In this novella we get to go back to Hamilton High that was featured in A Midsummer’s Nightmare. The main characters of this novella are Bailey and Brody. Bailey is the little sister from A Midsummer’s Nightmare and I am glad we got to see a little of her life in this one. Again, characters from the previously mentioned book are present and we get to reconnect with them as well. Bailey has had a crush on Brody Frasier for some time. He is smart, athletic and popular. When his sister Justine notices the crush, she lures Bailey into her circle of popular friends. Justine is not a nice person and she proves this on several occasions. Serious bullying is done and the author handled the touchy subject really well. I am glad that we got to see how strong Bailey can be for her age emotionally and mentally in this novella.

While I enjoyed both short stories in this book, I think the first novella was my favorite. Toby and Casey were fun to read about and I think it is mainly because I loved The DUFF so much. Revisiting those characters were wonderful. I still enjoyed the second novella but it had a feel of being for the younger group of teens. I personally can’t wait to see who the author writes about next!

[Tehteh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been reading all of Kody's books, so it's only natural that I read this. As you probably know, this is nade up of two stories, one set after The Duff, following Casey, Bianca's friend, and the other set after Midsummer0s Nightmare, following Bailey, Nathan's younger sister.

Neither of the stories blew me away, to be honest, but I liked the first beetter than the second. I really liked knowing Casey, and I thought Kody made a clever move by pairing her with Toby. I actually found them both really cute and mature, and while the story kind of mirrored The Duff in some ways, ut was really enjoyable to read.

As for Bailey's story, it was sweet, but it kind of felt a little childish in a way. I mean really, Bailey is really REALLY naive, God bless her. And too sweet for her own good, too. It was worth reading to get a bit more of Nathan and Whitley and their very weird chemistry though.

[Brittney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was worth reading if you have read The Duff and A Midsummer's Nightmare. The first short story is about Casey from The Duff. She comes home for Christmas vacation and falls for her best friends ex boyfriend, Toby Tucker. I thought it was okay, but I definitely enjoyed the second story more. The second story featured Bailey from A Midsummer's Nightmare. I loved that Nathan and Whitley were in the story as well. Bailey tries to fit in at her new high school and in the process helps ruin another girls reputation. The story itself is overplayed, but I absolutely love these characters and I will pretty much read anything with them in it. I felt like Bailey held her own and I could have read an entire novel from her POV. Casey however, didn't shine so bright. Her POV was kind of dull and she wasn't the star of her own story....everyone else kind of over powered her. If that makes sense.

[Kassiah]

So excited for these stories!!!

From Kody's blog:

One story is about Casey from THE DUFF, and it���s a story I’ve wanted to tell since I wrote the book but had no outlet for, so I’m SO EXCITED to finally get a chance to tell Casey’s story. Another story is about Bailey from A MIDSUMMER’S NIGHTMARE. And the third is about Julie - a character you will meet in Goldfish - and it serves as sort of a prequel to the book.

The collection doesn’t have a title just yet, but the theme is secrets.

[Stacey (secsec1) · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a 3.5 for me. the first short story Abbreviations & Alliterations was my favorite of the two. but then I LOVE the DUFF and all it's characters and A&A deals with older kids so it's a little more mature too, which I think is a big part of why I liked it better. People Worth Knowing is characters from A Midsummers Nightmare. the story is about Nathan's little sister Bailey. although the subject is very timely, it was a lot oh high-school drama for me, but still a good story. if you're a Kody Fan like I am these are must reads to help tide us over to her 2014 books!

[Fatima · Rating 3 out of 5]

Secrets & lies son dos cuentos cortos de Kody Keplinger, donde nuevamente nos encontramos con los personajes de The Duff y A Midsummer Nightmare, los protagonistas son los secundarios en esta ocasion.Estas historias lo que recalcan es el dano que podemos realizar a otras personas hablando mentiras sobre ellas y guardando secretos que en ocasiones debemos decirlo para no continuar haciendo dano a otros.

Dos historias muy cortas y bien light que te dejan como los cuentos con moraleja y finales felices.

[Edma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book, especially the first part, because I got to know a little bit more about Bianca's new relationship and also got to know Casey better. I totally like Toby, he is the role model of a great guy and friend, lucky C for having him! It was a very pleasant read and I just couldn't stop reading! It was just like with the first book all over again. So thanks to Kody Keplinger for writing these amazing stories.

[★Ruth★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

2 Cute stories that follow on from The Duff: Designated Ugly Fat Friend & A Midsummer's Nightmare involving side characters from both.
The first one with Toby Tucker was especially good, I really enjoyed it :)

[Gaby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novellas leave you wanting more from these characters, who were supporting ones in Keplinger's The DUFF and A Midsummer's Nightmare. I shouldn't fault a short story on being "short," but at the same rate, I couldn't feel 100% satisfied with these small glimpses into Casey and Bailey's lives. I hope she revisits these characters soon.

