Truth, Lies, and Chili Cheese Fries

by Nikki Roberti

Sixteen-year-old pastor’s daughter Elly prided herself on her goodie-two-shoes persona, but when her secret pregnancy becomes the scandal of her small Mississippi town, everything she once knew about herself, her family, and even her faith gets shot to hell.

Exiled by her once-perfect Christian friends, Elly accepts help from the three kids she'd never dream of associating some weirdo called Freeble, a rebellious hothead with great hair, and a slacker chick hell-bent on plotting revenge against the guy responsible for knocking Elly up. But revenge means telling the truth and that's just something Elly isn't sure she's willing to do.

Elly must choose whether to conceal her ex-boyfriend’s paternity for the good of her family or find her voice against the double standard that impacts girls like her. And in the process, sort through all the truth and lies to figure out where she fits in with her faith-- if she has any left.

327 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 15, 2024

Reviews

[Kasey Holcomb]

This was such a great and easy read. I loved the characters and how they devolved through out the story. The author did a great job at getting you to be able to visualize the whole story. She also did great at getting you to feel like you were apart of the Les, Mack, Two-shoes, and Freeble friend group. I loved the characters so much! Highly recommend this book.

[Michelle N]

Wow, what an amazing book! This was beautifully written and captures your attention right away. It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel.

Truth, Lies and Chili Cheese Fries is a story about self discovery, friendship, love, acceptance and most importantly, Faith. Elly learns the hard way that sometimes the "perfect" people aren't always so perfect. What's important is how people treat you, even if they are a little different than you. True friends are there for you when things get messy and make you smile when times are dark.

We meet some truly unique characters in this story. They are honest about who they are, flaws and all. No one is perfect and that's ok. Sometimes the real beauty lies within the chaos.

Just remember, God has a plan for you and it may not always be the path you would have chosen for yourself.

[Mary Grace Kroef]

I loved this book. Writing about teen pregnancy isn't anything new these days, but the author hit this story hard from page one. It pulled me in, and I loved the ride of tears and laughter.
God is so good, and this story shows his love is much deeper than religion and how we flaued humans often represent it.

This story is presented in a refreshing way, and though some people might shrink from the realities shown on the page, others are going to love it. I call it grits Christian Fiction, unafraid to show the ups and downs of life. It's so worth the read. I recommend it for anyone 14+ with a warning that there is a birthing scene just in case you are super sensitive. I think it was very well written.

[Jaclyn Yepsen]

A friend from college wrote this book, but that’s not why I’m giving it 5 stars. I’m giving it five stars because that’s what it deserves. The traditional publishing big wig who dropped this book at the last minute because they weren’t sure how to market it was an idiot. If Netflix can market a campy satire on youth group culture every few years and make enough money to do it again a few years later, a traditional publisher could have marketed an excellent Christian teen pregnancy novel. Especially at a time when “Christian ideals” aren’t really ringing true for a lot of people.

[Melinda Mitchell]

Evangelical coming of age story

Reminded me a lot of the movie Saved, but with blackmail. I read it all in two days and enjoyed it. The formatting is wonky and needs to be fixed in a few places, and there are a LOT of characters but the main friends are all fantastic (Freeble for the win!).

[Kayla Giles]

A sweet rollercoaster ride...

The ups! The downs! The whiplash! This book has it all. I have never been angrier for, cried for, or loved a character as much as Elle. The development of the characters was phenomenal and so sweet. This book was great and will leave you wanting more of it.

[Lauren Fuselier]

A Fun Freshman Debut.
Everyone has felt isolated in high school at some point. The author does an excellent job of putting us in the student’s shoes (two shoes??). FWIW, more religion than I expected but it’s easy to gloss over those parts. Excited to see more from this author.

[Shara Ermlich]

This book was so cute and such an easy read! I’m a slow reader but I finished in under 2 weeks which is good for me.

[Kelly Janne]

I loved this book. The author tackles several difficult to navigate topics with humor, kindness and understanding. I picked it up and read it within 24 hours. I needed to see how it turned out.

[Whitney Ratliff]

This book was amazing. I was laughing, crying, I was mad and I was happy. 10/10 I would recommend.