Where the Truth Lies

Jul 16, 2010 P.J. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Book 44 for 2010. I loved this one. I couldn't stop turning the pages and had to find out how it ended. Highly recommended for seventh grade and up for those interested in mystery, romance, and realistic fiction.

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Jun 27, 2012 Mona Daiban rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book is very surprising, to say the least. I expected it to be more in-depth, and I expected to connect with the main character as I normally do with characters in well-written novels.

I didn't like some of the characters, the first one being Emily. She's just naive and stupid and clueless. Another character I dislike is Stephani. She is pushy and bossy and irritating and just plain weird. I didn't get how Emily could be best friends with Stephani but at the same time dislike her and dislik...more This book is very surprising, to say the least. I expected it to be more in-depth, and I expected to connect with the main character as I normally do with characters in well-written novels.

I didn't like some of the characters, the first one being Emily. She's just naive and stupid and clueless. Another character I dislike is Stephani. She is pushy and bossy and irritating and just plain weird. I didn't get how Emily could be best friends with Stephani but at the same time dislike her and dislike talking to her. I mean, why did she befriend Stephani in the first place when Stephani was known for having a bad attitude? What puzzled me more was when they "made up" but Emily made it clear that they weren't going to keep in touch once they go off to college..I mean seriously, what the hell??
As for Ethan, he's just waaaaay too perfect..
I found the other characters okay...I really liked Renee's character, and even though Del is bad news, but it seems that he genuinly loved Emily.

The book would've been really good if it was written in a more detailed way,because the story itself is a very good one. But what bothered me was that everything was happening so fast, Emily and Del became a couple very early in the book, and then he suddenly disappeared, Emily found out about her past so easily,and then that's it.The author failed to make cracking the mystery of Emily's past intriguing, because the answers came out so quickly and easily. The truth was pretty unexpected, but it all came out really fast, I had to reread some parts to see if I had missed anything.

I didn't like how the author made hiding Emily's pregnancy easy, because from what i've seen and know, pregnancies can't be hidden that easily. It was all unrealistic, from succeeding in hiding the pregnancy to delivering her baby and giving it up for adoption and getting her body back in shape all in a matter of a couple of months.

What bothered me the most though, was the "Madeline Moons-Park" mystery. I HATED that there wasn't any expalnation to what happened to her,when the character herself had found out. That basically ruined the whole book for me.

All in all, this book was a disappointment. It was not even near what I had expected it to be. It's not a bad book per se, but it's not a good one either.

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Oct 21, 2010 Sierra rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Where do I start?
So much about this book made me angry and literally sigh in frustration. I can't even remember what about this book's description drew me into it enough to put it on my 'To Read' list in the first place.
For starters, in the first part of the book (there are three) Emily meets Del--knows nothing about him!--and their first kiss is literally on page 60. Stupid, right? If you're like me, you believe in character development before anything changes. And really, readers learn littl...more Where do I start?
So much about this book made me angry and literally sigh in frustration. I can't even remember what about this book's description drew me into it enough to put it on my 'To Read' list in the first place.
For starters, in the first part of the book (there are three) Emily meets Del--knows nothing about him!--and their first kiss is literally on page 60. Stupid, right? If you're like me, you believe in character development before anything changes. And really, readers learn little, if anything, about Del.
Second thing: Emily gets herself pregnant by page 112. WTF? That's just stupid, in my opinion. Thus begins Part Two, which is just completely stupid and will probably make you want to slam your head into the wall, like it did me. Emily is so naive that she doesn't see signs of Del's drug use, they have protection-less sex, and she's just one of the most clueless characters I've ever been introduced to in a book. She was like...stupid beyond stupid.
The entire 'summer' in the book spans one chapter. And in this summer, Emily "hides" her kid, gives birth to it, and puts it up for adoption. Yea, like someone's parents are going to let their daughter run off to New York with a girl who is, in my opinion, shady, and not even notice she's pregnant? How freaking unrealistic is that?
Another thing, what was with the cuddling? Emily and her roommates are always cuddling, which is really weird. Okay, it’s normal to cuddle with someone you're dating, but a roommate or best friend? Really sick, if you ask me. I also had a hard time figuring out why in the world Stephanie (Emily's BFF) was so...obsessed with her twin brother. It actually sickened me how weird this character was.
The whole book made me want to...I don't know, rip it in half? And the only reason I really finished it, was so I could write a review that told what happened. So, obviously, I'm not suggesting this book to anyone who believes in...well, normal situations and believable characters.
I have never read any of the author's other books, and really, I don't think I ever will. (Sorry for the hateful review...but if anything, I always speak my mind.) (less)

