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Every Single Lie
In this gripping YA novel about social media bullying and half-truths, one girl's discovery of a dead baby in her high school locker room rocks an entire community.
Nobody in Beckett's life seems to be telling the whole story. Her boyfriend Jake keeps hiding texts and might be cheating on her. Her father lied about losing his job before his shocking death. And everyone in school seems to be whispering about her and her family behind her back.
But none of that compares to the day Beckett finds the body of a newborn baby in a gym bag-Jake's gym bag -on the floor of her high school locker room. As word leaks out, rumors that Beckett's the mother take off like wildfire in a town all too ready to believe the worst of her. And as the police investigation unfolds, she discovers that everyone has a secret to hide and the truth could alter everything she thought she knew.
Nobody in Beckett's life seems to be telling the whole story. Her boyfriend Jake keeps hiding texts and might be cheating on her. Her father lied about losing his job before his shocking death. And everyone in school seems to be whispering about her and her family behind her back.
But none of that compares to the day Beckett finds the body of a newborn baby in a gym bag-Jake's gym bag -on the floor of her high school locker room. As word leaks out, rumors that Beckett's the mother take off like wildfire in a town all too ready to believe the worst of her. And as the police investigation unfolds, she discovers that everyone has a secret to hide and the truth could alter everything she thought she knew.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 12, 2021
74 people are currently reading
5171 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Vincent
66 books9,785 followers[Note: Though Rachel's blog entries are cross posted here, she does not frequent Goodreads. The best ways to contact her are FB, Twitter, or her Wordpress blog. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HER MESSAGES HERE. SHE DOES NOT CHECK THEM.]
A resident of Oklahoma, Rachel Vincent has a BA in English and an overactive imagination, and consistently finds the latter to be more practical. She shares her workspace with two black cats (Kaci and Nyx) and her # 1 fan. Rachel is older than she looks-seriously-and younger than she feels, but remains convinced that for every day she spends writing, one more day will be added to her lifespan.
A resident of Oklahoma, Rachel Vincent has a BA in English and an overactive imagination, and consistently finds the latter to be more practical. She shares her workspace with two black cats (Kaci and Nyx) and her # 1 fan. Rachel is older than she looks-seriously-and younger than she feels, but remains convinced that for every day she spends writing, one more day will be added to her lifespan.
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May 28, 2022
In the name of literature Gods: I’m so shocked, blabbering meaningless words, extremely shaken to the core. Eyes popped out, jaw dropped, legs turned into jelly. I’m a mess. Actually I’m looking in the mirror and seeing half of my head because the other half is already blown away. I can start my career as B list horror movie star thanks to the help of the book’s tragic and thought provokingly intense, dark , earth shattering story!
I didn’t expect to love this book so much because it’s a real traumatizing dysfunctional, broken family story and it is based on real life experiences of the author’s.
Please don’t forget to read her note after finishing the book. If you don’t like to read dark, heart wrenching, realistic, dramatic stories, you just have to skip it. Because that family members and baby Lullaby Doe’s story may stay in your heart and haunt you forever.
Here’s the close look of the synopsis and introduction of the characters:
It’s narrated by Beckett ( as a old time die hard fan Castle series and Caskett as a couple, I already started to sympathize with her as soon as I read her name) 16 years old, having hard time to find her path at high school jungle. No, her problems are not simple teenage problems what her peers try to deal with. Her father was overdosed and there are rumors out there, he was caught when he was stealing drugs and her cop mother cleaned the mess and used her authority to press charges.
Her best friend Amira parted her way with her and she caught her boyfriend Jake taking suspicious texts. He may be cheating on her.
Yes, she dumbed him and dealing with a heartbreak is just the beginning of the shitty day because at the school, she finds a dead baby corpse inside a gym bag which belongs her boyfriend Jake. The sweater wrapped around the baby may belong to somebody she knows.
After losing her father, the family barely kept it together. Her mother starts to work more, avoiding to spend time at home as her brother Penn pushes himself so hard to leave the city for proper college education and Landry, 13 years old sister, feeding the family, acting like adult, trying to cope in her own ways. But as the tragedy hits the house and death threats come out, their not so normally functioning family need to find a way to face their problems together.
But this blood freezing, extremely shocking experience is just the beginning. As soon as cyber bullying starts: Beckett is declared as baby killer and mother of the child. The town’s people already talks behind her family’s back and now they find another reason to attack and disgrace them.
An account called Crimson Cryer on Twitter targeted Beckett, sharing inside informations about the case. Could there be a snitch at the police station or someone so close to the family?
Beckett knows even though the real identity of the mother comes out, people keep seeing things how they want to see. But she’s still determined to find the truth for the sake of the unknown baby. But some ugly truths may be too hard to absorb or handle.
I guessed some parts of big revelation at the end ( thanks to my extra working spidey spider senses) but I still screamed “WTF” too loud after reading the last chapters.
Well played, emotional, questioning, mind bending, surprising story and I can honestly say it’s already at my top ten YA thriller list of 2021! ( I know it’s too early for that kind of declaration but I couldn’t put this book down and after finishing it, I couldn’t keep thinking about it. My mind is still glued to it. )
I’m rounding up 4.5 to well deserved, highly recommended five stars!
Yes, my friends, I truly loved it! Thanks to Rachel Vincent’s bravery to create this remarkable story from her life experiences and share it with us.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA for sharing this incredible ARC with me in exchange my honest thoughts.
I didn’t expect to love this book so much because it’s a real traumatizing dysfunctional, broken family story and it is based on real life experiences of the author’s.
Please don’t forget to read her note after finishing the book. If you don’t like to read dark, heart wrenching, realistic, dramatic stories, you just have to skip it. Because that family members and baby Lullaby Doe’s story may stay in your heart and haunt you forever.
Here’s the close look of the synopsis and introduction of the characters:
It’s narrated by Beckett ( as a old time die hard fan Castle series and Caskett as a couple, I already started to sympathize with her as soon as I read her name) 16 years old, having hard time to find her path at high school jungle. No, her problems are not simple teenage problems what her peers try to deal with. Her father was overdosed and there are rumors out there, he was caught when he was stealing drugs and her cop mother cleaned the mess and used her authority to press charges.
Her best friend Amira parted her way with her and she caught her boyfriend Jake taking suspicious texts. He may be cheating on her.
Yes, she dumbed him and dealing with a heartbreak is just the beginning of the shitty day because at the school, she finds a dead baby corpse inside a gym bag which belongs her boyfriend Jake. The sweater wrapped around the baby may belong to somebody she knows.
After losing her father, the family barely kept it together. Her mother starts to work more, avoiding to spend time at home as her brother Penn pushes himself so hard to leave the city for proper college education and Landry, 13 years old sister, feeding the family, acting like adult, trying to cope in her own ways. But as the tragedy hits the house and death threats come out, their not so normally functioning family need to find a way to face their problems together.
But this blood freezing, extremely shocking experience is just the beginning. As soon as cyber bullying starts: Beckett is declared as baby killer and mother of the child. The town’s people already talks behind her family’s back and now they find another reason to attack and disgrace them.
An account called Crimson Cryer on Twitter targeted Beckett, sharing inside informations about the case. Could there be a snitch at the police station or someone so close to the family?
Beckett knows even though the real identity of the mother comes out, people keep seeing things how they want to see. But she’s still determined to find the truth for the sake of the unknown baby. But some ugly truths may be too hard to absorb or handle.
I guessed some parts of big revelation at the end ( thanks to my extra working spidey spider senses) but I still screamed “WTF” too loud after reading the last chapters.
Well played, emotional, questioning, mind bending, surprising story and I can honestly say it’s already at my top ten YA thriller list of 2021! ( I know it’s too early for that kind of declaration but I couldn’t put this book down and after finishing it, I couldn’t keep thinking about it. My mind is still glued to it. )
I’m rounding up 4.5 to well deserved, highly recommended five stars!
Yes, my friends, I truly loved it! Thanks to Rachel Vincent’s bravery to create this remarkable story from her life experiences and share it with us.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA for sharing this incredible ARC with me in exchange my honest thoughts.
April 25, 2021
To every single time I thought about putting this book down to go to bed but instead ended up finishing it at 2 am.
I dedicate this to you.
RATING: 🌟🌟🌟🌟⭐ 4. 5 (y'all notice how I write .5, so it means that the number rounded gives five stars, but I still give it only four? That is called having 'trust issues')
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! ABORT IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET!
Why does my heart suddenly feel like everything has been thrown at it in the span of 300 pages, and it doesn't know how to act without mildly freaking out?
I don't know, but I'll try to put my messed up feelings into words. Because I'm a decent being. Sometimes.
I am still not okay after all of that went down.
This is the end of the spoiler-free section.
You have been warned, but because I want to exemplify that, I'll repeat this statement a few more times.
First things first, I am slightly broken after finishing this book. Something died inside my heart, this is me trying to regain it.
