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89th out of 547 books
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Liar
Micah will freely admit that she’s a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she’ll ever tell you. Over the years she’s duped her classmates, her teachers, and even her parents, and she’s always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But is it pos
...moreHardcover, 376 pages
Published
September 29th 2009
by Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
(first published February 29th 2000)
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This is the worst book I've ever read. Yes, I've said it, and I bloody well think I mean it.
The premise sounded interesting: Imagine a novel told by a pathological liar who tells the reader on page one that she's here to finally tell you the truth. The ultimate unreliable narrator--okay I get it and I'm intrigued. Then take said unreliable, narrating, pathological-liar protagonist and make her an annoying, self-involved but also self-deprecating, and really kind of bitter teenager. ...more
The premise sounded interesting: Imagine a novel told by a pathological liar who tells the reader on page one that she's here to finally tell you the truth. The ultimate unreliable narrator--okay I get it and I'm intrigued. Then take said unreliable, narrating, pathological-liar protagonist and make her an annoying, self-involved but also self-deprecating, and really kind of bitter teenager. ...more
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Laini
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I think my head just exploded.
No spoilers, but . . . when I first finished this book, I scratched my head a little and thought I *had* it, but I wasn't totally satisfied, and then I thought about it some more, and then the explosion, and I wanted to reread it at once.
The closest comparison I can think of is Life of Pi, in which the reading of the book is enjoyable but a little unsettlingly *off*, and then at the end something is suggested that casts everything else in a...more
No spoilers, but . . . when I first finished this book, I scratched my head a little and thought I *had* it, but I wasn't totally satisfied, and then I thought about it some more, and then the explosion, and I wanted to reread it at once.
The closest comparison I can think of is Life of Pi, in which the reading of the book is enjoyable but a little unsettlingly *off*, and then at the end something is suggested that casts everything else in a...more
I first heard of Liar when everyone was talking about the controversy surrounding the original cover. I filed it away in the back of my mind, thinking of picking the book up when it came out. I was reminded of it recently when friends started to talk about it again -- through having read it, now -- and put it on my last minute Christmas list. Cue me getting it in the mail yesterday, and being almost unable to resist the lure of the first page, which starts with the hook, "I was born with a ...more
Micah is a liar. You can't trust anything she says. She will lie about telling the truth, and she will lie about lying. Attention-seeker, the shrinks say. Jealous of her little brother, they say. Does she even have a brother? Maybe she just made him up. Maybe she didn't. Maybe her dad is an arms dealer, maybe he isn't. But there's one thing Micah's lies have in common: they all hide the real truth.
Now Micah's boyfriend Zach has been found, dead, in Central Park. The place where they ...more
Now Micah's boyfriend Zach has been found, dead, in Central Park. The place where they ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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One of the best books I've read for those who enjoy a hearty, potentially contentious book discussion; one of the worst books I've read for those who don't care for ambiguity and frustration. Immediately upon finishing it I flipped back to the start and began rereading, until I'd completely skimmed through the whole book again. I've just browsed through the other Goodreads reviews here and disagreed with the conclusions reached by at least half of those marked as spoilers. I'm dying to delve ...more
First off, after reading the book, the cover bothers the crap out of me. That girl looks nothing like Micah, not her hair or her skin color.
With most unreliable narrators, the reader slowly picks up on the fact that the narrator is unreliable based on small clues the narrator has dropped throughout the story. Here, Micah comes straight and tells you that she is a liar, that she lies about everything. Except the story she is about to tell you. This is going to be her grand entrance in...more
With most unreliable narrators, the reader slowly picks up on the fact that the narrator is unreliable based on small clues the narrator has dropped throughout the story. Here, Micah comes straight and tells you that she is a liar, that she lies about everything. Except the story she is about to tell you. This is going to be her grand entrance in...more
Liar is a head-scratcher from begining to end; just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, something changes, and you realize you still have no idea. No spoilers now, but there’s a big twist about half way through that throws the story potentially out of one genre and into another, but by the end even that twist is up for debate.
The most powerful thing about this book is that it’s told in first person, as a confessional account from Micah. She promises she’ll never lie to you, b...more
The most powerful thing about this book is that it’s told in first person, as a confessional account from Micah. She promises she’ll never lie to you, b...more
It is very rarely that I choose to read a book without knowing anything at all about it. Since I don't get much reading time per month, I like to have some idea of the books I read and also whether they have been well-received. Liar was an exception. I had no idea what this book was about, except that the protagonist, Micah, who is also the narrator, is a liar. Funnily, that is all you need to know. Anything else is a spoiler.
