To Be Perfectly Honest: A Novel Based on an Untrue Story by Sonya Sones

 

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Release Date: 8/27/2013

 

Genre: Contemporary/Novel in Verse

About the Book: Colette's friends have a joke about her-"How can you tell if Colette is lying? Her mouth is open." Colette can't help but tell lies. Maybe it's because she's the daughter of a very famous actress and she's crying out for attention. Maybe it's because she just likes elaborate stories. When Colette's mother drags Colette and her yonger brother to the middle of nowhere California for a movie shoot, Colette meets a mysterious and handsome biker named Connor. So what if Colette lies-she can stretch the truth a little bit, right?

 

GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: To be perfectly honest, I'm a big fan of Sonya Sones. I just want to tell you that right away. So maybe I was a bit biased as I read this one because I was so excited she had a new book coming out. But if I'm perfectly honest, I have to say that this book was a blast, and not just because I was excited for it.

 

Colette is an incredibly unreliable narrator, yet she never got on my nerves like some unreliable narrators tend to do. You just have to understand that she lies-and accept that from the start. Ms. Sones does a great job keeping the reader guessing-just when you think Colette has told you something true, you realize you can't trust anything she says. She does it over and over, yet you still believe her. You want to there to be some truth at the core of her story-but is there ever? I think that's what made the book so enjoyable for me-I was always guessing and yet hoping that Colette would be a good, honest character. And honestly, I can't tell you if she was or not which makes it kind of fun.

 

The verse is awesome and where Ms. Sones excels as always. Ms. Sones does a great job of playing with readers emotions as well as making them guess throughout as to what's real, what's not, and what we really want to happen. Colette's voice is great and well written and balances nicely between what she wants us to perceive her as and who she really is. Her baby brother is oh so cute and could be read as over the top, but he's so likable that I never felt he was annoying. And Connor-I never trusted him from the start, but I wanted to.

 

Colette is a younger teen (15), but she tackles some tough topics because of her lies. I never felt like the book was gritty or too much-Colette's decision making was spot on-as much as she tries to come off as worldy and tough, she's innocent deep down and unsure of herself. The ending was a bit too cheesy at times and I wasn't sure I ever bought Colette's ending, but it worked.

 

Another excellent outing from Sonya Sones that will leave readers wondering what was Colette's truths and what wasn't. A great introduction to verse format for readers wanting to try something new.

 

Full Disclosure: Reviewed from egalley recevied from publisher