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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
Lying Out Loud made me LOL every step of the way. Pun completely intended. I read The DUFF only a few months ago before the film comes out, which I haven't seen yet, and I absolutely loved it. Kody Keplinger really tackles high school life and diverse nature we all live in and she didn't fail in her companion novel...
Sonya and Amy have been best friends since childhood, they are nothing a like but they had something each of them needed to complete themselves. Amy brother of Wesley, (yes the famous Wesley of The DUFF) is painfully shy, rich girl but she has a heart of gold on her. She even let Sonny live with her when her mum kicked her out and her father in prison. They are inseparable, so when Sonny's car breaks down, Ryder Cross comes to the rescue. Ryder a new kid from LA has had a crush on Amy for a while. It's when he starting emailing..that it gets interesting. Amy isn't interested and she expressed that in a reply with a little help from Sonny of course. Though when Sonny borrows the computer, they start IMing, only to realise Sonny is actually talking as Amy. An unlikely relationship sparks between them however, will it come between Sonny's most important things in life.
Sonny is by all means not innocent in a lot of things, she is indeed queen of lying. But whilst some of her lies are quite pathetic and damn right annoying, she has a reason, a good and heartbreaking one at that. I got her from the beginning. I'm not saying I lie but I understood why. What I loved about her was how believable her character was straight away, she didn't beat around the bush, her bluntness really defined her for me in a good way. This really complemented her with her relationship with Ryder and her friendship with Amy. All her life she has practically been alone and her mum has swanning off, here there and everywhere with numerous guys. Sonny got used to it, she told one lie and then two and she couldn't stop. Lying was a surviving mechanism to her a way to conceal the truth but mainly her truths and acknowledging them.
What was great is that we had Amy back, Wesley's younger sister. In The DUFF she was very shy and that still hasn't changed, It hasn't changed that she adores her brother like anything. But Amy is also very different, she's kind-hearted, beautiful (shocker) and intelligent, she doesn't has have a bad bone in her body. She will do anything for Sonny too, she wouldn't be without her. But when Ryder Cross comes between them, they become distant and this is quite foreign for Amy, she hasn't known anything to really change. In a way I wish we got to see her perspective too, to really get a sense of their friendship and that connection that we did with the previous book.
Ryder started out as a bit of an arse, you could tell that with his blatant act of trashing Hamilton whenever he had a chance too. He totally undermined everyone. He spoke before he thought about it. Ryder also comes from a family of politics so I guess, instantly you could have a real disliking against him, I think I did. But I think that was intentional from Kody's perspective of creating Ryder's character. His bluntness and being confrontational at times was his copying mechanism like lying was to Sonny.
When Sonny first started her relationship with Ryder through IM it reminded me of the film You've Got Mail with Tom Hanks! Anyone know that film or is that just me!? Regardless that she was posing as Amy still, in each of the those conversations she was revealing a layer of her persona everytime. This was good for her. She didn't realise how much Ryder had an influence over her in a good way. Sonny realised this was wrong to Amy though, she struggled with the truth at first, but she made the effort to do a truce with Ryder (in person) and actually get to know him for real. Together they were far more a like, and together they tried to comfort and help each other. In a way like Amy, Sonny and Ryder complimented each other in different ways.
It was great going back into Kody's writing. What Kody did with Sonny, Ryder and Amy was build her characters based on the realistic stereotypes of teenagers and I love her for it. Kody has brought around another novel of positive messages, in The DUFF it was sex in a positive and realistic light, in LOL it's diverse relationships, being yourself and also building or rekindling relationships with lost members of your family too. Kody Keplinger is a positive voice of teenagers and young adult.
I'd also like to share my favourite quote which I shared on my Instagram...
"'Have you read all of those? Or even half?'
"It's more of a collection" she said."
This is what I should say to anyone who complains about my bookcase. LOL!
Rating - 4
Sonya and Amy have been best friends since childhood, they are nothing a like but they had something each of them needed to complete themselves. Amy brother of Wesley, (yes the famous Wesley of The DUFF) is painfully shy, rich girl but she has a heart of gold on her. She even let Sonny live with her when her mum kicked her out and her father in prison. They are inseparable, so when Sonny's car breaks down, Ryder Cross comes to the rescue. Ryder a new kid from LA has had a crush on Amy for a while. It's when he starting emailing..that it gets interesting. Amy isn't interested and she expressed that in a reply with a little help from Sonny of course. Though when Sonny borrows the computer, they start IMing, only to realise Sonny is actually talking as Amy. An unlikely relationship sparks between them however, will it come between Sonny's most important things in life.