One of the things that most struck me about this book, is that it didn't look completely boring. (realizes that makes me sound like a tepid douchnugget) Okay, that week was not the best for me, book-wise (also, life-wise, donut wise, taking over the world-wise), so I forced myself to venture into a book that was either going to utterly disappoint me or leave me by a metaphorical sidewalk destroyed and unable to cope. Either way, wonderful outcome.
Right?
*nod* Right. So I read the book. I read it and was bamboozled and utterly gripped by the story, in a way I wasn't expecting to (as aforementioned above)and yes, I am beating around the bush to explain how/ where/and why this book was amazing. Why? Well, because, I have no idea what to write. It's so hilarious that I can write a three paged rant about a book I absolutely despised and when I actually thought a book was better than decent, my brain always goes:
I am SHOOKETH.
The characters were so good, apart from the main character and everyone besides the little sister, the mom, and the brother. See? I can compromise (why am I always so salty?? I need help).
The main girl was, in eloquent words, an annoying idiotic moron with a few nice things thrown in for 'purpose'. Please let me branch out in this messed-up metaphorical tree of characters that have taken root inside my brainal operating system (and yes, it had to be a tree, I need to organize my thoughts. Mother Nature does the opposite, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt)
Visual representation of how I ended...
Full review at my Blog
I feel so evil
I dedicate this to you.
RATING: 🌟🌟🌟🌟⭐ 4. 5 (y'all notice how I write .5, so it means that the number rounded gives five stars, but I still give it only four? That is called having 'trust issues')
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! ABORT IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET!
Why does my heart suddenly feel like everything has been thrown at it in the span of 300 pages, and it doesn't know how to act without mildly freaking out?
I don't know, but I'll try to put my messed up feelings into words. Because I'm a decent being. Sometimes.
I am still not okay after all of that went down.
This is the end of the spoiler-free section.
You have been warned, but because I want to exemplify that, I'll repeat this statement a few more times.
First things first, I am slightly broken after finishing this book. Something died inside my heart, this is me trying to regain it.
One of the things that most struck me about this book, is that it didn't look completely boring. (realizes that makes me sound like a tepid douchnugget) Okay, that week was not the best for me, book-wise (also, life-wise, donut wise, taking over the world-wise), so I forced myself to venture into a book that was either going to utterly disappoint me or leave me by a metaphorical sidewalk destroyed and unable to cope. Either way, wonderful outcome.
Right?
*nod* Right. So I read the book. I read it and was bamboozled and utterly gripped by the story, in a way I wasn't expecting to (as aforementioned above)and yes, I am beating around the bush to explain how/ where/and why this book was amazing. Why? Well, because, I have no idea what to write. It's so hilarious that I can write a three paged rant about a book I absolutely despised and when I actually thought a book was better than decent, my brain always goes:
I am SHOOKETH.
The characters were so good, apart from the main character and everyone besides the little sister, the mom, and the brother. See? I can compromise (why am I always so salty?? I need help).
The main girl was, in eloquent words, an annoying idiotic moron with a few nice things thrown in for 'purpose'. Please let me branch out in this messed-up metaphorical tree of characters that have taken root inside my brainal operating system (and yes, it had to be a tree, I need to organize my thoughts. Mother Nature does the opposite, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt)
Visual representation of how I ended...
Full review at my Blog
May 3, 2021
Let me just start out by saying wow! And while this was a good book and hard to put down I wouldn't recommend to younger audience. There's some very heavy topics that may trigger or not be suitable for them. (real life stuff) That being said it was entertaining and worth the the read didn't see the end coming at all! Defiantly will have you thinking.
January 20, 2021
This book had such an interesting premise but really fumbled the execution, in my opinion. The book starts out with Beckett finding a dead baby in the locker room at her high school. Rumors start to spread that it was actually hers and she gets branded as a baby killer. So she sets out to find out what really happened. That should be a really enthralling story, right? Not so much.
I found the writing to be extremely bland and so many of the side characters really lacked in development. It was really annoying watching Beckett try to “investigate” who the parents of the baby could be. She’d get the tiniest morsel of information then make a massive jump to a conclusion. Then would completely abandon that suspect based on a different tiny piece of information that wouldn’t necessarily exclude that person from being involved.
I think this story could’ve been more successful if it was focused on just being a hard hitting story exploring why someone would hide their pregnancy and give birth in secret, the impact of the opioid crisis, and grief after the death of a parent. But so much of the story was focused on a poorly constructed mystery and investigation.
I found the writing to be extremely bland and so many of the side characters really lacked in development. It was really annoying watching Beckett try to “investigate” who the parents of the baby could be. She’d get the tiniest morsel of information then make a massive jump to a conclusion. Then would completely abandon that suspect based on a different tiny piece of information that wouldn’t necessarily exclude that person from being involved.
I think this story could’ve been more successful if it was focused on just being a hard hitting story exploring why someone would hide their pregnancy and give birth in secret, the impact of the opioid crisis, and grief after the death of a parent. But so much of the story was focused on a poorly constructed mystery and investigation.
February 1, 2021
Excelente libro, realmente me encanto. Como siempre, entre sin saber de que trataba suponía que era de misterio pero en el primer capitulo leo que la chica estaba tratando de entrar al auto de un chico pero con una palanca como si lo estuviera robando y dije "oh no, no quería una historia de amor" pero a los tres minutos encuentran un bebe en una mochila e imagínense yo pensando que era de amor y de la nada un bebe muerto, TRE-MEN-DO.
June 8, 2022
More thoughts found in this reading vlog.
Honestly I'm still kicking myself that I put off reading this for as long as I did. There are definite trigger warning for death of a newborn as a dead newborn is at the center of this mystery. If that's something you can read about then I highly recommend this book.
It's an excellent look at small town America, a look at how the internet can be used to harass people beyond belief and the messy family life of our main character Beckett. Beckett is the middle child of a cop in her small town, her father was addicted to painkillers before he died a year before the story kicks off and when she finds a dead newborn in her high school locker room her world is thrown into even more chaos.
The book did a really good job of leading the reader to the conclusion, and letting the reader see the foreshadowing and not try to upend expectations at the 11th hour.
It was a solid mystery, a book I didn't want to put down and knew from the minute I had started reading from our main character that this was going to be a new favorite. Definitely one of the best books I've read this year and one I think should definitely be more hyped in the era of everyone wanting mystery YA.
Honestly I'm still kicking myself that I put off reading this for as long as I did. There are definite trigger warning for death of a newborn as a dead newborn is at the center of this mystery. If that's something you can read about then I highly recommend this book.
It's an excellent look at small town America, a look at how the internet can be used to harass people beyond belief and the messy family life of our main character Beckett. Beckett is the middle child of a cop in her small town, her father was addicted to painkillers before he died a year before the story kicks off and when she finds a dead newborn in her high school locker room her world is thrown into even more chaos.
The book did a really good job of leading the reader to the conclusion, and letting the reader see the foreshadowing and not try to upend expectations at the 11th hour.
It was a solid mystery, a book I didn't want to put down and knew from the minute I had started reading from our main character that this was going to be a new favorite. Definitely one of the best books I've read this year and one I think should definitely be more hyped in the era of everyone wanting mystery YA.
August 15, 2021
its guessing the culprit at 54% for me💀
January 19, 2021
"As hard as it is for me to accept, sometimes, that people are always going to believe a lie about me, the truth is none of their business.
My life is none of their business"
Note: There is a spoiler in this review. I put a little siren emoji in front of the spoiler so that you know which part to avoid if you don't want this book slightly spoiled for you. Also, there's some cursing.
"Every Single Lie" is a thrilling, surprising, crazy, and rumor-filled book. This novel made me want to scream out of fear and frustration, but made me want to cry for the beloved characters in this book. So without further ado, let's get into this amazing novel.
16-year-old Beckett's life is pretty difficult, but she gets through it. Her ex-boyfriend Jake was her rock and the person she depended on through hard times before he started hiding texts from her. But to Beckett's surprise, she finds a dead infant in Jake's bag while hiding in the girl's locker room. This shocks everyone in her small town, and everyone thinks that Beckett is the culprit since she found the baby. She's been getting death threats and lies told behind her back because of a Twitter account that's making this whole nightmare worse. No one believes her side of the story, and as the police investigation unfolds, she discovers more and more secrets about the ones she loves that could alter everything she thought she knew.
The writing and word building in this novel is amazing. It's like the icing on the cake to an amazing storyline. I really enjoyed the narration of this story because it leaves the reader shook and wanting more after every single chapter. While reading this story in Becket's perspective, we can really understand why she doesn't trust others, and we can better comprehend her decisions through the narration and word building.
The plot/storyline of this book is batshit crazy. When I say that Vincent shook the room, I mean that they really shook the room. Even though the premise of this story is about Beckett not trusting her boyfriend because she found a dead infant in his bag and she has rumors being told about her, this story really dives in deeper. We learn so much more about her family and how that affects the way that her fellow townspeople perceive her. It was crazy when we find out about her dad's past because his negative effect on the town really made everyone think that she was just a failure and a liar. And when it's revealed who's baby it actually was *inhales deep breath* it blew my mind. The whole plot was so unpredictable because I kept thinking that one person was the culprit, and then we realize it wasn't them. But then it looks like someone else actually did it, and we find out that "oh yeah, so they didn't do it." It really makes you wonder, who was behind this? Are we even going to find out? You will, but it will blow your socks off. That's for sure.
