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The Lying Game (The Lying Game #1)

by Sara Shepard (Goodreads Author)

4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 · rating details · 16,437 ratings · 1,702 reviews

I had a life anyone would kill for.

Then someone did.

The worst part of being dead is that there's nothing left to live for. No more kisses. No more secrets. No more gossip. It's enough to kill a girl all over again. But I'm about to get something no one else does--an encore performance, thanks to Emma, the long-lost twin sister I never even got to meet.

Now Emma's desperate...more

Hardcover, 307 pages

Published December 7th 2010 by HarperTeen

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Jan 05, 2011 -k The Lady Critic added it

Shelves: books-i-own

Even if this is only half as good as the Pretty Little Liars books were, it’s going to be amazing. I can’t wait to read this when it comes out!

14 likes · like · see review

Jul 30, 2012 Maija rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: pick-it-for-me-challenge, ya, thriller, 2010

Lets start with what I didn't like, shall we:

* crazy teenage girls who pull evil pranks on everyone
*apparently stupid parents and police that do nothing about it

description

* the idea that if you are popular, you don't have to do homeworks, teachers really hate you + your friends may too
* Madeline wasn't all that mad about her brother running away, even though she knows that Sutton is to fault
* ~~you're waiting until you turn 18 and only then decide to have sex?~~ Garrett wanted to have sex with Sutton, so she...more

18 likes · like · see review

Jul 10, 2011 Trameka rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: ages 13-16

Ok, let me start by saying that I'm 21 years old and I started reading this series because I love the show Pretty Little Liars.

Cover: The cover is cute with the black background and the accents of pink. However, the images of the girls are quite juvenile, which should have been a hint that the book was most likely made for a younger age group.

Characters: I felt that the characters were introduced oddly. Names were just thrown around without any indication of who they were. I have a hard time kee...more

13 likes · like · see review

Nov 15, 2010 Mandy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-reviewed-for-wellreadwife-com

I was absolutely addicted to the television show Pretty Little Liars this past summer. So,when I heard the author of the book series the show was based on had a new YA series in the works, I quickly added the new title to my “must read list.” The Lying Game does not disappoint. It is filled with just the right amount of suspense, teen angst, and awesome clothes* that teens are sure to love. Sara Sheperd’s latest series follows down on her luck Emma. Emma’s life in her foster home is unbearable....more

13 likes · like · see review

Mar 18, 2012 Beth rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads, disappointment, guilty-pleasure, loved-the-premise, please-go-away, oh-my-god-shut-up, whiny-girls, march-2012

I had high hopes for this one. I was in the mood for a fun guilty pleasure, a kind of Veronica Mars meets Gossip Girl. Being a twin myself, though not an identical one, I love a good twin-switch mystery. I was prepared to accept a little stupidity, a few plot holes, for the sake of a fun soap opera.

But The Lying Game disappointed me even by my fairly low standards. It just felt so...cheap. All the characters were flat clichés - not in itself a bad thing - sure we've all seen the dumb jock or the...more I had high hopes for this one. I was in the mood for a fun guilty pleasure, a kind of Veronica Mars meets Gossip Girl. Being a twin myself, though not an identical one, I love a good twin-switch mystery. I was prepared to accept a little stupidity, a few plot holes, for the sake of a fun soap opera.

But The Lying Game disappointed me even by my fairly low standards. It just felt so...cheap. All the characters were flat clichés - not in itself a bad thing - sure we've all seen the dumb jock or the sensitive male poet before, but as long as there are a few good quips or some genuine emotion, I can't say stereotyping bothers me too much. But, in The Lying Game, there was nothing but these paper-thin characters and a paper-thin plot. Honestly, I should have known not to read this when saw that Shepard had THREE MORE BOOKS already planned in this one series. Seriously, from what I've seen, this could have been one book. Maybe two. You know those ten/fifteen minutes at the start of Law & Order episodes, where the detective characters spend a few scenes running around after red herrings until we get into the real meat of the plot? THAT was the entire plot of The Lying Game. The entire plot was one. long. red. herring.

Now, red herrings are a staple of the mystery genre. I could have coped with it if there was some emotional core here. And, call me optimistic, but I thought this plot came with one built-in. Sure, the idea of a magic long-lost twin sister who just happens to track you down on the day you're murdered is totally ridiculous. But I was willing to be forgiving because it seemed like there was so much potential conflict built in here. The epigraph - "we must be careful about who we pretend to be, because we are who we pretend to be" - got my hopes up even further. Emma, the long-lost twin, was a foster kid who'd got the rough end of the deal her whole life; Sutton, the murder victim, was an entitled bitch who had the luck to get adopted by a rich, coddling family. Class conflict! Identity crisis! I thought it was all here. But Shepard managed to suck all the life out of this interesting plot with totally bland, vanilla characters sapped of any kind of emotion, briefly sketched. Nothing should be too interesting or complex in The Lying Game.