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Sep 15, 2010 The BookWhisperer rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a very clever tale of love, lies, and secrets. The whole story seems to be interwoven with lies and betrayals; beyond my wildest imagination. The level of emotion throughout the story was unexpected, and will keep readers on the edge of their seats. An overview shows that this story is broken up into three parts. Having completed the novel I like to think of the separate parts as THE RELATIONSHIP, THE SHOCK, and THE UNRAVELING. The first part proved to be a little discouraging and I was...more This is a very clever tale of love, lies, and secrets. The whole story seems to be interwoven with lies and betrayals; beyond my wildest imagination. The level of emotion throughout the story was unexpected, and will keep readers on the edge of their seats. An overview shows that this story is broken up into three parts. Having completed the novel I like to think of the separate parts as THE RELATIONSHIP, THE SHOCK, and THE UNRAVELING. The first part proved to be a little discouraging and I was concerned that I would struggle with the pace of this novel. I never anticipated to become so consumed by this story, but I was quickly redirected with the second part. Emily is our main character, she is what appears to be the typical girl with the perfect life. When Del become a part of Emily� s life I was very hit and miss on the character. I was unable to fully label him as bad or good. He seemed to genuinely care for Emily which would send on the path of the good boy and the disapproving father. Then, something in the story would lead me on the path that Emily was about to find herself in very big trouble, and I did not see how she was going to be able to get out of this one. The reality of the story, and what actually happened was a complete and utter shock to my reading system. I could not have anticipated it, and I did not even fathom this as a possibility when I was reading. I am still reeling over the carefully mastered story, and the reality of how all of these individually ended up with in the same story. Emily� s entire life was surrounded by lies and secrets. This makes one sit back and begin to wonder what would their own lives really look like if everyone secrets were revealed. This carries a huge lesson on the intensity and impact of lies. Although, I find myself concerned with Emily� s hiding her pregnancy and moving to New York to deliver. I fear that some young people would see this as a solution, when it should not even be an option. While I may not be particular fond of her actions, I feel that Warman depicted very nicely the love and loss of Emily� s baby. I think that she tried to realistically show how this would affect your life, and that is life changing. This is a very cutting edge book, and I could see where for many it might even be controversial. (less)

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Apr 29, 2013 Karina Halle rated it 3 of 5 stars

You know those movies that look really exciting/interesting in the trailer and you're like "oooooh, that's gotta be good!" Then you go see the movie and you're like "yes, yes, interesting!" and then about half way it starts going down another path. The boring, safe and predictable path? And then the movie ends and you were like, "it was okay, but if I wrote the film, I would have made it about this and done this and this and this and..."

That's what Where the Truth Lies was for me. Really intrigu...more You know those movies that look really exciting/interesting in the trailer and you're like "oooooh, that's gotta be good!" Then you go see the movie and you're like "yes, yes, interesting!" and then about half way it starts going down another path. The boring, safe and predictable path? And then the movie ends and you were like, "it was okay, but if I wrote the film, I would have made it about this and done this and this and this and..."

That's what Where the Truth Lies was for me. Really intriguing concept: girl at boarding school suffers from nightmares. Bad boy enters the picture. They fall in love. Meanwhile, her perfect parents are hiding things about her past and all her friends seem to have dubious lives and motives. Little threads are dropped here and there and you think it's all going to lead to something really, really cool.

But, in this case, it doesn't.

There was so much to work with here, to turn this into some gothic boarding school mystery, maybe even something paranormal. I mean, you have the terrible sleep terrors and the boarding school set-up, weird-acting twins, the charming dangerous bad boy with a shady past, as well as these detailed characters who seem to be hiding something and then in the end...nothing goes anywhere. Instead the book ignores the side characters and whatever interesting things happen to them - one character Franny seems to suffer from anorexia, she's super frail and damaged, she likes to "cuddle" her gfs a lot, she wears day of the week underwear to a fault until she starts wearing the wrong days...WHY give us all this information about her if you're just going to more or less leave her character alone - another character goes missing and a big to-do is made of it but in the end it was just kind of resolved and you're like WHY did that even matter?

So it didn't go all mysterious or creepy, instead the book ended up being about "family".

BORING.

*bangs fist* I didn't sign up for boring family drama!

And babies! Why the FUCK do babies have to come into play in a YA book (or fucking any book, yeah I'm not a baby lover). This is the second boarding school + baby book I've read and at least the last one had a morbid tone to it.

