If I Lie: A Book Review

I ran across this book on Goodreads, and I thought it sounded very interesting.  From the description, it sounded like there was a great mystery that would keep me intrigued and wanting to continue reading until the end.  Unfortunately, this book wasn’t as good as I had hoped.  Mostly, it was due to the writing style throughout the book as well as the revealing of the mystery.  The secret itself was interesting, believable, and understandable, however, it was revealed in chapter 2, which didn’t leave much suspense for the rest of the novel.  :/

Title: If I Lie

Author: Corrine Jackson

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: August 28, 2012

Pages: 276

Out in Paperback?: Yes, August 6, 2013

Goodreads

Amazon

My Rating: 2/5

Review:

Goodreads Summary:

A powerful debut novel about the gray space between truth and perception.

Quinn’s done the unthinkable: she kissed a guy who is not Carey, her boyfriend. And she got caught. Being branded a cheater would be bad enough, but Quinn is deemed a traitor, and shunned by all of her friends. Because Carey’s not just any guy—he’s serving in Afghanistan and revered by everyone in their small, military town.

Quinn could clear her name, but that would mean revealing secrets that she’s vowed to keep—secrets that aren’t hers to share. And when Carey goes MIA, Quinn must decide how far she’ll go to protect her boyfriend…and her promise.

Characters:

Overall, this book was pretty young for me.  That being said, the characters seemed too young and immature for my liking.  Quinn was fairly likeable, and because of all the hard times she goes through in the beginning of the novel, the reader will feel for her.  However, the other minor characters were what I found to be really annoying and immature.  Many of Quinn’s friends immediately turned her back on her and began spreading vicious rumors, often calling her a “traitor, whore, and slut.”  This seemed very high school to me, with the gossip and name-calling.  As someone who is in college and beyond a gossip-filled high school (I never was one to be involved in gossip/drama), it was really more annoying and didn’t allow me to be fully involved in the story.  Carey, Quinn’s boyfriend, wasn’t really a major character, as he only appears in flashbacks.  Carey is stationed in Afghanistan, but during times when Quinn is reminiscing on old memories, he appears and seems like a decent person.  However, I was a little annoyed with him because of some of the things that he puts Quinn through.  Other minor characters include Quinn’s dad, a very stereotypical rough, military-type father, and Quinn’s friend at the Veteran’s hospital; however, little development is made for either of these characters.

Plot:

The story begins when Quinn realizes that Carey is MIA in Afghanistan.  This makes everything much worse for her as she been caught kissing another man right before this announcement.  In her small, military-oriented town, Quinn’s life (and her apparent cheating on Carey) becomes the center of attention.  Everyone stares at her when she is at the town diner, and many of her friends from high school have turned their backs, refusing to speak to her, creating rumors, and calling her names.  However, if they knew the secret that she was keeping, then everyone wouldn’t be treating her this way.  The plot intrigued me at first, and I think I would have enjoyed the book much more if the secret weren’t revealed so soon in the novel.  I believe it was in chapter 2 that the main secret (NO SPOILERS) of the story was told to the reader, however, I feel that if this was left a mystery than the tension and suspense would have built up more, causing me to want to continue reading on.

Writing Style:

The writing style was really what I disliked about this book.  I am well-aware that I am older than the target audience for many young adult novels, however, many of the books that I read still seem to have an older feel to them despite the main character being 17 or 18 and in high school (like The Hunger Games, Thirteen Reasons Why, and Before I Fall (review coming soon!)).  The younger feel to the book made it so that I wasn’t able to be fully engrossed in the book or the storyline.  It is a shorter book, so you can get through it quickly, however, I didn’t find this to be enjoyable enough to speed through it.

Have you read this book?  What did you think?  Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I read it when I was younger. :/  Leave your thoughts and comments below!

FTC Disclaimer:

All items mentioned were purchased by me.  This is not a sponsored post.  All opinions are my own.  No affiliate links were used.