The Best Lies

May 1, 2019
When a friendship turns sour and a boyfriend ends up dead, what will it take to unravel the reasons why? When Remy Tsai meets Elise Ferro, all she wants is to be friends. Elise is confident, fierce, and strong--ready to defend anyone from injustice, either with a few choice words or with a carefully planned act of revenge. Remy wants to be just like her. Elise offers an escape from Remy's fighting parents, from Remy's perfect brother, and from Remy's other friends, who are growing distant. But beneath Elise's brazen exterior, she has her own wounds. As their friendship intensifies, Elise begins to clash with Remy's boyfriend, Jack. When Jack is shot and killed, Remy must sort through abuse, guilt, and love to understand what happened. Was it self-defense, or did the differences between Elise and Jack finally become too much? Remy and Elise's sometimes-electrifying, sometimes-toxic relationship is explored in detail, making both girls' actions understandable, if still reprehensible at times. Though the drama is extreme, the trauma Elise and Remy both carry is explored deftly, and Elise's hold on Remy is tantalizing throughout. Remy is Chinese-American, has another Asian-American friend, and notes that her schools have become more diverse, though most of the other characters, including Elise, are white. A gripping story of love, obsession, and the space in between. (Thriller. 13-18)

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May 10, 2019

Gr 9 Up-Elise and Remy are more than best friends. They're family. Soulmates. Their bond is forged fast and intense over shared but secret family traumas. While Remy's response to her parents' neglect and fighting has always been to fly under the radar, Elise funnels her rage through increasingly hostile pranks. Early in their friendship, Elise makes Remy feel seen, special, and understood for the first time in her life. But when Remy begins dating Jack, who is calm and compassionate to Elise's electric and erratic, Elise's friendship warps into something possessive, dark, and destructive. The sensitive handling of trauma and cycles of abuse lend both a gravity and urgency to this psychological thriller. Remy's dawning awareness of the reality of her situation feels true and unsettling, while alternating past and present chapters keep the tension building breathlessly until the twist ending. This is an #OwnVoices book; like the author, Remy is Asian-American and a trauma survivor. VERDICT Highly recommended for fans of complex psychological thrillers, as well as those interested in bibliotherapy connected to trauma, abuse, and toxic relationships.-Leighanne Law, Scriber Lake High School, WA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2019
Grades 9-12 Remy Tsai comes to some tough conclusions about trauma, revenge, and obsessive friendship in this dark and anxious thriller. The story starts with Remy talking to the police about the shocking death of her boyfriend, Jack; the literal smoking gun in her best friend Elise's hand; and how they ended up in this nightmare. When Remy meets Elise, they seem to have an instant connection: both have a troubled family life, Remy's defined by emotional neglect and Elise's by physical brutality. Remy is drawn in by Elise's apparent strength and loyalty, something lacking in her own life, and their friendship deepens around a series of pranks Elise orchestrates to enact justice on people who have wronged her friends. Lyu does a great job of building anxiety as Elise becomes manipulative and possessive of Remy, especially after she starts dating Jack. Everything builds to a reveal that readers will most likely see coming, but the empathetic portrayal of two hurting girls who love each other but ultimately can't help each other shines through.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)