Now, if someone was like "this sounds like a book, should I read it?" I'd be like, "yeah whatever" *shrugs* The writing was fine, the characters interesting enough (although the main character has her FUCKING STUPID moments *sigh, omg* see: baby), it kept my attention the WHOLE way through (and it's a long book). So that's why I'm giving it three stars.

But would I, say, go around telling people to read this book?

Nah. I wouldn't.(less)

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Apr 22, 2013 Jasmine rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. No offense to the author, but this is one of the most annoying books I have ever read. Literally, I was constantly sighing and rolling my eyes because the book was unrealistic.

So this Emily girl, who I thought was cool at first, is one of the dumbest girls ever. Her choices are poor.

I do not remember the story mentioning anything about her and Del having sex (maybe I missed it idk) but all of a sudden she's pregnant.

Who hides a pregnancy like she does? Please, my parents would NEVER let me go h...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Jessy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-fiction

Where the Truth Lies was not what I was expecting. It's about Emily Meckler and her cigarette smoking friends at this posh boarding school in Conneticut. Everytime they were together they were smoking cigarette's out the bedroom window or getting high on "mexican red hair."

Emily and her friends (Grace, Steph, and Franny) have a very weird relationship. They kept wanting to cuddle with each other in bed and if one of them misses the "cuddlepalooza" then they have to have another one to include a...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Maggie61 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: maggie-favourite-teen-young-adult, maggie-s-100-for-2012

I read most of this book in a day.
There is so much going on, so many secrets, so many complex characters and some twists and turns along the way.
Emily is the headmaster's daughter at a boarding school. She suffers from violent nightmares that seem to have no explanation. She has friends that she has had for years and then the "bad boy" comes to the school mid term. We all know the appeal of the bad boy and for emily if is no different. As she becomes involved with damaged Del, her relationship...more

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Jun 26, 2012 Stacey rated it 1 of 5 stars

It seems that I have a problem with Jessica Warman's books. This is the second book by her that I have read, and my opinion of it is as low (if not lower) than the first book I read by her (Breathless).
The one thing I cannot stand with both books, is the protagonists. I won't delve into Breathless, since this review is for Where the Truth Lies, but I will say they both made terrible and unforgivable decisions.
Emily, the main character of this book, began out okay, I had no problem with her. But...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Rebekah rated it 3 of 5 stars

I mostly liked this book, but it's set in CT, and the author got a lot of the geography completely wrong. If the setting is a boarding school five minutes from Groton, the pregnant teenager isn't going to go all the way to New Haven to the doctor; she would go to New London, or even Norwich. There wasn't enough information in the story to lead the reader into the assumption that she would travel over an hour away in each direction for anonymity, so the geography seems like a mistake on the autho...more

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May 20, 2012 Natilee rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read a lot of mixed reviews about this book and although I was hesitant, I decided to read it anyway. Now I’m glad I did. I wanted an angsty, slightly emotional and intense book to read and Where the Truth Lies delivered. Although I do feel it could have been more… more intense, more emotional. And I wouldn’t have minded a little more romance either. I guess that wasn’t the point of the book though.

We read about Emily’s story, she lives a rather sheltered life but suffers from nightmares no on...more I read a lot of mixed reviews about this book and although I was hesitant, I decided to read it anyway. Now I’m glad I did. I wanted an angsty, slightly emotional and intense book to read and Where the Truth Lies delivered. Although I do feel it could have been more… more intense, more emotional. And I wouldn’t have minded a little more romance either. I guess that wasn’t the point of the book though.

We read about Emily’s story, she lives a rather sheltered life but suffers from nightmares no one can seem to explain. Then Del enters the picture. I can completely understand why she falls for him. She’s lived this rather perfect (boring) life and he’s this mysterious, good looking guy that all the girls are swooning over. He singles her out though and she really doesn’t stand a chance of resisting.

Now I feel as the reader you can tell that not all is as it should be with Del (even though Emily is oblivious and yes, naive). But what he did, I did not see coming! I also didn’t put two and two together with regards to certain habits of his. This is most likely because I was expecting more from him, much more, and so was Emily. (view spoiler)

A lot of the book focuses on Emily’s development from a completely naive child to a young woman. We really don’t learn that much about Del and you’re never quite sure what to make of him. As all the lies start to unravel, Emily runs away from her problems and does not want to face the truth. Sometimes I did want to smack some sense into her. Throughout the book she chooses to ignore her problems and the truth that seems to be staring her in the face. Although she’s angry at people for telling her lies, she does the same thing.

