LIAR
By Kate Pavao,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Intense fantasy about a compulsive liar and/or werewolf.
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A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this book.
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Based on 5 parent reviews
pretty good
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better for older teens
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What's the Story?
It's easy to believe that Micah's a compulsive liar, especially after she starts revealing all the lies she's told (like pretending to be a boy during her freshman year of school). It's harder to trust her when she says that she had nothing to do with her boyfriend's murder -- or that she is now capable of telling the whole and complete truth. Readers won't know what to think when she tells them she's actually a werewolf -- especially when police discover that Zach was eviscerated in New York City's Central Park by something that looks like dogs.
Is It Any Good?
This book is simply thrilling. Is Micah actually a werewolf, or is she, as one teacher theorizes, simply a confused girl who's "rejecting [her] own body" by pretending to be something more masculine? Either way, did she kill Zach -- and was it intentional or just something that happened in the heat of the moment? Not knowing the answers is, of course, much of the fun, and readers will love racing through this fast-paced book trying to sort out the truth. Micah's non-linear storytelling gives readers more to sort out, as do the various theories about the origin of werewolves.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about controversy over the book's US cover. Though Micah describes herself as black, she was portrayed as white on the cover that first came out (they have since changed it). In the author's blog, she says that while she objected, "editors have told me that their sales departments say black covers don't sell." She asks readers "When was the last time you bought a book with a person of colour on the front cover?" Does the face on the cover make a difference in your own buying choices?
Micah is a good example of an unreliable narrator. Even at the book's end, readers will wonder what they can believe. Can you think of other books with unreliable narrators? Do you find that this makes a book more interesting, or do you get frustrated wondering what to believe?
Book Details
- Author: Justine Larbalestier
- Genre: Fantasy
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
- Publication date: September 29, 2009
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 14 - 17
- Number of pages: 388
- Last updated: July 12, 2017
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