Ryder is the new boy in school. A prep-school, snobbish, hipster complete with obscure band t-shirts and fake glasses, he earns the instant wrath of Sonny and her best friend, Amy Rush (little sister of Wesley).
To Sonny’s amusement, Ryder has a crush on Amy. But when Sonny ends up accidentally talking to Ryder all night online, she decides he might not be so bad after all and starts crushing on him herself. Trouble is, Ryder thinks he’s been talking to Amy.
Kody Keplinger has pulled one out of the bag with this modern mash-up of Cyrano de Bergerac and The Shop Around The Corner to create a really funny screwball comedy, complete with cases of mistaken identity and plenty of awkward scenes where Sonny’s lies come to light.
Sonny didn’t seem like THAT much of a liar (I’m fairly sure I told more lies than she did when I was seventeen) but the lies she told were very funny and potentially explosive, which always makes for a nicely tense plot.
I haven’t read any of Keplingers intervening books since I read The Duff and it’s really clear how much she’s developed as a writer in this time. The dialogue is as witty as ever, but her plotting and characterisation are a lot tighter. Lying Out Loud is by no means haute literature, but it never ever pretends to be. It’s a fun read and I whipped through it, enjoying it immensely.
Wesley and Bianca make cameos in this book (along with characters from other books apparently, but I’ve only read The Duff, so I don’t know who they were!), but actually, the fact that Wesley and Bianca are in this book wasn’t as much of a draw for me as I think it’s going to be for everyone else. I thought Wesley was kind of a dick in The Duff and Bianca made some poor kissing choices, but they seem like much more settled characters in LOL and they still have their trademark snarkiness going on.
All in all I enjoyed Lying Out Loud and I was glad Sonny managed to get some resolution on some of the many, many issues she had! Recommended if you’re looking for a fun summer read.
I received a copy of Lying Out Loud in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Hachette and Netgalley.
Publication date: 2nd July 2015
4 stars