Where the Truth Lies Book Tour: Review

Title: Where the Truth Lies

By: Jessica Warman

Reading Level: Young Adult Fiction

Publisher: Walker Books Release 09/28/2010

My Copy: Advanced Reading Copy from Publisher

BookWhisperer Rating:

Description:

On the surface, Emily Meckler leads the perfect life. She has three best friends, two loving parents, and the ideal setup at the Connecticut prep school where her father is the headmaster. But Emily also suffers from devastating nightmares about fire and water, and nobody knows why. Then the enigmatic Del Sugar enters her life, and Emily is immediately swept away—but her passionate relationship with Del is just the first of many things that aren't quite what they seem in Emily's life. As the lies she's been told start to unravel, Emily must set out to discover the truth regarding her nightmare; on a journey that will lead her to question everything she thought she knew about love, family, and her own idyllic past.

This is a very clever tale of love, lies, and secrets. The whole story seems to be interwoven with lies and betrayals; beyond my wildest imagination. The level of emotion throughout the story was unexpected, and will keep readers on the edge of their seats. An overview shows that this story is broken up into three parts. Having completed the novel I like to think of the separate parts as THE RELATIONSHIP, THE SHOCK, and THE UNRAVELING. The first part proved to be a little discouraging and I was concerned that I would struggle with the pace of this novel. I never anticipated to become so consumed by this story, but I was quickly redirected with the second part. Emily is our main character, she is what appears to be the typical girl with the perfect life. When Del become a part of Emily’s life I was very hit and miss on the character. I was unable to fully label him as bad or good. He seemed to genuinely care for Emily which would send on the path of the good boy and the disapproving father. Then, something in the story would lead me on the path that Emily was about to find herself in very big trouble, and I did not see how she was going to be able to get out of this one. The reality of the story, and what actually happened was a complete and utter shock to my reading system. I could not have anticipated it, and I did not even fathom this as a possibility when I was reading. I am still reeling over the carefully mastered story, and the reality of how all of these individually ended up with in the same story. Emily’s entire life was surrounded by lies and secrets. This makes one sit back and begin to wonder what would their own lives really look like if everyone secrets were revealed. This carries a huge lesson on the intensity and impact of lies. Although, I find myself concerned with Emily’s hiding her pregnancy and moving to New York to deliver. I fear that some young  people would see this as a solution, when it should not even be an option. While I may not be particular fond of her actions, I feel that Warman depicted very nicely the love and loss of Emily’s baby. I think that she tried to realistically show how this would affect your life, and that is life changing. This is a very cutting edge book, and I could see where for many it might even be controversial.