"Lying Out Loud" Review

Book: Lying Out LoudAuthor: Kody Keplinger

Format: ARC

Page Count: Final Hardback 304

Publisher: Scholastic

My Rating:★★★ 1/2

Synopsis: 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?

      Where to start... let me begin by saying that I LOVED The DUFF. It was one of my favorite books that I read last summer. That being said, I liked Lying Out Loud, but I didn't love it.
      In the beginning I liked the new main character, Sonny. I really identified with her. Her situation in life mirrored mine a lot. Also the whole compulsive lying at the bat of an eye really got to me. Lying comes super easy to me to the point where I lie all the time without guilt. With that in mind, she easily started to annoy me in the book. There is a time and place to be a liar, those were unecessary times. Sometimes I got so pissed off because the entire situation of the book is her own damn fault that she could have corrected. Seriously, the plot of this book kind of seemed petty to me just because it shouldn't have ever happened.
      Now on to Ryder. As a character, I fucking hated him. He was fake, two faced, and honestly I didn't see anything that great about him. However, he is a person of color, which I highly appreciate. It is not often that you find a male person of color in books these days, especially as an important contemporary character, the character the protagonist is in love with.
      Amy... I really wish she had stuck up for herself more often. She is throughout the whole book, but I didn't feel like I really got to know her as a character.
     Now to the best part of the entire book.... Wesley and Bianca. Bianca wasn't a major component but nevertheless her presence was enjoyable. Wesley on the other hand... I couldn't get enough of him. He really made this book for me. He is such a great source of inspiration and wisdom in his own quirky little way.
      My hugest flaw with this book was how unrealistic it was. Not just the storyline but the little things. For starters if this book is in present modern day America where smartphones exists, they should have been filling their college applications online using CommonApp or the school's website. I know, I know, that seems really petty, but to me it took away from connecting with the book. I am a senior myself and I just went through that process, but the fact that the process was inaccurate kind of annoyed me.
      This leads me to my second flaw, the whole emailing/IM thing. Don't get me wrong. I actually loved the IMs. I wish there were more of those in the book. But come on, what high school student in America communicates via email unless it's for a school assignment. They should have been Facebook messaging, Google Hangouts, iMessage, texting, ANYTHING OTHER EMAIL/IM.
      Now we transition to sexting... what the actual fuck? Pardon my language but that entire ordeal was unecessary. I get the point Kody was trying to display that it is sad Ryder was thinking of Amy and not Sonny, but come on; do people who barely know each other sex each other that early on?
      Also, that ending... what was that???
      Overall it was a nice quick read--I finished this book in 3 hours. I wish it had more depth to it like The DUFF had, but it is what it is.