Discussion thread for Rule 1 of The Lying Game

[Elizabeth]

This will be our discussion thread for "Rule 1 Tell a Lie" which is the first section of The Lying Game. It is approximately 63 pages long and my goal is to read it within the first week of March. You may of course want to read more than this in one week, but I hope you will stop and comment here after you finish this section.

[Victoria]

I just finished the Rule 1 section.

I don't know if I'm into "the lying game" (the actual game played in the book). To me it comes off as a bunch of "smart ass" teenagers thinking its cute to so blatantly deceive people for kicks. They seem like bullies and are full of that mean spirited teenage peer pressure that doesn't draw me in. If anything it makes me worry about my own kids. It seems like the kind of trouble kids can get into when their parents are not around. They're hinting at some death that I'm sure we'll learn more about. But... so far I don't know if it's my age or what, but their attitudes make me cringe.

Anyone else have thoughts??

I plan to read the Rule 2 section later tonight.

[Di]

Victoria wrote: "I just finished the Rule 1 section.

I don't know if I'm into "the lying game" (the actual game played in the book). To me it comes off as a bunch of "smart ass" teenagers thinking its cute to so b..."

I have a lot of thoughts on this book on a whole LOL. I've finished reading the book already though so I don't want to go into detail because I'm not sure where the rules end individually. I also listened on audio, so I don't have a reference where I can go and check where each rule is.

For them to fall so easily into playing a game like this says something about their upbringing, at least for me. Strong morals don't seem like something that was instilled in any of them.

[Victoria]

Exactly. I guess that's because they were practically unsupervised at their boring school isolated from the rest of the student body in their "tower".

[Elizabeth]

I finally just finished Rule 1 and I agree with you guys. These girls are a mess! For me to like a book, I have to be able to like at least one of the characters and sympathize with them. I think I'm going to have difficulty with that here. Bullies, yes! This is a prime example of how some kids can go the wrong way when influenced by the wrong people.
I will persevere though and check back in when I finish Rule 2.

[Emily]

I have to say I find it annoying how they keep alluding to “something that happened” but don’t tell you what it is. Like it’d be one thing if they mentioned the big event once and then continued the story, but they refer to it almost every chapter. I find it super irritating! I know it’s a common thriller tactic, but still.

And yes, so far, I’m not particularly impressed with any of the characters.

[Victoria]

YES!!! That was so annoying! I don't think it showed up until page 180 (or around there)...

[Di]

Emily wrote: "I have to say I find it annoying how they keep alluding to “something that happened” but don’t tell you what it is. Like it’d be one thing if they mentioned the big event once and then continued th..."

The synopsis of this book actually gives away something that doesn't come up in the story for a while. I pretty much figured "what happened" referred to things surrounding that, but the constant reminders were really annoying. It was almost as if those were thrown in to keep you wondering, but for me it didn't do that at all.