I've written a spoiler-free review, and I recommend that i...more
I've written a spoiler-free review, and I recommend that i...more
Rae
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
People who like subjective POVs and mindtrips
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I really enjoyed reading this book! Very entertaining and thought provoking! Also has some twists and turns that totally caught me by surprise! I am guessing that I will be re-gifting to Jackie and Ben to read!
Wow. I couldn't it put it down, even though at times I wanted to, because I was so frustrated with the narrator. The ending (don't worry--I won't spoil anything) is probably appropriately frustrating. I was disappointed not to have it tied up neatly (what exactly was the truth?), but on the other hand I might have been disappointed if it had been been tied up neatly like that. As I was reading the advance copy of this, I was thinking of all the people I would love to show it to and discuss it wi...more
I have such conflicted feelings about this book. It's an interesting premise. It's about a compulsive narrator and in the first person, so you never know what to believe.
And that's fine. That's the point of the book (or one of them, anyway), but I'm not sure it's sustainable for an entire novel. I'm okay with not getting any answers about what's true and what's not, but . . . I think maybe it went on for too long. I'd have liked it better as a short story. For a longer work, I want s...more
And that's fine. That's the point of the book (or one of them, anyway), but I'm not sure it's sustainable for an entire novel. I'm okay with not getting any answers about what's true and what's not, but . . . I think maybe it went on for too long. I'd have liked it better as a short story. For a longer work, I want s...more
Liar is a book about a girl named Micah. She is realizing that she is not like everyone else in her school. She is shy, antisocial, and has no friends. The only thing she has going for herself is her passion to run. She is a really good runner. Micah is out running in Central park when Zach Rubin, a popular boy at her school, and he sees her and tries to catch up to her while she’s running. He says “You’re so fast,” he gasped, matching my stride. “I’m fast. But you’re faster.” Zach had a girlfri...more
For me, I believe that “Liar” was a very confusing book to read. I didn’t like the fact that the narrator was the liar, which meant that all the information I received could be a lie. Even though the narrator states that she will be honest throughout the whole book, in the end she reveals all the lies she told the reader. I found this process very annoying and tedious.
Although, I did enjoy taking a look into a liar’s mind and the story behind their lies. I liked how the author incorpor...more
Although, I did enjoy taking a look into a liar’s mind and the story behind their lies. I liked how the author incorpor...more
Personally speaking, Liar was one of the worst books I’ve ever read in my entire life. I know this may sound vague, but I think anyone else who has touched this novel would understand what I’m trying to say. Now I don’t mean to put anyone down or disrespect anyone’s feelings or anything, I mean, I can see why some of you might adore this novel, but to me, it was straight up horrible. This book is a mind twister, it plays tricks on your brain. The narrator of this story, Micah, admits truth...more
In order for their readers to be able to immerse themselves in a story authors have to establish a relationship of trust with them, for example, by following the conventions of structure and voice. Liar by Justine Larbalestier is told in the first person by a narrator who destabilises our trust from the first page by telling us she is a liar. Later on she brags about it, “I wanted to see if you would buy it. And you did. You buy everything, don’t you? You make it too easy.”
This is a ...more
This is a ...more
What a piece of ****. The premise is intriguing- a story told from the point of view of a compulsive liar, so you can never tell how much of her story is true or what she's really thinking. I thought it would be cool, but within twenty pages I hated the character. She's nothing more than a whiny, self-absorbed bitch with serious mental issues who lies constantly for the fun of it, blames all her problems on other people, and saw nothing wrong with (possibly- she keeps changing her story) sleepin...more
Lying can be magical: it’s a chance to tell stories, to use your imagination and fit it in with your life. Some lies are for the better and some lies are definitely for the worse as Micah discovers throughout her life. Seventeen years old Micah Wilkins is a liar and she is ready to repent for her deceptions. From the time she started in freshman year it has just been lie after lie after lie, the lies are growing too numerous for her to manage and now the school is there to witness when the...more
Micah is a liar, and she’s the protagonist in Justine Larbalestier’s new novel “Liar”.
“Liar” is an intricately written novel about one girls struggle with the implications of the lies that she has told, and the reconciliation of the connection they have to the unbelievable truth. Micah is an unreliable narrator.
While she is a self-proclaimed liar, she swears to recount the absolute truth in the novel. However, how is one to believe the word of a liar who proclaims to be adher...more
“Liar” is an intricately written novel about one girls struggle with the implications of the lies that she has told, and the reconciliation of the connection they have to the unbelievable truth. Micah is an unreliable narrator.