Sonny is by all means not innocent in a lot of things, she is indeed queen of lying. But whilst some of her lies are quite pathetic and damn right annoying, she has a reason, a good and heartbreaking one at that. I got her from the beginning. I'm not saying I lie but I understood why. What I loved about her was how believable her character was straight away, she didn't beat around the bush, her bluntness really defined her for me in a good way. This really complemented her with her relationship with Ryder and her friendship with Amy. All her life she has practically been alone and her mum has swanning off, here there and everywhere with numerous guys. Sonny got used to it, she told one lie and then two and she couldn't stop. Lying was a surviving mechanism to her a way to conceal the truth but mainly her truths and acknowledging them.
What was great is that we had Amy back, Wesley's younger sister. In The DUFF she was very shy and that still hasn't changed, It hasn't changed that she adores her brother like anything. But Amy is also very different, she's kind-hearted, beautiful (shocker) and intelligent, she doesn't has have a bad bone in her body. She will do anything for Sonny too, she wouldn't be without her. But when Ryder Cross comes between them, they become distant and this is quite foreign for Amy, she hasn't known anything to really change. In a way I wish we got to see her perspective too, to really get a sense of their friendship and that connection that we did with the previous book.
Ryder started out as a bit of an arse, you could tell that with his blatant act of trashing Hamilton whenever he had a chance too. He totally undermined everyone. He spoke before he thought about it. Ryder also comes from a family of politics so I guess, instantly you could have a real disliking against him, I think I did. But I think that was intentional from Kody's perspective of creating Ryder's character. His bluntness and being confrontational at times was his copying mechanism like lying was to Sonny.
When Sonny first started her relationship with Ryder through IM it reminded me of the film You've Got Mail with Tom Hanks! Anyone know that film or is that just me!? Regardless that she was posing as Amy still, in each of the those conversations she was revealing a layer of her persona everytime. This was good for her. She didn't realise how much Ryder had an influence over her in a good way. Sonny realised this was wrong to Amy though, she struggled with the truth at first, but she made the effort to do a truce with Ryder (in person) and actually get to know him for real. Together they were far more a like, and together they tried to comfort and help each other. In a way like Amy, Sonny and Ryder complimented each other in different ways.
It was great going back into Kody's writing. What Kody did with Sonny, Ryder and Amy was build her characters based on the realistic stereotypes of teenagers and I love her for it. Kody has brought around another novel of positive messages, in The DUFF it was sex in a positive and realistic light, in LOL it's diverse relationships, being yourself and also building or rekindling relationships with lost members of your family too. Kody Keplinger is a positive voice of teenagers and young adult.
I'd also like to share my favourite quote which I shared on my Instagram...
"'Have you read all of those? Or even half?'
"It's more of a collection" she said."
This is what I should say to anyone who complains about my bookcase. LOL!
Rating - 4
This review was written for The Review Diaries
You can read the full review here
Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Children’s Books/Hodder Children’s Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review
I absolutely adored ‘The DUFF’ when I read it for the first time earlier this year, Bianca was sassy and brilliant and I loved the relationship between her and Wesley. So I was insanely excited to find out this was a companion novel with Amy, Wesley’s little sister as one of the main characters – plus there would be cameos from Bianca and Wesley themselves.
However the idea and the actuality were two very different things. Whilst I was a huge fan of Bianca I really didn’t gel so well with Sonny, she was so destructive and her compulsive lying and constant bragging about her lying abilities were frustrating and stopped me from really connecting with her as a character. The further into the story I got the clearer it became that whilst Sonny thought she was fooling everyone, and yes she did manage it with a few people, on the whole the only person she was successfully lying to was herself. Everyone else just saw straight through it.
Without that connection to Sonny the book never lifted beyond ‘okay’ for me. Keplinger has a talent for writing very polarizing characters. Bianca split people’s opinions just as much, only I fell in the loving her camp rather than finding her abrasive. This time I’m on the other side of the fence and so whilst it was a quick and at points enjoyable read, I never recaptured the same enjoyment I experienced whilst reading ‘The DUFF’.
That then coloured all of my other feelings for the story. I didn’t find Wesley and Bianca as interesting in their brief cameos, I never really connected with Amy and she felt like a criminally underused character that I was looking forward to getting to know, and Ryder never captivated me the same way that Wesley did.
I love that Keplinger writes flawed characters – it was one of the reasons I loved ‘The DUFF’ so much but I didn’t find Ryder and Sonny as easy to relate to.
So whilst my enjoyment of the book was marred by these, they were personal preferences. The story had all the elements that I loved in ‘The DUFF’ it was just a shame that I didn’t connect with the characters. I know a lot of people will love this story and the characters as they did with Bianca. But for me personally I’m going to stick with ‘The Duff’.
You can read the full review here
Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Children’s Books/Hodder Children’s Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review
I absolutely adored ‘The DUFF’ when I read it for the first time earlier this year, Bianca was sassy and brilliant and I loved the relationship between her and Wesley. So I was insanely excited to find out this was a companion novel with Amy, Wesley’s little sister as one of the main characters – plus there would be cameos from Bianca and Wesley themselves.
