Jessa Russo

Rating: 2.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Easy summers lead to hard falls in this Grease meets Mean Girls contemporary romance…

When seventeen-year-old Renata Carpenter hijacked her stepdad’s classic car, she hadn’t planned on totaling it and landing her best friend in a cast from hip to heel. She definitely hadn’t planned on being sent to a work program in New Orleans as punishment. And she certainly hadn’t planned on falling in love.

But Ren’s summer of forced manual labor has a bright side: her name is Brit, and she’s everything Ren never knew she needed. First love becomes first heartbreak when their summer romance comes to a crashing close earlier than anticipated. Adding insult to injury, Ren’s break-up with Brit is followed by a big move to a small town.

As if starting senior year completely alone isn’t bad enough, Ren soon discovers that the Hell on Heels mean girl who rules Sun Ridge Prep with an iron fist and a vicious tongue is none other than her first love. Too bad this Brit is far from lovable.

But Ren knows the girl beneath the façade, and she refuses to give up on rekindling their relationship. Secretly, the girls pick up where they left off, falling deeper in love and risking it all to be together. But when their affair is exposed by Brit’s boyfriend, Ren and Brit are faced with the ultimate choice: love or acceptance.

Because they certainly can’t have both.

I RECEIVED THIS BOOK AS A PROMOTION. THANKS!

My Review: The author markets this as a YA title. I disagree. I'd hesitate before I gave it to a sixteen-year-old, or a naïve seventeen-year-old. So let's say it's more a New Adult title.

It's definitely on the money with the Mean Girls comparison. Ren is a classic Mean Girl. She's also a very horny character, and no respecter of boundaries. Brit: "I'm not gay!" Ren: "Get a load of those tits! Such a sweet pair of [upper]lips!"

Then there's the slur usage. I get reclaiming words, and even use queer myownself these days. That was a nasty one in my youth. But using slurs and only slurs? Not now, not ever. That's reinforcing abuse.

While I thought Brit was toying with Ren's feelings...denying you're gay does NOT absolve you of responsibility for behaving sexually with someone of the same sex...I found Ren deeply dislikable and overbearing. Brit's manipulative. Neither is someone I'd like to spend any more time with.

The main issues above weren't made better by the way the story is structured, with time-gaps that just make the chemistry between these two feel very unlikely for teens to experience. The writing was okay, with flashes of creative interest once in a while. Not a favorite read. Caveat emptor re: sexual content.… (meer)

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC copy.
Girls Who Lie Together is separated into two distinct halves. the first focusing on the protagonist, Renata/Ren attending a work program after she hijacks and damages her stepdad’s car. The second focusing on Ren attending a new school in a small Texan town. The plot was easy to follow, maybe a bit cliche at times but overall decent for a light young adult read.
The book had a strong supporting cast however some of the questionable actions of the lead characters left me with mixed feelings towards them. Ren and Brit's romance was cute, and the banter between the two was interesting.
Ren’s narration was enjoyable for most of the book, however, some of the use of slang felt a bit awkward and at times pulled my attention away from the book. Her constant comparisons of Brit to Barbie also felt a bit overdone.
Overall it was an enjoyable read, suited to a young adult audience.… (meer)

This book is the perfect fairytale re-telling. I knew it was a gender flip YA re-telling of Beauty and The Beast, but it felt like so much more.Holland is an average girl, and I think that's what I liked most about her. An average girl going through a life changing, crazy PHYSICAL change. Then there's the hottie here to rescue here, and it seems like she almost has a chance. This story kept me guessing, all the time. I had no idea where Jessa was taking this tale and it kept me flipping to the next page.

And then there’s the mysterious changes happening to Holland, graying eyes, sleepwalking, phasing in and out of reality, and the rage.

All consuming rage.

This isn’t just a gender flip, it’s a meshing of Beauty and The Beast and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde where the girl is our dangerous beast and it’s the boy who will need to convince this double sided beauty to fall in love.

Does he?

Guess you’ll need to read it and find out.… (meer)