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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
First, Sonny was very manipulative in her friendship with Amy and I was surprised she got away with it for so long. I was happy that it caught up with her and she had to deal with all consequences in the end of the book. I wish we could have seen even more character development.
Secondly, Skyler was an odd character. He was a one person in real life and an entirely different person online. He was a very condratictory character and Sonny definitely put him on a piedestal.
Thirdly, Wes and the Rush family seemed so different from when we read about them in the DUFF. I was confused. I didn't remember them like that at all (with the exeption of Amy). I wish we could have gotten more than just a glimpse into their lives and what had changed since the DUFF. It confused me and I didn't enjoy reading about them as much I hoped because they seemed to be entirely different characters.
I’m not sure why I decided to read this book since I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t like it. That doesn’t usually dictate a book choice. I’ve had this on my Kindle for a while, I think I got it in a deal. But really, it’s been a couple of years since I would have enjoyed this kind of book so I’m not sure what I was thinking.
It could have been worse, I’ll say that. But it could have been way better too. One of the upsides was that the main character’s voice and personality came through the narration right from the first page. I can see why people would like Bianca’s character and associate with her. She’s a pretty normal girl and isn’t one of those main characters who seems to be perfect, or who spend the whole time moaning about how they aren’t perfect/beautiful. Bianca only really starts thinking about her appearance when Wesley calls her the DUFF. She has flaws and did stuff which seemed really stupid to me and would have been annoying, but Keplinger put her thoughts across really well so I kind of understood Bianca’s reasoning, even though I thought she was being an idiot.
In terms of the other characters, Wesley was okay but didn’t really break the mould much. The jock-who-sleeps-with-everyone-but-then-meets-the-main-character-who-changes-him trope has been done before. Jessica and Casey, Bianca’s friends, were quite flat and 2D at the beginning and I couldn’t even distinguish between them, but as the book went on I gradually could see their individual personalities. They’re pretty good friends.
So many teen romance stories just bang on about the hot guy and the romance stuff. But The DUFF actually deals with some more serious topics too. It looks at Bianca’s home life, at issues of divorce and alcoholism. I was pleasantly surprised to see these serious issues in there, as I’d been expecting it to be over the top teen romance. It made the book more realistic.
However, as the book went on there were just too many stereotypes. Way too many. At the start when there were some I could see why, because the whole point of the book is about stereotypes and perceptions, but as the book went on they just kept piling up.
I’m also a little annoyed about the representations of mental illness in the book. I thought the alcoholism was done well. However right in chapter 2 is the mention of Bianca being ‘OCD’ when she is systematically folding her clothes, something she does every night to calm herself. I’m still not sure having finished the book whether Keplinger was genuinely trying to present a character with OCD, or whether she obliviously used the term inappropriately. It was only mentioned a couple of times and wasn’t really explored properly. It’s like it was just thrown in.
But the thing that annoyed me the most was this line, and I’m going to quote it, because I nearly threw my Kindle across the room with anger: “Maybe someone needed to slap me or put me through shock treatments like they give crazy people in the movies. That might have brought me to my senses.” What? I’m sorry, but you go and include alcoholism and OCD in your book, great, including mentally ill characters and all that, but then you can’t go and put in a line like this. Yes, a lot of people aren’t aware what mental illness is really like, and that’s why we need to raise awareness and reduce stigma (this is really important to me), but you can’t have a character say something like that. Representations of mental illness in films and other media often falsely represents mental illness and contributes to a culture of stigma. This is just going to reinforce the stereotype and stigma. The flippancy of this line as well made me really mad. I could rant about this for ages because really it just disgusted me that this reinforcement of stigma was allowed to be published.
That’s a pretty negative note to end this review on. I know it’s only one line, but words matter and even a few can make a difference.
I didn’t hate this book as much as I thought I would. It seemed like Kepligner was trying to do something different and meaningful, but fell into the inescapable pit of teen romance tropes.
Pese a no ser el tipo de novela que acostumbro a leer, The DUFF ha sido una sorpresa muy agradable. Tiene un lenguaje descarado, una protagonista muy bien construida; y pese a que la trama es una chorrada como una catedral de grande, la historia tiene ese algo que hace que te enganches y que no quieras dejar de leer.
Does anyone else get really excited when they read books that are companions to books that you've already read? Kody Keplinger's YA books always make me super happy because I love the little cameos that her previous main characters get, and it makes me squeal inside. Lying Out Loud was a book that wasn't all that mindblowing, but it was still really good, mainly because of said cameos.
