Series Review: The Lying Game Books 4-6 + Novella

Posted August 7, 2015 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

series review headSo, as you saw in my previous post, I went on a little binge. It was a very spur of the moment decision and I figured I’d just work through the audiobooks for these ones over the course of the month…. but, I couldn’t stop. It ended up being a full-on series binge-read, which fits nicely in my Summer of Series Challenge! I didn’t put it on my TBR, but oh well. I should have known Sara Shepard would make me turn the pages nonstop until I was finished with the series.

The Lying Game: Books 4, 5, and 6, plus the other novella

I won’t spoil each individual book in the reviews, as usual, BUT each
review will likely have spoilers for the previous book(s)! So, beware.


 Series Review: The Lying Game Books 4-6 + NovellaHide and Seek by Sara Shepard
Series: The Lying Game #4
Genres: Young Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Harper Collins on July 31st 2012
Also by this author: The Heiresses, Pretty Little Liars, The Perfectionists, Vicious, The Good Girls, The Lying Game, Never Have I Ever, Two Truths and a Lie, The First Lie, The Amateurs, Follow Me, Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet, The Elizas
Format: Audio/eBook (288 pages) • Source: Scribd
GoodreadsAmazon Barnes & Noble
three-stars

MY FRIENDS AND I USED TO PLAY LYING GAMES.
NOW MY TWIN SISTER IS LIVING ONE.

When I was alive, my family seemed picture-perfect. My adoptive parents adored me, and my little sister, Laurel, copied my every move. But now that my long-lost twin, Emma, has taken my place to solve my murder, we’re both learning just how flawed my family really is.

Laurel is shooting Emma nasty looks and sneaking around with my ex-boyfriend. And it turns out my parents are keeping a huge secret - could it be the reason I’m dead?

How far would they go to keep the truth buried? No one can harm me now, but Emma is still fair game. And if she’s not careful, she’ll end up buried, too...

my thoughts pinkTo be honest, this rating is probably a little too high. The ending definitely didn’t surprise me but it did make the book a bit more interesting.

I’m getting sick and tired of the same plot in each book: Emma learns a piece of information, aggressively suspects someone the entire book, chases down dumb leads and assumes the worst without thinking first, and refuses to think it could be anyone but the person she chose as the latest suspect. She spent the entire book being an idiot and jumping to conclusions. It was just SO convenient that the person she suspected just so happened to be doing sketchy things while she suspected them (when they never really had before).

The TV show made me suspect that a certain something was true regarding Emma’s birth mom/family and it ended up being the case. View Spoiler » I knew that it was going to be true when Mr. Mercer and Emma-as-Sutton were sitting in the car together, but OBVIOUSLY Emma jumped to another ridiculous conclusion instead.

This book frustrated the fuck out of me, compared to the other ones. Again, the same things happen in each book. I’m hoping the next one improves a bit!


Series Review: The Lying Game Books 4-6 + NovellaCross My Heart, Hope to Die by Sara Shepard
Series: The Lying Game #5
Genres: Young Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Harper Collins on February 5th 2013
Also by this author: The Heiresses, Pretty Little Liars, The Perfectionists, Vicious, The Good Girls, The Lying Game, Never Have I Ever, Two Truths and a Lie, The First Lie, The Amateurs, Follow Me, Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet, The Elizas
Format: Audio/eBook (321 pages) • Source: Scribd
GoodreadsAmazon Barnes & Noble
four-stars

Ever since Sutton Mercer's murderer tricked her long-lost twin, Emma, into coming to Tucson, Emma has been trying to solve the mystery of Sutton's death. And now someone else is back in town--Becky, Sutton and Emma's birth mother. As Emma gets closer to discovering what exactly happened the night Sutton was killed, she learns that Becky isn't all that she seems. Turns out Sutton wasn't the only Mercer girl with dark secrets. . . .

my thoughts pinkWell I was right – this book was a bit better than the previous! All of them are starting to blend together though so I’m sorry if everything sounds super repetitive. Oh right, that’s because it IS. Luckily this one wasn’t as Emma-suspects-someone-and-chases-dumb-leads the whole time. She was actually more open to some clues and suspects, instead of putting all of her eggs in one basket. It was nice to see how Emma adjusted to the NEWS she got about her family. View Spoiler »

I feel like there was finally a bit of a plot change. As I said, a lot of the previous books just have Emma tracking down clues and false leads. She did a bit of that in this book too, but she wasn’t AS dead-set on one killer – this time she suspected her mom, but kind of didn’t believe it fully. It’s become INCREDIBLY clear to me who the killer is, especially based on that ending. View Spoiler »I keep hoping that Sutton is actually alive somewhere but I think I’ve officially abandoned that theory 🙁 … considering the plot summary of the next book……

Anyways, I’m glad the plot is picking up a little bit. I’m really excited about the next book and finally seeing how all of my theories pan out. I feel like it’s almost too obvious who the killer is, considering that Emma has suspected LITERALLY everyone else in Sutton’s life at this point.


