Live Your Best Lie by Jessie Weaver
Publisher: Disney Books/Melissa de la Cruz Studio
Special thanks to Disney Publishing Worldwide for sending a copy for review.
Summary:
Social media influencer Summer Cartwright leads a charmed life: millions of followers, the trendiest designer and vintage clothing in her closet, a newly minted book deal, the coolest friends, and until recently, the hottest boyfriend at her über elite prep school. Every moment of her life has been carefully planned and cultivated to complement her “perfectly imperfect” online persona. She is truly #LivingHerBestLife.
But when Summer goes missing during her annual Halloween party and an unscheduled post appears on her feed claiming she’ll be dead in the next five minutes, those closest to Summer—her bestie, her ex-boyfriend, her frenemy, and her wannabe—know it isn’t a media stunt for attention. It’s not Summer’s brand. Something is wrong. When their investigation leads to Summer’s lifeless body, they’re forced to accept that she was murdered. And no filter is strong enough to mask the lies they tell themselves (Goodreads).
Thoughts:
Live Your Best Lie is a YA mystery novel set in the modern day under the influence of social media and influencers. Summer Cartwright, a popular social media influencer, had everything anyone could imagine: fame, followers, designer clothes, career, friends, and a boyfriend. On the day of her Halloween Party, she mysteriously disappears followed by an ominous post on social media claiming that she will die. Shortly after, Summer is found dead by her bestie Gracie, ex-boyfriend Adam, former roommate Laney, and her fanatic Cora. All four of them struggle to prove their innocence while concealing their deepest secrets as they investigate the death of Summer Cartwright.
The pacing of the story felt a bit imbalanced. The investigation into Summer’s murder took some time to begin, and it took even longer for clues to appear. I enjoyed reading the different perspectives each character had on Summer, but it definitely felt more dragged out than necessary; for example, every time the detectives questioned one of the four characters, they received virtually no information. This trend carried over to almost every character until one of the characters suddenly confessed to save themself. Even then, the reader is still kept in the dark because of the lack of context. Furthermore, the majority of the book consisted of anecdotes and memories rather than focusing on solving the mystery. When the truth was finally revealed, it felt lacking and unsatisfactory since I was still trying to comprehend all the information simultaneously.
In comparison to the plot, I loved how the author included different forms of media and properly formatted them. The text messages from the characters were in actual text bubbles, and the news articles had columns and headings. This helped add to my immersion. It’s much more pleasing to the eye than regular text message formats where lines are spaced out. Moreover, I liked how some of Summer’s previous posts were added on a separate page as well. Besides filling some holes in certain contexts, since it was written by Summer, it helped me get a better grasp on what she actually was like.
Strangely enough, Summer’s character stood out to me the most despite only reading about her through the other character’s perspectives. It was her persona that caught my attention the most; she always sounded overly enthusiastic and positive to the point where I started to question if she was actually being genuine. Summer embodied the online personalities of most influencers and took it to a new level. Initially, I had a pretty neutral opinion of her and was often amazed by some of her achievements. Nevertheless, her mask was eventually torn off when her secrets were revealed through the other characters. It baffles me sometimes to think how different my initial opinion of her was compared to my impression after finishing the book. Despite not liking her, I did manage to sympathize at times.
This book reminded me of how different people can be online compared to who they are in person. I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed One Of Us Is Lying.
Reviewed by Emily W.