And the plot holes...dear GOD, the plot holes. For such a serial nitpicker, I'm actually not good with plot holes. (I know!) They almost always slide under my radar if they're papered up with good enough writing. And, to be honest, I'm somewhat willing to excuse them for the sake of the story (e.g. "New Girl.") But all of the plot holes in The Lying Game - of which there were many - made me grind my teeth with frustration. I understand that there's a difference between characters making stupid decision and plot holes, but exhibit A: Emma, foster kid, has just more or less fell into Sutton's life. She's decided that she can't imitate her dead twin sister and she's determined to go to the police to get it straightened out. Only the video of Sutton's death has been deleted from the Net and it turns out Sutton has a bit of a reputation for lying to the police. Whenever Emma tries to explain the whole long-lost-twin thing, people laugh at her, assuming it's another of Sutton's ridiculous jokes. But...Emma has a life of her own. Why doesn't Emma call her best friend Alex to vouch for her, or her ex-foster mother? Why doesn't Emma ever show anyone in Sutton's family her (Emma's) Facebook page? And the most annoying thing is that this could have been easily covered up. I know that a lot of people don't like it when, in reviews, reviewers say that "it would have been much better if X had happened..." because the primary job of a reviewer is to write about what is actually in front of them.

But TLG is full of ridiculous moments and plot holes that had me going "why doesn't Emmas just...?" BUT they could have easily been avoided. Why doesn't Emma try harder to show them that she's not Sutton? Well, maybe she wants to be Sutton. Why was Sutton adopted and Emma wasn't? Why doesn't Emma have any memories of Sutton? Was Sutton adopted when she was a baby? Why would Becky have Sutton adopted as a baby but not Emma? The list goes on and on. Nothing can be too complex or interesting in Shepard's simplistic, bland world. There's no edge, no reason to care. Emma's emotions are simple and written down just like, "Emma was nervous." "Emma was happy." "Emma felt a twinge of guilt." All writers do this to an extent - but there was just no involvement with our protaganist. There's the sensitive male poet and the dumb jock, like I mentioned, but there's absolutely no chemistry or life infused within them. There's also the jealous little sister who's desperate to have her older sister's life. Well, maybe she killed her so that she could have it? Ugh...not only are the characters totally unoriginal, so is the plotline. Everything you've seen here, you've seen a million times before. And done better, too.

The most annoying thing about TLG is the perspective it's told in. Sutton is dead and narrates in a kind of beyond-the-grave first-person voiceover, though God knows why because she can't remember ANYTHING about her old life except the occasional flash. Emma on the other hand is told totally in third person - almost as if Sutton was watching her, except not, because if Sutton was watching her, why would she be able to hear what Emma is thinking? (There's no hint of that story of twins being psychic.) There are no chapter breaks, or even line breaks. The story jerks backwards and forwards from Sutton's first-person whining about how she can't remember anything and she wishes she could (which is all very, very convenient) to Emma third-personly wandering around trying to make sense of Sutton's life. This 'dual POV' thing just felt totally, totally cheap and lazy. It's almost as if Shepard couldn't be bothered planning this book properly and, whenever she realised that she had to communicate A BIG REVELATION to her audience, she didn't bother getting Emma to do any kind of detective work (which, y'know, she's supposed to be doing!). Instead, she just flip-flopped back to Sutton and got Sutton to show us through one of her very convenient 'flashes' of her past life.

Everyone is annoying, nobody is interesting and, no, I won't be coming back for Book 2. The most frustrating thing about this book is how goddamn lazy it is. Listen up, YA writers! Don't bother treating your readers as if they have any scrap of intelligence. Just s p e l l everything out for them, stick to your clichés and sap every hint of life/originality out of everything. That will get you a bestselling series! (less)

12 likes · like · see review

Oct 02, 2011 Jianne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed-books

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard is a mystery-packed, thrill-suspense novel that will keep you guessing and thinking till your heads hurt. Oh yeah.

The story revolves around Emma Becker, who grew up to be a foster child. When she found out that she has a twin sister, Sutton Mercer who looks exactly like her, she went in search of her hoping that she will finally find her family. However, Emma learns that Sutton is dead. Murdered. So who has murdered Sutton? In order to find out her twin's killer, E...more The Lying Game by Sara Shepard is a mystery-packed, thrill-suspense novel that will keep you guessing and thinking till your heads hurt. Oh yeah.

The story revolves around Emma Becker, who grew up to be a foster child. When she found out that she has a twin sister, Sutton Mercer who looks exactly like her, she went in search of her hoping that she will finally find her family. However, Emma learns that Sutton is dead. Murdered. So who has murdered Sutton? In order to find out her twin's killer, Emma pretends to be Sutton. Not only is it such a big change for the wallflower Emma, but because of the adventurous and dangerous life that Sutton lived. And moreover, she needs to further see the secrets behind The Lying Game, which might just be the answer to everything.

