Title: Lying Out Loud
Series: The DUFF (Book 2)
Author: Kody Keplinger
Published: April 28, 2015
Pages: 309 pages
Format: eBook
Source: NetGalley
Purchase: Amazon
Summary (Goodreads):
Kody Keplinger returns to the world of The DUFF in this brand-new companion novel!
Sonny Ardmore is an excellent liar. She lies about her dad being in prison. She lies about her mom kicking her out. And she lies about sneaking into her best friend’s house every night because she has nowhere else to go.
Amy Rush might be the only person Sonny shares everything with— secrets, clothes, even a nemesis named Ryder Cross.
Ryder’s the new kid at Hamilton High and everything Sonny and Amy can’t stand—a prep-school snob. But Ryder has a weakness: Amy. So when Ryder emails Amy asking her out, the friends see it as a prank opportunity not to be missed.
But without meaning to, Sonny ends up talking to Ryder all night online. And to her horror, she realizes that she might actually like him. Only there’s one small catch: he thinks he’s been talking to Amy. So Sonny comes up with an elaborate scheme to help Ryder realize that she’s the girl he’s really wanted all along. Can Sonny lie her way to the truth, or will all her lies end up costing her both Ryder and Amy?
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I was extremely thrilled when I found out that Kody Keplinger was about to publish the companion novel to The DUFF. I loved Wesley’s and Bianca’s story, so I was pretty eager to get back into this world and see what the author had in store for us with her new characters.
Lying Out Loud turned out to be a good companion novel to The DUFF and I had fun reading it. Sonny is a likeable character and her sense of humor is pretty great. Her one big fault is that she’s a compulsive liar. She lies about everything – about her mom, about her dad, about where she’s living, etc. It’s her way of protecting herself from the harsh reality, but as she keeps relying on lies and more lies – like faking to be her best friend while texting with the boy she likes – Sonny manages to make her messy life into one big problem.
In a way, it’s understandable why it’s so much easier for Sonny to lie about her situation than be honest. Her personal life is nothing to be proud off, especially comparing it to Amy’s “perfect” life. I felt for Sonny, but she did take it too far with Ryder. (Warning:spoiler) It wasn’t fair to make him believe that she was Amy and even more unfair that she used her best friend’s identity behind her back. This was mainly all the gist about the story. Lying behind Amy’s back, catfishing Ryder, pretending everything was well with her mom, and relying too much on the Rushes generosity.(end spoiler)
Even though Sonny wasn’t at all times great, I liked her. Kody Keplinger is just fabulous when writing great characters with witty sense of humour and also when it comes to writing about friendship and romantic relationships. Between you and me, I loved Sonny’s friendship with Amy more than her romance with Ryder. I loved how deeply they cared for each other, despite the rising problems between them. It felt all the more real to me and important to Sonny’s character growth.
Ryder was an okay character, but I had a hard time warming up to him. He was just too persistent on his obsession for Amy, too weird. He was adorably funny when texting, and I get how Sonny fell for him, but he was still kind of a jerk in real life. He definitely wasn’t like my Wesley.
And speaking of Wesley, he makes a few cameo appearances along with Bianca. They were awesome and funny, definitely some of my favorite moments in the book.
On the whole, I did end up liking Lying Out Loud. It could have been better plot-wise and the ending could have been more satisfying, but in the long run, a fun read.
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