While she is a self-proclaimed liar, she swears to recount the absolute truth in the novel. However, how is one to believe the word of a liar who proclaims to be adher...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Ok, I'm going to try not to give anything away, but it's going to be really hard, I'll be honest. This book is just about as deceptive as it's title. I'm really not a Twilight type person, so this book was really disappointing to me because at first I r eally liked this book. I liked the beginning and I thought Justine Larbalestier had created a character more complex than she appeared. It was a well thought through novel, I thought. I ended Part One completely confident I would finish the book ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Micah is a liar. She tells you on the first page and promises that even though she is from a family of liars, she will stop. Or at least try. She promises that she will tell you her story and it will be the truth. If only you will trust her. This beginning sews so much doubt into the reader’s mind that it immediately becomes almost impossible to know what is true. Micah goes to a selective school in New York. She has no real friends, except Zach and when he disappears from her life, she is left ...more
Liar has truly messed with my head. Being a relatively gullible reader, I believed almost everything Micah was telling me, which is silly really because one of the things she told me is that she is a liar.
Before reading Liar I knew nothing about it, besides the blurb on the back cover. I think this is a good thing because I had no idea what to expect. And once I started reading, I realised that this was not going to change!
There are so many twists in this book, and a few people ha...more
Before reading Liar I knew nothing about it, besides the blurb on the back cover. I think this is a good thing because I had no idea what to expect. And once I started reading, I realised that this was not going to change!
There are so many twists in this book, and a few people ha...more
Micah has a problem – and it has nothing to do with her being allergic to the truth. Her not-boyfriend-although-secretly-sneaking-around-with-him boy friend has been murdered, and she may or may not know the who and the why and the how. But that’s not the problem. No, the problem is that lying has become natural to Micah as breathing – and so no one will even believe her if she comes forward with anything close to the truth. As far as Micah is concerned, the truth gets hairier by the second…
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Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Liar by Justine Larbalestier is the most frustrating book I have ever read. The novel is presented in the form of a narration by a seventeen year old compulsive liar, Micah. She constantly reminds readers that she would tell the truth once and for all. However, she breaks her promises and lead readers in a more twisting and confusing path. For the readers that dislike being lied to, this book is the one for you.
Micah, the protagonist of Liar, is a compul...more
Liar by Justine Larbalestier is the most frustrating book I have ever read. The novel is presented in the form of a narration by a seventeen year old compulsive liar, Micah. She constantly reminds readers that she would tell the truth once and for all. However, she breaks her promises and lead readers in a more twisting and confusing path. For the readers that dislike being lied to, this book is the one for you.
Micah, the protagonist of Liar, is a compul...more
I first heard about this book because of the cover controversy--basically the publisher marketed this book with a white girl on the cover when the main character is a biracial girl. And while I was outraged on behalf of the author of a book I hadn't read, I had to wonder if being biracial was made clear in the book or had any importance.
I have to say, Justine Larbalestier's Liar had a really interesting voice for a narrator. There was only a background plot for a while (meaning, lit...more
I have to say, Justine Larbalestier's Liar had a really interesting voice for a narrator. There was only a background plot for a while (meaning, lit...more
Liar by Justine Larbalestier is, in many ways, a series of confessions—an apology for past wrong-doings, and an attempt to set things right. Just as Micah Wilkinson tells us, over and over through the course of the narrative, that she once was a liar, and just as she struggles (I think) with telling the truth this time around, I feel I must open my review with a confession, and a vow that, this time, things will be different.
My name is Phoebe, and I love spoilers.
I hate the t...more
My name is Phoebe, and I love spoilers.
I hate the t...more
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| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strategic Reading: Do you think behind a lie there is a good reason? | 8 | 17 | Dec 15, 2011 08:09pm |
Justine Larbalestier is an Australian young-adult fiction author. She is best known for the Magic or Madness trilogy: Magic or Madness, Magic Lessons and the newly released Magic's Child. She also wrote one adult non-fiction book, the Hugo-nominated The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (Best Related Book, 2003), and edited another, Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentiet...more
More about Justine Larbalestier...
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4 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“Really, according to the shrinks, I am angry at everyone ever. Especially them.
I am all anger and resentment all the time.
Not one of them has ever suggested that maybe I lie because the world is better the way I tell it.”
—
8 people liked it
I am all anger and resentment all the time.
Not one of them has ever suggested that maybe I lie because the world is better the way I tell it.”
“Who’s the bigger liar?
Me or them?
Isn’t lying about love the worst lie? Isn’t that worse than anything I’ve ever done?”
—
4 people liked it
More quotes…
Me or them?
Isn’t lying about love the worst lie? Isn’t that worse than anything I’ve ever done?”
