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
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