Series Review: The Lying Game Books 4-6 + NovellaSeven Minutes in Heaven by Sara Shepard
Series: The Lying Game #6
Genres: Young Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Harper Collins on July 30th 2013
Also by this author: The Heiresses, Pretty Little Liars, The Perfectionists, Vicious, The Good Girls, The Lying Game, Never Have I Ever, Two Truths and a Lie, The First Lie, The Amateurs, Follow Me, Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet, The Elizas
Format: Audio/eBook (371 pages) • Source: Scribd
GoodreadsAmazon Barnes & Noble
four-stars

MY SISTER WANTS THE TRUTH. BUT SOMETIMES THE TRUTH HURTS.

For months, my long-lost twin, Emma, has been living my life and trying to solve my murder. She's unearthed dark secrets about my friends, my family, and my tangled past. But when it comes to finding my killer, she keeps running into dead ends.

Until my body shows up in Sabino Canyon. Suddenly everyone knows there are two girls who look like Sutton Mercer - and that one of them is dead. At first the police assume the body is Emma's. But as questions and accusations start flying, it's harder than ever for Emma to keep playing me. The truth is bound to come out eventually. And when it does, Emma will be suspect number one in my murder investigation. If she can't find my killer before time runs out, she'll end up behind bars... or worse.

my thoughts pinkYeah, it looks like I got ahead of myself a little bit. The last book was much better than the previous because there was less “oh my god this person did it, look how sketchy they’re being, I can’t believe it” and more “hmmm I wonder who did this, let me look into a few people further.”  Unfortunately this book took a step BACK in the annoying direction. Emma-as-Sutton has a suspect she’s keying in on this time – Sutton’s ex Garrett – and, as usual, he’s being sketchy so she’s convinced its him. Although, I have to say, Garrett HAD been acting sketchy throughout the whole series so far. This is one person who actually feels like could be the killer. It wasn’t as convenient as the previous books, where the person she suspects is suddenly acting sketchy.

I was so excited to get to the last book to finally figure out what the fuck happened that night. Every single book, every time Sutton would have a memory, it was JUST enough to incriminate the person Emma suspected. It was so convenient and irritating. Like, honestly, how many people could Sutton have encountered in the canyon in one night? Literally everyone.

SO, I have to say, I WAS RIGHT. I figured out who the killer was pretty early on and was glad to be right. Sure, it’s a little annoying when you figure it out, but I’m glad it was it. It was almost painfully obvious, which is why I can’t really give this book much higher of a rating. I liked the actual content of this book and the events that happened, so it wasn’t AS bad as some of the middle books.

Overall, pretty decent end to the series! I kept hoping and wishing that Sutton would be alive, but that would have been a stretch. Everything worked out really well. So glad I read these! Sara Shepard is still one of my all-time favorite auto-buy authors.


Series Review: The Lying Game Books 4-6 + NovellaTrue Lies by Sara Shepard
Series: The Lying Game #5.5
Genres: Young Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Harper Collins on June 4th 2013
Also by this author: The Heiresses, Pretty Little Liars, The Perfectionists, Vicious, The Good Girls, The Lying Game, Never Have I Ever, Two Truths and a Lie, The First Lie, The Amateurs, Follow Me, Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet, The Elizas
Format: eBook (130 pages) • Source: Scribd
GoodreadsAmazon Barnes & Noble
three-half-stars

It's the summer after junior year and Sutton Mercer's world is turned upside down when her secret boyfriend, Thayer Vega, disappears without a trace. When he finally calls, he says he needs "space."

Furious, Sutton does what any jilted girl would do—she gets over her last boyfriend by finding a new one. And luckily Garrett Austin is happy to step up and be her new leading man. The only catch: Garrett used to date Sutton's best friend Charlotte. Now an annoyed Charlotte is insisting that Sutton's younger sister, Laurel, be admitted to the Lying Game clique. If Sutton wants to keep Laurel out, she'll need to outdo her in a series of prank challenges. Defeating Laurel should be a no-brainer, but little sis has some tricks up her sleeve...

Will Sutton prove she's the only Mercer fit for the club? Or is the Lying Game queen about to get overthrown by her not-so-loyal subjects?

my thoughts pinkLooking at the synopsis of this novella, I almost didn’t bother reading it. I mean, really, I know what happened and how their story ends… this just brings you back to when Sutton was alive and dealing with boy drama. It sounded interesting enough, though, and I liked the first novella. So read it, I did!

Overall it felt kind of weird reading this after finishing the series and knowing how it all ends for Sutton, but I’m glad I didn’t read it any earlier than that. It’s awkward because obviously everyone knows that Sutton was a pretty big bitch before she dies… but then she DIES. You feel bad for her. You see her in her final minutes and realize that she deserved to live and make up for her mistakes. So, that being said – it was hard to read this book while Sutton is still being a bitch. It ruins your image of her from the final book.

I liked it enough and was happy to see some good times (eventually) with Laurel, but it didn’t add too much perspective overall. There wasn’t a point to it necessarily, except View Spoiler »

2 responses to “Series Review: The Lying Game Books 4-6 + Novella

  1. I remember watching The Lying Game on ABC Family until it was apparently canceled. The books sound so different than the show and your reviews have helped me to make sense of some of the show’s plot points. Too bad the show deviated so far from the books. Did you watch The Lying Game? I was really into it until it disappeared from the airwaves! I’ll have to check out the books! Thanks for your reviews! 🙂

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