I loved Jessica Warman’s style of writing and even though this story wasn’t perfect, I didn’t want to put this book down. In my opinion, this book is worth the read and I’m happy I read it.
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Apr 14, 2012 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book by Jessica Warman is incredibly complex and surprising; and in my opinion, wonderful. Emily is the main character whom suffers from terrible nightmares, and she doesn't know why, and everyone around her appears to be clueless as well. Her father is a headmaster in a boarding school, she has lived there all her life, and attended the school starting in grade seven. This book takes place when she's a Junior/Senior.

I've read many reviews on how people have said that the book doesn't go in...more

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Nov 12, 2011 Samantha rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-reads, teen-fiction

I really don't know what to think of this book. It wasn't bad, but I don't know if it was good. I think what threw me off is that this book as so much going on in it. It covers nearly two years of Emily's life but isn't any longer than your average book. This meant that a lot of things were brushed over, I think the book could have been a lot more emotional.

Sometimes I felt like the teen life was spot on... then other times I just felt like the author was just trying too hard. The very laid back...more

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Feb 21, 2011 Ashley rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

From the blurb on the inside flap and the excerpt on the back cover I expected this book to be about nightmares and romance but those were more like little anecdotes compared to the real story which I found predictable and annoying.

Jessica Warman's new novel "Where the Truth Lies" follows the same lengthy time duration as her previous one "Breathless" but is no where near the quality. The story follows Emily Meckler, a junior at a posh boarding school, Stonybrook, where her father is the headma

...more

From the blurb on the inside flap and the excerpt on the back cover I expected this book to be about nightmares and romance but those were more like little anecdotes compared to the real story which I found predictable and annoying.

Jessica Warman's new novel "Where the Truth Lies" follows the same lengthy time duration as her previous one "Breathless" but is no where near the quality. The story follows Emily Meckler, a junior at a posh boarding school, Stonybrook, where her father is the headmaster. She suffers from frighteningly vivid dreams involving either smoke and fire or drowning rain. Then the mysteriously beautiful Del Sugar shows up and captures Emily's heart bringing her more trouble than she could have imagined.

My first problem with this story is that there are so many underdeveloped/extraneous plot points; Emily shares a dorm with three other girls one of which is more of just a stand-in for when she doesn't feel like hanging out with the other two. Franny, her other friend is a frail, broken thing who compulsively pulls out her own hair and needs to constantly be cuddled and taken care of. The third girl, Stephanie, is apparently Emily's best friend but she's too selfish and wrapped up in her parent's divorce and constantly seeking her twin brother's attention to be much of a friend. then she gets upset with Emily when she finds out she's been hiding secrets from her, secrets she wouldn't have cared about anyway given her own personal drama. I found Stephanie's attachment to her twin brother more that mildly disturbing as did the other characters but it was never put to anything more than she wanted attention from the only she felt she had left; it was way weirder than that.

My biggest annoyance with this book however was Emily Meckler herself. Emily is a good girl with red hair, a beautiful voice and disturbing dreams but her biggest flaw is overwhelming naivete. Sure, she smokes a joint and doesn't seem to have a problem breaking a couple rules but she's always so gullible and naive. When Del Sugar comes to campus she's immediately captivated by his mystery and of course his wonderfully illegal (he's seventeen) tattoo. Then she falls head over heels for him when he says he's special and a short time later they have unprotected sex and she gets pregnant. This part of the story is the only interesting thing that happens because she decides to hide the pregnancy and give the baby up for adoption. She only tells her new friend Renee about it and she spends the summer at Renee's stepfather's New York apartment where she has the baby then has a trainer whip her back into shape by September; I say this is interesting because it's not often you come across a teenager who successfully hides her pregnancy and this seemed like a unique and plausible situation.

The book is filled with more instances of Emily's blinding naivete and immature decisions as well as predictable plot points and thinly veiled lies. There is only one real mystery and one real plot twist; the mystery is never really resolved and involves a character we've never even met while the plot twist seems strange and a little implausible.

Overall, I found this book to be a big leap backwards from the authors previous novel; lacking in focus and believability and full of hyperbole and extraneous details.

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Jan 29, 2011 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

I’ll start by saying that Where the Truth Lies is not a happy perky Sunday stroll through the park. It deals with really heavy issues like drug abuse, teenage sex, divorce, eating disorders, mental health issues, pregnancy and adoption. There is little fun, frivolity and happiness to be found in this book. However, I am glad to say that there is an air of hopefulness. Through all the dysfunction and distress there is never a complete loss of hope on the part of Emily.

Let me start by specifying w...more I’ll start by saying that Where the Truth Lies is not a happy perky Sunday stroll through the park. It deals with really heavy issues like drug abuse, teenage sex, divorce, eating disorders, mental health issues, pregnancy and adoption. There is little fun, frivolity and happiness to be found in this book. However, I am glad to say that there is an air of hopefulness. Through all the dysfunction and distress there is never a complete loss of hope on the part of Emily.