Beckett had a lot going on. She was already goin' through it when she broke up with her boyfriend, and then she has all these people sending her death threats because they think she killed a baby. But Beckett was a really strong, compassionate, and doubtful character, which I really enjoyed. She had so much strength while finding out secrets about her family and friend, but she was doubtful of them because of that. Which is very understandable. She was also really compassionate and cared so much about her loved ones, so it really hurt to see the impact of their lies on her. I do wish that we learned about any hobbies that Beckett had before the whole fiasco went down, but we can't get everything.
Jake was.......something. I didn't like him very much at the beginning because he was hiding texts from Beckett and even though it didn't look like he was cheating, he didn't explain what the texts were until the end of the story. Jake did have a lot of development and was a pretty decent dude. I didn't care enough about him to even describe his personality, but he was a decent dude that I was happy Beckett was with.
Her parents (Julie and Kyle Bergen) were a hot mess, I ain't gonna lie. Julie wasn't at home very much, and 🚨Kyle died about 7 months before this story started. He was in a car accident and lost 3 of his best friends, yet he lived with a broken leg. Kyle became addicted to the drugs he was receiving for his injury, and killed himself with them.🚨 That really broke my heart, but it had a huge impact on Julie and the rest of the family. Julie is a detective who is also very doubtful, but has good intentions. Beckett often says how her mother has a shield whenever she's not only at work, but with her children. We can assume this is because of Kyle's absence. Julie was a pretty good character, and I enjoyed seeing her change throughout the story with Beckett, Landry, and Penn.
Beckett's siblings (Landry and Penn) were well-developed characters. Y'all wouldn't believe what happens to Landry, but because of what is revealed about Landry, we can see her developing. And if we're being honest here, I think that Landry was my favorite. Beckett is my second favorite, but I loved how creative and fun-spirited Landry is. We also see a different side of her towards the end of the story that changes our perspective of her. Penn was alright. He was just the older brother who wanted to go to a big college because he was an athlete blah blah blah. Penn did have some development, but not as much as his fellow characters did.
The ending was amazing. I don't want to hear anything different. I loved the ending, and I'm not going to talk about it because I wouldn't want to spoil. But I can say that the ending was pretty surprising and just hit me with another surprise that I didn't see coming.
Overall, this was a great read. The plot was so unique, the characters surprised me, and the word building added lots of suspense and mystery to the story. I don't even know how Vincent made this story so well. For real for real, I would be stuck on a tree trunk trying to put together this whole story and think of such a creative storyline. I truly hope that anyone who encounters this review reads this book because I loved it. Also, I don't expect you to read the whole review because it's long as fuck but at least read the conclusion. Okay, that's it. Thanks for reading ;)
---> 4.8 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
My life is none of their business"
Note: There is a spoiler in this review. I put a little siren emoji in front of the spoiler so that you know which part to avoid if you don't want this book slightly spoiled for you. Also, there's some cursing.
"Every Single Lie" is a thrilling, surprising, crazy, and rumor-filled book. This novel made me want to scream out of fear and frustration, but made me want to cry for the beloved characters in this book. So without further ado, let's get into this amazing novel.
16-year-old Beckett's life is pretty difficult, but she gets through it. Her ex-boyfriend Jake was her rock and the person she depended on through hard times before he started hiding texts from her. But to Beckett's surprise, she finds a dead infant in Jake's bag while hiding in the girl's locker room. This shocks everyone in her small town, and everyone thinks that Beckett is the culprit since she found the baby. She's been getting death threats and lies told behind her back because of a Twitter account that's making this whole nightmare worse. No one believes her side of the story, and as the police investigation unfolds, she discovers more and more secrets about the ones she loves that could alter everything she thought she knew.
The writing and word building in this novel is amazing. It's like the icing on the cake to an amazing storyline. I really enjoyed the narration of this story because it leaves the reader shook and wanting more after every single chapter. While reading this story in Becket's perspective, we can really understand why she doesn't trust others, and we can better comprehend her decisions through the narration and word building.
The plot/storyline of this book is batshit crazy. When I say that Vincent shook the room, I mean that they really shook the room. Even though the premise of this story is about Beckett not trusting her boyfriend because she found a dead infant in his bag and she has rumors being told about her, this story really dives in deeper. We learn so much more about her family and how that affects the way that her fellow townspeople perceive her. It was crazy when we find out about her dad's past because his negative effect on the town really made everyone think that she was just a failure and a liar. And when it's revealed who's baby it actually was *inhales deep breath* it blew my mind. The whole plot was so unpredictable because I kept thinking that one person was the culprit, and then we realize it wasn't them. But then it looks like someone else actually did it, and we find out that "oh yeah, so they didn't do it." It really makes you wonder, who was behind this? Are we even going to find out? You will, but it will blow your socks off. That's for sure.
Beckett had a lot going on. She was already goin' through it when she broke up with her boyfriend, and then she has all these people sending her death threats because they think she killed a baby. But Beckett was a really strong, compassionate, and doubtful character, which I really enjoyed. She had so much strength while finding out secrets about her family and friend, but she was doubtful of them because of that. Which is very understandable. She was also really compassionate and cared so much about her loved ones, so it really hurt to see the impact of their lies on her. I do wish that we learned about any hobbies that Beckett had before the whole fiasco went down, but we can't get everything.
Jake was.......something. I didn't like him very much at the beginning because he was hiding texts from Beckett and even though it didn't look like he was cheating, he didn't explain what the texts were until the end of the story. Jake did have a lot of development and was a pretty decent dude. I didn't care enough about him to even describe his personality, but he was a decent dude that I was happy Beckett was with.
Her parents (Julie and Kyle Bergen) were a hot mess, I ain't gonna lie. Julie wasn't at home very much, and 🚨Kyle died about 7 months before this story started. He was in a car accident and lost 3 of his best friends, yet he lived with a broken leg. Kyle became addicted to the drugs he was receiving for his injury, and killed himself with them.🚨 That really broke my heart, but it had a huge impact on Julie and the rest of the family. Julie is a detective who is also very doubtful, but has good intentions. Beckett often says how her mother has a shield whenever she's not only at work, but with her children. We can assume this is because of Kyle's absence. Julie was a pretty good character, and I enjoyed seeing her change throughout the story with Beckett, Landry, and Penn.
Beckett's siblings (Landry and Penn) were well-developed characters. Y'all wouldn't believe what happens to Landry, but because of what is revealed about Landry, we can see her developing. And if we're being honest here, I think that Landry was my favorite. Beckett is my second favorite, but I loved how creative and fun-spirited Landry is. We also see a different side of her towards the end of the story that changes our perspective of her. Penn was alright. He was just the older brother who wanted to go to a big college because he was an athlete blah blah blah. Penn did have some development, but not as much as his fellow characters did.
The ending was amazing. I don't want to hear anything different. I loved the ending, and I'm not going to talk about it because I wouldn't want to spoil. But I can say that the ending was pretty surprising and just hit me with another surprise that I didn't see coming.
Overall, this was a great read. The plot was so unique, the characters surprised me, and the word building added lots of suspense and mystery to the story. I don't even know how Vincent made this story so well. For real for real, I would be stuck on a tree trunk trying to put together this whole story and think of such a creative storyline. I truly hope that anyone who encounters this review reads this book because I loved it. Also, I don't expect you to read the whole review
---> 4.8 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
November 5, 2020
This was truly such a treat! I adore when author's branch out in the genres they write in for this very reason! This was just so much fun. So addicting, so mysterious, so much happens in such a short amount of time and it completely kept me engrossed in the story and turning the pages. I loved every minute of it! I truly hope this author continues to write more in this genre because she killed it!
*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
February 2, 2021
Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.
When sixteen-year-old Bette makes a startling discovery in the girl's locker room at the local high school, the entire community is transfixed to find all the details. But sometimes it can be hard to separate fact from fiction.
This YA novel had me hooked from the very first page and although it became quite apparent to me who was the real character with the secrets to hide. Bette was impulsive and quick to jump to conclusions and while sometimes that made it rather frustrating to follow her down the rabbit hole, I am glad that I followed this literary mystery to the end.
Publication Date 12/01/21
Reviewed on Facebook, Instagram and Goodreads 24/01/21
#EverySingleLie #NetGalley
When sixteen-year-old Bette makes a startling discovery in the girl's locker room at the local high school, the entire community is transfixed to find all the details. But sometimes it can be hard to separate fact from fiction.
This YA novel had me hooked from the very first page and although it became quite apparent to me who was the real character with the secrets to hide. Bette was impulsive and quick to jump to conclusions and while sometimes that made it rather frustrating to follow her down the rabbit hole, I am glad that I followed this literary mystery to the end.
