Book Review
Title: Seven Ways We Lie
Author: Riley Redgate
Genre: YA/Mystery/Social Issues
Rating: ****
Review: So after reading Noteworthy I managed to get my hands on both Seven ways we lie and Final Draft by Riley Redgate, but both have sat on my TBR for ages, but I am finally getting to them. I was reading this book in a physical format as well as the audiobook which is narrated by a full cast similar to the Illuminae series which I loved. So this book features perspectives from Oliva, Kat, Matt, Juniper, Valentine, Claire and Lucas, and the novel opens with Olivia’s perspective. I know each of the characters who have a perspective represents one of the seven deadly sins and I was eager to work out who represented which sin. So, we learn that Olivia is the promiscuous one making her seem like lust although this may change. We also learn that one of the teachers in their high school is having a romantic relationship with a student, but no names are mentioned, and this will make up the mystery element of the story. We are also introduced briefly to Matt who is running for Junior class president as well as Olivia and Juniper and we learn that Kat is Olivia’s sister. Their mother, I believe is dead, and Kat’s behaviour has changed a lot recently, but the sisters don’t seem to be that close now.
Kat obviously seems to be wrath as she is just a ball of shimmering anger ready to be unleashed at any second, but she finds some solace in theatre. However, in Kat’s chapter, I have already noticed something odd. Juniper drove Olivia home before Kat’s rehearsal yet for some reason her car is back at the school when Kat finishes her rehearsal making it seems like Juniper may be the student in question, however, I think this is a red herring as a major clue like this wouldn’t be given away so early, yet I might be wrong.
The next perspective is Matt’s, Matt represents sloth as far as I can see, but he does have a major crush on Olivia and we also see some more of Juniper but this time crying in her car which sparks so many questions which will hopefully be answered soon as her perspective is next. Juniper’s perspective is the shortest so far, but we can see her home life like the other character’s is far from perfect despite what her outward appearance suggests. I don’t know what sin she is meant to represent yet, but I have a feeling it might be envy. It turns out the Olivia and Kat’s mom isn’t dead, but she has left them which might be the reason for Kat’s hurtful behaviour and the dying relationship between the sisters and while both are dealing with their own problem, Olivia has the added problem of trying to be a mother to Kat keeping her on track which doesn’t seem to be working at all and their dad isn’t much help either.
We are then introduced to a next perspective in Valentine, which for some reason always makes me think of the young guy from the movie Poseidon. We already know that Matt doesn’t like Valentine but then again everybody sees people differently, but I have a feeling he is going to be the ass of the group. Valentine I am almost sure represents gluttony or pride because of his attitude but we learn he is the one that reports the teacher-student relationship after overhearing part of a conversation. Despite only being 50 pages into this novel, I want to find out who the pair in question is already. When we finally get Claire’s perspective it makes me rethink who could be tied to what sin as Claire definitely strikes me as pride or envy and we still have Lucas’s perspective to go. Lucas is Claire’s ex-boyfriend, and pan sexual which is an interesting representation I haven’t seen much of and he seems to have a little crush on Matt. Lucas definitely represents greed and he always wants more, more money, more things and more from life. So, now we have been introduced to all the perspectives I was very excited to see who is the student in question, I am leaning towards Juniper, but we could be thrown a major curve ball.
As we approach the halfway mark in the school, we slowly dissect the lives of our narrator’s figuring out who they are, what they want and how they live and not one of these character’s has a great home life. The only character that comes close to having a semi-normal home life is Valentine and maybe Lucas but Valentine deals with bullying at school and Lucas is a drug dealer, so I am not sure if this count. We also see a tentative friendship forming between Matt and Olivia, discounting his crush on her, they both know what it is like to live in a tense home and dealing with parental issues. I can seriously see this friendship developing into a romance and it would be amazing because it would enable Olivia to have a solid relationship and let someone in and the same for Matt, because in different ways they don’t allow people to get close to them, Matt with his silence and Olivia with her multiple short-term boyfriends. Seeing the characters interact with each other is great and seeing how they form relationships even if they don’t want to, it is also interesting to see that Valentine might have worked out the identity of the girl who he heard with a teacher and I have the feeling that my hunch might be right, but I won’t be 100% until I know for sure.
At this point in the novel, I was sure I knew who the student was, the question is now which staff member is this person involved with. What we know so far is that Valentine is the only one who thinks he knows the identity of the student but doesn’t really want to turn her in as he could ruin her life despite it being the right thing to do in his mind. One of my favourite scenes so far is between Lucas and Valentine, as Lucas has a little crush on Valentine and seeing the unlikely pair together made me so happy. Speaking of unlikely pairings I was really hoping that Matt and Olivia would get together. The interactions between the characters both good and bad are so well written that even if things are going wrong for one or two particular characters you are completely invested in the story. However, things start a downward turn when at Juniper’s party we get to hear and conversation between the student and teacher and we begin to realise that this relationship was consensual and wanted by both parties, but something isn’t right, and things begin to make a little more sense when the ambulance arrives.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, the only people that know who is involved in this relationship are the people in the relationship and Valentine, he still hasn’t told anyone, but I have a feeling the truth is going to come out whether he does it or it just comes out naturally. Seeing seven people bound together by a secret is amazing, but the burning question I have is who is going to break first, if at all? Also, I have been dying for Valentine and Lucas to get together and for Matt and Olivia to stop dancing around each other, so I hope that happens soon. After the big reveal, we still have a ¼ of the book left and the teenage characters are beginning to buckle under the weight of this secret and I was wondering who would crack first.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, people are beginning to ask questions, finally and decisions have to be made and I have a feeling that the truth is going to come out very soon for more than one character. I can’t talk much about the final section of the novel without talking about the ending all I can say is I was disappointed. I have a few reasons for this; 1) after all the build-up about this affair the way it was revealed felt like a bit of a cop out and 2) the romances – now Matt and Olivia’s romance was spot on, I would have liked for that scene to come a bit earlier to leave some room for some more development but I was happy, however, Lucas and Valentine’s romance was bitterly disappointing, the tension and romance between the pair was building only to be torn away at the last moment. Now I know this was Redgate’s first novel and she has written a book a year, but I was expecting a little bit more from Seven Ways We Lie, but still highly recommended.
Lust – Olivia
Envy – Claire
Wrath – Kat
Gluttony – Juniper
Sloth – Matt
Greed – Lucas
Pride – Valentine
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Also see: Noteworthy by Riley Redgate
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