There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake

Title: There Will Be Lies
Author: Nick Lake
Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens
Buy this book: Amazon / Book Depository

In four hours, Shelby Jane Cooper will be struck by a car.Shortly after, she and her mother will leave the hospital and set out on a winding journey toward the Grand Canyon. All Shelby knows is that they’re running from dangers only her mother understands. And the further they travel, the more Shelby questions everything about her past—and her current reality. Forced to take advantage of the kindness of unsuspecting travelers, Shelby grapples with what’s real, what isn’t, and who she can trust . . . if anybody.

I feel it's my duty to warn you all that this book contains lies.

I know, really shocking for a book called There Will Be Lies. But, come on, I can't be the only person who hoped that this book would contain no lies, and that the title itself was the real lie. Yes... that was a thing that needed to happen and it didn't and now I'm sad because that's the kind of crazy person that I am.

I've been struggling for quite some time with what I wanted to say in this review and now I am still struggling with it. I still don't really know how I feel about this book, whether I really enjoyed it or if it was just too strange for me. This wasn't a book that I hated, but then I didn't love it either. It was one of those middle ground books and they cause me so much issues when it comes to reviewing. I need a read that enters the I-love-it!!! status or the I-loathe-it!!! status, anything else and it just gives me a headache trying to figure out how to sum up my feelings. 

There Will Be Lies has to be one of the strangest books that I have read in a long time. Shelby has led a very sheltered life, her mother takes being a protective parent to an extreme. It's rather obvious from the very beginning that there is more to Shelby's life and the way they live, more that her mother has obviously not told Shelby. This book leads to more questions even as lies are uncovered, it was that aspect of it that kept me reading. There were other aspects that had me getting rather frustrated. The writing style took a bit of getting used to, especially the fact that there were no quotation marks for dialogue. That is explained later in the book and once it was it completely made sense and I understood why it was like that, but it was still hard to get used to. 

I'd already been warned that this book would see Shelby enter the Dreaming, a dream world, for some of the book. That side to the story has a very fairytale like quality to it, but one of those dark fairytales and not one that's been Disneyfied. I have to admit that I am pleased I knew about that before starting the story, otherwise I'm sure it would have thrown me off so much that I probably would have put this book down. I have spoke before about how I struggle with weird in books, not that I can really explain what I mean by that. For someone who doesn't do well with weird, I think I did quite well handling the Dreaming aspect of this book because it bypassed weird and went to crazy town. I could have done without that part and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. It's what makes the story so unique, but I just didn't enjoy that part of the story and found myself wanted to skip those sections. 

This book was one roller coaster ride of a read, filled with a lot of twists and turns and unreliable characters. There's revelation after revelation, yet you never know whether any of what's being revealed is actually true. I admit that I guessed almost from page one why Shelby's mother was so crazy and wouldn't let her talk to anyone, go anywhere or really do anything. It didn't bother me while I was reading, I was just so intrigued by the whole thing and couldn't wait to see how it would all end.

3/5 Butterflies

I'd originally had this as a 4/5 on Goodreads, but I quickly realised this was a middle road read for me. I don't have much to say about the book, which is usually a sign that I just felt it was okay. If I disliked it then I usually have a lot to comment on and if I really enjoyed it then there'd be flailing and tons of exclamation marks. This is a read I'd recommend to someone who is looking for a book that's going to keep them guessing, that will keep them turning the pages because they need to find out what happens next. 

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.