Publication Date 12/01/21
Reviewed on Facebook, Instagram and Goodreads 24/01/21
#EverySingleLie #NetGalley
January 15, 2021
i'm extremely shocked! can you imagine yourself finding a dead baby in what appears to be just a normal school day? and then rumors starts circulating about you and your family, you dont know what is true and in who to true anymore...discovering who does the baby belonged to can help some of those rumors die down and thats what beckett does, she goes after the truth.
January 30, 2022
3/5. A serviceable literary mystery.
Overview:
🆗 Mature coming of age themes
🆗 Low romance
🆗 Mystery
🆗 Contemporary YA
From what I understand, Every Single Lie was a pretty personal stand alone story based somewhat on the author's real life. It deals with a teenager, Beck who finds a dead baby at her school, and is then subsequently accused of being the mother by locals looks for someone to blame. Beck attempts to track down the baby's real mother while also dealing with the town rumors It tackles with teen pregnancy, rumors, addition, and more.
I thought this was a very readable book. Rachel Vincent has great prose and I completed my read in two sittings, so I did enjoy myself.
Where this fell flat for me was how little things happened. Beck wasn't particularly fleshed out, nor were the sides characters, so many secret or reveal felt a little hollow. I went in expecting a little more mystery/thriller, but this is more of a YA family drama with some light mystery elements. I think it was marketed a little awkwardly and probably wouldn't have picked it up had i been under the understanding that this was not a thriller/mystery.
Overview:
🆗 Mature coming of age themes
🆗 Low romance
🆗 Mystery
🆗 Contemporary YA
From what I understand, Every Single Lie was a pretty personal stand alone story based somewhat on the author's real life. It deals with a teenager, Beck who finds a dead baby at her school, and is then subsequently accused of being the mother by locals looks for someone to blame. Beck attempts to track down the baby's real mother while also dealing with the town rumors It tackles with teen pregnancy, rumors, addition, and more.
I thought this was a very readable book. Rachel Vincent has great prose and I completed my read in two sittings, so I did enjoy myself.
Where this fell flat for me was how little things happened. Beck wasn't particularly fleshed out, nor were the sides characters, so many secret or reveal felt a little hollow. I went in expecting a little more mystery/thriller, but this is more of a YA family drama with some light mystery elements. I think it was marketed a little awkwardly and probably wouldn't have picked it up had i been under the understanding that this was not a thriller/mystery.
Want to read
September 21, 2020I don't normally read contemporary, but I'm making an exception for this book!
August 21, 2020
TW: infant death, drug/alcohol abuse, death threats, rape threats, suicide mention, bomb threat, underage pregnancy, neglect
There is so much I want to talk about here. I'm going to start off with the relationships. Because holy wow. Really strained familial relationships here. They tried, absolutely all of the characters tried. But wow.
Since I feel like she is the core problem let's talk about the mother. Detective Julie Bergen. I wouldn't necessarily call her a neglectful mother in the sense that she provides for her family in the best way she can. BUT she does not know how to be a mother after everything with her husband. Her husband died of an alcohol and drug overdose, and a lot of people think he killed himself. Taking clues from the text I would agree with that, even if the main character does not. However, that's a point I will address in a little bit. Right now I'm talking about how this messed up the mom.
After her husbands death Julie essentially stops being a mother and starts being a widow. She spends the majority of her time at work, causing a large emotional divide between her and her three children. She does try, but not nearly hard enough. Her strained relationship with all of her children, to me, directly led to her daughter's pregnancy. And no, I'm not talking about our 16 year old MC here. I'm talking about her 13 year old, 8th grade daughter. Who no one realized was pregnant. So, neglect in my opinion.
In addition to a mother who is barely around we've also got an older brother and sister who are determined to hide everything from the youngest sister. Landry is 13, not stupid. Middle schoolers know how to navigate the internet. They hear rumors the same way high schoolers do. I understand why Penn and Beckett wanted to hide the worst of it from her. Landry is just a kid after all. But, kids aren't stupid just because they're kids. They should have talked to her about things. Maybe if there had been open communication between the siblings instead of misguided attempts at protection, Landry wouldn't have gotten pregnant then hid it from them for nearly eight months and given birth in a locker room shower. So, obviously the way the characters didn't communicate really affected their relationships and ended up messing with their family and their emotions, leading to the events of the book.
Which goes into my next point. The biggest theme of the book is how no one pays attention to the most vulnerable until they have an angle to spin. People see what they want to see. When there's a vigil for this poor dead child the most important thing to so many present is showing that the town is not this bad place where no one knows someone is going through this alone. Except, someone did. And a vigil like this should be for remembering the child. Only Beckett seemed to understand this. Well, her and her sister, but we weren't supposed to know why Landry got this at this point in the story.
Everyone was so concerned with the image of the town, but very few people seemed to care about what the mother of this child went through. Alone. Only a handful of characters even showed sympathy. Most, including characters that we would expect to be kind, like other mothers, were calling for the arrest and punishment of this girl. Even when I wasn't 100% sure who the mother was I was still shocked and appalled at this. But this went to the overall commentary the story was trying to make. When there is a tragedy, people will twist it to fit their own narrative. They will use it to further their agenda. They won't see it until it's important to them. And I think we can apply this to life in general, especially for teenagers right now. How many school shootings do we hear about every year? How many are used to push political agendas, instead of working to fix the core problem and improve life for these kids who then have to advocate for themselves? How many times does this blow over in a matter of days with little to no actual change made for the better?
Yeah. Exactly. This book did a great job of showing readers exactly how that point is applied to other tragedies, not just the ones we, as Americans, have become desensitized to. And it does such a damn good job of it. Really appreciate how well this is done.
Okay, moving on before this turns into even more of a political rant.
Let's talk about characters for a second here. Our MC is a teenager. Now, I know you're thinking "all YA protags are teenagers that's what YA is Kailey" but hear me out. She's grown up, but not in a way that makes her not seem like a teenager. She's not an adult with the written age of 16. She's gone through a hellish trauma. Beckett is the one who found her father's body and ultimately feels responsible for his death. It weighs heavily on her, and we can clearly see the parallels between how she feels she failed her father (even though he was an addict and that's not her fault) and how she failed the mother of this child without noticing. That becomes even more apparent once she figures out it's her little sister who she adores. And yet she still makes mistakes. She doesn't reflect on how her trauma is impacting her life the way an adult might, but works to figure it out. She stumbles around a bit, in her love life, her personal life, and her investigation into the death of this child. I didn't really like Beckett, but I thought she was written so smartly. For example, when she thought her boyfriend was cheating, she overreacted and jumped to conclusions and dumped him, in the normal way a teenager would. Some characters in YA who faced the same situation might've acted a bit more maturely. But Beckett doesn't and I loved that. She was allowed to be a kid, even faced with all this crap thrown at her.
And. Okay. Speaking of kids allowed to be kids. Landry wasn't. A PREGNANT 13 YEAR OLD! I SAW IT COMING AND IT STILL IT WAS TOO MUCH! And listen the one trigger warning I'm so happy I didn't have to add was rape. I will say that I am so happy I didn't have to read about the rape of a minor causing a pregnancy that led to a stillborn baby and gargantuan amounts of trauma for an already traumatized family. But this little girl was so grown up already. She was scared, and alone, and taken advantage of by an attention-seeking best friend. She's a child who had just lost her father, whose mother was so distracted she couldn't see her youngest daughter was struggling, and she didn't tell a single person besides her best friend who was really taking advantage of her. Everything about Landry, from her love of cooking to her obvious pain about her dead father, was layered and deep. She was the most complex character in the entire book. And she was thirteen years old. As much as I hate the knowledge that this is very possible and has most certainly happened somewhere in this country, i have to admire the author's skill here. Landry might not have been allowed to be a kid, but this was written phenomenally.
The setting could've been a little more well-developed. I know we were in a small town but, beyond the fact that it was repeatedly stated, I didn't really get that sense. Sure there was small-town gossip, and the way the other characters treated Beckett after she found the baby definitely had that mindset to it, but not once did I feel like the setting itself was small. Even the gossip didn't feel "small town" enough somehow throughout the first half of the book. It did pick up in the second half, though the general sense of setting never clicked for me.
For the most part the plot itself was fairly predictable. I don't mean that in a bad way. This kind of story had specific beats it had to hit, and hit them it did, right on the head. I thought the story was gripping and kept me invested. Even knowing certain things had to happen for genre-sake, I looked forward to them coming. Certain foreshadowing things were nice. I can't say that every reader would pick up on them but I imagine anyone who reads very often or reads a lot of thriller-type novels would see it. I hope they like the story as much as I did, despite knowing certain twists are coming.
Overall I enjoyed this book a lot. It was dark, dramatic, and incredibly honest. Also painful and sad. It made for a truly thought-provoking and interesting read. Please keep in mind the trigger warnings if you do plan to read (and I hope you do). This is definitely not going to be a book for everyone, but it's a very good read. I give it 4/5 stars.
There is so much I want to talk about here. I'm going to start off with the relationships. Because holy wow. Really strained familial relationships here. They tried, absolutely all of the characters tried. But wow.
