I received an ARC from Penguin Random House UK Children’s in exchange for an honest review.

This book reminded me why I am so fond of Young Adult fiction, despite being (sadly!) now far from technically being in the Young Adult demographic myself these days. I devoured it in two days. It was addictive. And clever. So clever.

Nora, our protagonist, is a little liar. She lies about her father, she lies about the art assistant, she lies to her mother – she can’t seem to stop lying. Her lies get bigger and bigger throughout the novel, and you start to understand a little bit behind why she is the way she is. She’s a troublesome character, there’s something innately likable about her, despite her behaviour, and at times callous actions. One of her charms is that she is acutely aware that the way she is behaving is wrong, yet can’t seem to stop herself. It’s an interesting portrayal of that mixed-up teenage time, where you’re not a child but not quite an adult. And sometimes trying to pretend you’re more grown up than you are, can have undesirable effects.

The novel open with the lie that begins it all, about an incident with the art assistant, Jonah Trace. A lie about the teacher and the student. It’s started out of revenge when he sleights her in class, and escalates, ultimately resulting in his dismissal. Exactly as Nora had planned. This lie is the tipping point in many respects; it changes Nora’s reputation at school, it opens up new avenues for her; she realises the power of lies and believes herself able to control the future. It also starts to eat her up as she realises that when you lie too often, you start to lose a grasp of the truth – and yourself.

When Nora meets Bel, a firecracker of a character, her life changes once more. Bel wants nothing more than to follow her late mother’s footsteps into acting, and drags Nora along for the ride. She’s a flighty, unstable and easily manipulated character, which suits Nora in many ways. Bel introduce Nora to acting – a healthy way to channel her lies – but this opens up a new ambition. She not only wants to act, but she wants to steal Bel’s part. It makes for uncomfortable reading, as Nora tries to manipulate Bel, while Bel’s family look at her as if she’s a saviour come to rescue Bel from herself.

In fact, Nora is somewhere in between the Iago she’s aspiring to be, and the good influence she’s assumed to be. This novel focuses on the shades of grey – no character is wholly good or wholly bad, and that is one of the many things that make this such an interesting book. We’re not always sure if we should like Nora, or whether her behaviour has finally crossed over into the unacceptable. Nora, indeed, is often harder on herself than the reader is. Her reaction to Mr Trace, though fairly emotionless in the carrying out of her plan, is fraught with guilt and wretchedness after he has been dismissed. And yet, even when we learn the truth, he still seems very much more the guilty party, and not someone who should have ever been teaching in school. His behaviour is dangerous and predatory. The game that Nora was playing was a risky one, but it worked. By honey trapping him (not that he took much encouragement) she perhaps saved a more vulnerable person from a difficult situation.

Of course, Nora doesn’t see it like that. She is all too acutely aware that she started that game out of pure vengeance and so even if the outcome is for the greater good, she cannot quite forgive herself for it. It is this that makes Nora such a human character. She doesn’t necessarily set out to be unkind or do such horrible things, but she gets caught up in the moment and forgets to think about consequences. Indeed, the moment when she realises quite how far down the rabbit hole she’s fallen, is a particularly poignant one.

This is also, then, a story about grief. About Nora’s grief, her mother’s grief – of the ghosts of the past that haunt them (almost literally, when her mother decides to visit a psychic). You come to realise that the reason Nora lies so much is because some truths are just too much to bear. It is also about the grief of missed potential – of what might have been, of what people give up without realising they have. There is so much going on, and so many shades of characters – everyone has some darkness in them, but everyone also has some light. Nora concentrates on her negative traits, seeing herself as a puppet master who works people for her own ends, and underestimates her good traits.

There is so much more I could write about Little Liar as it is packed full. It is an unique story – one that I enjoyed very much. It devastated and thrilled me in equal parts, as Nora started to learn that lies can always be unpicked – but real truth is in power. I didn’t see the end coming, though I suspect on a second read I might pick up a few more hints. It’s a well written book, with well observed, unpredictable characters. I’d recommend to anyone who asked. Four stars.