However the idea and the actuality were two very different things. Whilst I was a huge fan of Bianca I really didn’t gel so well with Sonny, she was so destructive and her compulsive lying and constant bragging about her lying abilities were frustrating and stopped me from really connecting with her as a character. The further into the story I got the clearer it became that whilst Sonny thought she was fooling everyone, and yes she did manage it with a few people, on the whole the only person she was successfully lying to was herself. Everyone else just saw straight through it.
Without that connection to Sonny the book never lifted beyond ‘okay’ for me. Keplinger has a talent for writing very polarizing characters. Bianca split people’s opinions just as much, only I fell in the loving her camp rather than finding her abrasive. This time I’m on the other side of the fence and so whilst it was a quick and at points enjoyable read, I never recaptured the same enjoyment I experienced whilst reading ‘The DUFF’.
That then coloured all of my other feelings for the story. I didn’t find Wesley and Bianca as interesting in their brief cameos, I never really connected with Amy and she felt like a criminally underused character that I was looking forward to getting to know, and Ryder never captivated me the same way that Wesley did.
I love that Keplinger writes flawed characters – it was one of the reasons I loved ‘The DUFF’ so much but I didn’t find Ryder and Sonny as easy to relate to.
So whilst my enjoyment of the book was marred by these, they were personal preferences. The story had all the elements that I loved in ‘The DUFF’ it was just a shame that I didn’t connect with the characters. I know a lot of people will love this story and the characters as they did with Bianca. But for me personally I’m going to stick with ‘The Duff’.
1,5/5
Galiba bütün hayatım boyunca en nefret ettiğim kitap karakteri Sonny oldu. Bir insanın verdiği bütün kararlar mı yanlış olur? Yani neden hiç sonunu düşünmeden hareket eder bu kadar?
Tam bir puanlık, beğenmedim demelik bir kitaptı ancak Ryder ve Amy'yi çok sevmiş olmam sebebiyle bir yarım puan daha aldı.
Galiba bütün hayatım boyunca en nefret ettiğim kitap karakteri Sonny oldu. Bir insanın verdiği bütün kararlar mı yanlış olur? Yani neden hiç sonunu düşünmeden hareket eder bu kadar?
Tam bir puanlık, beğenmedim demelik bir kitaptı ancak Ryder ve Amy'yi çok sevmiş olmam sebebiyle bir yarım puan daha aldı.
I read this book a few years too late. I cannot even complain about it not being the book for me, I was not it's intended audience and that is okay. It was still kind of interesting, though.
This was a lot of fun. Definitely the type of book that cringeworthily got progressively worse before it could get better, but it was worth the pain.
This author writes really witty dialogue, and it was actually so nice seeing a happy Bianca and Wesley, still together after [b:The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend|6931356|The DUFF Designated Ugly Fat Friend|Kody Keplinger|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1271108843s/6931356.jpg|7162394]!
Things got way more serious than expected at certain points, but that's very much OK.
A really solid read.
This author writes really witty dialogue, and it was actually so nice seeing a happy Bianca and Wesley, still together after [b:The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend|6931356|The DUFF Designated Ugly Fat Friend|Kody Keplinger|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1271108843s/6931356.jpg|7162394]!
Things got way more serious than expected at certain points, but that's very much OK.
A really solid read.
How is it that I could finish reading this book only in two and a half goddamn hours, you may ask. Well, here's the truth, folks. I already know how the story is going to go down.
Wow! You might say. That's really cool, Maddy. Can you actually predict the whole book just like that? Oh well, that's really flattering, but I couldn't have done that without the help of the author herself, of course, for writing such a big fucking cliche. It's like reading a book written from a template!
Here's the formula.
A problematic teenage girl in denial who has no goals in life, no hobby, and practically just cruises through high school because she HAS to. Has no interest or anything she's passionate about + A boy. Much unique. Very Hipster. Hates people. Very Judgmental. An asshole but boy, who cares! He's kinda nice sometimes, kinda hot too. He likes Hipster-y Stuff but never actually admits that He is a hipster because that would defy the whole purpose of being a Hipster. Plus he wears glasses IRONICALLY. Or because it's FASHIONABLE. + Shy best friend, practically perfect. So smart. So Beautiful. Her life is so easy. Rich white girl who has everything and says things like "my family isn't loaded" but has porsche and a lexus. Because she's so NICE. So HUMBLE. Yeah right. + DRAMA + UNRESOLVED FAMILY CONFLICTS because they're just there to make this main character relatable but we don't need to solve that, right? we only care about how she's going to end up with this BOY & how this conflict could help boost her lost puppy image. I mean, she's kind of a big fat liar, but hey, she has issues, give her a break. + GRAND ROMANTIC GESTURE from OLD FAMOUS ROM COMS. Yeah boi, bring in that stereo like John Cusack or punch the air with your fist or whatever because it's so ROMANTIC and will literally solve EVERY MAJOR PROBLEMS. NOT.