As with A Midsummer's Nightmare, I wasn't a huge fan of the romance in Lying Out Loud. I don't know if it's because I'm kind of going off YA romances (ha, yeah, right) or because Keplinger just isn't ticking those same boxes any more, but I was totally bored by the romance and I saw the whole Second Act Breakup coming a mile away. Because those happen in EVERY. BOOK. I. READ.
Anyway, I didn't hate the romance like I did in AMN, but I wasn't blown away by it. And those feelings are true for the rest of the book as well. The main character, Sonny, was okay. I didn't connect with her at all but I did feel sorry for her when I was told about her home life and all that. I loved her relationship with Amy, though. Those two are hella adorable. YAY FOR BEST FRIENDSHIPS.
I thought that a couple of points weren't expanded enough, or wrapped up well enough for me to be satisfied after finishing the book. Firstly, the thing with Sonny's dad. We weren't given much information there, and I was really curious about how/why/when. He kind of just pops up out of nowhere with very little explanation and then all of a sudden Sonny is like YAY MY DAD! And the stuff with her mum wasn't wrapped up well at all. Again, there was very little explanation, and it was left very open ended. I wanted to know if her mother had some sort of mental illness, because that's what it seemed to be hinting at, but now I guess I will never know.
I guess Kody Keplinger's books - particularly this one - aren't meant to be all that deep. But I would have liked for her to expand upon some things.
Overall, Lying Out Loud was a good book and I will be adding it to my Kody Keplinger collection once I actually make that a thing. I only own The DUFF so far because I suck. I will, of course, continue reading Keplinger's contemporary novels, but I can't say I'm expecting amazing things from her books any more. But I have hope that she'll prove me wrong in the near future!
Our main character, Sonny, is a natural liar. Pretty much everything she says has some form of lie in it, and this causes major problems. Her best friend, Amy, is Wesley's younger sister, who we met in The DUFF. They've been besties since forever, and Sonny is now living at the Rushes due to problems at home - problems which aren't fully discovered until towards the end of the book.
The main plot of the book is as follows. A new guy, Ryder, comes to Hamilton High. He's snobby, and quite frankly, unlikable. He's got the biggest crush on Amy, and hates Sonny. To try and get him off Amy's back, Sonny writes him a really awful email, on Amy's behalf, that is accidentally sent. After that, Ryder IMs Sonny and they start talking - all this, unfortunately, on Amy's account. They keep talking, and Sonny realises she's falling for Ryder, but he thinks it's Amy he's telling all his secrets. All in all, everything falls apart, and it takes quite some time to fix.
I really, really liked Sonny. Between her and Bianca, there was no choice - she was the better protagonist. Yeah, she may have been a compulsive liar, but she did feel guilty about it, she made mistakes, and was simply a normal teenager. Her crush on Ryder, a guy she had previously hated, seemed real, and though it was angsty, I loved it all the same. Amy and Ryder was also great characters, and they both brought out the best and worst in Sonny. The relationship between besties Amy and Sonny was never shown as perfect - they fought, argued, and shut each other out like real friends do from time to time. They honestly seemed like true friends, true sisters, and I couldn't have asked for a better pair.
Though I said I preferred Sonny to Bianca, to see both Bianca and Wesley again, and not just as a passing glance, was sweet. They are shown in an amazing, loving relationship, though still the same people they were in The DUFF. They definitely helped Amy and Sonny overcome their relationship issues, and Wesley was like a brother to Sonny, just as much as he was to Amy.
Like with most YA books around right now, parents are either perfect, or downright basket cases. Both of these were present in Lying Out Loud. Amy's parents, the Rushes, were kind, and helpful to the girls, even though they'd been flaky in The DUFF. However, on other end of the spectrum, Sonny's parents, and her mother in particular, were the worst. I can't go into much detail, but I honestly wanted to slap her mam at times. Sonny now having a place in the Rush family was the best thing that happened in the book, and I'm so glad she was finally happy.
All in all, I'm so glad I've read this book. Sonny was a wonderful protagonist, and to return to Hamilton High was really enjoyable. I definitely think I'm going to re-read The DUFF to find out what I've forgot, and because I've missed Bianca and Wesley. Fans of The DUFF would enjoy this book!
- flew through it
- absolutely loved it
- great characters again
- nice writing
- great plot
- would have liked more at the ending but still
- nice glimpses of Bianca and Wesley