Lying Out Loud by Kody Keplinger

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?

I love Kody Keplinger's books! Seriously, I devour them - the characters, the humour, the development, the romance, it all adds up to an amazing skill in story telling that I am incredibly jealous of!

This instalment tells of Sonny, her best friend Amy and the annoyance turned crush Ryder. Lying comes naturally to Sonny. It's a way of protecting herself against the world, so no one knows the real her expect her best friend and she can keep some self-preservation when things go wrong. And lately things have gone massively wrong. She's not living at home, sneaking into Amy's room to sleep every night, and not telling anyone why she's broke. 

Sonny is living on the fringes of rich society; her best friend may appear to have it all but Sonny struggles with daily life from her car regularly breaking down to not being able to afford college. Although very sad and a little depressing, a much more realistic outlook on life.

I loved hearing from Sonny's perspective. Everything seemed so dire and she doesn't want to deal with it, so she lies. It's very easy to understand how things got so out of control and why she'd want to lie in the first place. As for the boy in her life, it was incredibly funny how Sonny and Ryder started talking. An honest mistake turns into an outlet, for both of them, to tell the truth of their crappy lives.

Another great story about the truths of being a teen, with some extra drama thrown in for good measure. Along with Sonny, Amy and Ryder, we also had guest spots from Wesley and Bianca, as Amy is Wesley's little sister. Remember her from The DUFF? It was really nice to see how things had turned out from the original story. Anyway, a fun and thoughtful read, great for the summer, full of incredibly diverse and complex characters, even when you wouldn't expect it. 

Published 2nd July 2015 by Hodder. Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.