1/5 Stars. Would not recommend this shit show to anyone.
Additional note: you MIGHT like this book if you like dumb YA books with cutesy romance with no message to deliver at all except falling in love is so nice and complicated! But if you actually want to learn something and not waste two hours of your precious time just to read about a couple of teenagers doing dumb shit and flirting back and forth then you shouldn't probably bother with this one.
Wow! You might say. That's really cool, Maddy. Can you actually predict the whole book just like that? Oh well, that's really flattering, but I couldn't have done that without the help of the author herself, of course, for writing such a big fucking cliche. It's like reading a book written from a template!
Here's the formula.
A problematic teenage girl in denial who has no goals in life, no hobby, and practically just cruises through high school because she HAS to. Has no interest or anything she's passionate about + A boy. Much unique. Very Hipster. Hates people. Very Judgmental. An asshole but boy, who cares! He's kinda nice sometimes, kinda hot too. He likes Hipster-y Stuff but never actually admits that He is a hipster because that would defy the whole purpose of being a Hipster. Plus he wears glasses IRONICALLY. Or because it's FASHIONABLE. + Shy best friend, practically perfect. So smart. So Beautiful. Her life is so easy. Rich white girl who has everything and says things like "my family isn't loaded" but has porsche and a lexus. Because she's so NICE. So HUMBLE. Yeah right. + DRAMA + UNRESOLVED FAMILY CONFLICTS because they're just there to make this main character relatable but we don't need to solve that, right? we only care about how she's going to end up with this BOY & how this conflict could help boost her lost puppy image. I mean, she's kind of a big fat liar, but hey, she has issues, give her a break. + GRAND ROMANTIC GESTURE from OLD FAMOUS ROM COMS. Yeah boi, bring in that stereo like John Cusack or punch the air with your fist or whatever because it's so ROMANTIC and will literally solve EVERY MAJOR PROBLEMS. NOT.
1/5 Stars. Would not recommend this shit show to anyone.
Additional note: you MIGHT like this book if you like dumb YA books with cutesy romance with no message to deliver at all except falling in love is so nice and complicated! But if you actually want to learn something and not waste two hours of your precious time just to read about a couple of teenagers doing dumb shit and flirting back and forth then you shouldn't probably bother with this one.
Ok, so I've read my fair share of Keplinger books, and she's definitely improved.
Either that, or I've just become immune to cliche books with whiny main characters and predictably hot boys.
Maybe.
But seriously. I actually enjoyed this one. I love a good book where the main characters actually have personality. And I enjoyed all the Wesley scenes!!
Either that, or I've just become immune to cliche books with whiny main characters and predictably hot boys.
Maybe.
But seriously. I actually enjoyed this one. I love a good book where the main characters actually have personality. And I enjoyed all the Wesley scenes!!
*2.75 stars
*I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review*
I really enjoyed the DUFF and was expecting the same level of enjoyment from this spin-off, however this book was a major disappointment.
First of all, Sonny was so annoying and controlling. All she ever did was lie to everyone, including those who cared about her, and boss her best friend around. I found that to be really frustrating. I understand that she had family trouble, but that's not really a good enough excuse.
Ryder was very obnoxious and boring to me as well.
I liked Amy, when she stood up for herself. And I also liked the reappearance of Bianca and Wesley, even though they weren't very prominent.
The plot was quite frustrating to me because I really feel like everything could have been solved if Sonny had just told the truth for once. I also found there to be many slow parts throughout this book.
However, I still really enjoyed Kody Keplinger's writing. It's not magnificently poetic or beautiful or anything like that, but I find that I never want to put her books down because the writing is so addictive!
I don't think I'll be reading anymore books from Hamilton High, but I'm not opposed to reading her other books!
*I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review*
I really enjoyed the DUFF and was expecting the same level of enjoyment from this spin-off, however this book was a major disappointment.
First of all, Sonny was so annoying and controlling. All she ever did was lie to everyone, including those who cared about her, and boss her best friend around. I found that to be really frustrating. I understand that she had family trouble, but that's not really a good enough excuse.
Ryder was very obnoxious and boring to me as well.
I liked Amy, when she stood up for herself. And I also liked the reappearance of Bianca and Wesley, even though they weren't very prominent.
The plot was quite frustrating to me because I really feel like everything could have been solved if Sonny had just told the truth for once. I also found there to be many slow parts throughout this book.
However, I still really enjoyed Kody Keplinger's writing. It's not magnificently poetic or beautiful or anything like that, but I find that I never want to put her books down because the writing is so addictive!
I don't think I'll be reading anymore books from Hamilton High, but I'm not opposed to reading her other books!