Since I feel like she is the core problem let's talk about the mother. Detective Julie Bergen. I wouldn't necessarily call her a neglectful mother in the sense that she provides for her family in the best way she can. BUT she does not know how to be a mother after everything with her husband. Her husband died of an alcohol and drug overdose, and a lot of people think he killed himself. Taking clues from the text I would agree with that, even if the main character does not. However, that's a point I will address in a little bit. Right now I'm talking about how this messed up the mom.
After her husbands death Julie essentially stops being a mother and starts being a widow. She spends the majority of her time at work, causing a large emotional divide between her and her three children. She does try, but not nearly hard enough. Her strained relationship with all of her children, to me, directly led to her daughter's pregnancy. And no, I'm not talking about our 16 year old MC here. I'm talking about her 13 year old, 8th grade daughter. Who no one realized was pregnant. So, neglect in my opinion.
In addition to a mother who is barely around we've also got an older brother and sister who are determined to hide everything from the youngest sister. Landry is 13, not stupid. Middle schoolers know how to navigate the internet. They hear rumors the same way high schoolers do. I understand why Penn and Beckett wanted to hide the worst of it from her. Landry is just a kid after all. But, kids aren't stupid just because they're kids. They should have talked to her about things. Maybe if there had been open communication between the siblings instead of misguided attempts at protection, Landry wouldn't have gotten pregnant then hid it from them for nearly eight months and given birth in a locker room shower. So, obviously the way the characters didn't communicate really affected their relationships and ended up messing with their family and their emotions, leading to the events of the book.
Which goes into my next point. The biggest theme of the book is how no one pays attention to the most vulnerable until they have an angle to spin. People see what they want to see. When there's a vigil for this poor dead child the most important thing to so many present is showing that the town is not this bad place where no one knows someone is going through this alone. Except, someone did. And a vigil like this should be for remembering the child. Only Beckett seemed to understand this. Well, her and her sister, but we weren't supposed to know why Landry got this at this point in the story.
Everyone was so concerned with the image of the town, but very few people seemed to care about what the mother of this child went through. Alone. Only a handful of characters even showed sympathy. Most, including characters that we would expect to be kind, like other mothers, were calling for the arrest and punishment of this girl. Even when I wasn't 100% sure who the mother was I was still shocked and appalled at this. But this went to the overall commentary the story was trying to make. When there is a tragedy, people will twist it to fit their own narrative. They will use it to further their agenda. They won't see it until it's important to them. And I think we can apply this to life in general, especially for teenagers right now. How many school shootings do we hear about every year? How many are used to push political agendas, instead of working to fix the core problem and improve life for these kids who then have to advocate for themselves? How many times does this blow over in a matter of days with little to no actual change made for the better?
Yeah. Exactly. This book did a great job of showing readers exactly how that point is applied to other tragedies, not just the ones we, as Americans, have become desensitized to. And it does such a damn good job of it. Really appreciate how well this is done.
Okay, moving on before this turns into even more of a political rant.
Let's talk about characters for a second here. Our MC is a teenager. Now, I know you're thinking "all YA protags are teenagers that's what YA is Kailey" but hear me out. She's grown up, but not in a way that makes her not seem like a teenager. She's not an adult with the written age of 16. She's gone through a hellish trauma. Beckett is the one who found her father's body and ultimately feels responsible for his death. It weighs heavily on her, and we can clearly see the parallels between how she feels she failed her father (even though he was an addict and that's not her fault) and how she failed the mother of this child without noticing. That becomes even more apparent once she figures out it's her little sister who she adores. And yet she still makes mistakes. She doesn't reflect on how her trauma is impacting her life the way an adult might, but works to figure it out. She stumbles around a bit, in her love life, her personal life, and her investigation into the death of this child. I didn't really like Beckett, but I thought she was written so smartly. For example, when she thought her boyfriend was cheating, she overreacted and jumped to conclusions and dumped him, in the normal way a teenager would. Some characters in YA who faced the same situation might've acted a bit more maturely. But Beckett doesn't and I loved that. She was allowed to be a kid, even faced with all this crap thrown at her.
And. Okay. Speaking of kids allowed to be kids. Landry wasn't. A PREGNANT 13 YEAR OLD! I SAW IT COMING AND IT STILL IT WAS TOO MUCH! And listen the one trigger warning I'm so happy I didn't have to add was rape. I will say that I am so happy I didn't have to read about the rape of a minor causing a pregnancy that led to a stillborn baby and gargantuan amounts of trauma for an already traumatized family. But this little girl was so grown up already. She was scared, and alone, and taken advantage of by an attention-seeking best friend. She's a child who had just lost her father, whose mother was so distracted she couldn't see her youngest daughter was struggling, and she didn't tell a single person besides her best friend who was really taking advantage of her. Everything about Landry, from her love of cooking to her obvious pain about her dead father, was layered and deep. She was the most complex character in the entire book. And she was thirteen years old. As much as I hate the knowledge that this is very possible and has most certainly happened somewhere in this country, i have to admire the author's skill here. Landry might not have been allowed to be a kid, but this was written phenomenally.
The setting could've been a little more well-developed. I know we were in a small town but, beyond the fact that it was repeatedly stated, I didn't really get that sense. Sure there was small-town gossip, and the way the other characters treated Beckett after she found the baby definitely had that mindset to it, but not once did I feel like the setting itself was small. Even the gossip didn't feel "small town" enough somehow throughout the first half of the book. It did pick up in the second half, though the general sense of setting never clicked for me.
For the most part the plot itself was fairly predictable. I don't mean that in a bad way. This kind of story had specific beats it had to hit, and hit them it did, right on the head. I thought the story was gripping and kept me invested. Even knowing certain things had to happen for genre-sake, I looked forward to them coming. Certain foreshadowing things were nice. I can't say that every reader would pick up on them but I imagine anyone who reads very often or reads a lot of thriller-type novels would see it. I hope they like the story as much as I did, despite knowing certain twists are coming.
Overall I enjoyed this book a lot. It was dark, dramatic, and incredibly honest. Also painful and sad. It made for a truly thought-provoking and interesting read. Please keep in mind the trigger warnings if you do plan to read (and I hope you do). This is definitely not going to be a book for everyone, but it's a very good read. I give it 4/5 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2022
3.5 stars
January 10, 2021
I was given a free copy of this book from Bloomsbury for the tour hosted by Terminal Tours.
I’m going start this review by telling all of you that I finished this book in one day. It was a Sunday, and I was feeling particularly lazy and though I’d pick up a book. I had no idea that I wouldn’t be able to put it down. I started it around 2 pm and in between making dinner, and adult things, I finished it around 9 pm that night. I haven’t done that in a long time. It’s a testament to the story.
This book packs a punch from the very beginning when Beckett’s discovers a still born baby in a gym bag in the girls’ locker room at school. From that point on, her life unravels in a hailstorm of reporters, online bullying, and family drama. Incredibly well-written, and fast-paced, this story will suck you right in and keep you guessing to the very last page.
I’m going start this review by telling all of you that I finished this book in one day. It was a Sunday, and I was feeling particularly lazy and though I’d pick up a book. I had no idea that I wouldn’t be able to put it down. I started it around 2 pm and in between making dinner, and adult things, I finished it around 9 pm that night. I haven’t done that in a long time. It’s a testament to the story.
This book packs a punch from the very beginning when Beckett’s discovers a still born baby in a gym bag in the girls’ locker room at school. From that point on, her life unravels in a hailstorm of reporters, online bullying, and family drama. Incredibly well-written, and fast-paced, this story will suck you right in and keep you guessing to the very last page.
February 14, 2021
Aún estoy tratando de descifrar el target audience de este libro. Por las temáticas (bebé muerto, embarazo adolescente, adicción a estupefacientes, PTSD) entiendo que debería ser un Young Adult, así que ¿alguien podría explicarme por qué está escrito y desarrollado como un libro infantil?
Temas simplificados, inversión emocional cero, personajes caricaturescos, acciones self service e inverosímiles Su única meta parece ser —no entretener, no contar una historia compleja— si no simplemente sorprender con la revelación final. Lo que evidentemente, leyendo las reseñas, funcionó en algunos casos. Pero ¿qué pasa cuando el final te parece evidente desde un cuarto de la historia?
Pasa que no queda nada capaz de expiar el resto del libro.
Necesitamos tramas capaces de aportar más que un plot twist final. Necesitamos escritura decente. Necesitamos personajes reales. Necesitamos que dejen de creer que los libros YA no requieren desarrollos inteligentes.
Y, sobre todo, necesitamos editoriales que dejen de aprovecharse del shock social para marketizar historias mediocres. Para entretener no hay que ser profundo, y está perfecto. Pero si vas a tomar un tema delicado (o como en este caso 4-5 temas delicados) que afecta realmente la vida de miles de personas, entonces lo mínimo que pueden hacer es TOMÁRSELO EN SERIO.
Temas simplificados, inversión emocional cero, personajes caricaturescos, acciones self service e inverosímiles Su única meta parece ser —no entretener, no contar una historia compleja— si no simplemente sorprender con la revelación final. Lo que evidentemente, leyendo las reseñas, funcionó en algunos casos. Pero ¿qué pasa cuando el final te parece evidente desde un cuarto de la historia?