Let me start by specifying what really didn’t work for me. The aforementioned lack of happy. It must be said that I’m not the worlds perkiest person, in fact I’m fairly dark and twisty on occasion. But when I’m reading I like the occasional teenie tiny inkling of happiness and there was a distinct lack of that here. This doesn’t make it a bad book, naturally, just a bad book for me.

Another thing that I struggled with were the multitudes of sub plots. I’m not fond of getting a peripheral view of multiple stories as opposed to a really in depth look at one. I get where Warman was going with all the different angles, she wanted them to lead me down a certain path then build everything back up and infuse it all together, but ultimately it missed my mark. There were troubled friendships, a strained parental relationship, drug abuse, teen-aged sex (and subsequent repercussions), and quite a bit surrounding abduction and adoption. A lot right?

An example of one aspect that made me feel disjointed was the relationship between Emily and Del Sugar. At first he seemed elusive and unattainable which made him naturally charismatic. There wasn’t any way that Emily wasn’t going to go for that, I could tell. Frankly, I wanted her to go for that and when she did I was pleased. But what resulted after their making their relationship official read more like Emily being an obsessive petulant child acting out instead of the two having a real connection between the two. I know that the point of Del’s role in all of this was to be the facilitator of knowledge, he was there to lead Emily to the truths of her past, but for me, it fell a bit short. In part, it was really a vehicle to make her parents unreasonably overprotective and her friends distance themselves from her.

Again, I understand that but some of the finer points were missing so it was like one day everything was alright and then the next Del arrived and Emily was a bad person. I’ll also add that Warman explains the parental over protection much much further down the road and it made sense. The problem was that it took a good long time to get there, there was loads in between the Del relationship and the ultimate revelations of Emily’s life at the end of the book.

I’m sure by now you’re asking was there anything that worked? Sure, there is always something positive to be found in every book.

I appreciated Warman’s ability to write with a focus on realism. The distance that fractured Emily and her core group of friends as they grew apart is exactly how girls in high school roll. You’re friends with one group one day and then the next maybe not so much. I also though that portions of the Del Sugar relationship rang true — Emily was infatuated by him, which again, is the norm for girls this age. I also thought the secretive nature of Emily’s parents was understandable, they wanted a normal happy life for their daughter and their family so keeping big secrets that had the potential to destroy that was a necessity in their eyes.

I also liked that Warman didn’t go the “Dawson’s Creek” route where all of her characters acted and spoke far beyond their age. The girls were catty and spiteful at times, some were introspective and sullen, while others were status prone and social climbing. The boys, what few of them there were, were into their bands and girls and ultimately some bad behavior. Mom and dad were the super cool parents all the kids wanted but didn’t have but they weren’t written to be caricatures. They weren’t using teen-aged lingo and weren’t dressing too young for their age, they were simply open to allowing the kids to be kids (for the most part) without being too invasive or overbearing.

Where the Truth Lies had excellent potential, it touched on some very important subjects that teens would do well to learn about. There are elements of the book that certainly provide teachable moments, but I truly wonder if a teen would have the attention span to really stick with this one. It’s quite real and darker than the usual contemporary fare. In fact, I would love to see what a teen reader thought of it because overall the book felt more like an adult read than one for younger audiences.(less)

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Jan 16, 2011 Andrea rated it 3 of 5 stars

Where the Truth Lies was...unexpected. One thing I can say for sure is that it turned out to be nothing like what I thought it would.

First of all, I didn't exactly like the characters. In the first place, Emily made a lot of stupid choices, and basically managed to screw up her previously perfect life. I had a bad feeling about Del from the start (especially considering how fast their relationship began), and though he wasn't the best morally, he was a very interesting character. The fact that E...more Where the Truth Lies was...unexpected. One thing I can say for sure is that it turned out to be nothing like what I thought it would.

First of all, I didn't exactly like the characters. In the first place, Emily made a lot of stupid choices, and basically managed to screw up her previously perfect life. I had a bad feeling about Del from the start (especially considering how fast their relationship began), and though he wasn't the best morally, he was a very interesting character. The fact that Emily's friend Stephanie was weirdly close to her twin brother was a little on the disturbing side, but then again all of the relationships in this book were weird to say the least.

