The Lying Game

Title: The Lying Game 

Author: Sara Shepherd 

ISBN Number: 0061869716

What's it about:  The book opens with a girl named Sutton lying in a bathtub, invisible. Sutton realizes she is dead and follows a girl named Emma, who coincidentally looks exactly like her. However, Sutton cannot remember all of her past. Every since Emma was five years old, she has been bounced around to foster homes in different states. Her mother left her at her friends house, and after a week, she never came back. Two weeks before Emma turns 18, a renegade foster brother gets her kicked out of the house she currently is staying in because she will not kiss him. He ends up showing the foster mom a Youtube video with a girl who looks exactly like her engaging in not so great things. Emma does not care. There is hope. She Facebooks the girl and the identical girl, Sutton, messages her back hoping to meet in Tuscon, the very next day. However, when Emma gets there, she is mistaken for Sutton. She is exposed to Sutton's real life full of designer clothes and rich parties, where Sutton is popular. However, she realizes that Sutton is not really a nice person at all. They are involved in the lying game which states that they try to make everyone in High School's life hell. Emma discovers that Sutton was murdered, and realizes that her best friends were involved. The book ends on a cliffhanger where Emma reveals her true identify and tries to flee back to her foster home life when a boy convinces her to stay and keep playing the part of Sutton so they can catch who killed Sutton. 

Why it's good/Why it's bad: This book was actually really intriguing. It definitely has mature content in it and I do not think under 14 audience should read this book. I had read reviews about this book and people complaining that they did not like the writing style due to the fact that the point of views would change within  a chapter. This was extremely confusing at times, but it was really addicting. I thought it was a clever book, however, it was really kind of horirfying. Sutton is truly horrible and Emma is shocked that her possible sister could act like that. However, poor Sutton is strangled by a locket. It is quite terrifying, however very intriguing. I haven't watched the show, but I am quite curious to see if it follows the book. 

What's like it: Ringer, Pretty Little Liars, The Lying Game television show, The Prince and the Pauper, Model Behavior, The Parent Trap