If you ask me what I really think of this book, I will have to say that compared to Pretty Little Liars I liked the plot of this more, however I liked the presentation and narration of Pretty little Liars. The good thing in The Lying Game is that everyone is a suspect! And you will really be dragged into thinking to the heck the culprit is, because as Emma said, everyone has a motive to be Sutton's killer. But hey, The Lying Game is definitely more extreme and has that edge-of-your seat element! Man man, I'm starting to have an idea who the killer might possibly be. It's just either the obvious one, or the not so expected one.

Oh hey, thanks to The Lying Game I'm starting to love mystery genre. And right now, I'm
getting used to Sara Shepard's style of writing. It is very intriguing indeed! The cons of this book would probably be, there's too much plot holes. I mean sure,its a mystery book so I'm not surprise if everything is not revealed (well duh) but some scenes
tend to happen randomly and out of nowhere. I'm like, "how'd that get there?" A rather better explanation would've been better.

And oh the characters, well I didn't really "hate" Emma or Sutton. Sutton's character has a lot of revealing to do and I'm so excited. But Emma? I feel like well, she's not a very strong female lead. I would've wanted a more bitchy queen bee (just like Sutton), I mean that would've been more exciting and interesting to read about! Besides, shes pretending to be a bad girl so at least pull it off, I know shes a good girl but thats why its interesting to see a good girl pulling off a bad girl's attitude, just to see a different side of the character. And I love, rebellious female leads. Kick-ass and with a bit naughty attitude. I don't want anyone so saint like. I mean, thats reality. Everyone
has a bad trait, might as well show it. Just IMO. ^^ And oh oh, Ethan is hot. Yes. And mystetrious as well. He makes me dreamy! I sense some romantic tension going on! And what is The Lying Game? Boy, I so want to find out! And what really happened to Tyler? You guys better watch out for that character.

I rated it 4 stars because with each clue being revealed the more I go blank on who the killer really is and like I mention, almost everyone can be a suspect. It just gets exciting more and more! And I like the sibling tension going on, this book really has a lot of tension in it!

And did I mention that I love the simplicity of the cover? Really do. I appreciate the symbolism in it all!(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Nov 19, 2011 Elisabeth Jondahl rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, ya

I wish books like this were around when I was 13. YA is so much better nowadays and there's a lot more variety.

One thing I have a slight problem with is the POV. It switches between Emma and Sutton in a disjoined way that repeatedly took me out of the story where I had to remember which sister was the first-person narrative. It's not a deal breaker, however, and I was able to fully enjoy the story in spite of an awkward format.

I like this book's reaction to the Mean Girl culture. The protagonist...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 23, 2013 Eyerusalem rated it 5 of 5 stars

The book I’m reading is called The Lying Game. I recommend this book to a friend. The reason I say this is because the book talks about the relationship between friends, not being trustworthy, and jealousy. The book talks about a girl named Emma. She did not know that she had a long lost twin sister until she saw a video when her sister was strangled. She googled her and found out that her sister has Facebook. She sent her a mail and her sister replied. Emma wanted to meet Sutton (her twin). So...more The book I’m reading is called The Lying Game. I recommend this book to a friend. The reason I say this is because the book talks about the relationship between friends, not being trustworthy, and jealousy. The book talks about a girl named Emma. She did not know that she had a long lost twin sister until she saw a video when her sister was strangled. She googled her and found out that her sister has Facebook. She sent her a mail and her sister replied. Emma wanted to meet Sutton (her twin). So Emma went to Arizona and met Sutton’s friends. Emma did not know that her long lost twin is dead. Emma tried to explain to Sutton’s friends that she is not Sutton but they would not listen to her instead they interpret her and start another conversation.
This book explains the relationship between Sutton and her best friends. In the book, it talks how Sutton, her sister, and her friends were close each other. They used to do everything together. In the book, Emma is experiencing Sutton’s life. Emma was not like Sutton in the beginning. They had completely different lives. While I was reading, I concluded that there are some conflicts between them. That led them to kill Sutton. This is a good lesson for a friend who is having a problem between friends.
The book also talked about not trusting their best friend. Friends should always discuss about their issues. In the book, Charlotte (Sutton’s friend) did not tell Sutton that Sutton took Garrett from her. She could have told her to give it back or leave it instead of being her killer. The book teaches a lot especially for young teens. Because teens do not think further, the author tried to send this message by writing this wonderful book. The book shows how Sutton’s friends were dishonest with Sutton. I believe that’s why they killed her.
Jealousy is a killer of friendship. Laurel (Sutton’s sister) was jealous of Sutton. She wanted to be like her. It is not good when someone is jealous because nothing good happens. Friends should not be jealous of each other. If they are that shows how unfaithful they are and that is not how friendship works. The author talks about how Sutton’s friends strangled her. I believe all of her friends were jealous of her.
In conclusion, I recommend this book to a friend because this really helps people of any age to organize their relationship with their friends. It helps them get to know their friends’ behavior. The author used really good example to convince the readers. She wrote it the way people could understand it especially teens. It’s not just about responsibility but also about teenage life. And we teens will learn a lesson from it.