The description is a little misleading in my opinion, because it makes you think that most of the book will be about her relationship with Del, when it's really about a huge, erm, complication that arises in Emily's life. Consequently, this is a hard book to review without giving stuff away, so I'm just gonna throw a spoiler warning out right now:

**Beware: Spoilers ahead!**

So anyway, Emily gets pregnant. When I read this I was like: "What?! This wasn't in this books job description!" That was very unexpected, and it definitely changed the course of the whole book. I thought the way Emily hid her pregnancy was a little on the "well that's never likely to actually happen" side, but it did make things interesting.

One thing I didn't buy into was Emily and Ethan's relationship. There just never seemed to be that...spark. I also didn't like how Del was out of the picture so soon, and we never got to know much about him.

Overall, I'm not exactly sure what the point of this book was, but I did think that the end bit where Emily sees her daughter and then her real mom, and comes to terms with the fact that she will never be in either of their lives, was moving. However, besides that the end did feel rushed, and the explanations as to why Emily has fire and water dreams seemed loose and randomly thrown in.

One thing I do have to say about Jessica Warman's writing style, is that it's very good. Her characters, no matter how odd, ring true and their emotions are well written and easy to imagine. I've read Breathless by her as well, and the writing was similarly well done. (I also liked it better, though with the boarding school setting, the two are similar.)

As for the cover, I think it's pretty, but I don't see what it has to do with the book. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember one time when a character stood in a field.

Where the Truth Lies is probably one of the most surprising books I've ever read. At times the plot seems unevenly paced and forced, but the characters are undeniably interesting, and the writing excellent. (less)

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Oct 26, 2010 The Bookologist rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arcs-i-own, for-review

Emotionally evoking, Where The Truth Lies brings you in a world of secrets and a whirlwind of relationships, friendships, and family. The story was very realistic with all the characters and the problems they encountered all throughout.

Warman's writing is extremely beautiful and emotional. She really can capture someone's attention in just a snap. I was impressed with her writing from the very beginning and did not stop reading it until the very end.

The plot was very intense and suspenseful. War...more

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Sep 26, 2010 Lauren rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Where The Truth Lies is one of the most beautifully and elegantly written books of the year, one that deals with situations present in most teens' lives, if not their friends- first love, break-ups, pregnancies...

Where the Truth Lies starts of at the beginning of Emily Meckler's junior year of high school. Emily has always been the good girl. She has three best friends, a picture perfect family life with two parents (something most of her friends don't have), and the right to a boarding school...more Where The Truth Lies is one of the most beautifully and elegantly written books of the year, one that deals with situations present in most teens' lives, if not their friends- first love, break-ups, pregnancies...

Where the Truth Lies starts of at the beginning of Emily Meckler's junior year of high school. Emily has always been the good girl. She has three best friends, a picture perfect family life with two parents (something most of her friends don't have), and the right to a boarding school education where her father is the headmaster of the said school. Her junior year is supposed to be just like the rest- perfect and uneventful. That is until it changes in one moment when she meets the mysterious, eccentric, and swoon-worthy Del Sugar. Del Sugar isn't like most boys at her boarding school. He came from foster care and has a tattoo and past he refuses to talk about. And soon he has Emily's heart as well, though as Emily is soon to learn through the falling apart of her life, this isn't the best of things. But how is one girl supposed to leave a guy she thinks she loves, especially given the situation she put herself into? And how is that same girl supposed to pull herself up when she's fallen so far from the top? Well, it looks like Emily is soon to find out...

Emily was a great main character, one that I continuously rooted for no matter how bad the circumstances she got herself into. One of the things I loved most about her character was the layers Jessica put into her, ones that contained the good girl that hid the girl who wanted to break out of her shell which hid a girl who was truly lost in all ways possible. I thought Emily was simply a fascinating character and a perfect pick to lead the story. I also enjoyed reading about her relationships with different characters in the story and how each where built up on truths and lies and how some could go tumbling down in a second. One of my favorite secondary characters was Renee. She was a funny and trustworthy girl that I truly liked. I also adored reading about Emily's other friends and the sometimes funny situations they got themselves into.

The plot of this was interesting and forever kept me immersed in the story at hand. I enjoyed seeing the constant twists Jessica put in Emily's life, as well as seeing how far one girl could fall from the 'perfect' life she had before.

Further more, I loved the fact that Where the Truth Lies took place at a boarding school. Because not only did Jessica do a great job of capturing the feel of one, but her descriptions of it often made me feel like I was right there with the characters, wrapped up in all the drama just as much as they were.

And as mentioned before Jessica's writing was nothing but fantastic. My favorite part of the story by far! I loved the level of detail to the story and how she easily made this story take place in two years without giving me the feeling that I missed important details.

The only part of the story I wasn't too found of was how everything also felt a bit too neatly into place, but other than that small thing nothing else truly bothered me.

