This book was really enjoyable. I read it in one day and it made me laugh a lot of times, and I could relate to the main character which I guess means I'm screwed up too. I loved that some characters from Kody Keplinger's other books made an appearance.
Basically, it was a light fun read that also touched some serious topics that are part of a teenager's life. Typical Kody Keplinger, that's why I love her books.

This wasn't a typical contemporary which I loved. There was romance-that's a given in pretty much any contemporary-but it wasn't what the book was really about in my opinion. It was about a girl and her best friend. Sonny and Amy had been inseparable for as long as they both could remember and when things starts plummeting towards hell for Sonny, Amy doesn't even have to think before helping her in any way she can. This was a love story about two best friends and I honestly couldn't have enjoyed it more. 4.5/5 stars.

I think as for now this is my least favourite Kody Keplinger book which is fine though I wished I had enjoyed it more.
Like most of Keplinger's books, it has (multiple) good messages for the young adult audience. The one on the forefront of this book - as the title would let you assume - lying. But it also touches on the problems concerned with putting people on pedestals.

Spoiler

My main problem is with that I think that Sonny just did not learn from her mistakes until she was so stuck that she had to tell the truth. I do believe it fitted the character since lying was basically Sonny's survival mechanism through middle and high school because of her problematic parents (dad in prison, absent mom). However, I had hoped to see more growth than I did.

That brings me to the way too open-ended ending for my taste. I had liked to at least hear the end of Ryder's and Sonny's conversation but alas...

Lastly, I just did not swoon over the romance as much as I did with Keplinger's previous books.

Second book of the month. I don't know what's wrong with me but I hope this fixed it. I looved this book. It was funny and heart wrenching and made me cry and cute and just so good.

Lying Out Loud is the companion/follow up novel to The Duff. It was a funny, light-hearted read. Sonny is a likeable character, with Amy Rush, as her best friend. Amy Rush is Wesley Rush’s little sister. Wesley is one of the key characters in the DUFF.
I really liked how this book had characters who had their own set of problems to keep things interesting. I enjoyed reading about how Ryder, despite his “hipster” ego, had deeper problems. He really had a lot of things going for him that were good. His character was one that truly didn’t meet the eye.
I also felt sorry for Sonny. She clearly had no security in relationships. Her family unit was very dysfunctional, which led to her lying to everyone she cared about. Lying—even a white lie--- is never healthy. Constant lying, though? Not good. I did like how Sonny tried to make ends meet and repay the Rush family for their gratitude. It showed that she was capable of trying to do good, despite the mess she created for herself and for those that she cared deeply about.
In conclusion, I didn’t care about this book as much as I did the DUFF. It was okay, but just not as good. I did highly enjoy how Wesley and his girlfriend, Bianca made a comeback in this book. It was highly enjoyable to read about where they were, how they were doing, and what they were up to after graduating high school. I really think Kody Keplinger is a great author. I look forward to reading many more of her books. I really have mixed feelings about the possibility of another novel in this series, though. The Duff was great. This book was good. If there were to be a third, I’m just not sure how it would be. However, I think at this point, if there was, I would honestly read it just to see what it would be like. After all, she is a Kentucky author!

A tricky book to get into and i found Amy very difficult to relate with (side note: i also felt like she was largely copied from Bianca’s character at some points) but it had a really nice ending and overall i’m glad that i finished it

5/5

Such a great sequel to one of my favorite books!

Expected more of the ending but still liked it
However, even though the two books are different, I still liked The Duff much more

Bár az írónő stílusa még mindig friss és magával ragadó, a regény könnyen és gyorsan beszippant, rengeteg hibát találtam a karakterekben és a hiteltelen körülményekben. Kicsit összecsapottnak tűnt az egész: jó alapötlet aminek a kidolgozása valahogy nem sikerült: sok benne az ismétlődés és a felesleges körök, s néhány fontosabb körülmény meg esemény egyszerűen levegőben lógva maradt. Úgyhogy nem igazán tudtam örülni még a kellemes befejezésnek sem, mert úgy éreztem, Sonny nem érdemelte meg…

Részletek: http://olvasonaplo.net/olvasonaplo/2015/07/19/kody-keplinger-lying-loud/

4.5 stars!