(less)

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Feb 23, 2012 Christie ♥ The Shadower's Shelf ♥ rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of murder mysteries and bitchy best friends

Shelves: gimme-that-cover, might-make-you-shit-in-your-pants, bullcrap-of-an-ending

I really enjoyed The Lying Game. I've never read Pretty Little Liars, so I didn't know what Sara Shepard's writing style was like there, but it was really good here.

Sutton was murdered. Now, her long-lost twin sister Emma is pretending to be her, at the same time searching for Sutton's murderer. So far, the prime suspects are: Sutton's friends Charlotte and Madeline and Sutton's sister Laurel.

My guess of who the murderer is: (view spoiler)
But that's just my guess as of the...more

2 likes · like · see review

Sep 29, 2011 Anne Nikoline rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, crime-novels, love-or-romance, made-into-tv-series, mystery

The Lying Game is usually not my kind of genre, however, I must point out how much better the story is than so endless many in this genre. I only read the book because I fancied the Danish cover which I found at the library earlier today.

What annoys me with the book is how the reader is still left with many unanswered questions. I'm aware that it's necessary for the author to leave some questions unanswered for the next books in the series, but come on! You only get to know very little, but tha...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 01, 2011 Olivia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, books-read-in-2011

WOW! I liked it a lot! The characters were great and there was A LOT of funny parts. There are a few spoilers through-out, so be careful when reading this :)

The beginning was a little slow for me. I didn't get that interested until she went to meet Sutton and Sutton's friends kidnapped her to that party. I was suspicious of Laurel from the beginning. I wasn't too sure about Ethan, but I was almost positive he had nothing to do with what happened to Sutton. I liked the parts when Sutton voiced he...more

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 14, 2011 Hannah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: series-i-will-finish

What if someone had your face? What if they went missing? What if you were mistaken to live her life as your own? That is what happens to Emma, when she getts a message from Sutton, the girl with her face who ends up not turning up. Emma starts to fear for her own life as well as Sutton's. Then, a shy guy named Ethan realizes her secret. Is it a coincedence? or proof of a killer? No one is who they seem.
I have been dying to read Shepard's new series since I heard about it. I did not want to wait...more

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Oct 10, 2011 Anna Serra i Vidal rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, mystery

I so wanted to like this book even more.
The Lying Game has become my new obsession TV show and I'm loving it. But reading the book has been a bit off. I kept trying to give characters in the book the faces and the attitudes of the characters in the show but it felt different.

The book tells the story of a girl living in foster care system who discovers she has a twin sister, tries to contact her but when she walks into her sister's life she discovers things are not as good as she wished. Her si...more

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Dec 26, 2011 Brittany rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, books-i-own, part-of-a-series, ghosts, mystery

Emma is a foster kid. She's been tossed around from home to home ever since her mother abandoned her. In her latest home, the mother agreed to let her stay and finish out her Senior year, even though Emma will turn eighteen soon. However the foster mom's real son isn't too keen on sharing with Emma and frames her for some money he stole from his mom. On top of that he found an online video of a girl being strangled, a girl who looks exactly like Emma, and the foster mom doesn't like this one bit...more Emma is a foster kid. She's been tossed around from home to home ever since her mother abandoned her. In her latest home, the mother agreed to let her stay and finish out her Senior year, even though Emma will turn eighteen soon. However the foster mom's real son isn't too keen on sharing with Emma and frames her for some money he stole from his mom. On top of that he found an online video of a girl being strangled, a girl who looks exactly like Emma, and the foster mom doesn't like this one bit. Emma, however is intrigued, she has to find out who this girls is, it could be her long lost sister...if she wasn't already dead. Now instead of finding a a long-lost sister, Emma must find her sister's killer, who is watching her every move.

So far, after reading this book one of the new series, I'm not as engrossed as I was with Pretty Little Liars. This is still a very intriguing storyline and I am certainly willing to play along and find out who killed who and what everyone knows. It's very mysterious how no one notices that Emma is not her sister. I am very interested to see who knows that she's a fake and who just really can't tell there is a difference between the two of them. There's not a whole lot I can say without ruining the book. I am dying to read Never Have I Ever though. Speaking of which, I really enjoyed that they played that game in this book. Except it just adds to the question of whether or not anyone knows that Emma is not her sister. I mean there were many times she "had" done things but didn't know it so you would think someone would find that odd. If you enjoyed Pretty Little Liars, I'm sure you are going to check this one out and you definitely should. If you haven't tried Sara Shepard yet and you like mysteries and suspense, you should make sure to pick this one up.

First Line:
"I woke up in a dingy claw-foot bathtub in an unfamiliar pink-tiled bathroom."