[Lonneke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella was just like the books Kody writes. I really liked coming back to the same characters you get to know in The DUFF and A Midsummer's Nightmare. These two are my favourites of Kepling so that works out perfectly for me. If you need something easy, quick and cute this is defenitely the way to go.

[Ann Mat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the first story because of Casey (from the DUFF) so it was like the continuation in her POV. The second one? not so much. You can't get rid of drama.

[Madel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A&A -- It's Casey's story from The Duff. I miss Wesley and B. I wanna read more about them!!! So anyway, Casey's keeping something from everybody especially to B! Wanna know what is it? Then all you have to do is Read it!!! Lol.

PWK -- ala Mean Girls! I just hope I get to know more about Brody.

[Wilda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This rating is for Abbreviations & Alliterations only.

Very cute story about Casey, Bianca's best friend in the Duff and Toby, a shy, quiet guy Bianca dated briefly. There's a nice lesson about keeping secrets from your best friend as well. definitely worth the quick read.

[Jamie Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read, good if you've read the DUFF and a Midsummer's Nightmare. The stories are too short to develop a real plot but it's good to read a little into the lives of the other characters in the other books. Definitely read the other 2 before this one if you do choose to read the book.

[Ade]

*happy sigh* pretty cover. I love Kody Keplinger. I bow down at her feet and adore her. Best. Author. Ever.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love anything written by Kody because she brings out new stories and we see past characters again with updates with there relationship!

[Christina Morden (ClaryNathanWill) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually a really fun idea. I loved just kinda checking in with everyone.

This makes me really excited for Lying Out Loud!

[nathalia borghi]

3.5 stars.

[Wafa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish it was longer. Which means I enjoyed it a lot.

[Federica Talamo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scoprire l'esistenza di questo ebook mi ha resa molto felice oggi, dal momento che giusto ieri ho finito di leggere a Midsummer's nightmare, e mi sarebbe piaciuto leggere qualcos'altro a riguardo, soprattutto su Whitley e Nathan.
Mi sono ritrovata in effetti davanti a due racconti, uno dal punto di vista di Casey, una delle due migliori amiche di Bianca in The duff, l'altro dal punto di vista di Bailey, la sorellina quattordicenne di Nathan.

Il racconto di Casey è carino, mette insieme due personaggi secondari del primo libro della saga della Hamilton High, ovvero la suddetta Casey e Toby, il ragazzo che Bianca aveva usato a mo' di chiodo scacciachiodo per dimenticare Wesley. Era poi venuto fuori che anche Toby non aveva ancora superato la rottura con la sua ex, una tale Nina, e quindi era stato proprio lui a spronare Bianca a mettersi con Wesley, e si erano lasciati da amici.
Quindi, basare tutta la storia sulla paura di Casey che Bianca potesse arrabbiarsi scoprendo della loro relazione mi è sembrato un pochino forzato, ma nonostante tutto la storia mi è moderatamente piaciuta. Tra l'altro Jess ha pure finalmente capito che Harrison è gay.

Il racconto di Bailey è invece una prevedibilissima storia di bullismo al liceo, del tipo che ho visto in dozzine di diversi film/episodi di serie tv, tanto che non saprei nemmeno elencarli tutti: la mean girl della scuola vuole diventare amica di Bailey, che non appena quella comincia a sputare veleno su una tipa a caso della squadra delle cheerleader, pensa che sia un brillante argomento di conversazione dire che la tipa in questione si mette in posa davanti allo specchio prima di uscire dallo spogliatoio. Ovviamente succede poi tutto ciò che avevo previsto: la mean girl riprende l'altra tipa mentre si specchia in mutande e reggiseno nello spogliatoio e posta il video su youtube.
Io non amo leggere storie su questo infimo tipo di cyberbullismo, mi fa venire i nervi. Perlomeno la faccenda si è conclusa nel modo migliore da un punto di vista morale, ma comunque non ho particolarmente apprezzato la trama in sé del racconto.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a light and fluffy 2 for 1 deal on a couple of short stories by Kody Keplinger. Each relates to characters from her other books, which are fabulous, but both could be read as standalone stories without you losing much. I think the title, Secrets & Lies, is very apt: both of these stories are about not telling the truth to your friends in different ways. One is about keeping a relationship secret, the other about keeping quiet in the face of bullies. Neither is that complex but both were easy to read, light-hearted and rang true. They would be good reading for younger teens who could do with hearing these morals in a very palatable format. I read them in a couple of hours, and it was a lovely way to pass my time which made me smile.