REVIEW IS ALSO POSTED AT THE HONEST BOOKCLUB

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One of my favourite books is The DUFF by Kody Keplinger, so when I heard that there was a companion novel to this one...well, I was darn well excited. Although, doubt that can be had for authors writing more from a well-loved story, as in the past, it has backfired.

Not this time, however.

I really really enjoyed this book. It's common knowledge to people who know my reading habits that I'm quite a slow reader, I tend to take a long time to finish even the shortest books. This one, I started yesterday. That just goes to show how invested into this story and these characters I was.

Before reading, I expected this book to actually be about Amy's love life but it wasn't. Her best friend, Sonny, a new character introduced into this book and a long-time friend of the Rush family, actually got the love story. Having a not-so simple and silver spoon-fed life, she takes refuge at Amy's house without the parents knowledge, and things start to dramatically happen between the two girls and a certain young man named Ryder Cross.

Ryder is the new boy in school and pretty much everyone hates him. Mostly because as soon as he showed up, he's been pretty vocal about his distaste for Hamilton. Not how you make friends, Ryder. But with modern technology and the fact that Sonny is actually huge liar, things start to get a bit complicated.

Although I did really enjoy this story, the thing that bothered me was the main character, Sonny (real name Sonya). I know she has to make bad decisions for this to be decent sized book, and yes the decisions were annoying and not even necessary, it was also just her. So much of the things that happened in the book, like hurt and heartache, could have been easily avoided had she been, well, honest. I know this book is called 'Lying Out Loud' but there's lying and then there's being a bit of a bitch. I found her to be quite dismissive of her best friends feelings,, and the fact that they'd been friends for so long that they were practically family, she could't even tell how she was treating her. Amy has done a lot for her and let Sonny get away with so much stuff. Disappointing behavior at times, Sonny. It was painfully obvious, too, that she was upsetting Amy and I found it annoying that she was so oblivious to it. Not only that, but every lie she told were all for herself. It all benefited her, which was quite selfish.
Kody is good at character development though, so I was pleased that I didn't dislike Sonny as much as I had at the start, as she became more grown up and knowledgeable of other people's feelings. It was worth all of that to see her finally appreciate the things she had and the people around her.

But although things did look up, the ending was a bit too abrupt for my liking, but that might be just me being greedy and wanting a laundry list-type ending. Who doesn't? I am a sucker for epilogues. Cheesy one's. No shame!

Anyway, getting the negatives out the way, everything else about this book was wonderful! Ryder was a great new character; kind hearted, fiery and intelligent. The word 'hipster' was mentioned a few times, which is always fun, and his banter with Sonny is really cute to read. They had good chemistry.
It's also interesting to see Amy Rush in more detail, as in the first book, we only got a short glimpse of her. She's still the shy, smart and pretty girl as she was before, but we get more insight to her life and her relationships with her family and friends. Nice to see her coming out of her shell a bit more, too.
And speaking of family...

Yes.

Yes.

You guessed it, and you saw this one coming - Wesley Rush is in this book. Wesley. Rush.



Hot damn! I missed you, my darling Wesley.

I got very excited seeing his name on the page. It was bloody fantastic to see my bb again, and he's still his charming and handsome self, but with a little difference. Bianca was with him! Yay! It was goo to see her again too. They're still together and going strong, still cute and very much in love. My heart exploded with joy! He gives the characters in the book some great insight, some advice and heartwarming support during some tough times, and his character is very much needed and well inserted into the story. I feel like the first book aswell as his time away in college really changed him but for the good. He has an even bigger heart and he seems to have developed into a lovely young man. And I now sound old saying this, so I'll just..continue..

Thank you for giving us more Wesley, Kody!

A good continuation from The DUFF, fans of the first book won't be disappointed with this, and it's a book you could gobble down in one go. Funny, heartwarming, emotional and , quite honestly, a bloody good read. I'd highly recommend this if you enjoy these kind of books.