Favorite Line:
"Emma watched helplessly as her tattered copy of The Sun Also Rises landed on a dusty anthill."(less)

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Dec 25, 2012 Carly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-50-books, carly-s-fantasy-reading-challenge

The story's pretty good - I don't care for the reader that's doing the audio. Don't mind a young person speaking like a young person - not at all. But to do a 'question' infliction on just about every sentence?

.............

There's some good phrases used:

Ho's before Bro's (ladies before gents)

I thought that was pretty funny - it was a true LOL. When she said that, I put my jigsaw puzzle on pause and the audio on pause and laughed - loudly.

..............

December 7th, 2k12 - finished - now ... am I...more

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Apr 08, 2011 Kristin Rae added it

Shelves: young-adult, read-in-2011, own, harper-collins

I didn't know this was going to be a series.... I'm a bit confused how it's going to be stretched out over multiple books, because even when I had a chapter or two left, I fully expected everything to resolve, then... it didn't.
It was well written, and definitely intriguing, but I sort of feel like I'm not trendy enough for this series. A lot of the brand names mentioned I'm sure are supposed to be famous, but it did nothing for me because well, I don't spend money on things like shoes and sun...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Jane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Rezension:
Ihr halbes Leben hat Emma in Pflegefamilien verbracht. Doch dann erreicht sie die Nachricht dass sie eine Zwillingsschwester hat. Sutton. Aber als sie sich mit Sutton treffen will taucht diese nicht auf. Denn Sutton ist tod, und nun soll Emma ihr altes Leben übernehmen. Während sie Suttons Alibi-Freundinnen, ihren Freund und ihre Familie übernimmt, versucht Emma gleichzeitig herauszufinden wer Suttons Mörder ist - und wer ihre Schwester Sutton eigentlich war. Dabei merkt sie allerdings...more Rezension:
Ihr halbes Leben hat Emma in Pflegefamilien verbracht. Doch dann erreicht sie die Nachricht dass sie eine Zwillingsschwester hat. Sutton. Aber als sie sich mit Sutton treffen will taucht diese nicht auf. Denn Sutton ist tod, und nun soll Emma ihr altes Leben übernehmen. Während sie Suttons Alibi-Freundinnen, ihren Freund und ihre Familie übernimmt, versucht Emma gleichzeitig herauszufinden wer Suttons Mörder ist - und wer ihre Schwester Sutton eigentlich war. Dabei merkt sie allerdings nicht dass sie sich auf sehr gefährlichem Terrain bewegt...
Ich persönlich finde es ziemlich gut gemacht das mit der Zwillingsschwester und so. Emma wird am Anfang des Buches einfach ins kalte Wasser geworfen. Sie kennt ihre Schwester nicht und hat nicht den Hauch einer Ahnung was diese schon alles angestellt hat. Da Emma von Natur aus eher schüchtern und freundlich ist fällt es ihr schwer bei den fiesen Aktionen und "Streichen" mit zu machen, die Suttons Freundinnen veranstalten und planen. Denn das Lügenspiel ist, wie sich herausstellt, weitaus ernster und gefährlicher als es zuerst schien. Emma begreift nach und nach dass Suttons Freundinnen Sutton eigentlich hassen und dass sie niemanden in dieser scheinheiligen Welt vertrauen kann. Ihr fällt es immer schwerer in ihrer Rolle zu bleiben, und aufgrund des Videoclips im Internet, in dem Sutton von ihren Freundinnen gewürgt wird, beginnt sie nun jeden Einzelnen zu verdächtigen.
Am Anfang der Geschichte betrachtet Emma es noch als Spiel, dass sie Suttons Rolle übernehmen soll. Während sie die Wahrheit die vor ihr liegt weiter verleugnet und verzweifelt nach einem Ausweg sucht, macht sich Sutton als Geist ihre ganz eigenen Gedanken. Denn der Sutton-Geist ist von Anfang an irgendwie mit Emma verbunden und folgt ihr unwillentlich auf Schritt und Tritt. Zunächst kann Sutton sich noch nicht erinnern, aber im Laufe der Geschichte bekommt sie immer wieder Erinnerungsfetzen aus ihrer Vergangenheit zu sehen. Auch sie ist daran interessiert ihren Mörder zu finden.
Dadurch dass man praktisch mit Sutton und Emma auf die Jagd des Mörders geht, ist es unglaublich spannend und ich konnte das Buch kaum aus der Hand legen. Denn der Sutton-Geist weiß genauso wenig wie Emma, -oder sagen wir fast genauso wenig, denn ab und zu bekommt Sutton die eine oder andere Erinnerung zu fassen. Emma stürzt also von ihrer Pflegefamilien-Welt in eine komplett neue Welt, in der sie sich zudem auch noch sofort zurecht finden soll und sich für jemanden ausgeben muss, den sie nie kennengelernt hat. Tapfer versucht sie mitzuspielen und je länger sie Suttons Leben übernimmt desto tiefer wird sie hineingezogen. Zusammen mit Sutton und Emma deckt der Leser nach und nach immer mehr von Suttons Vergangenheit auf, lernt ihre "Freundinnen" und ihre Famile kennen und erfährt so auch deren Kaltblütigkeit und Arroganz. Das Lügenspiel ist dabei der Kernpunkt, denn irgendwann weiß man nicht mehr was Wahrheit und was Lüge ist; was Spiel ist, und was Wirklichkeit. Alles ist ineinander verstrickt; das ist es, was es so spannend macht.

