Review : Lying Out Loud by Kody Keplinger

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : Lying Out Loud
Author : Kody Keplinger
Publication Date :  April 28th 2015
Publisher : Scholastic
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Kody Keplinger returns to the world of The DUFF in this brand-new companion novel!

Sonny Ardmore is an excellent liar. She lies about her dad being in prison. She lies about her mom kicking her out. And she lies about sneaking into her best friend's house every night because she has nowhere else to go.

Amy Rush might be the only person Sonny shares everything with— secrets, clothes, even a nemesis named Ryder Cross.

Ryder's the new kid at Hamilton High and everything Sonny and Amy can't stand—a prep-school snob. But Ryder has a weakness: Amy. So when Ryder emails Amy asking her out, the friends see it as a prank opportunity not to be missed.

But without meaning to, Sonny ends up talking to Ryder all night online. And to her horror, she realizes that she might actually like him. Only there's one small catch: he thinks he's been talking to Amy. So Sonny comes up with an elaborate scheme to help Ryder realize that she's the girl he's really wanted all along. Can Sonny lie her way to the truth, or will all her lies end up costing her both Ryder and Amy?

 Personal Thoughts

Reading a Kody Keplinger book is always an entertaining experience. I've loved all of her YA books and was looking forward to reading Lying Out Loud. While Lying Out Loud wasn't my favorite book from the author, it still had many Keplinger signature elements to it that made it easy to devour.

This author is so so good at writing flawed characters that you can actually identify with. Her depiction of teenagers is especially stellar. The characters in Lying Out Loud were no different. I can't say that Sonny was as likeable as Keplinger's previous YA heroine, but there was something endearing about her. Sonny's biggest flaw was her inability to stop lying. She was a pathological liar and always wound up in these uncomfortable situations. Most of her issues stemmed from her unhealthy home life and she was living at her best friend's house for the entirety of the book. I didn't mind her lying as much because I knew going in that she had issues with the truth, but it took Sonny a really long time to figure out how wrong she was. The moment when Sonny started being dishonest with her best friend, Amy was when I lost my connection with her. To be honest, she was selfish and so blinded by all the lies she told that she couldn't see how many people she had surrounding her who loved her. She did eventually come around, but I honestly thought her growth didn't feel very authentic. I did really like Amy as a character. I have liked her since The Duff and she was so much grown up in this one. She let Sonny walk all over her in their friendship and everyone considers her to be the sweet and innocent girl, but throughout the book, she learned to stand up for what she believed in and for herself. I loved that moment where she openly expressed her true feelings to Sonny with her head held high.

It might seem like the romance is very hard to get behind in Lying Out Loud because it's based on a lie - Ryder believed that the girl that he was texting was his crush, Amy, and not Sonny. However, the author made it work through Sonny and Ryder's interactions outside of the messaging world. The two of them worked well together as a couple and I loved how comfortable they grew to be around each other despite hating each others' guts at the beginning of the book. Mid way through the book, Ryder is very much into Sonny and not Amy so it was easy to ship the two together. That being said, I would have rallied harder for this relationship had Sonny been honest to Ryder about her catfishing on her own terms instead of waiting to be exposed. It took away from the romance of the book for me. I did, however, really like the friendship between Sonny and Amy. The two of them had a slightly unhealthy and co-dependent relationship, but it was hard to miss the love that existed between the two. They were incredibly supportive of each other and it was good to see a positive female relationship being portrayed. I also loved how big of a role Wesley from The Duff played in this one. I loved seeing all the cameos from the previous couples.

While Kody Keplinger's writing was delightful and addicting as always, her latest, Lying Out Loud, wasn't always the best book for me. That being said, I had a good time reading the book. I only wish Sonny matured a little bit earlier in the book.


Rating 

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 4/5