The Lies We Tell

LoveReading4Kids Says

Like the author’s previous novel, How We Fall Apart, Katie Zhao's The Lies We Tell is a thought-provoking chiller set in the world of elite American academia, though this time the gripping action plays out during college freshman year rather than high school.

Anna Xu is a top student embarking on her first year at a prestigious local university, where she’s set on maintaining her grades and becoming less of a loner. She’s also set on solving the mystery of who killed her former babysitter, a young woman who was murdered on the same campus six years ago. 

At the same time, Anna is contending with unrest of a personal nature, with her family’s bakery struggling to compete with a comparable business on the same street. Further complicating matters, the rival bakery is owned by the family of Chris Lu, a fellow student who also happens to be Anna’s academic rival. Then, as Anna’s murder investigation uncovers links to a supposedly dead college society, and as she’s the target of creepy catfishing, Chris’ bakery is vandalised by racists, and the two find a way to work together, with a truly edge-of-your-seat finale.

Anna’s earnest nature and admirable courage are portrayed with tremendous empathy, and the author’s representation of anti-Asian hate crime and racism is stirringly powerful, all of which means this YA thriller packs mighty punch.

Joanne Owen

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