Sprachstil:
Das Buch ist aus der Ich-Perspektive von Sutton verfasst. Gleichzeitig wird aus der personalen Erzählform von Emma berichtet. Das finde ich, ist eine schöne Ergänzung, denn beide Mädchen (Sutton und Emma) versuchen den Mord an Sutton aufzudecken; auch wenn Emma nichts von Sutton weiß, die ihr ständig als Geist folgt.

Fazit:
Ein grandioser Auftakt zu einer neuen Serie. Man fiebert mit und begleitet Emma durch Suttons Leben in einem großen Lügenspiel. Packend und fesselnd geschrieben, macht das Buch seinem Namen (Lying Game) alle Ehre!(less)

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Apr 18, 2013 Catie Rhodes rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, mystery

I don't think this review contains spoilers, but you might. Read at your own risk.

I enjoyed this YA Suspense quite a bit. The storyline is different from the television show based on the books. In the TV version, orphaned twins Emma and Sutton are reunited and form a sort of relationship.

In the book version, Emma's twin, Sutton, is already dead on the first page of book one. Sutton's ghost finds Emma and sort of merges with her. Emma doesn't know Sutton is there, but Sutton knows all of Emma's...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Hend Kholeif rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: couldn-t-put-it-down, romance, light-fun-read, switching-places, friendship, twin-sisters

I didn't expect much out of this, I just wanted something light and fun. But I have to say, it turned out to be a lot better than I expected.
It is slow and frustrating at times, but it isn't boring. I liked the main character, Emma, as well as the other characters too. I thought the writing was also original; the story is told from the point of view of the dead twin sister lingering around as a ghost though the whole story is about the living twin.
The best thing about it is that it didn't end w...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Maeve added it

I decided to read this book because I watch the TV series The Lying Game and love it! This book is from the point of view of Emma's dead sister Sutton. Sutton is watching over Emma and can see everything she does. Emma and Sutton were separated when they were young and didn't even know they had a twin sister. Emma became a foster child and a wealthy family in Arizona adopted Sutton. When Emma finds out about Sutton she messaged her and they decided to meet. However, Sutton doesn't show up. Emma...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Valeria P rated it 5 of 5 stars

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

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Jan 25, 2013 Aarann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was surprised by how much I liked this one. Like I suspect a lot of people did, I found this one after watching the series. I'm definitely an older demographic than the show was looking for, but the premise sounded interesting and I had too much mental venom built up against Sarah Michelle Gellar from her initial post-Buffy bitchiness to watch "Ringer" when it was on the air. I'm not usually in to high school soapy dramass (or any soapy drama really), but the show pulled me in. I kept thinking...more I was surprised by how much I liked this one. Like I suspect a lot of people did, I found this one after watching the series. I'm definitely an older demographic than the show was looking for, but the premise sounded interesting and I had too much mental venom built up against Sarah Michelle Gellar from her initial post-Buffy bitchiness to watch "Ringer" when it was on the air. I'm not usually in to high school soapy dramass (or any soapy drama really), but the show pulled me in. I kept thinking, "This is terrible. I love it!" and before I knew it, I'd watched the entire first on Netflix and was catching up with the second season on Hulu.

That's what this book did, although maybe to a lesser extent. I'm not the audience for this book, but like the TV show, I found myself thoroughly sucked in anyway. I love that enough has changed from the show (and yes, I know the books came first, but I saw the show first, so it's hard to pull myself from that mindset) that I really don't know who could have killed Sutton because the show diverged so dramatically from the source material. I love that the book doesn't take itself as seriously as the show does. I REALLY love that the author seems to have a clear idea where the series is going (as opposed to the TV show, where the writers very obviously changed their minds halfway through the first season and in a hamhanded, clumsy "twist" which left several questions unanswered, changed the course of the first season). This book also avoided love triangles, which I hate with a passion (I don't count Garrett since Emma clearly isn't interested in him), the silly marital drama between the parents, irrationally bitchy behavior from Sutton (who I loathed on the show), and oh, did I mention no love triangles? Because... awesome.

This book wasn't the best I've ever read, but it was far from the worst. Really, my main complaint with it was the narrator's perspective. Switching from third-person to Sutton's first person without warning was jarring and pulled me out of the story. I mean I love that the author tried a third-person narration from first-person perspective, which isn't often used, but after a while, it was hard to get absorbed into the story because I kept waiting for the narration to change again, which SHOULDN'T be a big deal, but somehow was.

