Sonya Sones

Fifteen-year-old Colette is a compulsive liar spending a miserable summer in San Luis Obispo, California, babysitting her 7-year-old brother while her famous mother shoots a movie, but things look up when a sexy biker named Connor enters the scene.

A Novel Based on an Untrue Story

To Be Perfectly Honest

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

3.5 stars!

When I first requested this book for review, I had no idea that it was written in verse. I’d never read a book written in verse, nor did I even know what it was. I’m still not exactly sure. And maybe that’s because this book reads almost exactly like a normal book. I probably wouldn’t have even known it was written in verse if I hadn’t seen reviews mentioning it. I would have just assumed the ebook formatting was off, which happens often with eARCs, and I probably wouldn’t have thought anything of it.

This story was quick and straight to the point. I really like that in a book. I flew right through To Be Perfectly Honest, never once feeling a lull or boring spot. It was a quick read that definitely had me thinking. Some good thoughts, some bad.

Let me start at the beginning. The extent of lying in this book, especially in the very beginning, really started to get on my nerves. I know that’s the point of the story, which later all made sense to me, but in the beginning I was constantly frustrated that she would stop mid-sentence and tell us it was all a lie, and it didn’t happen that way. At one point I wanted to smack the girl. Buuuuuut, I got over it. ;)

Something that really rubbed me the wrong way the entire story was the fact that Colette was only 15 years old. My niece is 16, and if she EVER did half of the stuff Colette did, I would have a hissy fit (to put it nicely). Maybe I’m aging myself now. Maybe this is totally normal behavior for a 15-year-old girl nowadays. But when I was 15, it wasn’t like that.

I did enjoy the characters, especially Colette’s little wise-beyond-his-years brother, Will. His little lisp definitely added to his charm. Colette’s movie star mother, Marissa Shawn, was fun too… though again, I felt much too lenient with her children. Leaving her little 7-year-old son home alone. Letting her 15-year-old daughter spend extended periods of time (including overnights) with her boyfriend. I was more angry throughout this story than anything. And again, maybe I was raised extremely sheltered, or maybe this is how children are raised in showbiz, I don’t know, but it was definitely wayyyyyy out of my normal comfort zone.

This entire story of a summer romance spans only a few months. A lot of information in as few words as possible… Wonderful. And honestly I’m not so scared of verse books now! ;) If you’re looking for a creative story written in verse, teaching a great lesson that sometimes the truth hurts, but the lies hurt more, than I would suggest this story for you. It’s definitely unique and unlike anything I’ve ever read.

(Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Edelweiss for the review copy!)

Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!

To Be Perfectly Honest A Novel Based on an Untrue Story

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