Author Guest Post & Book Review: Third Lie's A Charm by Lisa and Laura Roecker

New friend into old, the bond of the Sisterhood will never grow cold.

Life at Pemberly Brown is a whirlwind for Kate Lowry. Determined to finally destroy the secret society responsible for her best friend Grace’s death, Kate joins the Sisterhood hoping to go all Trojan Horse on their asses. But the night of her initiation another student at Pemberly Brown dies in what looks like tragic accident.

Kate knows better.

Kate and her faithful ginger, Seth Allen, immediately uncover a connection to the boy’s death and the secret societies that rule Pemberly Brown. But it’s not until Kate begins receiving pages from Grace’s old journal that she begins to piece together what really happened the night she died and how it connects to Pemberly Brown’s most recent tragedy.

Meanwhile, Kate’s ex-boyfriend Liam is following her around like an angry guard dog and she’s falling hard for the mysterious Bradley Farrow. Both boys are tied up in the mystery that surrounds Pemberly Brown, but only one of them can truly be trusted.

In this chilling conclusion to The Liar Society series Kate will fight to save her school from the evil that lurks beneath its hallowed halls. But will her quest destroy her or finally lead her to true love? She can only hope her third lie’s the charm.

Best Bits: What I appreciate most about this series is how consistent it has been. Each book has it's own plot and twists, but the overall goal (Kate taking down the societies) still stands. There's a sense of urgency in this book as well. When members of the now defunct Brotherhood start receiving messages challenging them to impossible and dangerous tasks, Kate has another thing to add to her plate. In this book we get a new perspective on the Sisterhood, because Kate has infiltrated their ranks. This gives the reader some idea why girls would want to be a part of the group. They look out for each other, and in a school where money and boys provide trials, it's nice to have a group to support you. As Kate begins to learn about Grace's motives for joining, I think she's able to begin to process her death (which, let's be real, she hasn't been able to do yet).

I also came to the realization that Seth is the Duckie of this series. He grew on me over the series, so much so that I want him to have his own hacker/conspiracy theory story! He's also the only person who consistently supports Kate. Now, this may not always mean he's supporting her in making good decisions, but he's there for her nevertheless. 

Holy crap! The ending. My brain. What?! How!? I still am processing the big reveals that the Roeckers wrote. I found them to be a completely satisfying way to wrap up Kate's story. 

Nit Picks: Although I really enjoyed the ending, I think it crept up on me really quickly. There were a couple of scenes that were building up to the big reveal that I would have loved to spend more time in. Camp Brown, for example, was a fun way for the the readers to get to see the characters off-campus, but it went by too quickly!

Third Lie's A Charm

By Lisa and Laura Roecker

Published by Sourcebooks Fire

288 Pages

Received for Review

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Thanks to Laura and Lisa for stopping by! You can check them out at their website, or on Twitter! Now, on to the top five books that influenced them:

Before Lisa and I began writing together, I taught sixth grade language arts and would tear through young adult novels during "monitored reading" when I was supposed to be conferencing with students about their books. I always figured that time was better spent finding books they would love! This was when I read SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson. I would pass all the best ones along to Lisa who would tear through at an equally fast rate. SPEAK was the first YA book Lisa read as an adult and she couldn't believe what she was missing! Our books are nothing like SPEAK but that book is such an inspiration because it captures a broken, young adult voice so exquisitely.

BEFORE I FALL. We recommend this book to anyone and everyone because it's one we wish we would have read before or during high school. It holds such an important message about the choices we make and the people we impact without even realizing it. Our favorite section by far is when Sam spends the say with her little sister. I will never forget getting to the end of the book on my Kindle and turning on the read aloud feature (which is very digital sounding and sad) to listen to the end while I was driving (possibly more dangerous than texting while driving) because I couldn't wait to finish. I cried despite the computer voice.

THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE. This book is achingly beautiful and devastating and hopeful. Jandy Nelson's entire novel is poetic and the journey she takes the reader on is as magical as it is heart-breaking. I read this book with that right-before-you're-going-to-

burst-into-tears-sore-throat  because it's about great love and great loss and how the two dance. We love this book and are inspired by the beautiful writing.

WONDER. I read this book in one sitting. This book has it all. Heart and humor and the absolute perfect middle grade voice. I want to go back to the classroom just so I can read this book aloud and discuss how our differences are what bring us together. I just know my sixth graders would have loved it. I can't wait to share this with my own kids. It's a special, special book.

AHHHH. One more?! This is torture. For me it's a toss up between THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and ELEANOR AND PARK. Both stories capture the young adult voice so incredibly well and are written to perfection. As you can see, we're total suckers for contemporary! By the way, we could name at least 15 more great YAs that have a very special place in our heart.