Pasa que no queda nada capaz de expiar el resto del libro.
Necesitamos tramas capaces de aportar más que un plot twist final. Necesitamos escritura decente. Necesitamos personajes reales. Necesitamos que dejen de creer que los libros YA no requieren desarrollos inteligentes.
Y, sobre todo, necesitamos editoriales que dejen de aprovecharse del shock social para marketizar historias mediocres. Para entretener no hay que ser profundo, y está perfecto. Pero si vas a tomar un tema delicado (o como en este caso 4-5 temas delicados) que afecta realmente la vida de miles de personas, entonces lo mínimo que pueden hacer es TOMÁRSELO EN SERIO.
August 16, 2020
it started off SO WELL, but the ending was such a disappointment. The book truly had a lot of potential, but the premise is interesting. The main character was also a little annoying, and we didn't get a glimpse into ANY of the side character's family life, or background.
Read
January 6, 2021rtc!!
tws // alcohol, bullying, death, death threats, drugs, overdose, stillbirth
tws // alcohol, bullying, death, death threats, drugs, overdose, stillbirth
January 10, 2021
I guess I've been on a mystery kick lately because I've really been enjoying the mysteries I'm reading.
The plot of this is interesting enough - dead newborn baby found in a duffel bag in a high school locker room. But it's honestly the added layers that were most captivating in this story. Of course, we want to know who the baby's mother is, but the more pressing issue is: how was someone pregnant and no one knew? I liked how it kept Beckett and her family guessing. Because when you don't know the answer to something like that, everyone becomes a suspect and you question past conversations and actions.
There's also a lot to be said for high school gossip and the fire it can start. All Beckett did was find a baby in a locker room and then she was vilified as a baby killer, because of course, it had to be her baby since she "found" it. We know from the beginning it isn't hers since the story is told in first person perspective so it's that much more enraging when these people in the community are spreading false rumors about a 16 year-old girl. I also liked the added perspective of Jake and Penn applying to college and them being scared of being acquainted with a story like this because it could impact their college acceptance. It's the truth. Social media is both good and bad for a great many things.
I especially liked the author's note at the end where she explained how this was such a personal story to her. It is NOT autobiographical or a memoir of any sort, but she did touch on how she remembered pregnancy/dead baby rumors from when she was in high school. I'm sure every high school has something similar. I definitely remember the pregnancy and abortion rumors. To this day, I can remember who they were about and I still wonder if they were true. Just goes to show that a story like this really can have an impact on someone's life decades later.
This book does have it flaws as some details require quite the stretch of the imagination, but I'm sticking with 4 stars because of how much it made me think and to question my own role in the high school rumor mill.
The plot of this is interesting enough - dead newborn baby found in a duffel bag in a high school locker room. But it's honestly the added layers that were most captivating in this story. Of course, we want to know who the baby's mother is, but the more pressing issue is: how was someone pregnant and no one knew? I liked how it kept Beckett and her family guessing. Because when you don't know the answer to something like that, everyone becomes a suspect and you question past conversations and actions.
There's also a lot to be said for high school gossip and the fire it can start. All Beckett did was find a baby in a locker room and then she was vilified as a baby killer, because of course, it had to be her baby since she "found" it. We know from the beginning it isn't hers since the story is told in first person perspective so it's that much more enraging when these people in the community are spreading false rumors about a 16 year-old girl. I also liked the added perspective of Jake and Penn applying to college and them being scared of being acquainted with a story like this because it could impact their college acceptance. It's the truth. Social media is both good and bad for a great many things.
I especially liked the author's note at the end where she explained how this was such a personal story to her. It is NOT autobiographical or a memoir of any sort, but she did touch on how she remembered pregnancy/dead baby rumors from when she was in high school. I'm sure every high school has something similar. I definitely remember the pregnancy and abortion rumors. To this day, I can remember who they were about and I still wonder if they were true. Just goes to show that a story like this really can have an impact on someone's life decades later.
This book does have it flaws as some details require quite the stretch of the imagination, but I'm sticking with 4 stars because of how much it made me think and to question my own role in the high school rumor mill.
November 29, 2020
The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
*Thank you so much BLOOMSBURY and Netgalley for letting me read and review EVERY SINGLE LIE*
***Trigger Warnings: Drugs, Alcohol, Death, Overdose, Still Birth, Death of an Infant, Bullying, Death Threats***
Wow. It's been a few days since I finished Every Single Lie and I needed sometime to digest what I read. Not because it was bad, because it was heavy. I been a Rachel Vincent fan for a long time (Since her Soul Eater series) so I was excited when I heard she was coming out with a contemporary novel. Don't get me wrong, Every Single Lie was absolutely amazingly done but I was initially a little apprehensive about it. The subject matter is something that is quite heavy and is going to be triggering for some readers (Trigger Warnings: Drugs, Alcohol, Death, Overdose, Still Birth, Death of an Infant, Bullying, Death Threats.) But Vincent went about this book in a way that made it compelling and something that bought up a lot of things that need to be discussed, failures in the sex education programs and the importance of healing and family.
Watching Beck from the beginning of the book and until the end is something I truly enjoyed. She grew so much as a character and I feel like Vincent left her off on a good spot. Her character was realistic too, she acted like a seventeen year old who is going through this horrible trauma and trying to deal with it as well as the death of her father months earlier. Vincent didn't skip out on any of the parts that would make you want to cry or pull on your heart strings.
My only thing is that I did predict whose baby it was early on in the book, but it was interesting to see how Beck went through different people in her life and how they could be the potential parents when the answer was literally in front of her face the whole time.
Overall I did enjoy Every Single Lie. It was a compelling read that kept me interested from the first page until the very last. I know it won't be everyone's cup of tea but if you are looking for a book that is going to make you think long and hard, this is the one for you.
*Thank you so much BLOOMSBURY and Netgalley for letting me read and review EVERY SINGLE LIE*
***Trigger Warnings: Drugs, Alcohol, Death, Overdose, Still Birth, Death of an Infant, Bullying, Death Threats***
Wow. It's been a few days since I finished Every Single Lie and I needed sometime to digest what I read. Not because it was bad, because it was heavy. I been a Rachel Vincent fan for a long time (Since her Soul Eater series) so I was excited when I heard she was coming out with a contemporary novel. Don't get me wrong, Every Single Lie was absolutely amazingly done but I was initially a little apprehensive about it. The subject matter is something that is quite heavy and is going to be triggering for some readers (Trigger Warnings: Drugs, Alcohol, Death, Overdose, Still Birth, Death of an Infant, Bullying, Death Threats.) But Vincent went about this book in a way that made it compelling and something that bought up a lot of things that need to be discussed, failures in the sex education programs and the importance of healing and family.
Watching Beck from the beginning of the book and until the end is something I truly enjoyed. She grew so much as a character and I feel like Vincent left her off on a good spot. Her character was realistic too, she acted like a seventeen year old who is going through this horrible trauma and trying to deal with it as well as the death of her father months earlier. Vincent didn't skip out on any of the parts that would make you want to cry or pull on your heart strings.
My only thing is that I did predict whose baby it was early on in the book, but it was interesting to see how Beck went through different people in her life and how they could be the potential parents when the answer was literally in front of her face the whole time.
Overall I did enjoy Every Single Lie. It was a compelling read that kept me interested from the first page until the very last. I know it won't be everyone's cup of tea but if you are looking for a book that is going to make you think long and hard, this is the one for you.
May 15, 2021
It's past 4 in the morning..
But you know what? It was totally worth it.
*4.5
But you know what? It was totally worth it.
*4.5
April 1, 2021
https://headoverbooks.home.blog/
What it is about
Beckett broke up with her boyfriend and walked into the girl’s locker room to find a dead baby in a bag pack. Soon she realises that there are gossip around the town that the baby is Beckett’s and no matter how much she denies it, no one believes her. Her mother, a detective, is the lead on the case.
POV- first person from Beckett
Happy ending- yes
Funny parts- some
Sad parts- yes
Scary level- 1/5
Gore- 0/5
Trigger warning- death of a loved one, drug abuse, grief, rumours, hate comments, miscarriage, bullying
Realistic scale- 1/5
Pick this up if
You want a fun YA thriller. You like red herrings. You like interesting family dynamics. You want something dark and drama filled. You like small town vibes.
Don’t pick this up if
You don’t like it when characters do dumb things. You are expecting a dark, gritty read.
Pages- 336
Audiobook- 9h 2m
Narrators- Lauren Ezzo
BUY THE BOOK OR AUDIOBOOK HERE
I get asked how I read so many books. This is how I do it:
Kindle Unlimited (definitely worth it for romance readers)
Audible (2 free audiobooks for your first month); I have the Audible Premium Plus with 2 credits a month
Prime membership allows me to get new books at my doorstep fast (get the first month free). I have Prime Student which comes with a 6 month free trial.