Of course that isn't enough for me not to pick up the next book from my local library. I'm looking forward to it. It's almost like getting a whole new story from a cast of characters that I already kind of know. And yes, while I'm mildly embarrassed that at my age I'm reading a young adult novel (and posting a review of it on Goodreads), I'll take a good, fun story that holds my interest any day.(less)

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Jan 17, 2013 Shauna Mckenzie added it

This book was very suspenseful. It always made you want to read more after you had put down the book. In the story a pair of twins were given up for adoption at birth. Sutton, gets adopted by a rich family. But Emma doesn't get adopted and spends her whole life in foster care. When Emma is seventeen she finds out that she has a twin sister. But why she doesn't know was that Sutton was killed. A person inboxed her on Facebook pretending to be Sutton. Emma goes to Phoneix to meet her twin, but end...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Nikki rated it 4 of 5 stars

"The Lying Game" by Sara Shepard is a great mystery that keeps you guessing. Emma is a foster child who is shipped from house to house, and all she wishes for is a family she can rely on. She was surprised to find a video posted online one afternoon. The video featured the strangling of a girl who looked exactly like her! After discovering the girl's Facebook profile, Emma identified her as Sutton Mercer, leading Emma to believe Sutton is her long lost twin sister. After her foster mother kicks...more

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Dec 24, 2012 Quoc rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, thriller, realistic-fiction

Sutton Mercer had it all. The family any child could wish for, friends for a lifetime, the perfect boyfriend but all is filled with hidden secrets waiting to be surfaced. Everything she had been taken for granted. When the Lying Game is carried out between only 3 4 friends, things get out of hand when a video lurks online of Sutton being tortured. Evidently, Emma long-lost-twin-sister of Sutton sees the video and takes over Sutton's life, eager for the truth behind her death.

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Dec 21, 2012 Ashley Pierce added it

Ashley Pierce

Grade 8

The Lying Game

By: Sara Shepard

Sara Shepard’s horrific novel, “The Lying Game,” tells about a young teenage girl, Emma, who suffers from the foster care system . Emma finds her long lost twin sister, Sutton, who was adopted at the age of two and lives in Arizona. The two girl’s ecstatic journey hooked me in immediately.

As I started reading, i was instantly drawn into the descriptive, emotional, words that filled the page. Shephard's choice of character for the narration was f...more Ashley Pierce

Grade 8

The Lying Game

By: Sara Shepard

Sara Shepard’s horrific novel, “The Lying Game,” tells about a young teenage girl, Emma, who suffers from the foster care system . Emma finds her long lost twin sister, Sutton, who was adopted at the age of two and lives in Arizona. The two girl’s ecstatic journey hooked me in immediately.

As I started reading, i was instantly drawn into the descriptive, emotional, words that filled the page. Shephard's choice of character for the narration was fantastic as you read the “dead girl’s” point of view also known as the adopted twin sister Sutton. As she told the setting, a musky train station that Emma rides in to, you can hear the sounds of trains passing and the smell of the different aromas filling through your nose.

As Shepard started started the story, the action and drama came right in, making up the plot and building up the story. Right as I read the first line, I wanted to read more.

Sutton, is the girl everyone wants to be. Long, brown hair, blue eyes, and the gorgeous sun kissed skin. The way she tells her story as the girl that was murdered brutally, frightened and excited me at the same time. But the line that put me in the total “ah” was, “I had a life anyone would kill for, then, someone did.” It sent chills up my spine that any great book needs.

Although Sutton is a big part of the book, she cannot compare to the most interesting character, Emma. The obstacles that Emma overcomes are outstanding. From changing foster homes and schools, finding out she has a twin who is dead, and pretending to be sutton against her own will. And yet, she manages to stay brave throughout the story.

This jaw-dropping novel, made me want to run to the nearest bookstore and buy every book in the Lying Game series. Sara Shepard made this story so interesting and horrific that I finished it in 5 days. I would recommend this great book to young adults, senior citizens, pre-teens, and teenagers in a heartbeat.
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Dec 12, 2012 Jenelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed reading The Lying Game by Sara Shepard, but it wasn't one of my favorite books. Sara Shepard also wrote the Pretty Little Liars series, which I loved reading. I thought The Lying Game was going to be as amazing as the Pretty Little Liars series but it wasn't what I expected. The book was good but a lot of times when I was reading the book I would get bored on some parts. The book didn't grab my attention the whole time like her other books did. I don't really see how I could relate the...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Callie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 13-25

The first book in the series, Emma finds out that she has a twin sister named Sutton. She sends Sutton a message on facebook telling her they need to meet. Sutton replies and Emma goes to Arizona to meet her long lost sister. While waiting, she is attacked, but discovers the attack was just a prank by Sutton's friends as part of a pranking game they partake in called The Lying Game. Sutton's friends believe she is Sutton and Emma ends up back Sutton's house. Emma receives a note that tells her S...more

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Nov 13, 2012 Sofia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sofia Tognozzi
The Lying Game HarperCollinsPublisher, 2010, 307 pp. $16.99
Sara Shepard 978-0-06-211416-7
Emma Paxton from the amazing book The Lying Game written by Sara Shepard is trying to figure out her very complicated life. Emma lives in this home with people who aren’t here her family and she barely knows them, doesn’t that sound comfortable? This uncomfortable life takes place around Arizona where Emma soon finds her life to be a bit more thrilling.
The Lying Game by Sara Shepard goes thr...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Utami rated it 3 of 5 stars

Though I’ve heard about it, I didn’t read nor watch Pretty Little Liars. And I heard that it’s pretty good. That’s why I decided to buy this book, as it was written by Sara Shephard.