In all, Where the Truth Lies is a fabulous novel, one that I highly suggest to all readers out there looking for a new contemporary author and her books to read! And I think it goes without saying that I can't wait to read more by Jessica Warman!

Grade: A(less)

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Sep 30, 2012 Sierra rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've never read a book that has made me feel like i'm on a roller coaster as much as this one.
There are just so many events that happen in this book that it's hard to believe there are only 308 pages.
Can i just say that Jessica Warman did a spectacular job of intertwining all of the lies that occur. They all wrap up into each other, and it makes the book worth reading. At first i guessed that Emily was adopted but then we learned her real father died in a fire. Then, later on, we learned that he...more

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Dec 17, 2010 Amanda Martinez Kirby rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, local-author

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 18, 2010 Trisha W. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-books, favorites

First of all, I love the cover of this book. After reading the book the cover makes more sense, like the big building in the back.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a great read. I really liked the character of Emily, because her dad runs the private school she goes to she is expected to be the good girl, but when Del Sugar comes along, Emily is anything but good. Her father forbids her to hang out with him, but she does anyways, sneaking off with him at all hours of the night by crawling out h...more

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Oct 25, 2010 Eleni ( La Femme Readers ) rated it 5 of 5 stars

My Rating: 4.5

Where The Truth Lies was a novel about friendship, family and detrimental secrets. These underlying lies had the capacity to spin an individual's life into a web of uncertainty and distrust. In presenting this concept, Jessica introduced a sequenced plot with nail-biting anticipation. Another well-executed aspect was the evolvement of main and secondary characters. The combination of personality qualities and flaws eased my character connection. Emily, daughter of her school's hea...more

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Jun 10, 2012 Sandy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: library, ya, favorite

Another great book by Jessica Warman. Emily is plagued with night terrors. Why she has them she has no idea and visits to the school psychologists are getting her nowhere except added frustration and a little humor to her life. Living in the shadows of the Connecticut prep school you would think Emily has everything at her disposal but her life is starting to unravel. Her father is the headmaster of the school and being a student there, Emily doesn’t have to go far to have her family, friends an...more

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Dec 31, 2010 Lisa Delaine Youngblood rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-for-tayshas

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. "Where the Truth Lies" explores a myriad of lies -- white lies, hurtful lies, big lies, life-altering lies. on the surface, Emily Meckler seems to lead the perfect life. Her loving father is the headmaster at an exclusive boarding school. Though she lives in the dorm with her four best friends, she sees her family whenever she likes. Beneath the surface, Emily struggles with poor grades and devastating nightmares about fire or water that only increase in intensity. When she meets Del Sugar -- ne...more "Where the Truth Lies" explores a myriad of lies -- white lies, hurtful lies, big lies, life-altering lies. on the surface, Emily Meckler seems to lead the perfect life. Her loving father is the headmaster at an exclusive boarding school. Though she lives in the dorm with her four best friends, she sees her family whenever she likes. Beneath the surface, Emily struggles with poor grades and devastating nightmares about fire or water that only increase in intensity. When she meets Del Sugar -- new, gorgeous, and definitely "bad" boy at school -- she enters into a passionate relationship with this troubled soul keeping even more secrets. When lie after lie from friends, family, Del, and even herself start to unravel, Emily must determine what is going on and who she wants to be. While the story and the characters offer slowly revealed truths and food for thought, the telling is uneven. Emily's voice rings true. Her emotions are heartfelt, and her decisions represent honest attempts to do what is best. There are so many small mysteries, that all are not adequately resolved. In fact one "resolution" is kept hidden from the readers even though there is no need for a sequal. An unrealistically rosey ending lessens the authenticity of the tale.

Spoiler alert:
While this novel explores the many levels of lies, the characters are forced to make hard decisions -- some excellent, some disastrous, some heartrending. Emily is torn because of the lies from parents, lies from friends, and the lies that she tells others and even herself. Emily faces an unplanned pregnancy and an attempt to hide it. She struggles with a decision to give up the baby to a loving family, the guilt and loss associated with the decision, and the need to determine whether the baby is likely to be happy.

Other topics such as foster children, adoption, abandonment, and rejection are well handled and provide opportunities for introspection.

The large number of little mysteries, though, take away from the major issues. One side mystery is supposedly resolved, but the resolution is only half shared with readers. I cannot imagine that (less)

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Mar 29, 2012 Star (The Bibliophilic Book Blog) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Emily thought she had everything figured out - the best parents, three best friends, and a great life. Except for the inexplicable nightmares. Then she meets Del and her world turns upside down and she chooses to become someone she never thought she'd be. At the same time, she finds out that the people she thought she knew best are strangers. Can she make the best decisions for herself and those she loves?