Scribd
I also had Audible Escape but it got cancelled :(
But Audible Plus is supposed to have a lot of books across all genres
The perfect gifts for a loved one
Audible gift membership
Prime gift membership
(paid links)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2022
Honestly, Every Single Lie was not what I expected it to be (it was way more drama than a thriller). But it was good.
Although I did guess what had actually happened way sooner than the main character.
Although I did guess what had actually happened way sooner than the main character.
February 13, 2022
REVIEW IN A NUTSHELL:
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5)
Genre: Young adult contemporary/mystery
Release Date: January 12, 2021
Page Count: 336 pages
Content Warnings: threats of violence/sexual assault, drug/alcohol addiction, death of a parent, infant death/miscarriage, cyber-bullying
"If you spend your life trying to prove yourself worthy of someone's respect, you'll run yourself into an early grave."
This is a book different than anything I've ever read before. While I feel this statement can be applied to a lot of books I have read, and is one I have certainly said before, I can confidently say it about this one.
Every Single Lie follows Beckett Bergen, a high school student whose biggest problem is that her boyfriend Jake may or may not be cheating on her. That is, until she finds a dead baby in her school's locker room-hidden away in Jake's duffel bag. Rumors fly around Beckett, accusing her of being the baby's mother and of killing the baby, until they eventually reach Twitter where she faces an onslaught of outrage from the entire nation.
This story is definitely a dark one. Throughout the book, Beckett endures horrible treatment from those around her and those online, as meanwhile she attempts to outrun the past she is struggling to accept. Although the synopsis alludes to a dark and gritty storyline, I was still taken aback at just how dark it actually turned out to be at times.
The ending was especially gruesome. At the very beginning of the book I had predicted the final outcome, but it was a plot twist I spent the entire book hoping I was wrong about. The ending is not a comforting one-it is devastatingly tragic yet utterly real in a way that hurts to accept.
Although it was a bit predictable, I have to applaud Rachel Vincent for her ability to craft a mystery such as this. This book took me about a day to read, and in the times that I wasn't devouring this story, it consumed my thoughts. It is apparent that Vincent poured her heart into this story, crafting every word with the utmost thought, and because of that it is a book I will not soon forget.
My one complaint about the book though would have to be the romance. While it was not the worst thing that could have been done to this book, it felt completely unnecessary and seemed to only serve the purpose of adding more tension to the story that wasn't needed. What's more, it was a relationship that had already been established long before the events of the book began, and it was difficult to feel attached to a couple that I never had a chance to see develop.
Overall, Every Single Lie is an underrated, incredibly well-crafted mystery that deserves so much more attention than it has received. Achingly real with small glimpses of hope threaded in between the pages, it is a story I am glad I discovered, and one I will not soon forget.
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5)
Genre: Young adult contemporary/mystery
Release Date: January 12, 2021
Page Count: 336 pages
Content Warnings: threats of violence/sexual assault, drug/alcohol addiction, death of a parent, infant death/miscarriage, cyber-bullying
"If you spend your life trying to prove yourself worthy of someone's respect, you'll run yourself into an early grave."
This is a book different than anything I've ever read before. While I feel this statement can be applied to a lot of books I have read, and is one I have certainly said before, I can confidently say it about this one.
Every Single Lie follows Beckett Bergen, a high school student whose biggest problem is that her boyfriend Jake may or may not be cheating on her. That is, until she finds a dead baby in her school's locker room-hidden away in Jake's duffel bag. Rumors fly around Beckett, accusing her of being the baby's mother and of killing the baby, until they eventually reach Twitter where she faces an onslaught of outrage from the entire nation.
This story is definitely a dark one. Throughout the book, Beckett endures horrible treatment from those around her and those online, as meanwhile she attempts to outrun the past she is struggling to accept. Although the synopsis alludes to a dark and gritty storyline, I was still taken aback at just how dark it actually turned out to be at times.
The ending was especially gruesome. At the very beginning of the book I had predicted the final outcome, but it was a plot twist I spent the entire book hoping I was wrong about. The ending is not a comforting one-it is devastatingly tragic yet utterly real in a way that hurts to accept.
Although it was a bit predictable, I have to applaud Rachel Vincent for her ability to craft a mystery such as this. This book took me about a day to read, and in the times that I wasn't devouring this story, it consumed my thoughts. It is apparent that Vincent poured her heart into this story, crafting every word with the utmost thought, and because of that it is a book I will not soon forget.
My one complaint about the book though would have to be the romance. While it was not the worst thing that could have been done to this book, it felt completely unnecessary and seemed to only serve the purpose of adding more tension to the story that wasn't needed. What's more, it was a relationship that had already been established long before the events of the book began, and it was difficult to feel attached to a couple that I never had a chance to see develop.
Overall, Every Single Lie is an underrated, incredibly well-crafted mystery that deserves so much more attention than it has received. Achingly real with small glimpses of hope threaded in between the pages, it is a story I am glad I discovered, and one I will not soon forget.
February 17, 2021
3.5 ⭐ (listened on Audible). When Beck finds a dead baby in her highschool locker room, her life is turned upside down for the second time this year. But things aren't adding up, her boyfriend is hiding texts from her, and she's coming to learn that her small home town holds more secrets about her family, and her dad's death, than she originally realised.
I enjoyed this read. It's gripping, suspenseful, and has good pacing. I found myself trying to piece together the mystery with the main character, and I only caught on to the real truth a couple of chapters before they did. This read does talk about some very heavy and serious subject matter including (TW ahead) misscariage, teen pregnancy, addiction, death, suicide, family breakdown, cheating, pedophillia, bullying, and more. However, saying that, this is not a DARK read. It doesn't try to make itself sadder or more serious than it needs to be, and in my opinion, that made it more realistic. Grief, sadness, anger, confusion, are all human emotions and are dealt with through both positivity and negativity.
For me, where this story lacks is in character depth. Why or the story has depth and the family as a whole has depth, I didn't feel like I knew any of the characters specifically that well. I wasn't connected to them on a deeper level, so I wasn't emotionally invested in their story past the level of pure intrigue. I am a character driven reader, so this made a big difference to me. After finishing this book I can't picture any of the characters, and other than age, gender, and relation to one another, I don't know their identities.
Ultimately I recommend this book to anyone looking for a well written and mildly paced contemporary with mystery thrown in that provides commentary on important real life issues. If you struggle with surface level characters this one may be hit or miss for you. For me, the plot made it an enjoyable read nonetheless, and kept me invested until the very end.
(Also big plus for the narration via Audible. It was spot on and the narrator did a fantastic job of portraying emotion in dialogue, which was really vital to my listening experience).
I enjoyed this read. It's gripping, suspenseful, and has good pacing. I found myself trying to piece together the mystery with the main character, and I only caught on to the real truth a couple of chapters before they did. This read does talk about some very heavy and serious subject matter including (TW ahead) misscariage, teen pregnancy, addiction, death, suicide, family breakdown, cheating, pedophillia, bullying, and more. However, saying that, this is not a DARK read. It doesn't try to make itself sadder or more serious than it needs to be, and in my opinion, that made it more realistic. Grief, sadness, anger, confusion, are all human emotions and are dealt with through both positivity and negativity.
For me, where this story lacks is in character depth. Why or the story has depth and the family as a whole has depth, I didn't feel like I knew any of the characters specifically that well. I wasn't connected to them on a deeper level, so I wasn't emotionally invested in their story past the level of pure intrigue. I am a character driven reader, so this made a big difference to me. After finishing this book I can't picture any of the characters, and other than age, gender, and relation to one another, I don't know their identities.
Ultimately I recommend this book to anyone looking for a well written and mildly paced contemporary with mystery thrown in that provides commentary on important real life issues. If you struggle with surface level characters this one may be hit or miss for you. For me, the plot made it an enjoyable read nonetheless, and kept me invested until the very end.
(Also big plus for the narration via Audible. It was spot on and the narrator did a fantastic job of portraying emotion in dialogue, which was really vital to my listening experience).
January 17, 2021
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
My first five star rating of the year!
When Beckett finds a dead baby in a duffel bag in her school's locker room, her life completely changes. Although Beckett doesn't know anything about what happened to the baby and who the parents are, vicious rumors that Beckett had hidden a pregnancy and then killed her child swarm her small town, eventually blowing up into an internet phenomenon. As if the rumors, gossip, disappointing looks, and death threats aren't enough for one person to deal with, Beckett's boyfriend might be cheating on her, her recently deceased father may have had more problems than she thought, and her mother may have been abusing her position of power. As the investigation becomes increasingly publicized with Beckett being the face of the #babykiller, all the lies she has been surrounded by slowly unfold.