Cerita dibuka dengan Sutton Mercer, yang tersadar dan menyadari bahwa dirinya tidak bisa mengingat apapun selain namanya. Ternyata Sutton telah mati, dan dia sekarang menjadi semacam arwah gitu. Dia mendapati dirinya berada di dekat Emma, yang ternyata adalah her long lost twin. Emma sendiri tidak bisa menyadari, apa...more Though I’ve heard about it, I didn’t read nor watch Pretty Little Liars. And I heard that it’s pretty good. That’s why I decided to buy this book, as it was written by Sara Shephard.

Cerita dibuka dengan Sutton Mercer, yang tersadar dan menyadari bahwa dirinya tidak bisa mengingat apapun selain namanya. Ternyata Sutton telah mati, dan dia sekarang menjadi semacam arwah gitu. Dia mendapati dirinya berada di dekat Emma, yang ternyata adalah her long lost twin. Emma sendiri tidak bisa menyadari, apalagi melihat, kehadiran Sutton. Emma adalah seorang gadis yang ditinggal oleh ibunya, dna terpaksa berpindah-pindah dari satu orang tua angkat ke orang tua angkat lainnya. Ketika dia mendapati kenyataan bahwa mungkin saja dia memiliki seorang saudara kembar, dia pun dengan penuh semangat berusaha menemui saudara kembarnya itu. Sutton terus mengikuti perjalanan Emma. Emma, begitu sampai di kediaman Sutton, malah awalnya kebingungan ketika dia tidak berhasil bertemu dengan Sutton. Bagi Emma, keadaan semakin buruk karena semua orang menyangka dirinya adalah Sutton. Merasa tidak ada pilihan lain, Emma berpura-pura menjadi Sutton. Ketika akhirnya sadar bahwa Sutton menghilang, Emma mulai panik, kebingungan, tapi juga merasa ingin tahu. Semakin lama berperan sebagai Sutton, Emma jadi lebih banyak mengetahui berbagai fakta tentang kepribadian Sutton dan orang-orang di sekitar Sutton. Dia jadi semakin mengerti, kenapa banyak yang diam-diam maupun terang-terangan membenci Sutton. Dan itu membuat Emma semakin bertanya-tanya, siapakah yang membunuh Sutton?

Cerita misteri di kalangan remaja. Agak-agak thriller, tapi bagi saya cerita ini bukan tipe yang menegangkan. However, saya jadi merasa penasaran dengan misteri yang ditawarkan dalam buku ini. Di awal cerita, nyaris tidak ada petunjuk apapun tentang siapa yang mungkin membunuh Sutton. Lha, si Sutton sendiri yang ceritanya tinggal jadi arwah itu diceritakan mengalami amnesia. Dan menjelang akhir buku, saya semakin panik. Ini kenapa jumlah halamannya tinggal sedikit, tapi pembunuhnya masih belum ketebaaaakkkk? Dan ternyata sodara-sodaraaa…bukunya bersambung -_-. Baiklah, mari mencari buku lanjutan dalam serial ini: Never Have I Ever. *Plis seri ini jangan panjang-panjang dooonggg… -_-*
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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Shut Up & Read: The lying game by Sara Shepard	10	32	May 13, 2013 01:50am
Shut Up & Read: The Lying Game by Sara Shepard	119	39	May 03, 2013 08:22am
Who killed Sutton?	15	143	Apr 21, 2013 05:23pm
Book vs. TV show	15	59	Apr 21, 2013 02:40pm
Do you think I should continue the series?	8	63	Apr 11, 2013 07:37pm
PRETTY LITTLE LIA...: The Lying Game	2	4	Apr 09, 2013 12:34pm
Would you risk your life if it meant finding out about the sister you never had?	4	15	Feb 13, 2013 03:07pm

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About Sara Shepard

Sara Shepard graduated from NYU and has an MFA from Brooklyn College. She currently lives in Tucson, Arizona. Sara's Pretty Little Liars novels were inspired by her upbringing in Philadelphia's Main Line.

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Pretty Little Liars (Pretty Little Liars, #1)

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Quotes from The Lying Game

“Always sleep with one eye open. Never take anything for granted. Your best friends might just be your enemies.” — 213 people liked it

“At least she had a clear picture of what the Lying Game was now: Girl Scouts for psychopaths.” — 72 people liked it

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