ARC Review--Every Single Lie by Rachel Vincent

 

In this gripping YA novel about social media bullying and half-truths, one girl's discovery of a dead baby in her high school locker room rocks an entire community.

Nobody in Beckett's life seems to be telling the whole story. Her boyfriend Jake keeps hiding texts and might be cheating on her. Her father lied about losing his job before his shocking death. And everyone in school seems to be whispering about her and her family behind her back.

But none of that compares to the day Beckett finds the body of a newborn baby in a gym bag-Jake's gym bag -on the floor of her high school locker room. As word leaks out, rumors that Beckett's the mother take off like wildfire in a town all too ready to believe the worst of her. And as the police investigation unfolds, she discovers that everyone has a secret to hide and the truth could alter everything she thought she knew.

 

 

 

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

 

I was eager to pick up Rachel Vincent’s foray into the mystery genre with Every Single Lie! You’re probably surprised I picked up something that sounds so contemporary, I was a bit surprised myself because I had the feeling that the mystery wasn’t going to be as center-focused as I would hope, and though it was, it also wasn’t. It still made for an intriguing and deeply moving read.

Beckett is convinced that her boyfriend is cheating on her, so when she goes to break into his car before the end of school day to find proof, she gets and wanting to avoid a further confrontation with him she escapes into the girl’s locker room before the final period. It’s there that she uncovers something horrific, it’s the body of stillborn infant. Someone had left the body in the locker room.

The investigation gets underway, and since she found the baby she has to give her statement and it just happens to be her mother who is the lead detective in their little Tennessee town. It’s not long before whispers start spreading that speculate that Beckett could be the mother which couldn’t be further from the truth. It doesn’t help that a Twitter troll takes to the scene and starts a campaign against Beckett or the “so-called” mother who abandoned her newborn baby in a high school locker room.

While I wouldn’t call Beckett a detective herself, she does ask questions. Especially since everyone is pointing their finger at her as the callous mother who abandoned her baby. She kind of jumps to conclusions from time to time but the evidence that’s presented is pretty revealing. Though I honestly started to make my own suspicions about things early on, and I was astounded to find out I was right!

This book was a little scary to read at times. Not in the horror sense, but in its reality. What young teens might face in certain situations, the horror of rumors and social media. It’s all pretty scary because media doesn’t always care about the truth, they just want a juicy story.

Looking back on this, I am a bit dismayed that the mystery wasn’t as centrally focused as I had thought. I wouldn’t call it a thriller really. There’s no murder, there’s a death of an infant, but no proof of murder from the getgo. And when you look at the circumstances of the situation you can foresee where things are headed.

As I said, this read more contemporary like than the mystery I had been hoping for but since it was Rachel Vincent I kept at it! The conclusion was about as expected. It’s something that still kind of rattles me even after finishing it. Again, because of how realistic it felt. This is also why I don’t read contemporaries. I don’t need that reminder of reality. Though it was masterfully executed, it really wasn’t to my liking, genre-wise.

If you’re a fan of contemporaries with challenging topics and a dash of mystery steep in the rumor-mill I would highly recommend Every Single Lie! Rachel has always had a way with words, it’s why she’s one of my favorite authors and even though this really wasn’t my kind of read, I will say that it was impeccable storytelling that was well-paced and had me turning the pages as fast as I could to see if my predictions were right!

 

Overall Rating 4/5 stars

 

Every Single Lie releases January 12, 2021