Every Single Lie is a fantastic young adult thriller/mystery. There is not a single dull moment--in fact, I was so hooked that I finished this book in less than 24 hours! Rachel Vincent does an incredible job of making you think you've figured everything out, only to throw another curveball at you when you turn the page. The mystery of the deceased baby and unknown mother was interesting throughout the entirety of the book; it never gets tiring, and even as the plot thickens, each bit of evidence makes sense, rather than feeling forced or unnecessary. I was shocked by the "big reveal" and wasn't disappointed at all. Furthermore, I loved that this was so much more than just a thriller. Vincent incorporated such great conversations about cyberbullying, family, adolescence, and being there for others. This book felt so personal and deep--clearly, dead children are an inherently sad subject, but instead of using this as a crutch to make the book disturbing and emotional, Vincent truly delves into the brains and hearts of her characters so that readers will feel the pain, conflict, and confusion that they are feeling. Everyone is deeply flawed and at some points a bit annoying, judgmental, or selfish, yet I still had a soft spot for all the characters. I think I had a moment with just about every single character where I absolutely hated them but then loved them but then was angry at them but then empathizing with them...and ultimately appreciating them for their complexity.
Overall, I would absolutely recommend Every Single Lie. I know YA thriller isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I thought this one was particularly well done!
Side note: where on earth do I get myself a Jake??
Trigger warnings: death of an infant, death of a parent, mentioning of murder, mentioning of underage sex, bullying, cyberbullying (including death threats), mentioning of drug and alcohol addiction
My first five star rating of the year!
When Beckett finds a dead baby in a duffel bag in her school's locker room, her life completely changes. Although Beckett doesn't know anything about what happened to the baby and who the parents are, vicious rumors that Beckett had hidden a pregnancy and then killed her child swarm her small town, eventually blowing up into an internet phenomenon. As if the rumors, gossip, disappointing looks, and death threats aren't enough for one person to deal with, Beckett's boyfriend might be cheating on her, her recently deceased father may have had more problems than she thought, and her mother may have been abusing her position of power. As the investigation becomes increasingly publicized with Beckett being the face of the #babykiller, all the lies she has been surrounded by slowly unfold.
Every Single Lie is a fantastic young adult thriller/mystery. There is not a single dull moment--in fact, I was so hooked that I finished this book in less than 24 hours! Rachel Vincent does an incredible job of making you think you've figured everything out, only to throw another curveball at you when you turn the page. The mystery of the deceased baby and unknown mother was interesting throughout the entirety of the book; it never gets tiring, and even as the plot thickens, each bit of evidence makes sense, rather than feeling forced or unnecessary. I was shocked by the "big reveal" and wasn't disappointed at all. Furthermore, I loved that this was so much more than just a thriller. Vincent incorporated such great conversations about cyberbullying, family, adolescence, and being there for others. This book felt so personal and deep--clearly, dead children are an inherently sad subject, but instead of using this as a crutch to make the book disturbing and emotional, Vincent truly delves into the brains and hearts of her characters so that readers will feel the pain, conflict, and confusion that they are feeling. Everyone is deeply flawed and at some points a bit annoying, judgmental, or selfish, yet I still had a soft spot for all the characters. I think I had a moment with just about every single character where I absolutely hated them but then loved them but then was angry at them but then empathizing with them...and ultimately appreciating them for their complexity.
Overall, I would absolutely recommend Every Single Lie. I know YA thriller isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I thought this one was particularly well done!
Side note: where on earth do I get myself a Jake??
Trigger warnings: death of an infant, death of a parent, mentioning of murder, mentioning of underage sex, bullying, cyberbullying (including death threats), mentioning of drug and alcohol addiction
January 30, 2021
Popsugar 21
• a book published in 2021
• book where MC works at current job (babysitter)
• a book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Goodreads/Amazon
• A book with the same title as a song
This.
Book.
Was.
Fire!!
It both inspired me as a writer in terms of its pacing and plot and conversation about real issues, but also drew me in as a reader with those same things, on top of twists and more. It definitely challenged me because I felt like I knew what was going to happen and had guesses of whose baby it was.
• a book published in 2021
• book where MC works at current job (babysitter)
• a book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Goodreads/Amazon
• A book with the same title as a song
This.
Book.
Was.
Fire!!
It both inspired me as a writer in terms of its pacing and plot and conversation about real issues, but also drew me in as a reader with those same things, on top of twists and more. It definitely challenged me because I felt like I knew what was going to happen and had guesses of whose baby it was.
January 5, 2021
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Rachel Vincent does it again.
When Beckett finds the body of a newborn baby in her high school locker room, the small town of Clifford, Tennessee quickly becomes the focus of nationwide media attention. Beckett finds herself the center of scrutiny on all sides, rumors that she’s the mother who decided to abandon her child spreading like wildfire through the town. It doesn’t help that the baby was found in her ex-boyfriend’s gym bag…
Y’all, I blew through this book in less than a day. I couldn’t put it down. Always moving, always surprising, always heartbreakingly real. I have zero complaints about this book, except for the fact that it ended too quickly; I sped through it in one afternoon, I was hooked right away. The story begins IMMEDIATELY and every chapter brings with it a revelation of some kind. As a die-hard fan of Rachel Vincent, this was always a must read on my list, but should be a must-read for all fans of any kind of YA fiction.
The characters are relatable. The narrative is wholly engrossing. And the story itself is unputdownable. The twists and turns were expertly executed, to the point that I thought I would have a plot point nailed down, only to be proven wrong, only to find out I was right in the end! But still such a shock!
Every Single Lie was unexpectedly emotional at times. The ease with which Vincent tackles a variety of tough subjects -- bullying, death, and drug abuse to name a few -- is remarkable. And heartbreaking. Definitely not a story for the faint of heart, but also one that I believe will relate to the innate empathy of all readers who pick it up. A super important novel about the power and harm of social media and bullying, and the importance of family, through the good and the bad.
Trigger warning: death, drug abuse/addiction, threats of violence, miscarriage/infant death.
*Special thanks to the publisher, Bloomsbury YA, and NetGalley for providing an e-arc in exchange for a fair and honest review!*
Check out my blog for a more in-depth review!
Rachel Vincent does it again.
When Beckett finds the body of a newborn baby in her high school locker room, the small town of Clifford, Tennessee quickly becomes the focus of nationwide media attention. Beckett finds herself the center of scrutiny on all sides, rumors that she’s the mother who decided to abandon her child spreading like wildfire through the town. It doesn’t help that the baby was found in her ex-boyfriend’s gym bag…
Y’all, I blew through this book in less than a day. I couldn’t put it down. Always moving, always surprising, always heartbreakingly real. I have zero complaints about this book, except for the fact that it ended too quickly; I sped through it in one afternoon, I was hooked right away. The story begins IMMEDIATELY and every chapter brings with it a revelation of some kind. As a die-hard fan of Rachel Vincent, this was always a must read on my list, but should be a must-read for all fans of any kind of YA fiction.
The characters are relatable. The narrative is wholly engrossing. And the story itself is unputdownable. The twists and turns were expertly executed, to the point that I thought I would have a plot point nailed down, only to be proven wrong, only to find out I was right in the end! But still such a shock!
Every Single Lie was unexpectedly emotional at times. The ease with which Vincent tackles a variety of tough subjects -- bullying, death, and drug abuse to name a few -- is remarkable. And heartbreaking. Definitely not a story for the faint of heart, but also one that I believe will relate to the innate empathy of all readers who pick it up. A super important novel about the power and harm of social media and bullying, and the importance of family, through the good and the bad.
Trigger warning: death, drug abuse/addiction, threats of violence, miscarriage/infant death.
*Special thanks to the publisher, Bloomsbury YA, and NetGalley for providing an e-arc in exchange for a fair and honest review!*
Check out my blog for a more in-depth review!
July 24, 2022
When Beckett finds a dead baby in the school locker room, people assume it’s hers. She becomes the target of on and offline harassment. Beckett is determined to discover the identity of the mother, no matter how many people she alienates.
EVERY SINGLE LIE shines from start to finish. I loved Beckett’s less than perfect assertiveness. Though she’s victimized, this never a victim.
Rachel Vincent is an amazing writer, capturing Beckett’s strength and vulnerability. She’s highly imperfect, unique and nothing about her is tropish. The secondary characters were fully fleshed out, also unique flawed characters.
The story of who’s the mom is a mystery that I guessed early on, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment because beneath the whodunit is a story of family, grief, addiction, depression and finding one’s way in the world.
EVERY SINGLE LIE had all the feels of my favorite YA books. I knew it was something special from the first chapter (once I figured out a Slim Jim wasn’t salami sold situated by the potato chips sold in gas stations). I know it’ll be a reread and that I’ll enjoy it just as much the second and third go-arounds.
EVERY SINGLE LIE shines from start to finish. I loved Beckett’s less than perfect assertiveness. Though she’s victimized, this never a victim.
Rachel Vincent is an amazing writer, capturing Beckett’s strength and vulnerability. She’s highly imperfect, unique and nothing about her is tropish. The secondary characters were fully fleshed out, also unique flawed characters.
The story of who’s the mom is a mystery that I guessed early on, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment because beneath the whodunit is a story of family, grief, addiction, depression and finding one’s way in the world.
EVERY SINGLE LIE had all the feels of my favorite YA books. I knew it was something special from the first chapter (once I figured out a Slim Jim wasn’t salami sold situated by the potato chips sold in gas stations). I know it’ll be a reread and that I’ll enjoy it just as much the second and third go-arounds.
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