You get pulled into Emily's perfect (yet not) life very easily and you can't put the book d...more

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Sep 28, 2010 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Amanda by: Good Golly Miss Holly

Shelves: ya-fiction, arc, adoption

This is one of those books that every teenage girl should read.

Emily is a good girl. Her father is the headmaster of her swanky Connecticut boarding school, and she has a pretty good life. It's not perfect - she could do without the night terrors or burning to death in a fire or drowning in the rain - but about as close as you can get. When a new boy is admitted to Stonybrook, Emily is naturally curious. The school has a long waiting list, and no one has ever been admitted after the beginning of...more This is one of those books that every teenage girl should read.

Emily is a good girl. Her father is the headmaster of her swanky Connecticut boarding school, and she has a pretty good life. It's not perfect - she could do without the night terrors or burning to death in a fire or drowning in the rain - but about as close as you can get. When a new boy is admitted to Stonybrook, Emily is naturally curious. The school has a long waiting list, and no one has ever been admitted after the beginning of the school year. Her dad won't give her any information about him beyond the fact that he's very smart.. and a warning to stay away from him. Really, you'd think parents would know better than to make a mysterious, good-looking, tattooed boy into the "forbidden fruit." Of course, the warning only makes her that much more curious.

Emily tries to stay away from Del Sugar at first, mostly because her best friend and one of her roommates, Stephanie, thinks she has a shot with him. but of course, as time goes on, Del pays more and more attention to her, and Emily is flattered that she is the only one that he is trying to get to know. They begin to date, and continue in secret after her father puts his foot down. After a few months, Emily discovers that she is pregnant with Del's child. The book from there on out is fantastic.

The other storyline in this book concerns Emily's night terrors. You can tell through her sessions with her school's psychiatrist and her parents that they are withholding information from her. I was rooting for Emily throughout the whole book to get to the end of the mystery. When all is finally revealed, it's easy to see why things unfolded the way they did, but nothing is black and white.

It's very refreshing to find a frank, not Juno-esque view of teenage pregnancy. Not everything is hunky dory. Decisions aren't as cut and dry as they seem. And Emily's life will never be the same. These are things young girls need to know. They think they understand, but they really have no idea of the emotional consequences of their actions. I grew up knowing why I was adopted, and the letter my birthmom wrote to me fully explained the situation and how difficult it was for her to make this decision. Warman does a good job in describing Emily's emotional state during this time. I do have to question where she did her research concerning closed adoptions, because most of that information was outdated by about 20 years. But the end result is still the same.

Where the Truth Lies deals with peer pressure, changing friendships, forbidden romance, teenage pregnancy, and long-buried family secrets. I would recommend this book for young girls in middle school through high school.(less)

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Jul 27, 2010 AmandaSOTP rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2010

I fully expected this to be a typical teen romance with a little bit of family drama thrown in. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this wasn’t entirely predictable and while there were some parts where I thought Emily wasn’t exactly doing the smart thing, in the end, I feel she made some good choice given her circumstances.

The story slowly reveals more and more about Emily’s perceived idyllic life as the daughter of a prep school headmaster. She’s grown up on the campus and now lives in the...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Mikayla rated it 3 of 5 stars

Boarding school. Young love and lust. Poor grades. Unexplained night terrors. At first glance, this novel seems to be the perfect setup for the average young adult love story, and in the first half of the novel, it fulfills that cliché to a T. However, after quite a bit of typical romance and teenager confusion, the plot truly takes off and questions begin to develop about the main character, Emily Meckler’s, life views, plans, and overall background. I was entirely disappointed in Warman’s inab...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Minasuec rated it 5 of 5 stars

I don't think where the truth lies was one of the best books, however,I thought it was a book for me. The character in this book, the main character,Emily is the daughter of the principle of one of the richest school.She has been in this school since 7th grade and she had nightmares since she was a child which makes her screen in the middle of the night.As a result, she meets the doctor every week.She leaves in the girls dorm with her close friends Stephanie prince( has a brother name Ethan ) ,F...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Laura (Bookish Belle) rated it 2 of 5 stars

All I can say is yikes. This book was all kinds of bad for me. I thought it was great at first, but then things just got worse. I'm really into character development and this didn't have that at all. Things escalated very quickly and I didn't feel connected to the characters like I wanted to.

The writing was good, I just felt like the plot left something to be desired. The summary was amazing but it didn't turn out the way I thought it should've. I really felt like there was something missing and...more

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